Part 0800.0005

[Calamity Jane]

I had my first experience of a night terror last night, indescribable. I had to get up and go downstairs in the end. I got up at 2.45 and I dont think my heart rate and panic subsided till 5am. I am terrified of going to bed tonight. I am worrying that this might be the start of something, I know I am being ridiculous. Just wondered if any of you guys have ever had this happen - and can tell me its a one off ? thanks, jane

[sari]

My OH has them, he has a sleep disorder, and this is part of it. He also has sleep paralysyis. I imagine you will feel anxious about going to bed, but will be unlikely to have another one. Are you under stress at the minute...or have had an unusual event, as they can be a cause....

You could always buy some Nytol or SOminex and take that as a one-off...so you zonk out at bed time, and don't get all wound up.

Hope you feel better soon x x

 

PM if you want to chat off the boards!

[Calamity Jane]

Thanks Sari. I have got some Nytol and was wondering about giving it a go, I have never used it before. It was such a frightening experience, I just want to forget it. Thanks for the offer of a chat, jane

[Angie]

I have had night terrors since a small child,at seven or eight my father told me if i tried really hard i could control them.....as a child easier said than done.......But he said the secret is learning to recognise them from an ordinary dream. Because a part of your brain never sleeps the subconcious and you can use this to make you aware of the dreams.Then you can turn it into something funny or make it go in a different direction.

I don't watch Horror movies or read really graphic/horror books.

I have learnt to change my dreams .I never dwell on them and let the memory of it go.

Don't think of it when going to bed , it may never happen again.

[Seagazer]

I used to get them as a child, I've had one or two over the latter years and they are completely terrifying. I used to do what Angie suggested and I'd pretend that I was watching a tv programme and I would try really hard to change the channel. It is very hard to do, try not to worry about going to sleep tonight as that could just make it all worse, if you keep yourself awake, you get more tired and then overwrought. Try and imagine that you are somewhere where you feel at peace, mine is always laying on a beach with the sound of the waves and looking at the clouds in the sky going slowly past.

 

Perhaps a couple of nights on Nytol etc might help. My ES is having the same sort of problem at the moment and is not sleeping much at all (its either night terrors or our resident ghost up to no good)

[sari]

My OH is utterly terrified when he wakes, and often isn't coherent for many minutes. I've often had to thump him to wake him up, which sounds funny, but isn't. He's on meds for the stress and mental illhealth which this has caused ( work stress) and the terrors have disappreared..thank goodness.

[Chucky Mama]

Is this different to a nightmare. Is it an unexplained terror without 'images' so to speak?

[Seagazer]

Mine used to be extremely scary, often with a feeling that I couldn't move and I would see things sometimes even after I had 'woken' up. Heart races, sweating etc not nice at all. I spent years sleeping in between my mum and dad as I was too terrified to sleep on my own. I also had to sleep with the landing light shining directly on me. Unfortunately I couldn't have the bedroom light on because I shared with my sister.

 

With ES we used to sit with him, he'd scream and sit up but not really be with it. YS had them to a lesser degree as well. They'd often not remember it in the morning.

[sari]

My OH and ED have sleep paralysis, when you are awake, but paralysed. In normal sleep, The brain immobilises you, so you don't move around acting out your dreams. This bit gets gets mixed up, and you awake before it's switched off. You can have feelings of paranoia, or someone terrifying is in the room, or you are being sat on, or pulled away ( my daughter used to say her little sister was squashing her!). Some Drs believe it is this which is responsible for people believing they have been abducted by aliens...it can be very frightening, as you cannot move, talk, etc

My OH wakes up ( or not) screaming in terror, like he is full blown panic...sometimes paralysed..sometimes not. The adrenaline races for sometime after....and he can be very distressed for a long time. It is awful as he is not aware of his surroundings sometimes, and it is alomost like having to talk to a child, until it passes.

[Lesley]

I have night terrors quite frequently and occasional sleep paralysis. I do have dreams with mine and can't shake them off - so if I try to get back into bed it's as if the nightmare has been on pause and it continues.....the feeling of terror is always there. I usually have to stay up with all the lights on, I doze in the lounge with inane rubbish on the TV to try and move on from it.

 

I'm also too scared to take Nytol or anything else that might make it more difficult to cope with things if I wake in terror but that's probably just me.

 

My main help now is my Lumie alarm - I use the sunset setting on 30 minutes so that I gradually go to sleep with light on. It has a nighlight setting so it is never pitch black if I wake up and if I go to the loo then I start the sunset again to go back to sleep.

[Calamity Jane]

Very interesting replies - I had no idea there were so many people suffering with sleep disorders.

Happily, I was able to get a wonderful night's sleep last night. Having gone to bed exhausted after cooking and entertaining all day.

My experience was definitely different to a nightmare, but there was no paralysis or anything like that. I woke up screaming though and my OH had a hard time trying to calm me down. There was no way I was going back to sleep, and I couldnt shake off the images in my head. I went downstairs and made myself a drink and tried to read, but I was still too wound up, adrenalin pumping. In the end staring at a candle flame did it for me.

I have got rather a lot of stress going on in my life at the moment, and this experience has made me realize I need to stop trying to be superwoman, and look after myself a bit. Get out the Yoga mat me thinks.

Thank you for all your helpful comments, jane.

[patsylabrador]

Laura Marling sings a song about this. It's called 'night terrors'. I didn't kn ow such a thing existed until I came on this forum.

[Space Chick]

I've had them off and on all my life. Along with sleep paralysis and sleep walking. I also talk in my sleep too.

 

Last night I decided to scream at OH in my sleep asking him "What are you talking about leeks for now" he calmly woke me up with our code word which always wakes me up when I hear it.

 

It does terrify him when I wake up screaming, crying and paralysed though. Although on several occasions when I have screamed and can't remember the terror, a family member has died a week later