Why did my legs and arms go numb when I woke up this morning?

0 votes
asked Sep 6, 2016 in Other- Health by Pat (260 points)
This morning when I woke up. I couldn't move my legs or my arms and had completely lost the feeling in them.

I could not move and was basically paralyzed for around 15 minutes. It really scared me and I was relieved when I was able to move again.

Should I be worried about this and what caused my whole body to basically go numb?

I've had an arm go numb before but never my whole body.

1 Answer

0 votes
answered Sep 7, 2016 by Bdog2 (3,910 points)

It's called Sleep Paralysis and is nothing to worry about. It happens to me sometimes too. 

Sleep paralysis is a phenomenon in which an individual, either during falling asleep or awakening, temporarily experiences an inability to move, speak, or react.

It is a transitional state between wakefulness and sleep, characterized by an inability to move muscles. It is often accompanied by terrifying hallucinations to which one is unable to react due to paralysis, and physical experiences (such as strong current running through the upper body). These hallucinations often involve a person or supernatural creature suffocating or terrifying the individual, accompanied by a feeling of pressure on one's chest and difficulty breathing. Another common hallucination type involves intruders (human or supernatural) entering one's room or lurking outside one's window, accompanied by a feeling of dread.

One hypothesis is that it results from disrupted REM sleep, which normally induces complete muscle atonia to prevent sleepers from acting out their dreams. Genetics and sleep deprivation are a major cause of sleep paralysis,[1] and it has also been linked to disorders such as narcolepsy,migrainesanxiety disorders, and obstructive sleep apnea.[2][3] Sleeping in a fixed supine position increases the chance of sleep paralysis.

101,240 questions

96,955 answers

1,288 comments

7,001,845 users

...