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Tourette's syndrome - paralyzation

Hello, my name is Adam. I am 16 years old and I live in Sweden.

I was diagnosed with tourette's syndrome when I was 6 years old. I haven't had any symptoms in many years now, so everything has been going quite well for me. I never had any extreme symptoms in the first place. Only some minor habits like tapping tables with my fingers and having my schoolbooks in a strict order etc. And even those have faded off. Or so I thought until recently.

In the past 7-8 months there have been 3 occasions when I had woken up from sleep and I have been completely paralyzed from head to toe. I've ignored it so far, as I could start moving after about 10-20 seconds of trying. I thought it must have been my sleeping position or that's what I wanted to convince myself anyway. I also thought I may have some problems with my spine but I didn't want to believe it.

What made me post here is this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=voWvGM1WIU4&feature=related 2:54
The person there has Tourette's syndrome and he has had same kind of experiences of paralyzation. I had not associated the problem with tourette's syndrome in any way, and I found the video by accident. In my case it's not like I couldn't feel my body or that I couldn't move it, it's more like I didn't know how to move it. Like losing your ability to move any part of your body. I couldn't talk either. And like in the video, the only thing I could do is move my eyes and control my breathing.

My question is: can it be a symptom of tourette's syndrome or is it something else? Additionally is there any possibility of it being normal? Normal as in it not having anything to do with a mental illness or spinal oolumn. I have not had any symptoms of tourette's syndrome in over 5 years. Other than possibly this.

So far I haven't even told anyone about it as it has only happened 3 times in the past 7-8 months and for such a short period of time.

Sincerely,
Adam B.

Re: Tourette's syndrome - paralyzation

You should google sleep paralysis. It's a common enough occurence where you are at the edge of sleep. You are aware but your motor functions are still asleep.

Re: Tourette's syndrome - paralyzation

So it's normal? Thank god. I've been worried sick over it.

Thanks for the quick reply.


edit: I read about sleep paralyzation and also about narcolepsy. I wonder why those guys in the video are connecting the paralyzation to tourette's syndrome. I haven't heard of other cases where there is a symptom of paralyzation in tourette's. Couldn't it as well be narcolepsy if he just gets paralyzed when awake? I did think his symptoms were a bit weird.
Anyway I got my answer and I'm glad for it.