Had a quite disturbing text from my eldest who is in France on her third year of a modern language degree.

It was at 5am and she wanted to know if I was awake as she needed to talk.

I then got another text saying :

I just had a complete freak out which has never happened before and i'm really shaken. I just woke up and there was a figure standing over me and i shouted for my fla+mate and tried to get out of bed but my leg was like paralysed, but the figure disappeared and i managed to stumble to my flatroom's room and i eventually woke him up but i am so scared right now

As you can imagine I was quite shocked thinking the worst :-O

I then got another text to say that her flat mate Tom had done a really good look round and had found nothing suspicious.

I then realised it must have been a very frightening dream considering how real she felt it was.

Did some research and have found it is called sleep paralysis which often is accompanied by seeing somebody in the room

I have calmed her down now as think it was very upsetting for her but wondered if anybody has experienced this or had children that have had this ?

She isn't on any medication or taking recreational drugs so not any side effects from that.

I have had it once many years ago - but I still remember it as it was so frightening.  I was asleep in my bedroom & woke to find the menacing dark outline of a man standing at the bottom of the bed.  He came round to the side and sat on the bed - I honestly felt the movement of the bed as he sat down.  I couldn't move or do anything.  I guess I slowly became properly awake and realised that I had been dreaming.   But I will never forget how terrified I felt - I was living alone at the time.

However - I have never had one since . . .  So I guess nothing to worry about - but very frightening at the time.

Very frightening and by the look of it , it doesn't happen on a regular basis so hopefully it won't happen again !

Glad she has a nice flat mate as it must have been horrible being on your own !

Working for a few decades as a night nurse I saw many weird sleep patterns/nightmares, about 3 were similar to what you described, patients being convinced that someone was either stood by or sat on their bed, they were never in modern day clothes so weren't another patient or staff member, they also said they couldn't move to get out of bed or touch the person and when they had shouted out everything returned to normal and they settled again after a cuppa, when I mentioned it each time to a medic they said it is just one of the many stages of dreaming and nothing to worry about, the vital signs on each occassion were normal as were the neuro examinations.

I have witnessed ghosts a couple of times at 2 very old hospitals I have worked in so when patients report to have seen somebody it is hard to know if they too have seen a ghost or they have dreamt it.

Chances are it won't happen again, I never saw it twice in the same patient, so tell her not to worry.

Gosh yes -happened to me a LOT in our old house. I'd wake up, hear the bedroom door open and close, feel how somebody laid down in bed next to me and put their arm over me or even laid down on top of me (I had my back turned to the door) and I'd not be able to move -or scream. I swear that house was haunted. It stopped entirely after we moved house. It happened regularly in the old house, most mornings and only ever after my husband had left for work early in the morning. Many times I was certain it was my husband coming back but each time when I was finally able to move and speak again there was nobody there.

This has happened to me twice, oddly enough both times when I was in the back bedroom with litters of puppies. I didn't see anyone but I couldn't move or speak. I can understand how distressed your daughter was as it was petrifying.

Yes I suffer from Sleep Paralysis, have done since I was a teenager, it's not as frequent or severe now, but it's very disturbing when it happens.
I used to " see " people come into the room when I was younger, but not now, now I just get the paralysis, and difficulty breathing, sometimes feel as if I'm going to suffocate.
To break out of it I concentrate on moving one limb, which usually does the trick in waking me up properly.
I can go months without an incident, and then have a cluster .

I had it quite a few times during my Uni years.  On one occasion, it happened when I fell asleep on my housemate's bed while he was studying at a desk in the corner so he was wide awake and fully conscious and could confirm that I'd just been dreaming because there could defintely not be anyone in the room.  It became a bit less terrifying after that. 

Didn't happen again for years until the first night at home after Sasha was born.  I think it much be stress related!

i had this before, on holiday with friends parents. They heard me screaming and were so worried that someone had got into our room that they sent the dog in first.
When they followed after the dog they found me sat on the edge of the bed screaming and lashing out at someone (although there was nobody there). I can remember it was such a vivid dream and genuinely felt real. They spoke to me calmly and told me to go back to sleep and I did. It has never happened since although i do have nightmares but nothing this severe.
Is your daughter stressed/upset/not sleeping well as these things can sometimes trigger a disturbed night.

No she is fine having great time where she is so not stressed.

I think it was just one of those things and hopefully like most people it is unlikely to happen again.

Horrible if it happens more for you though

Had it too, when I was younger quite a few times. It is very frightening the not being able to move part scares you to death and I once had the figure standing over me, which resulted in me screaming once I could move, as it is not just your body, you can't speak or make a noise either. I don't know whether it is hormones, stress or what which causes it.

The worst one was not long after I was married, I came to, screaming my head off to find I'd scratched my husbands face. :-(

I've not had any since my children were born and I had them on and off for approx 3 years beforehand, it was a very strange time.

You can understand where all of these alien stories come from can't you? :-D

I think the not being able to screaming be the worst thing :-0

Yes, it is. :-D

I hope this conversation doesn't make it come back!!!

> I think the not being able to screaming be the worst thing :-0

Yes, I think we have all experienced the odd nightmare in our lives, oddly enough I had my worst on my honeymoon, Carrington, although I have kindly put it down to the fact that we were touring and sleeping in a different bed practically every night rather than any terrors about my choice of husband :), but not being able to scream move or react is a feature of this particular night terror, that thankfully, very few of us will experience. 
My guess is it would be stress related but the fact that it seems to so often happen to the young also suggests to me some sort of development stage, perhaps when the brain is being so busy taking in so much new information that a little overload occurs.  At least it is something that is generally grown out of, if it even ever occurs again.

Keep away from the cheese and scary films for a few days !

oddly enough I had my worst on my honeymoon

:-D :-D So funny, that we both did that after getting married, luckily they have both stayed around. ;-)

Keep away from the cheese and scary films for a few days !

Very good idea, don't want anything to encourage that again. :-D At least you can tell your daughter it's not uncommon and even though scary will do her no harm. :-)

Yes I have and it is a big relief to know and is feeling much better after a good nights sleep last night !

Thanks all for sharing your experiences

I often had something like that, I think I can't breathe and I can't shout to my OH to help me, my mouth opens but no noise comes out.  It is really scary and I'm usually in tears when I wake up.  I went through a period of  having it every couple of months but thank godness it hasn't happened for a while.
Hope she is OK and it was a one off.

J xx

That must be horrible to have it happen alot , wonder if it is related to sub conscious thoughts about your CF :-(

How has the IV gone today ?

Had it once too and it was quite terrifying at the time. Not being able to even scream is the scariest thing. I had been watching the candyman though so entirely self inflicted. From what I vaguely remember it was buzzy things that were at me not people but I'm more afraid of buzzy things than people anyway :-)

I've often wondered about that.  My Prof. keeps reminding me that CF isn't to blame for all my illnesses/aches/pains, lol ;-)

IVs tomorrow! BOOOOO! xx

Good luck and hope it goes well x

Oh I don't know I would rather be friend a horse fly than some of the people I have unfortunately been privileged to know !

Lol but buzzy things that sting are nearly as bad as moths for me 'shudder'