Sleep paralisis on xanax and other benzos

[pirates_]

I used to be able to pop bars, drink and smoke weed all in one night all while being able to wake up in the morning feeling fresh andrefreshed. Now, if i take even the slightest dosage of any benzo, i get bad sleep paralysis. Does this happen to anyone else? It never fails, it sucks because i love benzos..I cant even take a .mg xanax without this happening, someone help me plssss

 

[MatthewD]

Just to clarify, isn't sleep paralysis where you wake up during the night, but your body doesn't respond, accompanied by terror? I used to live with a girl who was petrified to sleep alone because of this. She would wake up with no control of her body and have terrifying hallucinations, convincing her she was about to get raped, murdered etc.

 

[effie]

Just to clarify, isn't sleep paralysis where you wake up during the night, but your body doesn't respond, accompanied by terror? I used to live with a girl who was petrified to sleep alone because of this. She would wake up with no control of her body and have terrifying hallucinations, convincing her she was about to get raped, murdered etc.

Yup, that sounds like sleep paralysis. It most often happens when you are falling asleep and you lose motor control, or when you wake up and you become conscious before you regain motor control. It's often acompanied by terrifying things - I've only had it once (but investigated it a bit) and it was horrible - I thought I was going to die cos a monster was after me. Sounds daft now but when you can't move it's hellish!

pirates, I've not heard of this being associated with benzos but it kinda makes sense in my head (although I can't explain why). Hopefully someone else will come up with something.

Of course, it could be coincidental - some people get it for no reason, and my boyfriend always gets it after he's been talking about it... he told me the best thing to do is keep calm, try to remember it's happened loads before and concentrate on moving one finger or toe (think Kill Bill stylee) then once you've done that sit up suddenly and try not to go back to sleep for a while - chat to someone or read a book..

I hope it stops soon!

 

[gman7104]

I embrace sleep paralysis, it's like a trip to me.

Either way, pot keeps sleep paralysis away for me. I havent had them in at least a year because of pot

 

[BananasAndOranges]

Sleep paralysis is not fun. Wtf. Maybe i have apnea but whenever i get these noone ever witnessed it besides my friend and he said i shake my head around and it feels like im suffocating and he said i was breathing.....i dont know what i have but its not fun wtf

 

[effie]

Lets keep this on track - the OP asked about sleep paralysis after benzos. If you haven't got any experience in that, or tips for how to stop/defeat it then it'd be wonderful if you'd not just post your experiences! However, do come over to the social thread and chat about sleep paralysis to your hearts content..

 

[saladfingers]

Sleep paralysis is basically your mind thinking you're still asleep whilst you've regained consciousness, when we sleep and get put into REM (rapid eye movement) our bodies muscles are put into a state of paralysis as a method of protecting one self, to not go wandering off while we sleep, or to prevent us from waking up. I personally don't see it as a negative thing, look up astral projection and lucid dreams and you'll find you can have a bonus natural high flying off into space or doing whatever you want to since your mind still thinks you're in dream mode

 

[missy713]

YES this happens to me every single time I take Xanax before bed. It is crazy... it relaxes me so I like to take it at night but never fails, I always get SP. Sorry, I have no answers for you but I feel you! Sometimes it's scary, sometimes just annoying because all I want to do is sleep!

 

[Partykid12]

I know a girl that has this and I have had this before but not nearly as much as my friend. She constantly has this and reports that she sees dead people in the corner of the room and she can't do anything about it. I think it is a cool thing to happen if you just wake up and don't have control of your body but the second you start seeing things like dead people in the corner of the room, it becomes not so fun. I have never had this from Benzos but I can see where this might happen. However, whenever this happens to me it doesn't affect whether or not I wake up feeling refreshed in the morning.. Does the OP really mean sleep paralysis or does he mean waking up with a hangover? Two completely different things.

 

[Tripman]

Wow there is a name for this? I get sleep paralysis nightly...

 

[missy713]

There are some freaky stories and theories about it being more than just a sleep disorder. I use to think it was more of a spiritual/evil thing and when I did, my experiences were extremely scary and evil feeling.. now that I am not as scared and don't think it's evil, it's usually not scary... although sometimes it is... like the other night it was like I could see through my eyelids and I could see shadows of spirits in my room. I couldn't move.. It kept happening for at least an hour. At one point I felt like I was shaking so bad that the bed was shaking, but my husband said I was just shaking a little. At another point I felt like I sat up really fast during it, but it was in SP.. so weird. It can be cool when you feel like you are having an OBE -I have had 1 extremely vivid experience where I really think I left my body. If you have it, try to concentrate on leaving your body, it is scary until you feel as if you get “out.” It might be just a mind thing but it is pretty cool either way! PM me if you want to talk about some experiences! I have some cool stories.