^3 I just want you to realize there is a big difference between a nightmare and a night terror. In a night terror, you "wake up" and have such strong hallucinations you physically act something out... Whether it be fighting off an attacker (LP), getting up and screaming or kicking (Joie/fuckwads), or in my case... running to get the F away from it. You also need to keep in mind sometimes we don't even know what the hell we were fighting, screaming about, or running away from her. Sometimes I can't tell you what made me get out of bed. But what I can tell you is my heart is racing ridiculously fast afterward and I'm shaking uncontrollably... much more intense than just a nightmare, imo. Not to mention, someone who sees someone can going through a night terror can most likely attest to them having their eyes open and looking "awake".... Eric said I look like a deer in headlights when it happens

Also, while some of these things might be "irrational fears," I think seeing thousands of bees coming out of your ceiling fan would scare even you.


^ >----------< I'll let you know what the doctor says... maybe you can benefit from it too



on a side note - none last night, yay

[Edited on August 31, 2010 at 9:00 AM. Reason : .]

8/31/2010 8:57:36 AM

exactly

i am deathly afraid of spiders and have never once had a night terror about spiders...although occasionally i'll have a nightmare about them

i'm not normally concerned with, much less scared of, someone breaking into my house and killing me but that seems to be the recurring episode that happens....and it's almost always provoked by another person...or the last time i think it was provoked by my dog snuggling up to me...he just touched me and set it off because i'm pretty sure i scared the shit out of him when i went into the terror part (yelling, screaming, swinging)...

it's just not the same thing as having a nightmare and it doesn't even happen during the same cycle of sleep as dreams...it's a physical reaction brought on by some sort of hallucination...not just a really bad dream that causes you to wake up scared

[Edited on August 31, 2010 at 11:19 AM. Reason : slkdfjlskd]

8/31/2010 11:18:32 AM

I woke up and was in a defensive position behind my bed, in fear of someone trying to break into the apartment and hearing gunshots.... on second thought, that might have actually happened, knowing where I live

Then I grabbed the LCP and proceeded to place myself in a strategic position to defend my perimeter. After about 20 minutes of silence I did a quick sweep of the main room, checked the windows, and checked the doors. I had successfully defended my domain, but was unable to reinstate my warrior recharge mode.


[Edited on August 31, 2010 at 11:34 AM. Reason : .]

8/31/2010 11:32:51 AM

Well, I went to the doctor.... I'm glad I did now because turns out, it's not stress.


She thinks it could either be my insulin resistance (hypoglycemia) acting up... or seizures. I was diagnosed with a sleep disorder and she's setting up a sleep study as well. She asked if I had head trauma and I had to go through all my accidents.. she said every one of them counted

So here's hoping it's the IR acting up

9/2/2010 1:20:18 PM

glad you went to the doctor and i hope that they figure out whats going on so they can fix it

9/2/2010 3:38:03 PM

Let us know what you find out. I have them as well and I suspect it may be related to low blood sugar. I have noticed that my night terrors have decreased tremendously this year which may be attributed to the fact that I haven't done any dieting.

9/2/2010 6:08:53 PM

I don't know what to think... the main problem with the blood sugar is that it's more my medicine than anything. I was switched to Metformin extended release instead of just taking 2 regular ones in the morning, so we'll see how it goes...

It's just a little scary to hear I could be having seizures. And this lady went to med school at Wake Forest and now works at UAB so I'm pretty sure she knows what she's talking about :\ She said she found it "fascinating"

9/2/2010 6:36:20 PM

What made her think seizures?

9/2/2010 10:59:58 PM

Remember when Kirk had night terrors on Gilmore Girls? Good times.


He's probably my favorite character on that show.

9/3/2010 12:09:03 AM

^2 I think from my symptoms afterward and into the next day... something about how they could be a form of a nocturnal seizure.. but she thinks it's more likely the IR - so am I

9/3/2010 10:09:21 AM

Update for those people who mentioned night terrors coincide with lack of sleep


I've been seeing the same doctor for a while now and I'm on the verge of being diagnosed with hypersomnia. For those of you who experience night terrors kinda often, she said when you have them you usually have another underlying sleep disorder that you just aren't aware of



So anyway, I have to be on stimulants during the day until my sleep study (read: Adderall)


Therefore, I have a new question for people... Anyone that regularly takes it, are there any wacky side effects I should be aware of? I know I could look it up online but I'm sure it's different for everyone... Or any advice?

10/22/2010 7:09:54 PM

just got done watching paranormal activity on netflix and of course I stumble on this thread............

I hope they find out what is really causing it for you, it would be fascinating from a physiology standpoint but it sucks that it's happening

[Edited on October 23, 2010 at 1:30 AM. Reason : ]

10/23/2010 1:29:36 AM

The most I can gather about hypersomnia is that they're still not totally sure what all the physiological happenings are... but it's different from narcolepsy

10/23/2010 10:40:14 AM

happened to me once. was a CD size spider that got me out of the room in fear. lol.

10/23/2010 10:54:37 AM

I took adderall in HS, and my freshman year of college, for ADHD (primarily inattentive classification, not hyperactive). I have a pretty high tolerance for many drugs, especially considering my weight, but I found that a very low dose of adderall was effective for me. My psychiatrist had me on 20-40mg a day. For a while it was 30XR in the morning and 10IR in the afternoon, then we dropped the 30XR to a 20XR. I would do what I called "hyper-focusing". At those doses, my mind would kind of turn off, and I'd come back to reality and realize that I hadn't been thinking about ANYTHING (I kind of equate this to times when you're driving down the highway and you realize you don't remember the last couple minutes). I found that taking 5mg of IR, re-dosing every few hours if needed, was the best thing for me. Not sure about using it for a sleep disorder, though.

10/23/2010 11:21:30 AM

I would recommend trying bikram yoga. I can't say for sure if it will help with night terrors, but it has helped me with insomnia and other health issues. Check out http://www.bikramyogaraleigh.com/ Even if it doesn't help with night terrors it still has numerous other benefits. I couldn't live without it.

10/24/2010 3:50:16 AM

I have done hot yoga.... and I don't know why insomnia is being brought up because that's not my problem :\

10/24/2010 11:17:06 AM

bump for 2 last night back-to-back

11/22/2010 5:06:41 PM

11/22/2010 6:26:48 PM

Stop doing drugs


If you aren't doing those.

Start.

I honestly think you are not living your proper balnced lifestyle an this is causing them.

[Edited on November 23, 2010 at 3:05 PM. Reason : N]

11/23/2010 3:02:20 PM

I have them. My doctor prescribes Xanax to help me sleep and to take if I wake up from a night terror b/c it dissolves quickly which calms me down faster. I dread sleeping b/c of them.

Stress is a huge factor with them. That's when they get worse.

11/23/2010 4:22:04 PM

Do you have night terrors about not being able to shop for a doctor who'll prescribe narcotics for your "fibromyalgia"?

11/23/2010 4:41:46 PM

go back to chit chat

11/23/2010 4:46:50 PM

I CAN'T

I'M AFRAID TO LEAVE THE LOUNGE

11/23/2010 4:49:24 PM

11/23/2010 7:36:27 PM

Quote :

"I honestly think you are not living your proper balnced lifestyle an this is causing them."

I eat healthy (most days... not this coming Thursday though), I'm active, I have been making sure I get "adequate" sleep, I do yoga... And I still get them.

When I ate like crap, was stressed and barely slept.. I still got them

I'm just praying the sleep study shows something 2 in a row has never happened before...

11/24/2010 3:46:10 AM

just do what i do and wait til you're so exhausted there's no way you'll dream

11/24/2010 4:04:59 AM

They're not dreams though.. And if I wait til I'm absolutely exhausted, that's more likely to trigger one

11/24/2010 4:08:38 AM

Do you ever take naps?

11/24/2010 8:20:18 AM

if I ever take a nap it's so hard for me to wake up from one that they usually last about 4 hours... unless I have someone come and physically wake me up

so I try to stay away from them :\ plus they don't make me feel any better, usually worse

11/24/2010 11:30:01 AM

"They" used to say that naps were bad, but now they're shown to be good. Basically as long as a person can get in their daily x hrs of sleep they healthier they are. Perhaps try and do that? At my work we have this "serenity room" where folks can just pass out for their break. It comes in real handy...just set ur cell alarm or smthg.

11/24/2010 2:06:50 PM

That's the thing though, I can get the suggested amount of sleep and still not be able to wake up from a nap. I can't set 2 alarms and it still won't be enough (trust me, because I do just that). The one thing that seems to really wake me up is having my mom or Eric call me and make me talk for a few minutes

11/24/2010 5:57:27 PM

I think I suffer from restless leg syndrome as well


Sometimes I'll wake up and my leg is bent and it feels like I strained a muscle and I can't stretch my leg back out because it hurts too bad.


I was told at one point that it was due to low potassium levels so I started taking potassium gluconate pills. Didn't help.

Couple this with night terrors and I'm surprised my husband hasn't admitted me to a sleep study yet

11/24/2010 8:56:34 PM

i dont have nightmares i have nighthorses

11/24/2010 11:43:40 PM

You are posesssed

11/25/2010 11:15:21 PM

I have to have a sleepy study... At first I thought I would be relieved but after seeing all the shit I'll be hooked up to and hearing all the possibilities, I'm terrified... Not to mention, I have to go off the Adderall 2 weeks prior to the study and I'm not supposed to drive.

1/5/2011 2:18:16 PM

Hearing all the possibilities? Like what?

You'll be fine

1/5/2011 2:40:15 PM

Seizures could be causing my night terrors (not just feeling tired), could be narcolepsy, or could be hypersomnia (which is what the doctor is leaning towards).

Because of the seizure possibility, I have to be hooked up to a ton of other stuff And if it's hypersomnia, the medication I would need to be on interferes with birth control and you also can't take it when you're pregnant because it has been known to cause birth defects. So basically when I do decide to take that step and have children, I will be feeling like shit the entire time. Obviously I'm not going to say, "Oh well" and take it anyway, because that's fucked up on so many levels, but it still sucks.


It's just a lot at one time... Pretty overwhelming


Oh, and the fact that three doctors came in to talk to me after looking at my chart worries me.

[Edited on January 5, 2011 at 2:44 PM. Reason : .]

1/5/2011 2:42:21 PM

Ah, I thought you meant possibilities during the literal sleep study. You gonna be strapped down to the bed or something? Sounds kinky

This just sounds like a great development in finding out what's causing these night terrors. Yes it will suck, but instead of putting another bandaid on symptoms you might just get closer to a real diagnosis.

I'm sure the docs will be able to work with you on whatever future medication you need to take regardless.

1/5/2011 2:47:05 PM

Quote :

" At my work we have this "serenity room" where folks can just pass out for their break."

I need to work at your company.

1/5/2011 3:05:42 PM

Sleep studies suck. They hook so many wires to you that you can't get to sleep afterwards. I sleep on my side normally and have never been able to sleep on my back, but the sleep studies require you to sleep on your back.

1/5/2011 3:50:15 PM

^3 Yeah, I'll be strapped down but I'm not sure how tight they will be. The straps will be across my chest and legs. I'm just ready to have this figured out... It's something I simply tolerated for basically my whole life and now it's getting worse with no signs of improvement no matter what I do.

^ I have no problem sleeping on my back thank goodness, but I can see what you mean about the sheer amount of wires being attached. And since they think it could be seizures, I have to have like an extra 5 attached to my head. :\ The one thing that worries me the most is the possibility of having a night terror... While I'm sure it would show them lots via wires, I feel like I would freak out even more than normal if I was strapped down.

1/5/2011 4:28:12 PM

Can we get a justin.tv stream of this?

1/5/2011 4:40:10 PM

^^ But isn't it good if you have a night terror during the sleep study. If nothing happens, then there's nothing for them to study

1/5/2011 4:41:21 PM

Well at this point it's not just the night terrors they're trying to study... It's mainly going to look at possibility of night terrors + (narcolepsy or hypersomnia or sleep apnea). They're going to really be looking for things that would mess up my sleep cycle.

It would be good for the study though to have one I guess, but it would suck major balls at the time it happened. Being held down during one is one of the worst feelings

^2 It's funny you mention the stream... Apparently I'll be filmed the entire time, and they also have an infrared camera on at all times to monitor if I kick or do anything crazy

[Edited on January 5, 2011 at 4:46 PM. Reason : .]

1/5/2011 4:45:19 PM

You could set up a camera to record yourself sleeping in your apartment and give them that if something happens. Parents did something like that to me when I would wake up with bad respiratory problems (they grabbed a video camera when I had an attack) and it helped the docs a lot. Think Paranormal Activity!

1/5/2011 4:51:42 PM

Quote :

"Sometimes I'll wake up and my leg is bent and it feels like I strained a muscle and I can't stretch my leg back out because it hurts too bad."

This happened again over the weekend. It hurt for 2 days

1/5/2011 5:10:11 PM

^ Could it be from one of those painful leg cramps that randomly pop up? :\

1/5/2011 5:32:51 PM

1/5/2011 9:31:04 PM

^ If I owned that it would be hanging prominently in the guest bedroom.

1/6/2011 9:12:04 AM