I don't want to be nitpicky, but sleep paralysis is when your body during sleep is paralysed so that the brain can run free without the body, to put it simply. So when there is movement it most likely hypnic jerks (like Stephen pointed out). It is no question that many of your experiences is similar to hypnagogia, do read the article Stephen links to.

I personally experience many hypnagogic sensations myself, and have done for a long time, some regular (EHS and audio hallucinations) and some irregular. I have never really considered anything of it paranormal, just the brain running free and processing the stimuli and information it has been subject to during the day. It is only recently I realised that many of the experiences I myself has had is basis for paranormal claims. I have never connected the two, until I read hypnagogia was put forth as a debunking tool. But after researching and putting my experiences in context, I now am convinced that many experiences, and claims of psychic abilities, have the their basis in different hypnagogic (or hypnopompic) sensations. Which are natural processes and phenomenas recognized by science, shared by many and duly studied. They are strange and unsettling at times, yes, but it is only your brain, not any paranormal influences at work.

I would go so far as to say that even if ghosts or any other supernatural phenomena exists, any experiences had around the time when falling to sleep is not paranormal. I can't say never since we know little or nothing of the existence of ghosts and other supernatural forces or how they behave or manifest to rule them out, but the evidence behind the thesis of hypnagogia being the culprit behind paranormal claims in and around sleep is almost insurmountable.

I can understand how people interpret these experiences as paranormal, I could do so myself if I was a believer or prone to believe. But since I am a skeptic and never really interpreted them in that context from the beginning, but as something natural, I never did. Actually I was a bit disappointed when I realised how many that interpret hypnagogic sensations as paranormal phenomena and I became more skeptic than ever when it comes to claims of experiences and abilites. All these misinterpretations put forth as experiences really clouds the issue and does not help anyone to any answers.

Maybe I did sound a bit zealous in my recent post, but I do want to point out that I do entertain the paranormal as a possibility. Always. Yet I do also want paranormal claims or evidence to be as good as possible why must better our knowledge and methods when asserting what is or is not paranormal.

Parts of hypnagogic sensations might well be paranormal, but we have no evidence or basis for that and when people make that assumption solely because it fits their wants or belief (or career) it might give them comfort or empowerment but in the end it clouds the issue. That is my beef. Not the existence of the paranormal or the paranormal being an aspect of hypnagogia.

I have found that many claims have origins in hypnagogia and my assertion is that hypnagogia, as far as I can assess from what science says and my experiences, is not paranormal. But others might draw different conclusions, but then they have the burden of proof. And I am open to be proven wrong. That is what science is about.

And again, like many skeptics I do entertain the paranormal as a possibility, I just need better knowledge and evidence of it. That is why it is important to me to sharpen the tools which we study paranormal phenomena.

Robbin, what is important to me atleast (can't speak for Stephen) is not to debunk you experiences, but to assist you inte the analysis of them. Critical thinking and all that jazz…

In the end it is your experiences, and yours alone, and whilst there are proven methods to analyze them the conclusion is yours to make. What is important is that an analysis has taken place and that experiences are not taken for paranormal on face value.

As for the poke, the skin is the largest organ the body has and is subject to a million stimuli from the physical world: wind, cold, water dust, chemicals etc. And sometimes we have neurological misfires when the brain produces sensation on the skin when no stimuli was present. Phantom pains in amputated limbs is a common and known phenomena for example. In short, tactile sensations does not always equal presence of an external stimuli. That in itself does not explain you experience, and I'm no dermatologist, but it is possible that science has some answers to give you, if nothing else you expand your knowledge. As my signature says: when in doubt, figure it out. Or atleast try to.

With that said, I do not dispute your conclusion. It was your experience and I can't really assess it, I can only provide tools for understanding what happened. If you are certain of being poked and as certain as can be that it wasn't a phantom touch, then the hypothesis that it was paranormal is legit. The problem then becomes how to try that hypothesis, but that's a different story.

In the end, the important thing is that you are not scared or that your experiences trouble you but that you are intrigued by them. Curiosity is good , fear is not.