I'm so sorry your dealing with this. I know it can be terrifying. Last year, all I dealt with was Sleep Paralysis. It depressed me even more because I rarely got any sleep and sometimes I would sleep with the light on. So I can understand where your coming from.

I've had so many weird dreams, while other dreams started off good and than they would get dark and depressing. Some of them scared me so much, I would wake up, panting. So I feel like nightmares and sleep paralysis goes hand in hand. It seemed like my nightmares would trigger a Sleep Paralysis episode. Anytime I had nightmares, a episode would happen. Just know your not alone and I can understand how scary it can be.