Hi kpeace, I am not sure if I can be of any help, but at least you will know you are not alone in this. My experience was pretty embarrassing for me and until now I have never told anyone but my sister. I think I was caught in some kind of nightmare but I dont recall anything before I "woke up" I was however able to open my eyes I could see my entire bedroom, and I could see my arms and legs. The paralysis was terrifyng because I could see my body struggling to move. Part of me realized I must still be dreaming because I felt like I was being held down by two different invisable entities. (thats the crazy embarrassing part) I was also able to yell out because I was cussing something fierce telling them to leave me alone. I think I woke myself up with my loudest and final shout for them to get the ** out, almost immediatly after I was able to raise my head and shoulders off of the bed all I can remember after that was feeling incredibly tired and I passed back out. scarrier still is when I woke that morning I could recall every detail of the dream. I recently caught part of a documentery on dreaming and they had talked about the different stages of sleep. During REM swhile sleep something in the body causes a sort of paralysis to "keep you safe" while in active sleep. most sleep walkers lack this and that is what can cause them to act out their dreams physically. I personally have never slept walked before but this is the only conclution that I can logically come up with, that some how I must have half woken up during REM sleep when my body was still in paralysis mode.
Kristy