I can't say I've ever had random sudden heart palpitations, so therefore I don't think it's normal. Take that for what it's worth.

I had a great afternoon! Went to school and worked on my paper some, until I realized that really all I need to do on my thesis is the executive summary and the conclusion. Rock. Got some paperwork taken care of for the identity fraud stuff and made copies at school. Sat in the park reading for a while, and then went and bought two pairs of shoes! I think I might finally have black pumps that actually fit.

Now I'm home. Phew.

I've done that wake up and can't move thing. I read somewhere that that happens when you're actually still asleep and just dreaming that you've woken up. I choose to believe that as it allows me to not worry about it very much.

ita, what you're describing sounds a lot like night terrors/sleep paralysis. Which is when you're dreaming but you think you're awake and paralyzed. I used to get those a lot. I would wake up all freaked out with a thumping heart and everything because, my version of the night terrors came complete with not only the belief that I was awake and paralyzed but, also, that someone was on top of me.

I hate that shit.

So far as I know, it's just that the mechanism which keeps your body from responding to your brain's commands while you're asleep (and thus running and shouting and, say, pissing just because you dreamed you were doing it) hasn't shut down properly (much like Windows).

OK, I should just toss out (recycle) all the articles I've printed out for school that I'll never need again, right?

Yes, Jesse, you should. Release the clutter.

It just seems like such a waste. Ah well -- the cost of printing was included in my tuition, so.

hasn't shut down properly (much like Windows).

So far as I know, it's just that the mechanism which keeps your body from responding to your brain's commands while you're asleep (and thus running and shouting and, say, pissing just because you dreamed you were doing it) hasn't shut down properly (much like Windows).

You just made me snort, Emily.

Fwiw, I get chronic heart palpitations. They suck, but my doc checked rhythms ekg and said it's just nerves.

So far as I know, it's just that the mechanism which keeps your body from responding to your brain's commands while you're asleep (and thus running and shouting and, say, pissing just because you dreamed you were doing it) hasn't shut down properly (much like Windows).

I think I read that it tends to be more common when you wake up out of a deep sleep. And then your half-asleep brain flips out and tries to figure out why you can't move, and it hardly ever comes up with pleasant theories like, "I must be buried in kittens!"

Someone theorized that a fair number of alien abduction stories spring from this, because a lot of them start out with people waking up and discovering that they're mysteriously paralyzed.