WHY YOU CAN’T STAY AWAKE: OTHER TYPES OF DOES – SLEEP PARALYSIS
As we have seen, narcoleptics occasionally experience muscle paralysis associated with the onset or termination of sleep. The same problem can afflict nonnarcoleptic people as well. Patients lie unable to move any muscles, except those around the eyes. In some cases the victim suffers formication—the frightening sense that bugs are crawling over the body—or other hallucinations. Sleep paralysis, which is inherited through the mother, may be a dysfunction of the REM mechanism responsible for inhibiting muscle movement during dreams. There may also be a dietary basis for the problem in hypokalemic individuals—those with low or depleted levels of potassium, an electrolyte necessary for muscle function.If you suffer from an attack of sleep paralysis, concentrate on moving your eyes as vigorously as you can. Blink, if possible. Then try moving individual muscles in your face, slowly and systematically working your way down your body. Such activity has been shown to terminate the paralysis.*160\226\8*
