As the Omicron variant of coronavirus continues to relentlessly tear across the globe, more and more symptoms of the highly infectious strain have been shared - with the latest being one that has been described as a 'nightmare'.
Although evidence suggests that many will experience mild symptoms with Omicron - with the triple-jabbed suffering minor illness only - recent reports now describe additional cases of sleep paralysis as well.
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To date, the most common signs include a continuous dry cough, scratchy throat, and night sweats, but Omicron sufferers have taken to social media to share their sleep disturbances after contracting the virus, with many including stories of 'terrifying' sleep paralysis.
Sleep paralysis can afflict people at various stages of sleep, leaving them unable to move or speak, and sometimes causing hallucinations.
The NHS explains: “Sleep paralysis is when you cannot move or speak as you are waking up or falling asleep.
“Sleep paralysis happens when you cannot move your muscles [...] because you are in sleep mode but your brain is active.”
One expert has theorised that sleep paralysis may actually manifest as a side effect of both the virus and heightened stress.
Kathryn Pinkham, NHS consultant and founder of the Insomnia Clinic, explained that sleep paralysis often results from disruptions to sleep patterns.
She said: “Once our sleep pattern becomes disrupted due to ill health or anxiety, then we get stuck in a cycle where we begin to associate bed with being awake.
For example, the longer we spend in bed tossing and turning unable to sleep, the more we begin to relate our bed to being awake.
“Equally, the more hyper-vigilant and anxious we become about sleep, the worse the cycle gets.
“Sleep paralysis is linked to sleep deprivation, so that would go some way in explaining why Covid and sleep paralysis are linked.”
