I keep having nightmares that mimic reality almost perfectly

[AO111]

It's happened to me three times this year. In every instance I dreamed that I was asleep and woke up, in my own house, then something bad starts to happen and I can't move or scream. I really don't realize I'm dreaming because like I said it mimics reality. I think the stress of the dream is what eventually wakes me up. A few months back someone told me it's called sleep paralysis in which you are awake enough to know you're dreaming but asleep enough to not be able to move. I don't think that's it though.

[AO111]

Yes I take Celexa but have for years and only recently started having these dreams.

[ticked]

Are you on medication? I find that I have really messed up dreams now that I am on Cymbalta.

[AO111]

Yeah I get what your saying. I think the scariest part of the nightmare is the fact that the dream so closely represents reality. I mean I've had other nightmares that are so far-fetched I know they are nightmares. These other dreams though, it's very hard to tell they are dreams.

[Jerry_NJ]

It sounds like you are in the hard to reach state of Lucid Dreaming - see that subject, including a book by Stephen LaBarges Stanford University.  

My solution to stopping night mares when I was a kid was to condition myself to wake up when the environment was right for a nightmare.  In my case if was I was indeed asleep but the dreams were vivid so that when I woke up I recalled much of the grizzly details, none of which resulted in my death - that may be an important point.  In my case whenever I was in any of the "spooky" places, dark alley behind my home in near the city or a basement ... the nightmare locations I would open my eyes wide - and soon I did the same when dreaming, and it woke me up putting the nightmare to "bed" before it really started.

In Lucid Dreaming the idea is more to take control by knowing you are dreaming, not in waking up.  In a way make conscious use from the dreams.  

It may not help, but it sounds like you are almost in the Lucid state, which isn't easy to achieve.  You simply have to make the step toward controlling, in your case being able to move.  I have no knowledge about sleep paralysis... but it may be possible to use Lucid Dreaming techniques.