shadesofgrey49 Posted October 15, 2009 Report Share Posted October 15, 2009 I did a search and only found one thread about night terrors from a couple of years back. Who else here has them, and how much can sleeping issues be related to dysautonomia? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
firewatcher Posted October 15, 2009 Report Share Posted October 15, 2009 Are you talking about nightmares or night terrors? Because they are different.Nightmares would be REALLY bad dreams Night Terrors are screaming and acting out while you are asleep, but you don't have bad dreams with them. My son had night terrors when he was a toddler and it totally freaked us out: he would scream uncontrollably and not tell us what was wrong. Then he would wake up and wonder why we were in his room and what was going on. The first time he did this, he woke up in the car on the way to the ER. We had no clue what was going on, but we were convinced it was horrible. His went away, but he talks in his sleep now.Many of us here have sleep disorders of some kind and excess adrenalin that has not cleared your system might make you more prone to have vivid, memorable dreams. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kayjay Posted October 15, 2009 Report Share Posted October 15, 2009 Grey- I think for me these are related to my POTS. When I change positions in bed or roll over I have real problems (or used to).Now i take a .05 Klonopin every night at bedtime and for the most part it, I sleep well. I think firewatcher is right - it may have to do with stress hormones and I have hyperadregenic Pots.Good luck- I know I have scared my mom badly with these- She was here taking care of my children and I woke up screaming and crying from a nap!P.S. I think ALL of my sleeping issues are related to dysautonomia! I have a great bed- hubby doesn't snore- we are out in the county with no noise/ no lights- my sleeping issues seem to really be internal- bu I really recomend the Klonopin. I worried about taking it b/c it is addicitve... but I have gone off of it twice without problems although I learned how much it helps me! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shadesofgrey49 Posted October 15, 2009 Author Report Share Posted October 15, 2009 Yes, I'm talking about night terrors. Here's a definition from nightterrors.org: "Night Terrors Symptoms: Sudden awakening from sleep, persistent fear or terror that occurs at night, screaming, sweating, confusion, rapid heart rate, inability to explain what happened, usually no recall of "bad dreams" or nightmares, may have a vague sense of frightening images. Many people see spiders, snakes, animals or people in the room, are unable to fully awake, difficult to comfort, with no memory of the event on awakening the next day."I usually remember it the next day. My recurring one is spiders, but I've also seen people and floating light things. All sorts of strange hallucinations, and I scream and turn on the light and it takes a long time to realize nothing's there. This has been going on for years.That stress hormone thing is a very interesting theory. I don't really know what Klonopin is! I used to take melatonin often, but then I read all sorts of stuff on this site warning against it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elfie Posted October 15, 2009 Report Share Posted October 15, 2009 Hmm . . . . . . when I was a kid I used to wake people up screaming and talking in my sleep. I recently had someone who I was visiting tell me I still do on occasion, I guess there is just no one around to hear it now. I don't think I have true night terrors though. My dad does, and he also sleepwalks. I can't compare me screaming because I am being chased by cows (I frequently dream about cows, don't ask why) and waking up in the night because my dad thinks my mom is an intruder (or an alligator) and is forcefully trying to strangle her in his sleep. That or be up late studying in the dark (on the computer) and have him walking into the kitchen and start sharpening knives in his sleep or go out the door and start his truck and try to drive to work. Somehow I don't draw any parallels between the two. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kayjay Posted October 15, 2009 Report Share Posted October 15, 2009 Grey, Klonopin is a drug. It is a nervous system depressant. I take it at bedtime. If I don't take it I wake up with Terror. I feel like I can't breathe. In my situation I think the adrenal surges I get at night (when I flip over) cause the terrors. When I wake up I feel like I a m going to die. I have to tell you that I enjoy not having these. I don't really have a certain dream... just more wake up in a major panic. Sometimes my children are being hurt, sometimes I am sufficating or being chased. Usually I just remember the fear not any thoughts.I asked my Dr. for a script for Klonopin after reading about it's use in the treatment for chronic fatigue syndrome. I plan on taking until I am out of this flare! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jan Posted October 16, 2009 Report Share Posted October 16, 2009 I used to wake up at night with a racing heart, sweating, and panic until I started taking Lorazapam before bed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erik Posted October 16, 2009 Report Share Posted October 16, 2009 I've had bouts of what I call "Moments of Terror". They are quite brief, but incredibly intense. They have come and gone. I think this specific experience for me has been either falling asleep or suddenly awaking in horror.I seemed to induce one by doing a fast followed by dose of glucose which induced a "relative hypoglycemia" (a huge drop but just shy of absolute hypoglycemia criteria). This is not advised to self administer. This put me into a brief "food coma" nap from which I awoke in terror and very odd feeling (odder than my normal odd feeling states). I had a sense it could be a seizure.Either way, benzos (like the two mentioned so far) are on my mind as treatments for this and other stuff (hopefully some sleep quality & perhaps autonomic benefit too)... if it were truly a "partial seizure" then other meds might target it better. I've also had myoclonic jerks... and other brief floods of feelings (and chronic deja and some jamais vu) while awake that make me suspicious of seizure overall. No confirmation... that's later on my list of medical to-do's. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daisy Posted October 16, 2009 Report Share Posted October 16, 2009 Funny you brought this topic up because I had a weird thing happen yesterday morning. I hadn't been feeling well the night before and had a few near syncope episodes. I got up and got my daughter off to school (she catches the bus at the ungodly hour of 6:45 a.m.) and then went back to bed. I had a nightmare and then it turned into sleep paralysis. I was in that half aware/half dreaming mode. I wanted to move and tried to move but couldn't budge. It was extremely frightening...didn't last long. I have had this before too....I researched it a bit and some research connects it to night terrors....I was definitely having a scary dream at the time. Nightmare or night terror? Don't know....all I know is it was scary and I couldn't move a muscle.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shadesofgrey49 Posted October 18, 2009 Author Report Share Posted October 18, 2009 I think that may be connected to night terrors because when I have them, I feel half-awake. That's why everything feels so real and so scary. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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