Ok, apparently beginning this research and putting the subject of SP out there has (as I suspected it would ...) brought on a slew of SP "attacks". 4 rolling cycles to be exact.
Having stayed up until around midnight (give or take) last night I went to bed tired and wired at the same time. Prior to finally dragging myself to bed I had been dreading the very thought - KNOWING it would happen - KNOWING I would be faced with the fear of going to sleep. As it is most every night (and if I cave and take a nap), I lay down with great anxiety, fearing the Dark One will visit. I close my eyes and whip them open to look around the room ... I move my hand, my arm, cough or clear my throat to be sure I am truly awake. If strange dream-like visions come into my head, I repeat this test of wakefulness yet again. Sometimes I will hear my name spoken when I KNOW it clearly was not spoken.
Eventually, after at least a good hour of half falling asleep only to jerk myself awake I did succumb and fall asleep. Soon I was there and there he was; only he was different this time. I must have somehow injected a sense of humor and personality into this creature because what took place was far beyond my normal "attacks".
Once I realized where I was and what was happening I saw him on top of me - he was dressed kind of like a "superhero" ... I know - totally weird. Anyway, we spoke back and forth. He stating "Well, here I am Mr. (I forget exactly how he referred to himself). You knew I was coming" and I replied back "I did, I did. How are you? Good to see you." All this while he pressed down so hard on my ribs it was causing excruciating pain. We maintained a slight conversation back and forth with discussions as to who would visit me next ... he proceeded to press down on my ribs and as is the Dark One's usual repertoire, once I took a breath in he would press down as hard as humanly (or non-humanly) possible so I wasn't able to get the satisfaction of releasing a full breath. This of course was accompanied by the same excruciating pain. At this point the pain is so unbearable that I actually fear my ribs will break and grow concerned that I may have a heart attack and die in my sleep. I can actually feel the bones move and almost crack.
He proceeds to stick his hands in my mouth and in a sickly manner press his fingers all around my gums with my jaw gaping wide-open almost beyond what one would consider possible. (this part probably sounds a bit funny but, I swear it was awful! Not to mention the fact that he was doing that at the same time as pressing on my ribs - how is that possible?!!).
After this went on for a few minutes he changed into a new Dark One ... and then another as if they were working shifts! It was very odd ... My subconscious caught onto this and putting it together with the notion that they were all "workers" I requested Mr. Superniceguy (remember - they all had strange darksuperhero type names) and "poof" I was in this building where a whole bunch of them were walking around, clocking in, eating lunch etc. I was being led to Mr. Superniceguy who then proceeded to walk me out the door (apparently you go through a door to get back to bed?) and then I woke up. It was by far the strangest SP episode I've had yet. I even remember walking by the other Dark Ones who I had previously been taunted by.
I would like to expand on the idea that the Dark One's were "workers" and my feeling as if I would die of a heart attack from the pain. At the time, the fear I might die was more from the pain then from any malice on his part. Oddly, I actually felt as though he was simply "doing his job" - earning his keep...
By the time I truly woke up the familiar feeling of utter exhaustion had taken me. I so desperately wanted to go back to sleep but knew if I did I would fall back into another rolling cycle so I managed to get myself up out of bed for a few minutes. Eventually, I went back to sleep and didn't have another instance.
As is "the curse" with SP - if you're thinking about it when you go to sleep - it will happen. I was hoping that by getting it out on the table and researching it that might not occur. I was wrong. I will however continue to research it and note my episodes here every time I can.
I will also state that I was NOT lying on my back last night and most often times I am NOT lying on my back when it occurs, so the theory that you can prevent it from occurring by simply not laying in the supine position is complete bunk.
Additionally, although it didn't occur this time, there have been instances when after a night of battling with the Dark One I have had residual pain in my ribs the next day. There was one time in particular that they were actually painful to the touch as if I had bruised ribs! How that's possible is beyond me. If we are hallucinating - are our minds truly that capable?
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