I have suffered from this condition since a child about 10 years old, I have had periods in my life where it only occured maybe once or twice a year. However in the past several years it has continued to escalate and is now happening a couple times a week. Almost always in the morning or if I lay down for a nap.
My experience is far more than mere hallucinations and paralysis, mine is actually undergoing torture by people I know, I can see, hear, and feel just as clearly as if it was happening in real life. Absolutely nothing abstract about it. I know what it feels like to have your fingernails pulled out by pilers, by burned by a blow torch and being sodomized by various objects.
I suffer complete paralysis and fight so hard to move and get out of the state. Sometimes I actually believe I have gotten out of the dream and I am going on with normal daily activities and feeling a huge sense of releif only to discover that this was part of the dream and actually a trick played on me by my torturers. Things mornings was the worst I have ever had and do not think I will recover from it. My body jerked for a couple of hours after I was awake.
These have become so intense and so frequent I am considering suicide. Please tell me there is someone out their that has had this extreme level.
Hi, welcome to the forum. As robere pointed out it can be Hypnagogic hallucinations which is a component of narcolepsy and also can be associate with Sleep paralysis and Cataplexy (emotionally triggered muscle paralysis resulting in partial or complete collapse). Even certain drugs acting on CNS can cause such visual hallucination. Other CNS causes should be ruled out.
You need to undergo tests like Polysomnography, Multiple Sleep Latency Test and CSF levels of Orexin/Hypocretin which help to substantiate the diagnosis.
Having regular nap for about 20 min during day will help to prevent sleep attacks.
I suggest her to go for the further tests. Take care and regards.
It sounds like you might be experiencing hypnagogic or hypnophobic hallucinations accompanied by sleep paralysis. The hallucinations are usually triggered by some auditory input and most report them to be extremely terrifying in nature, I being one of them. The sleep paralysis is a natural part of the REM cycle but when associated with a sleep disorder it can put a person in a state of awareness while in REM. This awareness allows the person to realize they are paralyzed and is one of the most unsettling things I have ever endured.
If the links are not stripped you can read a little more about them there.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypnagogia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sleep_paralysis