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Mel1219

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Hi. My name is Melody. I'm 26 years old.

I've had what i thought was sleep paralysis pretty much as long as i can remember. Either as i'm falling asleep or waking up sometimes I get the sensation that there is pressure on me. All i can do is open and my close my eyes. If i open my eyes, i hallucinate. I'm used to this now and usually just close my eyes and wait for it to pass. I do have a panic disorder and if i've been particularly anxious, i can expect to have an episode.

In the past few months i have noticed an increase in intensity. And in the past few weeks a dramatic increase in intensity. This is what has been happening:

. I've been alot more anxious, but now the anxiety is accompanied by heart palpitations and the sensation that my brain is trying to get me to breathe differently...like what i am doing is not synching up to what my brain wants to me to do.

. Sometimes during the day i feel confused and lethargic. I can't concentrate and i have perceived visual disturbances.

. When i lay down now...sometimes i hear this buzzing sound, sometimes the buzzing is accompanied by muffled voices or distant music. The buzzing gets louder and louder then it's not a sound anymore, it's a physical sensation. It throbs in my head and ears and i see flashes of light.

.the sensation washes over me. Feels like tingly/numb electricity. Sometimes in this phase i'll have a spontaneous orgasm, which is a disturbing thing. I am fully conscious as the sensation increases. If i move, it goes away, but returns when i lay still. If my husband touches me during this, i feel like wherever he is touching me is completely numb...i can't tell he is touching me, it just feels like that part of my body has gone absolutely numb and my arms involuntary slap him away.

. The sensation reaches it's peak and i cannot move at all. Even opening my eyes is a chore. If i manage to open my eyes, they flutter. My husband caught it on video. I can't control the urge to scream. I try with all my might to scream but all i manage to make are these weak moaning sounds. My husband shakes me out of it.

. I try to to go back to sleep, but it happens all over again. Up to eight times a night. Usually i can get at least a little sleep.

. I wake up and feel very confused for awhile. Sometimes, i get a mild version of the tingly sensation that comes and goes for few minutes. I feel anxious, irritable and disoriented for most of the day. I have a headache most of the time. It's always behind my eyes.

I had two MRI's done and they showed no abnormalities in my brain. I've never had a seizure before in my life. I don't know what's going on and i'm terrified to try and sleep. It even happens during the say if i try to take nap.

Someone please give me some input.

Mel
 
P.S your husband should not " shake you out of it", you should be allowded to recover (even if you scream) and then in peace and gentleness required, you should not be restrained but comforted.
 
I come out of it as soon as he moves me a little bit. I'm not trying to argue with anyone though, I know you all know more about this than me. I'm just pointing out that it's not violent "OH MY GOD WHAT'S WRONG" shaking, he just nudges me a little and I snap right out of it. But i fall right back into as I fall back asleep. Like I said, a few times a night. Several times last night and today I'm super out of it. Very irritable and teary. It happened 3 times earlier when i tried to take a nap. Thank you for advice.
 
I read everything and to me it seems that at night I've been getting 'gelastic seizures' and yes they are associated with my cycle.
But what concerns me is that reading through I noticed that alot of other symptoms that I have been chalking up to worsening anxiety: funny taste in mouth, strange smells (to a mild degree), pit in stomach and closed feeling in throat. Also the heart palpitations and feeling like i'm fighting against my brain when i breathe...I thought my panic was just getting worse. I never thought seizures because I've never gone unconscious and i remember everything.
 
Thanks. I feel off right now. I've felt off all day. From what I have been reading it seems like during the day I have been experiencing constant auras (like for hours) that never culminate into a seizure (accept at night when i am going to sleep). I don't really know anything about seizures, so i don't know how feasible that is. I just know I've never lost consciousness or memory or thrashed around or had jerky movements.
 
Hi Mel1219, welcome!

The majority of seizure disorders don't involve the "classic" seizure where you lose consciousness and your limbs twitch. It's more common to have what are called Simple Partial Seizures -- also known as auras when they precede a larger seizure. There's no loss of consciousness during a SimplePartial, just unusual sensations, feelings, or movements. More info here: http://www.epilepsy.com/epilepsy/seizure_simplepartial
 
I get sleep paralysis, occassionally. It usually happens when I keep getting woken up and go back to sleep. I HATE that feeling and I just wish that my husband can catch me when it happens. I would love for him to just get me to snap out of it.

When it happens my eyes feel like they are open, I can hear conversations that seem real, occasionally I'll see things, and I can't move a muscle. It's scary. When it happens I'm just crying for someone to snap me out of it.
 
Hi Mel,
I get sleep paralysis a few times a year, and it's very similar to what you described. It happens right after I fall asleep or as I'm waking up. My whole body starts buzzing and I can't move. My ears ring really loudly, and I can hardly keep my eyes open. My breathing is really weird, too. If I just try to let myself drift off to sleep again, I'll end up in the middle of the dream I was having, but I get so nervous no matter what it's about and I just want to be out of it. Sometimes I think I've rolled over in bed or moved but when I open my eyes, it turns out I'm still in the same position and still paralyzed. If I expend all my energy to get a pinky or toe to move, I snap right out of it. But I have to roll over in bed or sit up for a second because if I just stay in the same position and fall back to sleep again, the exact same thing happens.
I did online research about sleep paralysis and I read that it's not related to seizures. But the only time I get it is around a period of time when I've been having seizures. Someone on here once described their frontal lobe epilepsy nocturnal seizures, and it sounded exactly the same. And my simple partial seizures also originate from my frontal lobe. So I almost wonder if what I think is sleep paralysis is actually a nocturnal seizure, and not actual sleep paralysis even though they sound so similar.
Anyway, just wanted to let you know you're not alone and that it definitely could be related to seizures.
 
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Hey, I have seizures where I don't shake or anything, I just become paralyzed. It scared me at first but now I just get annoyed and wish they didn't last so long.

While it's unlikely fibromyalgia I thought I'd add that fibromyalgia can cause disturbances such as buzzing in ears, light disturbances and numb, tingling limbs. I don't know if epilepsy can cause that too but I thought it might make you feel calmer to know that illnesses can cause these issues. So don't freak out over your sanity (cause I know I did when I first experienced these kinds of issues)

Good luck! <3
 
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