Comment by larsiusprime

Author here -- I wouldn't describe it as being completely numb in a way fully equivalent to, say, anaesthesia (or having your limbs fall asleep), but it's very qualitatively different from cataplexy, for sure. It's hard to describe exactly, but it's a much more "total" experience than cataplexy is.

I have had multiple (thankfully rare) instances of sleep paralysis in which I am completely unable to move upon waking, with the classic feeling described in the literature of a heavy weight on your chest (presumably sleep paralysis is the experience from whence the Norwegian word "mareritt" -- meaning nightmare -- comes from; you are being "ridden" by an evil creature called a "mare")

The worst experience with Sleep Paralysis I had was paired with hypnogogic hallucinations of wasps flying above me. I was sitting there terrified and utterly helpless to move. None of my usual anti-cataplexy tricks worked at all.

Eventually the sleep paralysis wore off and I stumbled out of the room in my underwear. I cautiously crept back to see if the wasps were still there. Staring at the ceiling, I realized they weren't wasps, they were ... dragonflies? Then the dragonflies disappeared and I realized the whole time it was just a tiny hook in the ceiling, the kind of thing you'd hang a potted plant or decoration from.

This was all before I learned the finger trick for cataplexy, however. It's been over a decade since I had sleep paralysis, but next time it happens I will definitely give it a try.