I had a similar experience. I was having this vivid dream, "woke up" and saw a dark figure standing at the foot of my bed. I couldn't move my body, realized it was a hallucination and actually woke. Almost shit myself

I started thrashing but I wasn't actually moving. But I then kept doing it then I felt myself going through the stages of sleep really fast like goihb through a vortex then I woke up panicking.

Were you thrashing in your dream? Maybe it was lucid. Always wanted to have one after learning what they were

I was thrashing only in my mind. I started researching this after watching inception. But after two episodes of sleep paralysis I'm done. I hate that feeling of being trapped. I'm very clostriphobic (sp?) Two things I did learn while in a dream to test if you are sleeping look in a mirror. You will never see your reflection. And flip a light switch. It will never turn on. Another cool thing is every person you meet in your dream you have met before. You are unable to make up faces.

Actually, that might not have been a dream. People have 'woken up' but their body didn't, and they start hallucinating vividly.

It's happened to me a few times. Crazy ass stuff...