Monday, July 6, 2009

Night terrors

Not sure if I have shared this with all of my cyber-buddies out there, but I suffer from night terrors. I have suffered from this all of my life, but mostly they have been intermittent. Over the past couple of months, they have been occurring almost every night, and often several times a night.

The major cause of night terrors seems to be stress.

Om nama jama (that's me meditating)

The main treatment for night terrors is drugging myself up to my eyeballs every night.

Hmmmmm.

Om nama shlama (more meditating)

There are many different ways night terrors are manifested. Mine go like this:

Sleeping...maybe 30-45 minutes after going to sleep... when suddenly

BUGS CRAWLING ON WALLS, SMALL RODENTS INVADING BEDROOM, FLYING SPIDERS DRAGGING THEIR NASTY LEGS IN MY FACE, LARGE MEN ENTERING BEDROOM, SNAKES UNDER BED

I awake, freaking out about whatever flavor of night terror has graced me with its presence that night. The night terror continues until I turn on the light and/or wake up divine hubby with my screaming and freaking out.

Divine hubby just LOVES them, I'll tell ya. He has often said he has a letter with a lawyer somewhere so when the police find him dead in bed of a heart attack, they will know I've been trying to kill him for years.

So, the question is, do I drug myself to my eyeballs and enjoy marital bliss (albeit slightly dulled by the narcotics), or do I continue freaking out every night, several times a night, and possibly wake up one day and find that divine hubby has packed his toothbrush and moved on to quieter pastures?

At this point, divine hubby is considering duct tape...

I'm considering Yoga...

I have an appointment on Wednesday with a neurologist for a possible sleep study. It will be the only night I will wish for a night terror to happen! Of course, that night, I'll sleep like the dead...

4 comments:

Vegetable House said...

That is so awful! I sometimes have those to, but mine occur at 2:30 am.
Kale

S.I.L. said...

Well, you may not agree with this but I would recommend a therapist who can help you explore the cause of them. I think (I may be wrong) they are a manifestation of anxiety in which case a therapist could help. A neurologist might too. Regardless of the route you take, I hope you find the answer. As someone who hasn't had a good night's sleep in two years, I can relate to your frustration.

Shelly... said...

I don't have any advice for you. The only thing I can say is I'm sorry you are dealing with this! I only snore at night and yes, it wakes hubby but doesn't bother me! But seriously, I hope you find some relief, regardless of what you do!

Kristine said...

Yikes! I'm kind of with S.I.L. in that it might be good to look into the root cause rather than a solution for symptoms.