Question: Hi. Many years ago I had several incidents of REM Sleep Behaviour Disorder (never diagnosed but obviously this was it). In one of them I dreamed that there was an burglar standing in the door way. I remember thinking I needed to wake up my husband (who is very hard to wake up) so I jumped on him and screamed as loudly as I could. Of course, he woke up but, contrary to my expectation, he was not pleased. He said, “Wha?” I shushed him and screamed again. He yelled, “What the hell are you doing?” I remember thinking how rude this was and huffed off back to sleep without speaking to him.
The next day there was a news report about a woman who woke up to find her husband covered with blood and with 20 knife wounds in him. She had had a dream that HE was a burglar. This was too much for my husband who moved into his own room and has stayed there for the past 30 years. For a long time, I often woke up to find myself racing out of the house or doing something similar. Sometimes I remembered the dream (always scary and violent) and sometimes I didn’t.Now, 30 years later, I still have bad dreams that disturb my sleep (last night I dreamed that some horrible liquid was being poured on the earth and creating destruction) but I don’t seem to act on them unless I am very stressed out during the day. I often have to get up at 4 a.m. because these dreams wake me up over and over. Despite being very sleepy, I eventually face the facts and get up. A couple of hours of watching tv or working on the computer, I can usually get back to sleep for a few hours. Unfortunately, I rarely get a decent night’s sleep because of these dreams which become much worse under stress.I am also moody during the day and I think this is related. If I don’t keep busy I have what might be called “waking nightmares”. I get started on negative thoughts and have trouble stopping them. Usually, again, some time on the computer or going for a walk will stop them but not always. At night, of course, this process is harder to control.I think my father had and my son has something similar as they have both complained about poor sleep and being constantly overtired.I have used Dilantin, Tegretol and Lamictal for this problem, with success, but always quit taking them after a year or so because I thought it was a psychological problem and I “should” be able to get over having nightmares and “waking dreams” on my own. Maybe that’s not going to happen, huh?
1 Comment
Leave a reply Cancel reply
Browse Pages
Browse Visitor Stories
Recent Comments
- Michael Glass on A Warning About Sleep Deprivation
- site de apostas internet on Jaw Issues, Grinding My Teeth, Then Went To The Dentist And Got A Guard
- paraswap exchange on 1AM Hunger And Lights In The Air?
- paraswap on ADD? Allergies? Sleep Apnea? Chicken/Egg?
- baixar app Aposta esportiva on Jaw Issues, Grinding My Teeth, Then Went To The Dentist And Got A Guard
On further reading, I realize that whatever I have is very much like REM Behavior Disorder but there are also significant differences. The big one is that I remember the dream fairly clearly the next day, including all my physical actions and what I was thinking/feeling at the time. I certainly do not forget, as others seem to do.
Also, my disorder hasn’t become worse over time. It was much more problematic thirty years ago. Now, my husband and I often travel together without him worrying about an episode. We can’t share a bed (I can’t sleep) but we can be in the same room.
For some years, my biggest sleep problem has been really bad nightmares but I don’t seem to act on them like I used to. I have tried many things but recently hypnosis mp3s (on my iPod) have been working and I have had about two weeks of good sleep. In the past few days, however, the dreams have started breaking through just as I wake up. It’s like they were there all along but I didn’t know it (which is fine with me).