There are many different health conditions out there that can be related back to sleep, and even though sleeping too little (insomnia) or sleeping too much (hypersomnia) is the most common one’s most articles and guides think of to tell you about first, it’s not the only sleep-related health condition that might affect you.
Sleep paralysis is one of the most common sleeping conditions out there: It can be terrifying, and it can sometimes make people imagine that they’re being trapped in their beds by some invisible force when all it is, in reality, is the body going through its natural processes (and firing neurons off at random) in order to relieve tension before the body falls asleep.
Although it’s normal, it can have associated symptoms like nightmares, temporary auditory and visual hallucinations, numbness, tingling and an overwhelming feeling of panic. Sleep paralysis can sometimes also indicate the presence of other sleeping disorders that need to be diagnosed.
Here are 14 common symptoms of sleep paralysis that you should know about.
1. A feeling of tingling in the limbs
One of the first symptoms that you might be experiencing sleep paralysis appears as the feeling of numbness or tingling in the extremities which spreads to the rest of the body from there.
Accompanying symptoms might also be felt at the same time, including a feeling of being “weighed down” by a person sitting on the chest or a weighted blanket even though there is nothing there to match the imagined weight. Other symptoms of sleep paralysis are likely to happen a few minutes after the first tingling and numbness is felt.
If the feeling of numbness or tingling in the legs also occurs during the time you are awake, you should consider it a potential sign of something more than sleep paralysis – and make an appointment with your doctor to find out what else the symptom might mean for your health. There are many things that can cause numbness in the limbs, including heart or circulatory conditions or diabetes. All are best diagnosed early.
