Sleep Paralysis....???

I’m sure most of us suffer from irregular sleep patterns at some point during our menstrual cycle. Lately, I have been sleeping more than usual during the day, yet having a hard time falling asleep at night. Well, what I’m about to share seems to happen often around my period; maybe because sleep paralysis, or the feeling of being held down in your sleep, can be a result of poor sleep patterns.

But I don’t know. Here’s my latest experience:

I couldn’t fall asleep, and when I finally did, I woke up at 3am. I went to the bathroom, but while I was in there I heard what sounded like something outside falling. Weird. Probably nothing, but my mind ran with it. I stayed wide awake until 4, when I finally drifted off. But I never fully felt like I went to sleep. I had a long nightmare, or just a suspenseful dream, and then weird shit happened.

My boyfriend and I often sleep in separate rooms. Nothing bad, I’m just horrible to cuddle next to and he has a breathing machine. Anyway, he wakes me up at 6am every morning, and I swear I heard him outside my room, but his normally heavy footsteps sounded light. My bedroom door opened. No footsteps. That’s when I felt this extreme pressure, like 2 hands pressing my head and shoulders farther into the bed. I tried saying “No” and “Dave” because I really thought some presence was doing this and my boyfriend would help. Eventually I forced myself to move, but it was an intense struggle. When I finally sat up, the clock read 4:55.

This isn’t the first time for me, and the vibe I get is always the same. Does anyone else experience this? What can you share? How did you stop this from happening all together?