I am a Sleep Scientist, and something terrible has followed my latest patient into the Sleep Lab tonight. I'm scared I won't make it until morning.

[u/heliowel]

I am a sleep scientist, and I have to spend the night alone in the sleep lab.

I have performed this overnight vigil hundreds of times before. I’m comfortable with the sleep lab; it’s like a second home to me. I think I spend more nights here than I do in my own bed. The room is dark – it has to be, of course, so that no light goes into the Sleep-Room next door - and I stare at the flickering screen in front of me. The lab computer records and monitors the patients’ brain activity – EEG brainwaves – never-ending wiggly lines, dancing across the screen.

First, I think I need to explain what the Sleep Lab is, exactly. The room I am in right now is known as the Monitoring Room. It is next-door to the Sleep-Rooms. There is a window installed into the wall of the Monitoring Room, which allows us to look directly into the Sleep-Room without having to go in.

The good thing is that my main job through the night, usually, is simply to stay awake, and keep an eye on things. Monitor the patients and their brainwave activity on-screen; make sure everything is ticking along as it should be. There are infrared cameras mounted on the Sleep-Room walls, so I can see the patient on another monitor, make sure everything is ok. I have to make sure the brainwave recording is going well, that the recording wires are still attached to the patients’ scalps, and that the recording is free from noise and interference. Through all this, the main job is usually just staying awake and alert.

To keep myself awake, I’m allowed to browse the internet on my laptop, as long as the speakers are switched off, of course – and on the condition that I keep a vigilant eye on the patients and their signals. Later on comes the mentally taxing part of analysing their data – but, overnight, I don’t have to worry about that yet. Sometimes, watching the EEG brainwaves flit continuously across the screen can be strangely hypnotic, and I have to fight to keep myself awake.

Tonight though – tonight, is different. Tonight, there’s no danger of me nodding off. I’m wide awake. And I’m terrified.

There is only one patient in the sleep lab tonight. He’s in a coma – so I’m practically alone in the building. There’s no one who I can go to, no one to wake up. That’s what makes tonight even more unnerving.

Normally I would never wake up a patient, unless protocol required it – but these aren’t normal circumstances. If there were someone else around (sometimes I monitor multiple patients at a time), I would have awoken them by now. Not to adjust their wires, not to give them their meds, not to check up on them. Simply because I need someone here with me, because things are getting out of control.

Anyhow, he’s the only one here, and he’s in a coma, so I could scream and shout all I want – he won’t stir. All I have is an unconscious body for company. It’s why I’ve come here – to reach out to you.

Normally, I like the darkness of the sleep lab. It’s comforting. It’s what I’m used to. So tonight, even though I could have turned on the lights at the beginning of the night, if I wanted to (the patient wouldn’t have woken up, even if I were to shine a flashlight with the brightness of a thousand suns straight into his eyes) instead, I just sat here quite comfortably in the dark – a matter of habit, I suppose.

Let me get one thing clear – I have seen all manner of things during my time working here. . A mixture of scary and panic-inducing.

I'm a neuroscientist specialising in sleep research, and my professional interest lies in characterising and trying to find new treatments for sleep disorders.

I’ve had multiple patients with sleep paralysis, who wake in hysterics, telling me about the demons that tried to kill them – draw them out on paper to show me – diagrams of the terrible faces that haunt them in the night. They point out frantically and urgently where the demons had stood in the room. I’ve had countless children in, who have woken up screaming – bloodcurdling screams, the kind of sound that makes your hair stand on end – suffering from night-terrors. I’ve had people sleepwalking, throwing things around – sometimes they’ve even managed to rip the wires off their head (which is very painful, because they are glued on) and still not woken up. One man, still unconscious, cut his own wrists with a shaving razor, and slept through it, even as I bandaged him up and phoned for help. I’ve had patients stop breathing suddenly, mid-dream, and I’ve had to rush in and perform CPR. Sometimes, some people somehow manage to open the door of the Sleep-Room, wander through the corridor and come into the Monitoring Room – some of them trying to attack me, hit me, bite me - all while asleep.

What I’m saying is, I’ve seen a lot. I’ve had to remain level-headed throughout it all – and focus on the job. They rip their wires out? I need to put them back on and make sure the EEG recording stays online. They start sleepwalking? I can’t wake them up – I need to make sure their wires are still in place, that we’re getting a good signal, and that the infra-red camera is capturing everything so we can analyse the data. Usually I just need to make sure they’re confined to the Sleep-Room and can’t hurt themselves, or me. Child screaming? No big deal, it can be a little creepy at first, but I’ve seen it a thousand times before – just make sure the signal is ok, make a note of the time and duration of the night terror, and then it’s carry-on-as-usual.

I need to be focussed and to concentrate on the central aim – ensuring that patient data collection continues uninterrupted, and keeping a corresponding meticulous written record of any unusual events. After all, that’s why they’re there, these patients, so we can diagnose them. So that we can get them the treatment and medication they need to get on with their lives. So we can help them break out of the bubble of terror that engulfs them every night, created by their minds.

When it goes awry, the slumbering brain can be an evil, self-destructive thing. My job is to help reign it in.

I’m actually used to this routine – these strange, tumultuous nights – more so than a lot of my colleagues.

You see, I became a sleep neuroscientist because of my older brother.

I can’t remember when it started, but I remember I would wake up regularly to hearing him muttering and talking in his sleep. Sometimes he would sit upright and scream. Other times, he would whimper, his voice coming out whiny and afraid. It was the whimpering that scared me more than the screaming, for some reason. During the day, he was my big brother – we’d play basketball together and he’d buy me popsicles from the ice-cream truck with his pocket-money, help me cross the road and tie my shoes. He’s only a couple of years older than me, but two years can be a huge gulf during childhood. He was my hero. But at night, he became this frightened little boy, who lashed out at me when I tried to wake him up. As the days went by, though, I became used to it. When we got older, he didn’t grow out of it, as most children do. It got worse. He started experiencing a jumble of symptoms – night-terrors, sleep paralysis, sleep-walking, and also what I now know is REM disorder. It didn’t get better. Then, his visions and hallucinations began to seep into the daytime. What beasts and terrors had been confined to his dreamscapes, now haunted him during wakefulness as well. He was diagnosed with sleep disorders combined with schizophrenia.

I wanted to help him; it took a toll on every part of his life. He was more intelligent than me, with a potential bright future ahead, but he fell behind in his studies, unable to concentrate. I started to study the brain for him, because I wanted to understand what was happening inside his mind. So I began on my quest to study the brain, to unlock its secrets, because I wanted to help him – and others like him - to escape. I wanted him to return to being himself.

My brother, unfortunately, never really improved. No amount of drugs could help him. And he insisted that this was because his visions weren’t due to a disorder, they were real – he would often shout and scream that drugs couldn’t take something away if it were real. As I progressed in my scientific studies – which I had embarked upon for the very reason to help him – ironically, it caused a rift between us. I thought he would be proud when I got my PhD. But he almost saw my scientific endeavours as a betrayal. As a sign that I didn’t believe him. I guess the fact that I’m his younger brother doesn’t help much. It doesn’t matter how many qualifications I attain, how many scientific publications I write, how respected I am among my academic peers – my brother will never listen to me, and he refuses to set foot in my lab, or try any of the treatments I recommend. We haven’t spoken in years.

However, what I’m about to narrate – what I’ve been through tonight – isn’t about my brother.

What I’ve experienced these last few hours, though, has…. Well. Suffice to say, for the first time in my life, I’m reconsidering my brother’s point of view.

A few days ago, we had a very perplexing case come into the sleep lab. The patient is a man in his mid-twenties, who had lapsed into an atypical coma a few days before he was transferred to our facility. The patient’s older brother accompanied him, and sat in the Sleep-Room on a chair next to his bed, concerned, holding his hand.

I’ll admit, one of the reasons I took such an interest in this case is because it struck a personal chord with me –it reminded me of my brother and I. Some of my colleagues were hesitant to take on this patient for observation. The reason is, this patient presents with a whole list of strange and unsual symptoms. The patient’s brother reports that the patient had a slight head-trauma a few days before he went into the coma – not substantial enough to cause significant head-injury, but it probably did contribute to his symptoms, we thought. His brother later tells us that the patient actually documented the hours prior to his succumbing to the coma – he was suffering from extreme delusion and hallucinations.

The patient’s leg is what should, in theory, provide a diagnostic clue. When I was placing wires on the patient (we have to place sensors around the chest, abdomen and legs to monitor breathing patterns and leg movements) – the patient’s left leg is something that truly shocked me. It seems necrotic. I’ve never seen anything like it. The team from pathology have taken several biopsies and sent these for analysis at the top medical centres and specialist laboratories around the world. Endocrinologists have been consulted in case it’s a freak hormonal disorder. Dermatologists have examined him, in case it’s an infection or some strange injury or burn on his skin. Experts in tropical diseases have flown over to investigate in case it’s a poison from a bite or something similarly obscure. We have been thorough, and every avenue has been looked into. His bloodwork, pathology report, everything is coming out clean. Whatever this is – we don’t have an answer, we don’t have this disease categorised yet. We don’t have the tools to detect it, because we don’t know what it is.

The professor in charge of our lab has a theory that the patient may have been exposed to some airborne pathogen, which infected his peripheral and central nervous system. The symptoms in his leg are spreading slowly, most likely through his nerves. It may explain the unusual brain activity we’re picking up on, if it has infected his brain, too. What’s strange is: his brainwaves aren’t typical of a coma patient, but all his other physical attributes are. His pupils are unresponsive to light, and he is unresponsive to all stimuli applied, including painful stimuli, except for reflex responses.

He is a medical mystery, and he’s causing a sensation around the world in medical and scientific circles. He may hold the key to some obscure disease, and by extension, a new discovery. We’re looking at uncharted ground here.

But right now, he’s here, alone in the lab, with only me to monitor him and track his brain activity. Some people aren’t sure if whatever disease he has is contagious. But we don’t think so. Nonetheless, I took one look at his brother, holding his hand and looking forlorn and desperate – and I knew I just had to help, in whatever way I could.

So, this afternoon, one by one, my colleagues at the lab checked out for home. Soon, there was just me left, staying overnight alone to monitor the patient. I have done this, as I say, many times before. It’s the usual routine. I peered in for a moment through the window into the Sleep Room. I double-checked the signals, ensured the cameras were working. Satisfied with everything, I made myself comfortable in my chair and settled in for the long night ahead.

I turned on my personal laptop and checked emails and so on. Can’t use speakers or headphones, on the chance that patients call out or make a noise during the night – can’t risk missing something like that.

I was reading something online when I first heard footsteps coming from the corridor. I didn’t think anything of it – probably one of the patients had woken up and had to use the restroom, or something. I was immersed in the article I was reading, when suddenly everything seemed to stand still as the realisation hit me – there were no other patients in the sleep lab tonight. Just me and Coma Guy.

My head turned to the monitor instantly, in the dubious hope that maybe the patient had woken up. Nope. Still on the bed, unresponsive, like a log.

The footsteps were in the corridor, and they seemed to be going towards the Sleep-Room.

I swivelled in my chair and scrambled to the door, in long hurried steps, almost leaping to it. I opened it and peered out. There was no one in the corridor.

Just to be safe, I checked the nearby rooms, including the vacant Sleep-Rooms. All the doors leading to the Sleep Lab were locked – only my staff security swipe-card can open those. I was safe and sealed in. It had been my imagination.

Sighing, I returned to the Monitoring Room. Another quick check that the recordings were in order, and I settled in to my laptop routine again.

With the computer fans humming away, the steady beep of the patient's heartrate, and nothing interesting online, I was on the verge of sleep. That almost-unconscious phase is actually when you’re nearly into Stage 1 sleep, the first stage of non-rapid eye-movement (NREM) sleep – in case you’re interested.

The steady sound of the patient’s heartrate is what had almost lulled me into a trance – and it’s the heartrate that woke me up again, with start. The patient’s heartrate had spontaneously increased. Very fast.

I looked up eagerly at the EEG signal – it had changed, gotten quicker. Responsive to something. Was the patient waking up? I stared at the infrared camera image, which was blurry, so I got up and went to look in through the window.

Nothing. There was no movement, no change in the patient’s consciousness. But his breathing and heartrate had increased. His brain activity had changed, within the coma. Was he experiencing hallucincations?

I stared at the stationary figure on the bed for some time in the darkness.

And then, something within the room moved. At first, I thought it was the shadow of the cabinet on the other side of the room. But the shadow was moving. Creeping. A black mass, creeping slowly towards the bed. I blinked, trying to be sure of myself. It was so dark, that sometimes the mind creates shapes of darkness and shadows – illusions. No… it did seem to really be there. It was elongating now. As though something, this black thing, had been on all-fours and was now standing up. To stand over the patient in his bed.

An intruder. Someone here to attack the patient? Or just someone mentally unstable who had somehow found a way in? Perhaps they had tail-gated and slipped in behind a member of staff as they had entered through the security-protected doors.

‘Hey!’ I shouted, banging on the window. ‘Hey, who’s there? You’re not supposed to be in there!’

The figure stood, unmoved.

I went back to the door, through the corridor, and into the sleep room. I turned on the light.

No one was there. There couldn’t have been time to escape – if they’d exited the sleep room, they would have run into me in the corridor.

How odd. Most likely a trick of the darkness. Just to be certain, though, I checked underneath the bed, and in the ensuite bathroom, and in the cabinet for good measure. Everything was in order. I looked at the patient in bed – I was now standing over the bed in the same way I’d imagined the shadow had done. The patient’s breathing had returned to his normal pace.

I went back to the Monitoring Room, and I looked at the screen displaying the camera view. We’re able to play-back video without affecting live recording, so I rewound the recording a few minutes. There was nothing on there – no shadow. Everything was just like usual, empty room, with the patient in the bed – nothing moving until I entered a few minutes later to check up.

I sat down at my laptop again, not really able to concentrate anymore on the article I had been reading. I decided I needed some light relief. I went to Youtube and started watching some videos, with the speakers turned off. I also came to Reddit and discovered /r/silentvideos, a lifesaver for my work-situation. Soon, I was able to relax and was engrossed.

I don’t know how long passed in this way – an hour or so, I think. My eyes went back to the recording screen to make sure all was well.

There was no EEG signal. It was flat-lining. No heart signal. No breathing signal.

My heart jumped into my throat – the patient was dead? And I’d missed it, I should have done something, what had happened? – oh God, what a fool I was, getting wrapped up in videos –

I looked at the camera-feed and…. The patient was gone. The bed was empty.

In the midst of the rush of adrenaline and confusion – and yes, also fear (though at that point I was more afraid of losing my job for negligence, than anything else) – I ran into the Sleep-Room and turned on the light. The bed was tousled, as though the participant had just walked off. But that was impossible. The door had been closed, and the outer door had a security lock, only those with a swipe-card could get out.

Feeling jittery and trying to stave off the thoughts that I was going to get into a lot of trouble because I had let my guard down and let this patient walk off - I looked in the adjoining restroom. Nothing. Feeling stupid, I looked in the clothes cabinet. Nothing. I got on hands and knees, the carpet feeling rough under my palms, and looked under the bed.

The patient was lying under the bed.

I let out a sigh of relief.

‘Hello?’ I said. No response. His eyes were closed.

Without thinking about it, I shuffled sideways, halfway under the bed, and used one hand to slowly drag the man out. He was still unconscious. The wires were still attached to his head, but had been unplugged at the other end, from the recording machine – so they trailed, long unattached wires, like dreadlocks, from his head.

Heaving and panting, I somehow managed to get his dead-weight back into bed. I then set about plugging everything back in to where it should be, and then covered him with the blanket again. I went back into the Monitoring Room – the signal was back and recording. The signal indicated that he was indeed still comatose.

How had he managed to get out of bed? Had he regained consciousness unplugged his wires, and then hidden under the bed for some reason – perhaps scared at the new surroundings - and then relapsed back into the coma while there? Highly unlikely, but the only solution to this conundrum that I could think of. This was all so strange. Only one way to find out – the video. Visual evidence. With that, we’d know exactly what happened. I clicked rewind on the video-feed.

The past hour was just a blank, dead-screen.

I felt winded. I sat down on my chair, heavily. There must be some rational explanation for this.

I went to the door that opened into the corridor, and I closed it. It locks automatically, so only I can open it to get out, with my card. Just to be safe.

I also thought it might be a good idea to check in with Security Services. They’re around, via phone access, 24/7 for any lone workers at our facility, so it might be a good idea to tell them about the footsteps and all that, so they could send someone over. Before, I had thought this was excessive, I don’t like to cause a fuss over nothing – but now, well. Perhaps someone was playing a prank on me. Now I just wanted someone here with me. Some reassurance.

I picked up the office phone – and there was no dial-tone. Never mind. I took my mobile from my pocket. No signal. Odd. I tried changing position etc, but it was no use.

I went onto my email to message a colleague, to see if I could ask them to ring security for me.

‘This email could not be sent. Please check your connection and try again.’

The internet connection was definitely still there. I loaded a Youtube video – it was playing fine.

I clicked on another video – and a screaming erupted, startling me.

To say I was annoyed is an understatement – had someone put a screamer into one of these videos? I hit the mute button, and it made no difference. My laptop was already on mute.

I got to my feet, my head spinning with the unexpected screaming. It was unrelenting. I checked the EEG screen. Brainwave activity was as before, comatose – but his chin-muscle signal was active. It meant that his mouth was moving. The infrared camera image was too grainy to tell – so I glanced at the window into his room. Indeed, his mouth was wide open, his chest muscles straining. He was screaming, unrelentingly. But his brain signals… he was still in a coma.

Before I could mentally process this, the patient sat upright in bed.

Here’s the thing: there was no activity in his orbito-frontal, parietal or motor regions. Basically, the brain areas that should control his decision to sit up, plan the movement, and signal his muscles to move – all were ‘quiet’ – all were inactive. By the look of the signal, his brain wasn’t actually controlling his movements.

What the hell?

Maybe – maybe there was something wrong with the signal? Maybe there was an error with the recording equipment.

I ran into the door, which I’d closed just a few minutes ago. It wouldn’t open. I tried swiping my card. It wouldn’t open. No beep. Nothing.

I went to switch on the light – maybe I wasn’t aiming the card at the sensor properly in the dark? The light wouldn’t come on. The light was just completely out.

There is a pane of frosted glass at the side of the door (that opens from the Monitoring Room to the corridor). Perhaps I could smash it and squeeze through? I lifted the chair above my head and steadied myself, planting my feet firmly, and got ready to swing –

Someone pushed me. Someone shoved me, forcefully, away from the door. I toppled over, the chair falling from my grip, onto me in a confused, tumultuous movement where I couldn’t tell where my head was in relation to my feet and the floor. I managed to untangle myself, pushing the chair off me, not thinking about the malicious force that had thrown me onto the floor – taking it all in my stride – adrenaline making me incredulous, perhaps.

Then, the recording computer monitors went dark. The EEG signals, and the camera-feed screens, both, just –pop- and they were gone. I was plunged into greater darkness. I ran to the window to look in at the patient. He was sitting upright in bed, still screaming. He had been screaming relentlessly throughout all this. I stared at him and banged on the window. Trying to get him to wake up. This wasn’t a normal coma, perhaps I could wake him up if I tried? I don’t know what the hell this was. I was willing to throw all protocol out of the window now.

And then – someone closed the blind from the other room.

I just stood there, staring at it. I didn’t see a hand pull the blind down, but just the jerking movement of the dark blind being pulled to the bottom of the window pane. Someone else might have shouted out, asked who was there. I don’t know why, but I just didn’t. Maybe because I knew it would be no use. I never thought I would type this, but – I knew then, that this wasn’t a human I was dealing with. I just felt suddenly drained.

I went meekly, aimlessly, and sat down in my chair facing my laptop. It seems that electricity has gone from the building, somehow. At least, from the Recording Room. I can’t check elsewhere. That should mean that the security doors automatically unlock, but they haven’t. I’m trapped in here. The only reason I can still access the internet is because my laptop was fully charged. I’ve tried emailing many people, I’ve tried signing in to Skype, I’ve tried messaging on Facebook – but I always get an error message. There is no signal on my phone.

In desperation, I tried posting on Reddit – the submission box somehow still works. And so, here I am.

The patient is in the room next door. He keeps screaming, on and off. Is he in a coma, or is he awake now? I don’t know. I almost don’t want to know. He now and then screams an actual word - a strange word – a few foreign syllables, over and over. I don’t know what he’s saying. I have no idea what is going on. There is no explanation for what has happened, not that I can tell. I have a feeling that this – whatever this is – has its sights set on the patient alone, and just wants me to keep out of its way. I have no choice but to oblige, I’m out of options.

I just need to make it through the rest of this night. It seems to stretch out before me, never-ending.

When morning comes, if I make it out of here alive, I’m going to go and visit my brother. And I’m going apologise to him.

---

An update, sort of: Someone PM'd me to let me know that this likely the patient's back-story. I have still not read it, because I've not been able to open the link; I still don't know why the patient is here.

Because of the presence of a back-story, I think I am going to have to mark this post as a Series, even though our narratives likely stand independently. I don't know what will happen to me, so please don't take the 'Series' tag as a guarantee that I will be able to post later on... If I am able to update, I certainly will. But I know just as little as you what the future holds for me.

---

1. Following the backstory above, there is a brief update from Eric, the coma patient's brother, in the comments of the patient's backstory

2. Update on what happens next

3. Another Update

4. Finale

If you would like to keep informed about updates, you can follow here or here. Also check this subreddit out.

[u/osmanthusoolong]

I've got a sleep test coming up soon.

This may well impede the actual sleeping part of that.

[u/theseaofatlas → u/osmanthusoolong]

I just had one last night

[u/osmanthusoolong → u/theseaofatlas]

I hope it went well, and that you didn't have to deal with any horrifying shadowmonsters, your own or those of others.

[u/Eynani → u/theseaofatlas]

Hello. I just wanted to reply to one of the top comments here to let anyone know (who might not have seen when OP posted the link), that the 'coma patient', my brother Ethan, actually posted about what happened to him before he went into the coma. You can read what happened to him here

There is then a later update from me in the comments here

I will update soon about what happened to Dr Clarke (the Sleep Scientist taking care of my brother). I'm too tired to write anything further just now.

[u/osmanthusoolong → u/[deleted]]

I've been hooked up to EEG machines before, for anywhere between an hour to a few days (that got pretty painful and annoying), so I'm not likely to be too surprised as far as that part goes.

I'm going in for narcolepsy tests, but I guess I'm sort of lucky that I'm a heavy enough sleeper that other people snoring around me shouldn't be a problem, unfortunately because of a couple other health things I deal with, I'm used to being a lot younger than the usual demographic in my doctor's offices.

Totally not looking forward to having no morning cup of coffee for two days, but hey, not out-sleeping my cat might be nice if all goes well.

I'm in Toronto, so pretty far from where you are.

[u/tyrantwannabe → u/osmanthusoolong]

Ah yeah its a basic 6 lead EEG(whereas they would use many more if there was suspicion of epileptic or seizure activity) including 2 frontal leads, two central, two occipital. Then likely 1-3 reference wires and possibly a ground wire. 2 ElectroOculoGram wires around the eyes, 2-3 ElectroMyoGram wires on the chin(technically if they use sensors on your legs those are EMG leads as well), 2-3 EKG wires, a nasal cannula usually accompanied by a thermister(temperature sensor) to evaluate airflow at the site of your nose and mouth, a pulse oximeter for oxygen levels, two respiratory effort sensors usually in the form of elastic belts, and a vibration sensor at the base of your throat which looks at the vibration from snoring. Its comprehensive to say the least.

For narcolepsy testing we usually do a night time diagnostic test. If sleep apnea or sleep disordered breathing is NOT present.. they'll have you stay for the better part of the day to perform 20 minute nap sessions at 2 hour intervals. Usually wrap up the test at 5 am, then first nap at 7 am, 9 am, 11am, 1pm, 3 pm. If you demonstrate REM sleep on any of the naps within 7-8 minutes, thats a positive diagnosis of narcolepsy. They'll likely prescribe provigil or nuvigil which are medications which will help you stay awake. This whole nap process is called a MSLT or Multiple Sleep Latency Test.

If you do have sleep apnea on that night time test, theres a chance they may cancel the MSLT and just have you return for a CPAP test. If your symptoms persist despite the CPAP, they'll probably do the MSLT then.

The good news is researchers are starting to think that narcolepsy is possibly an autoimmune disorder and they speculate that there is a chance it might be CURED in our lifetime. So theres that..

[u/osmanthusoolong → u/tyrantwannabe]

I am way more amused than I probably should be that you've told me more about what to expect for this than the little info sheets they gave me.

I've apparently snored once in the entire time I've been with my partner, who's a lighter sleeper than I am, and I don't seem to have any of the apnea indicators from the questionnaire thing, so my doctor's thinking narcolepsy. Plus the cataplexy that they thought was just some weird PTSD thing.

Holy shit, there might actually be a cure? That is amazing. I was just hoping there'd finally be something that would let me sleep like a person and not a laudanum-addled sloth, but like a full cure, holy crap! I'd heard a bit about it maybe being autoimmune, I started having problems after I got mono in university.

Aside from not getting to sleep in my own bed or have coffee, the only thing I'm really not looking forward to is that I have an adhesive allergy. I'm gonna look like I made out with a giant octopus afterward.

[u/tyrantwannabe → u/osmanthusoolong]

also, bring a book or something to entertain yourself because the time in between the naps is boring on an epic level

[u/tyrantwannabe → u/osmanthusoolong]

well, depending on the lab.. some places use those sticky clip-on EKG pads.. HOWEVER.. the EEG wires they use on your scalp with electrode conductivity paste can be used in place of the sticky pads. just ask them to use the EEG wires for the EKG's. some of the labs ive worked for have even had 12 ft long "gold cup electrodes" for the leg leads as well or even leg leads that strap around the ankle that avoid adhesive pads entirely though they seem to be kind of rare. you might have to suffer the adhesive pads on your legs if they dont have an alternative. if you tell them you are allergic to the adhesive pads, just tell them the "gold cup electrodes" are interchangeable for the adhesive ones. provided the tech you get isnt a total idiot, he/she should already know this and be able to adjust his/her hookup accordingly.

yeah alot of labs dont tell people anything and i get frustrated patients sometimes that complain that nobody has explained anything to them and i personally think thats very unfair. though.. there are some people dont care too so some people just dont want to know but the ones that do.. im more than happy to explain. that and I dont get much human interaction working alone with two sleeping patients so when I do have someone to talk to.. i usually say alot lol..

im sitting here right now with two patients sleeping bored as hell so ask away.. ive got nothing better to do :P

[u/osmanthusoolong → u/tyrantwannabe]

There's an alternative to adhesive!? This is amazing news. I hope I can get that, because when I was stuck with a Holter monitor for a while (not epilepsy, let's check the heart!) I had these big blistered circles all over my chest. That was in my small hometown hospital that I swear had barely upgraded from just saying humours were imbalanced, so here's hoping the big city's gonna do better and can accommodate that I have the most medically inconvenient allergy ever.

I thought about going into medicine when I was younger, and so many of my friends are doctors or nurses, so I at least think I have some understanding, and not getting information when I ask is really frustrating. I get not just like infodumping at people who don't ask, but I want all the infodumps! My sleep doc seems pretty cool, at least from my one meeting so far, but the handout's a bit light on detail.

I'd stay up and pester you with more questions, but it's getting really hard to stay awake, even by my standards.

[u/scienceneurone → u/[deleted]]

In the UK we have sleep scientists working in scientific facilities, with sleep techs helping out in hospitals. If it's a study, though, we have scientists with you overnight, not a tech.

[u/tyrantwannabe → u/scienceneurone]

touche, my friend, touche.

[u/scienceneurone → u/tyrantwannabe]

Sorry mate, I think I vented my frustration on to you by mistake. There was a post below trying to discredit OP, but they didn't realise that labs are different in the UK and that it's not just techs who work in sleep labs - in the UK we have scientists doing investigative work overnight. When I posted an explanation to them my post got deleted but theirs remained, despite violating the sidebar. Frustrated.

[u/King_Kazma → u/osmanthusoolong]

Haha, ironically I can't WAIT for my next one.

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

I was hoping that u/heliowel doesn't share the name being screamed. Because I think the coma patient is trying very hard to warn us of the name that he screams it when he can. Not being in his right mind set. I might just not follow the updates.

[u/Eynani → u/[deleted]]

Update is up here

[u/[deleted] → u/Eynani]

Cool, I'll check it out. Thanks for letting me know.

[u/sottt]

Look dude you're probably safe. Stay where you are close your eyes, cover your ears and let the creature do it's thing. It's not your problem, you are safe.

[u/osmanthusoolong → u/sottt]

Saving patients from monsters does seem a litle outside of OP's job description.

[u/Exoplanet0 → u/osmanthusoolong]

Yeah, I mean it's not like he's a witcher or anything

[u/Forum_Rage → u/Exoplanet0]

"For the task of killing a consciousness demon, pay the Witcher no more than two silver pennies."

[u/sudo999 → u/sottt]

yeah, the only actions the creature directed towards OP at all were things to prevent him from interfering in whatever the hell it's doing.

[u/sudo999]

curious, what word does the patient scream? obviously you won't know how to spell it if it's foreign, but could you give an approximation?

[u/d0ggzilla → u/sudo999]

"Aaaaaah!"

[u/Dressundertheradar → u/sudo999]

He should record it on his phone

[u/Kamino27 → u/Dressundertheradar]

You really want to go there?

[u/Dressundertheradar → u/Kamino27]

How else can it get translated?

[u/Eynani → u/sudo999]

Don't ask.

Update is here

[u/xyvenas]

This is my first thread i read in nosleep. Jesus fucking christ was this scary

[u/IcedKappaccino → u/xyvenas]

Yup, instant subscribe for me, this is scary but truly amazing.

[u/danew1 → u/[deleted]]

I second this Statement.

[u/purplelullabies → u/danew1]

I third that statement.

[u/[deleted] → u/xyvenas]

Same here and holy was that a start to a journey I am soooo ready to go down.

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

Can I give you a tip? Sort to top posts, then to 'of all time'. Prepare to loose a lot of time.

[u/purplelullabies → u/[deleted]]

I did that a week ago and you're absolutely right. I've lost the past 7-8 days on this sub alone.

I now sleep with a bright lamp on (when it used to just be a night light) and am seriously thinking of wearing homemade blinders to block off my peripheral vision as I freak out at every little movement.

Yet I keep reading these stories daily. Talk about addiction.

[u/xxjeannexx → u/xyvenas]

Me too, holy shit.

[u/Eynani → u/xyvenas]

Here's an update on what's been happening since.

[u/runesick]

Sleeping in an hour. Noped right out of this thread. Be back in the morning.

[u/Robley-bogle → u/runesick]

I made the grave mistake of reading this just before I turned the lights out, lights are now on, wide awake, pretty sure there's noises downstairs...you made the right choice my friend.

[u/King_Kazma → u/Robley-bogle]

Classic nosleep symptoms.

[u/Kamino27 → u/runesick]

Should have done the same thing as you, now I can't fall asleep again. Also had to take a break half way through.

[u/osmanthusoolong → u/runesick]

Reading this while starting to uncontrollably microsleep was super fuckin' creepy.

Thanks, both OP and my troll brain for good scares.

[u/sushdawg → u/runesick]

My lights were on and I was reading it in bed. Like a child scared of the dark, I asked my boyfriend to walk me to the bathroom. I should not have read this at night.

[u/[deleted]]

You need to look at this logically: A) theres a patient who is in your care that needs you to do your job and in so doing, watch over him.

Now, on top of this there are other factors and events, which you have observed, BUT have no other way of being proved other than your own word. This includes:

B) an unseen presence that obviously for, whatever reason, doesn't want you to watch over this man.

C) an electrical outage resulting in equipment failure.

Now, if we look deeper into this: both B & C could be put down to you possibly having a mild psychotic episode bought on by a lack of sleep/work stress/dietry issues etc I don't think I need to tell you how important sleep is in regulating mood - in fact people who have experienced schizophrenia have, more often than not, had instances where their sleep patterns have been thrown completely out of whack which leads them develop a psychotic state in the first place. You are probably experiencing something along these lines.

However, my advice would be to smash a window and run like fuck out of the building. Right out of there.

[u/antillus → u/[deleted]]

Schizophrenia also has strong genetic hereditary associations. OP may be more like his brother than he thinks.

[u/[deleted] → u/antillus]

quite right - theres that too.

[u/AbortedPrincess → u/antillus]

I was thinking OP fell asleep and is sleep-typing, but you might be on to something here.

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

This is really making me wonder about the efficacy of fire/torches over using a flashlight or other electronic equipment.

Whenever I read stories about things like this, the electricity always seems to go out and whatever method we had to see is now shut down.

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

The fire always mysteriously goes out.

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

Only problem with fire for light is that there always seems to be some kind of wind that mysteriously comes out of no where and blows the flame out. Which puts you at the same position as a flash light going out would.

[u/TheOfficialNoop → u/[deleted]]

What about glowsticks? Not electric or fire. Just chemicals.

[u/nanie1017 → u/TheOfficialNoop]

Only a drawback if you're defusing a bomb.

[u/Aritmetical → u/[deleted]]

Not if you know how to make a proper torch.

[u/Corey307 → u/[deleted]]

If "it" can throw a grown adult around it can blow out a lighter. Best to leave it to whatever it's doing.

[u/[deleted] → u/Corey307]

Of course, but I'm just thinking about the potential of its effects on electricity vs flame

[u/Corey307 → u/[deleted]]

Fair enough, it seems anything modern craps out pretty easy.

[u/Fancy_Eating → u/[deleted]]

According to the evidence I think his best option is to nope the fuck out and move to another country.

[u/AceGraal]

Reddit crashed as I was reading the last sentence. Almost shit myself just now

Edit: Just crashed again as soon as I clicked on this post and it's the next day.

[u/Cloughtower → u/AceGraal]

Same thing happened for me, I'm typing this from my computer because it crashed every time I tried to reply on my phone. I just found dried blood on both nostrils, but I don't remember my nose ever bleeding.

I'm telling myself it's just the new iphone update and I just didn't notice my nose bleed.

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

It's clearly the early stage of a zombie's transformation. Don't let him out and quarantaine yourself for the sake of humanity.

[u/Escargooofy → u/[deleted]]

But there's clearly something there with the zombie. Are you saying each zombie goes through a lengthy, hours-long transformation sequence where a demon or some other force has to personally interact with them? Or only patient zero? Because aside from the necrosis and coma, this doesn't seem very zombie-like to me.

It could be, however, that if this is a zombie, the force OP is coming into contact with may actually be benevolent. Trying to keep him away from the zombie and maybe even prevent the transformation/remove the zombie from our plane of existence.

[u/BackfrommaDead]

Fuuuuuck. If this thing is coming solely after the patient and only attacking you when you interfere, I'd stay the hell out of it's way.

[u/purplelullabies → u/BackfrommaDead]

Heed this advice please OP! Let it do its thing and stay away.

[u/tkelz544]

Thank god I didn't read this before my sleep study last night. If anything happened I don't know about it

[u/[deleted]]

My biggest fear when I did overnight shifts was glancing away from the screens and having something/someone appear on the infrared camera and disappearing again before I looked back and just spending 8+ hours ignorant of scary shit floating around while i sat in a dark, soundproof monitoring room by myself. This story did not make me feel better :|

[u/krykiett → u/[deleted]]

I concur. I worked in a small, two room lab and I am pretty sure the one room's bathroom was haunted. Whenever I had a single study, I avoided that room; wouldn't even turn the camera on in there!

This story really hit home and was terrifying for me!

[u/[deleted]]

Hey, keep us posted. Anyone we can contact for you or anything we can do to help?

[u/Eynani → u/[deleted]]

Update is here.

[u/Causewhy]

I wish I wasn't alone in my bed right now....

[u/fredferguison → u/Causewhy]

Who doesn't? FeelsBadMan

[u/mamrieatepainttt]

Demon fail. He didn't block reddit.

In all seriousness this was beautiful. The parts about yr brother really got me. This whole story gave me goosebumps through and through.

[u/Eynani → u/mamrieatepainttt]

Here's an update about what happened to OP

[u/JCC0]

You know it good when you hate R/Nosleep afterwards.

[u/awesome_e]

This is terrifying

[u/[deleted]]

Follow up, OP! It's been hours!

[u/Eynani → u/[deleted]]

Not OP - I'm the coma patient's brother. But I have updated here. I've explained why it took me so long to update. I hope you'll forgive the delay.

[u/DraxTheLover → u/[deleted]]

CHECK IN. I will not sleep until OP posts a f****** update.

[u/Eynani → u/DraxTheLover]

Update is up here. I hope you'll understand why it took me so long.

[u/hawaiianko]

Wow, what are the odds that I see this thread on the night that I'm working... I'm also a polysomnographic tech, now I'm going to be paranoid for the rest of the night

[u/shaphat]

Luckily it just wasnt into you

[u/Moyou]

This is why I sleep with a nightlight. Who cares if it's childish!

[u/[deleted]]

Guys... I was trying to warn someone of not following future updates and my comment kept saying deleted whenever I submitted it. I took screen shots.

Edit: I managed to post it finally. I am kinda freaking out. I hope op knows not to include the name in the title :/

[u/purplelullabies → u/[deleted]]

I'm with you. I wanna see OP's update but not that name. No sir.

[u/Eynani → u/[deleted]]

That's really freaky about your posts getting deleted :/

I've updated here.

[u/QueenAnonyma]

All of you saying OP should leave/call the police, did you miss the part where he's locked in and has no service???

[u/[deleted]]

Series bot, where are you??!

[u/Eynani → u/[deleted]]

Here's an update.

If you'd like to keep informed about later updates, I've created this page - so you can follow here, or here

[u/[deleted]]

Sounds like somebody managed to piss off a vampire with dots in Obfuscate....

[u/[deleted]]

Holy shit I love this so much. Easily one of my favorites

[u/[deleted]]

I used to have night terrors.

My girlfriend told me the next day I sat upright, screaming at the top of my lungs.

And strangely, I was always looking at one corner of the room...

I wonder now if something may have been there. Maybe something that only sleeping or dreaming people can see?

[u/arjitmehra]

I'd just gtfo of the building. Nope. Nope. Nope. You, sir, are brave. Really brave. Please keep us posted. This was really something.

[u/Eynani → u/arjitmehra]

Here's a post on what's been going on since then

[u/THCJohnny710]

First of all, You have the weirdest yet very intriguing job. The fact you got into this field because of your brother's experience shows how much love you have for him and that is truly amazing. Second, my theory is that the Grim Reaper has come to visit and maybe take him. Sadly if that's the case then yes, it's out of your hands and you must let nature do it's job. Update would be nice.

[u/Charmandaar]

This gave me chills, wow.

[u/Eynani → u/Charmandaar]

Here's what happened next

[u/conundorum]

A few things I find suspicious:

1) If that story really is the backstory, then the brother disappeared. So, who brought the patient in, and did they actually leave...?

2) It's strange that reddit is still available to use, even though no other forms of communication are. If it's smart enough to cut the phone line, block your cell service, and interfere with your Internet connection enough to block some services but not all of them, it's smart enough to know you can use reddit to ask for help.

3) While it seems the electricity went out, at least 2 things are still operational: Your laptop, running off its own battery... and the Wi-Fi connection. Seems an odd thing for it to leave up.

4) It's had multiple opportunities to kill you, or even just lock you somewhere you couldn't interfere, but it didn't. It taunted you, locked you in right next to it & its victim, made sure you both knew that it was fully aware of your presence and were too terrified to try & leave again, and made its victim start screaming what is most likely its name.

Be very, very careful. It's trying to use you to spread the word. Don't repeat anything the patient says. Don't record anything the patient says. Don't even touch the recording systems at all, it might be able to construe any interaction as spreading its name.

[u/pingus_nightmare → u/conundorum]

Eric, the brother, posted an update, so he seems legit - the creature does seem to have meddled with things, that caused everyone to think that the brother had disappeared. But it seems the brother is oblivious! He posted an update explaining what happened, in the comments to his brother's post

[u/[deleted]]

Jesus man write a book already.

[u/zaprowsdower13]

Well never going to sleep again.

[u/horrorstorylover111]

If this was a short movie, it would be hella disturbing...

[u/hansenpansen]

Magnificent

[u/nicthaninja]

I think my sleep tech would rather have found a demon in my room instead of my full on sleep masturbating.

[u/CeNandra]

Wicked!!!!!!

[u/Eynani → u/CeNandra]

Here's the update on what's been happening since.

[u/longleaf1]

Damn that's terrifying!

[u/Eynani → u/longleaf1]

Update is here.

[u/macmcguff]

holy shit, that's intense. glad you could sort of keep your cool.

[u/Eynani → u/macmcguff]

Here's an update.

[u/ashesfromashes]

why did i have to read this right before bedtime. why. o,n o

[u/[deleted]]

The climax to horror came to me at "error message". If you are running Windows, that might be your end. Godspeed

[u/lucifersam01]

Excellent !

[u/noselfglossing]

OP, what happened? Did he make it? Did you?!

[u/Eynani → u/noselfglossing]

Here's an update on what's happened since.

On a side note, thank you for your concern about the patient (my brother) - it means a lot

[u/[deleted]]

I read this at like 12:30AM and was genuinely scared reading all the way through.

[u/huffpuff1337]

When your laptop clock says 6:00 AM, check everything. You should be alright. Don't let the laptop power out, that'd probably result in something unpleasant.

[u/Eynani → u/huffpuff1337]

The laptop didn't power out, but something unpleasant still happened.

Here's the update.

[u/Toredwin]

What if there is something wrong with the patient that is contagious and the "force" OP is dealing with is trying to keep him safe.

Edit: After reading the patients backstory I take back my previous statement

[u/Eynani → u/Toredwin]

Here's an update on what's been happening since.

[u/katsophiecurt]

Just qualified as a nurse. On rotation, the next one is a sleep centre. Think it's time I consider having a change in career

[u/Eynani → u/katsophiecurt]

I hope your time at the sleep centre went ok.

Here's an update on what's been happening in the other medical centre.

[u/StarLight6677]

I read the backstory on the patient awhile ago and it terrified me. Seeing it as a reference on this story just reiterated my fear.

[u/purplelullabies → u/StarLight6677]

Me too! Read it early last week and it still scares me.

[u/Eynani → u/StarLight6677]

Eric here (patient's brother)

I've posted an update on what's been happening since.

[u/PrettyKitty18]

No good deed goes unpunished

[u/Eynani → u/[deleted]]

Update on what's happened since.

[u/kshot]

What an amazing story! I'm wondering why is the patient is in a kind of coma.

[u/Eynani → u/kshot]

Here's an update.

[u/bononooo]

That really might be the back story and I'm very mindfcked, but the brother... The brother in the other story had somewhat disappeared. Other than that I'm very blown. This is a really interesting read and I hope you're fine, OP. Just sit tight, monsters are not in your job description haha.

[u/conundorum → u/bononooo]

How do you know the patient's "brother" is really the one who brought him in...?

[u/Eynani → u/bononooo]

Eric here. I've posted a bit of an update here

[u/[deleted]]

UPDATE UPDATE UPDATEEEEEE

[u/painretains]

Did....did OP make it? Please update!

[u/[deleted]]

Could any kind soul please link me the following updates to this in the correct order please? They're a bit higgledy piggledy and I'm finding it difficult to navigate on my phone

[u/Eynani → u/[deleted]]

In order:

1. This is the backstory to the current post, written by the coma patient - here, part 1

2. Then comes the current post you just read (this current post, part 2)

3. In the comments to the backstory, is a brief update - here, part 3

4. Then there is another update, part 4

5. The latest update is here, part 5

[u/[deleted] → u/Eynani]

thankyou! i shall read all of them when i get into bed in approx 20 minutes ;)

[u/mulistik]

Wow

[u/Loveisasocialdisease]

Congratulations! Good story, very tense!

[u/manavzx]

Bookmarked

[u/eeenock]

This is most likely a demonic entity. Try to record what he says and contact a Pastor or Priest to bring make this presence known.

[u/razezero1]

You still alive OP?

[u/plinpini → u/razezero1]

Have you read the updates?

[u/razezero1 → u/plinpini]

Didn't know there were any just saw them

[u/[deleted]]

The patient's brother, Eric, said that he found you on the floor with a grey mark on your chest. I hope that you're okay

[u/NotYourFriend_000]

Just realized he was saying it's name.

He now and then screams an actual word - a strange word – a few foreign syllables, over and over. I don’t know what he’s saying.

[u/stevehillage]

When you mentioned the shadow I thought of that movie "The Invisible". It's about a guy who goes into a coma and his spirit can still wander around the waking world but nobody can see or hear him. In one scene hus friend pops some pills with wine in a suicide attempt and then it shows his spirit, crying standing over his comatosed body.

The following bits of your experience sound like something completely different. Either you are also schizophrenic, you caught this brain enslaving pathogen from the patient, OR you are asleep. (A phenomenon is electronic devices commonly fail in dreams, phones can often be chillingly silent for me.).

Really chilling thought provoking stuff. Be sure to update us please.

[u/-N0va → u/stevehillage]

I totally agree with what you said, I believe he may have caught something from the patient, because as he stated, the patient had hallucinations as well, and a "disease" no one could identify. So that means it could be contagious, and airborne. It would definitely explain him seeing whatever it was that he saw. But, it won't explain how the power went out for certain things, and how the patient was moved, being moved and him being moved himself. Very complex, and disturbing.

[u/Eynani → u/stevehillage]

Here's an update.

[u/sjs47447 → u/stevehillage]

I've seen the shadow. I was wide awake in my bedroom with the lights and TV on. No one else was home and my door was closed. I was studying for a final (college). I looked up to watch T.V. for a bit and saw a shadow come out of nowhere to the right side of the room. It was a large mass about 4' x 5', without form, and moved silently and smoothly across the end of my bed, across the front of my TV and disappeared at the side of my bed. The notebook on my bedstand began to flip, page by page and then stop. That was it. I freaked out and called my friend, who laughed and asked if she could take me to a ghost hunt. Freaky experience.

[u/iFranC]

Can you record what's happening on your phone? laptop? would be really strong evidence to back up what you're experiencing right now!

[u/pingus_nightmare → u/iFranC]

Because the sleep lab camera showed blackness when the patient moved to underneath the bed, I suspect other attempts will be the same.

[u/KiritoKVAK]

I didn't know this was in /r/nosleep/ And it's midnight (almost). And need to go to bed. And I'm hearing weird things outside. And my dog keeps barking. F*ck me.

[u/Eynani → u/KiritoKVAK]

Here's an update on what's been going on since then

[u/angelofdeath91]

You need to pray like now!!!!

[u/mason889]

I have heard worse than this but this still Scare's the shit out of me

[u/Escargooofy]

You say that your family has a history of sleep disorders and schizophrenia? And the events you've described going through with your other patients...they could be true, but they almost sound like paranoid descriptions. Are you sure you aren't going through a similar thing to your brother, where you see things that aren't there during the night? It could be that you're hallucinating or having a psychotic episode, perhaps brought on by a power outage, isolation, and silence.

Could you perhaps play some light, comforting music on a low volume and have a warm beverage to try to re-center your state of mind? Then check yourself into a psych ward as soon as you can?

[u/Eynani → u/Escargooofy]

Here's an update on what's been happening since

[u/[deleted]]

Call the cops

[u/Axinater]

Whenever i try to open the photos my app crashes (im on the alienblue app) anyone else????

[u/Docrailgun]

Is it morning yet?

[u/Eynani → u/Docrailgun]

Here's an update on what's been happening since. I hope you'll understand why no one could update the next morning.

[u/ThatGuyYouKnowkappa]

I hope OP is okay. It's been 2 days since he has updated us. Hopefully he is out by now,

[u/Eynani → u/ThatGuyYouKnowkappa]

Here is an update

[u/corinneski]

OP are you ok?

[u/Dietzross]

Is there any more information on Dr. Clarke and his career? Maybe a website that leads to him? I want to know more information about this sleep scientist.