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sagan
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21 Jan 2011, 2:36 am

Hey Everyone. I am new here. Have always read around the forum but never posted. Really wanted to ask this though. Not sure If anyone has had this happen... Quick background:

I am a self suspecting Aspie, but dont have money for official diagnosis. Anyways I feel I deal well, and books have always helped more than people so I dont really want to see a psychologist, plus I dont really trust them. I am always paranoid they will want to medicate me or worse. =)

OK, so I have problems sleeping, overactive mind. I often experience sleep paralysis, when your mind is still awake, but the body goes to sleep and you cant move. Sometimes while this happens, I also have visual and auditory and other hallucinations.. Could this be schizophrenia? Or schizotypal behaviour?? I am just not sure if this is something I should worry about, or if it is normal.

It just that these things I hear plus really repetitive thoughts from the suspected Aspieness, and overall weirdness, I often feel I might be going insane =)

Thoughts, experiences with this anyone?? Thanksss



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21 Jan 2011, 2:42 am

That doesn't sound like Asperger's or any other autism spectrum disorder. That's a shame that you can't see a psychologist... they help you in ways books can't, so I'd still keep trying if I were you.



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21 Jan 2011, 3:35 am

Hypnogognic hallucinations are a normal part of sleep paralysis. It does not indicate any form of psychosis.



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21 Jan 2011, 12:26 pm

If these things are only happening at night, its probably nothing to worry about. If it starts happening during the day then it is something to worry about I would imagine.



syrella
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21 Jan 2011, 1:06 pm

Ohh, I've had issues with sleep paralysis before. It's often very scary and stressful because you realize that you're sleeping, but you can't do anything about it. I haven't known many other people that've dealt with it before.

It doesn't happen so often to me anymore, though for awhile it did. It tends to happen more often when I nap, or when I go back to sleep after having been awake for a bit. Also, I'm not sure, but I found it may have been related to my blood sugar levels or metabolism. Example being that I was more likely to experience an episode if I'd eaten before I went to bed. Have you noticed any such correlation before?

As others have said, though, so long as this is happening at night, you should be fine. If it starts happening during the day or if it starts becoming a serious problem in your day-to-day functioning, that's when you need to start seeking help and medical advice.



sagan
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21 Jan 2011, 6:29 pm

Yes it is totally scary if you dont know whats going on, but once you know what it is, its not as bad...

Has anyone ever tried lucid dreaming? Whenever you feel this sleep paralysis, if you hold onto consciousness a couple seconds more, you go into your dream world consciously and can control everything.. Its quite fun..



syrella
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21 Jan 2011, 8:09 pm

sagan wrote:
Yes it is totally scary if you dont know whats going on, but once you know what it is, its not as bad...

Has anyone ever tried lucid dreaming? Whenever you feel this sleep paralysis, if you hold onto consciousness a couple seconds more, you go into your dream world consciously and can control everything.. Its quite fun..

I tried it before and had a great "flying" dream. :D It's only happened one time, though.



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23 Jan 2011, 4:33 pm

sagan wrote:
Yes it is totally scary if you dont know whats going on, but once you know what it is, its not as bad...

Has anyone ever tried lucid dreaming? Whenever you feel this sleep paralysis, if you hold onto consciousness a couple seconds more, you go into your dream world consciously and can control everything.. Its quite fun..


LoL i should try this.



Dantac
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24 Jan 2011, 12:35 am

sagan wrote:
Hey Everyone. I am new here. Have always read around the forum but never posted. Really wanted to ask this though. Not sure If anyone has had this happen... Quick background:

I am a self suspecting Aspie, but dont have money for official diagnosis. Anyways I feel I deal well, and books have always helped more than people so I dont really want to see a psychologist, plus I dont really trust them. I am always paranoid they will want to medicate me or worse. =)

OK, so I have problems sleeping, overactive mind. I often experience sleep paralysis, when your mind is still awake, but the body goes to sleep and you cant move. Sometimes while this happens, I also have visual and auditory and other hallucinations.. Could this be schizophrenia? Or schizotypal behaviour?? I am just not sure if this is something I should worry about, or if it is normal.

It just that these things I hear plus really repetitive thoughts from the suspected Aspieness, and overall weirdness, I often feel I might be going insane =)

Thoughts, experiences with this anyone?? Thanksss


It may be schizotypical but it can also be completely natural.

Most likely it is this:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypnagogic_hallucinations

If you experience the 'Old Hag' syndrome more than once a year then you definitely have hypnagogic hallucinations...not schizophrenia.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Hag_Syndrome

My sister had this during her teens and early 20's and she thought she was going batshit crazy. There is no medication for it though after going through several doctors she finally ended up consulting a nutrition specialist. For some time she tried different things to see if there could be something her brain needed (vitamin or what not) to avoid this... and turns out that a small glass of red wine before going to sleep for 3 months made it go away. Its been over 10 years and she has not needed to drink wine nor have it happen since.

Maybe you can try something similar.



syrella
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24 Jan 2011, 9:13 am

Interesting about the red wine. I never would have thought something so simple could make a difference.



Dantac
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24 Jan 2011, 1:11 pm

im not a doctor and what works for one person may not work for you.Consult a nutritionist first.



sagan
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24 Jan 2011, 4:39 pm

Woww I am for sure going to try the red wine thing. Would like this to stop... Because it happens a lot, at least one a week I would say. And it does get annoying / incredibly creepy at times.

Some times when right before the paralysis sets in I hear noises and then feel someone like strangling me. Or then falling reallly fast.. Or being pulled down.. Not cool.



Dantac
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24 Jan 2011, 4:46 pm

If it is very common occurrence you should see a psychiatrist not a psychologist. Do that before trying any self-medication.



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