Opiates - Lucid Dreams & Sleep Paralysis

[jaystyle]

Hey everybody,

When I do oxycontin at night, it is very common for me to have these terrifying sleep paralysis episodes... sometimes over and over again. It's like--- I am awake and am conscious, yet I can't move or open my eyes and have to wait for myself to wake up. Sometimes I hallucinate people are trying to talk to me and wake me up, or I am rolling off the bed, or suffocating... it really sucks and its really scary! My heart races so fast and I like hyperventilate from the fear of having to wait in order to move and see while I am completely conscious.

Last night, I was in an even deeper stage of sleep paralysis that was more like a lucid dream... I laid down to nap and drifted into this dream where I knew I was dreaming and was trying desperately to wake up for what seemed like 20 minutes. Sometimes the weirdest thing happens where I am dreaming that I am having sleep paralysis and desperately try to wake up, but when I wake up I am still in a dream... Sometimes I wake up and my eyes open, and by closing my eyes for a milisecond I am paralyzed again. Ughh what a nightmare it is.

The episodes occur more and more frequently lately.... I read somewhere that opiates precipitate this problem for people or cause it... sometimes I take xanax at night too which I think could be making it worse too. Does anyone here experience this too? Is there ANY trick at all to waking up? I try my hardest to move the best I can, to use all my energy to wake up but nothing works except time. Let me know your experiences with this.

 

[Fornax55]

when i do opiates they tend to cause some interesting phenomena, like visions which seem undeniably real, though some which i know are hallucinations/lucid dreams that i can't awaken from. i've never experienced anything like sleep paralysis though. the simple solution would be to stop using opiates, ta least at night time.

 

[jaystyle]

Stop using opiates... hah! That would be the "simple" solution to just about all us opiate lovers problems, wouldn't it?

 

[happyland]

ive only experience this with MDMA..mines were scary just like your but my dreams were a little different i was fighting for my life most of the time. sometimes i would "fight back" in my dream state to realize im in paralysis, next i could feel my self going back to dream land and fighting to wake up again and only to be in paralysis again with my eyes open. it would go back and fourth like that for a few more times until i "beat" the dream..i would be trying so hard to move i would wake up yelling and sometimes wacking stuff next to my bed or the wall. this happen more then enough times that i would sometimes be aware that im this dream state. overtime i became better aware and found that if im patient in these dreams i can over power the dream and paralysis in one try and win!

 

[sid3]

I used oxy and benzos for too many years and never had that happen. I think it's a sign your body cannot tolerate the oxy and/or xanax combo. It sounds as though your starting to slip into some type of coma when that happens.

 

[MikeHawk]

I've had this after nights of all types of drugs. A lot of people experience a woman sitting on their chest and it's similar to the phantom cigarette Datura phenomenon. A shared unique symptom of something that has no seed in somebodies memory.

I wouldn't worry about this. Try and learn to lucid dream and you may be able to will yourself to wake.

 

[habboz]

I get this all the time with opiates , especially the codones

Except mine are nightmares and are scary as fuck because they seem so real

Actually just last night i had a dream that jesus was trying to rip satan out of me because im possesed? hah but jesus was the grim reaper? it didnt make much sense

needless to say it was fuckin scary tho hahah

 

[fryingsquirrel]

To me it sounds like a nod just gone off the rails in some idiosyncratic way. I'm honestly not sure what you can do except not do opiates.

 

[pallidamors]

Hey everybody,

When I do oxycontin at night, it is very common for me to have these terrifying sleep paralysis episodes... sometimes over and over again. It's like--- I am awake and am conscious, yet I can't move or open my eyes and have to wait for myself to wake up. Sometimes I hallucinate people are trying to talk to me and wake me up, or I am rolling off the bed, or suffocating... it really sucks and its really scary! My heart races so fast and I like hyperventilate from the fear of having to wait in order to move and see while I am completely conscious.

Last night, I was in an even deeper stage of sleep paralysis that was more like a lucid dream... I laid down to nap and drifted into this dream where I knew I was dreaming and was trying desperately to wake up for what seemed like 20 minutes. Sometimes the weirdest thing happens where I am dreaming that I am having sleep paralysis and desperately try to wake up, but when I wake up I am still in a dream... Sometimes I wake up and my eyes open, and by closing my eyes for a milisecond I am paralyzed again. Ughh what a nightmare it is.

The episodes occur more and more frequently lately.... I read somewhere that opiates precipitate this problem for people or cause it... sometimes I take xanax at night too which I think could be making it worse too. Does anyone here experience this too? Is there ANY trick at all to waking up? I try my hardest to move the best I can, to use all my energy to wake up but nothing works except time. Let me know your experiences with this.

i got the same effects, especially with propoxyphene and methadone (maybe cuz of their NMDA activity?) but to some extent with oxycodone and heroin too. i'm not sure if its a REM thing, i'm sure opiate abuse would muck with your REM activity somewhat. but i certainly got plenty of hypnogogic/hypnopompic hallucinations, that only went away with increased abuse and tolerance (which really isnt a good solution for sleep problems).

 

[Nikolai]

Happens to me quite frequently. Not as much lately as Ive got more tolerant, but especially when I started oxymorphone it happened a lot. I gueass its a potential part of the nod that has to be accepted. I would usually have a dream of some kind and then when "waking" up I would think I couldnt move, breath, or yell even though I was trying to. It can be scary.

 

[K'd-OUT-in-AZ]

Sleep paralysis commonly happens to me, probably once a week. Its like I'm half awake while still dreaming. I feel stuck to my bed and can't do anything about it. I start to feel as if I'm having a panic attack. I have to really fight to move. Its awful. I don't know if its attributed to opiates or not. I take Suboxone and Klonopin but I've heard that stimulants can cause this and I'm on Adderall. Who knows, but it happens to me weekly and its always scary.

 

[fm1983]

I got it all the time when I used oxy. Couple nights a week at the least.

But I've come to almost enjoy it though now, and learned the signs of when it's about to start. I play a game and try to see how long I can fight it off before I get caught in the paralysis and then try to fight my way out. Only a few times have I seen crazy "creatures" while in it, it's insane.

 

[Faded .45]

That same thing used to happen to me occasionally when I was on an opiate.
The worst part is that for me it always felt pretty much like having a nightmare while being awake.
I would "dream" that there were these horrible things happening. For example, once I dreamed that there was a pack of rabid dogs sneaking into my bedroom, and all I had to do was scream to make them go away but I would try to scream and it would come out as a whisper. I was partly awake though, and I would try to move, and I couldn't.

Really freaky to have happen to you...

 

[habboz]

That same thing used to happen to me occasionally when I was on an opiate.
The worst part is that for me it always felt pretty much like having a nightmare while being awake.
I would "dream" that there were these horrible things happening. For example, once I dreamed that there was a pack of rabid dogs sneaking into my bedroom, and all I had to do was scream to make them go away but I would try to scream and it would come out as a whisper. I was partly awake though, and I would try to move, and I couldn't.

Really freaky to have happen to you...

This has happend to me before, except mine was that there was a spider on my wall and right when i saw it while i was "paralyzed" I regained control and woke up and literally like sprang up in my bed

It was alot more scary tho lol

 

[xentech]

A lot of people in this thread need to read about "sleep paralysis", they appear to not quite understand what it is and why it happens. It's completely unrelated to drug taking but that's not to say drugs can't induce it.

 

[bronson]

I've had some fairly scary nightmares before that seemed very real, though I'm not sure that they would actually qualify as sleep paralysis. The type of thing that takes a little while to come to terms with the fact it was just a dream, and everything is fine once you wake up.

On the other had, I've had one or two very visual and interesting dreams that were just fun, not scary in the least.

Normally I almost never remember my dreams.

 

[jaystyle]

thanks for sharing experiences everyone... Its true, sleep paralysis happens regardless of drug use but after reading around a bit it sounds like drugs definately precipitate it--- especially opiates & MDMA it seems.

No matter how many times I've had sleep paralysis, it is always ranging from extremely uncomfortable to absolutely horrifying when it happens.

For those that never had it--- go lay on your bed and close your eyes. Now imagine if out of nowhere, you lost complete control of your eye lids and muscles altogether. You could hear people come in your room--- your parents, your tv--- you hear conversations in the background--- but you cant move no matter what you do. What if they see you paralyzed and try to wake you but you remain paralyzed and cant move? They will think your dead! You start to have a panic attack--- you feel your heart and you gasp for breathe--- before you became paralyzed, a pillow was right in front of your face and you can barely breathe in the position you are in but you cant move or do anything about it. You put every ounce of energy and willpower you have into trying to move your eyelids but they are heavy as bricks, and your pinky finger has turned to stone and wont budge. As if the prospect of being paraylized was not already horrifying in itsself, but in addition to the paralysis your mind becomes delirious and paranoid, while 100% conscious, and you believe perhaps there are monsters, insects or dangerous people who want to hurt you but you cant move or scream for help... maybe you think you are having a heart attack or dying in your sleep? You hear strange whispers and sinister noises that aren't really there.... You wish you could wake up to defend yourself but you cant no matter how hard you try.

When you finally wake up, you are gasping for breath and you flail your limbs because in your paralysis you were putting enermous strength and effort into moving your body. THANK GOD IT IS OVER!! It was a terrible experience and you are scared of going back to sleep since it may happen again. Your eyes close for a split second and you feel a tingly sensation go from your brain, down your spain, to your toes.... You lose complete control of your limbs AGAIN--- YOu only closed you eyes for ONE SECOND, now you cant open them no matter how hard you try! The hellish cycle begins again and you try desperately to keep your cool and not hyperventilate... you try your best to be patient as you lay there, lifelessly paralyzed while your anxiety goes through the roof and your mind plays cruel tricks on you.

Think about that guys... its the fucking worst thing in the world and you are so lucky you don't have it. Yet, those of us that DO have it all have a special unique experience that although terrifying, is quite phenomenal--- my friends who dont have it (99% of them) just will never understand the feeling of SP, and neither will the rest of you until it happens one day.

 

[xentech]

My mom gets it when she is stressed, sounds horrible.

I've read about how you can learn to lucid dream, and when you go into paralysis you will be able to control it and just turn it into a lucid dream or something. Might be worth looking at.

 

[coopie]

I had some sleep paralysis before I ever used opiates - and it scared the hell out of me! but now it happens everytime i'm on opiates - and for some reason doesn't freak me out (probably because I somehow find it more comforting as a drug induced phenomena - rather than a sober phenomena). I also have had other strange sleep occurances on opiates - like waking up to the sound of someone knocking on the door and then no one being home or if I leave TV on what's on the TV is what I start dreaming about. - that's my experience.

 

[avcpl]

5mg of Ambien does the trick for me.