[Brad]

Who here at AppleNova has had 'em?

I was doing some brief research about sleep (because I've had no "normal" routine for the past couple of weeks thanks to a weird work schedule) and came upon this site for and by people that have suffered from night terrors.

A night terror is like a nightmare, only worse. Nightmares are regular dreams that occur in REM and the only real distinction is that they have some unusual elements that you think are scary. Night terrors, on the other hand, occur before REM sleep and have bizarre effects. To quote that site I linked:

During a night terror, which may last anywhere from five to twenty minutes, the person is still asleep, although the sleepers eyes may be open. When the subject does wake up, they usually have no recollection of the episode other than a sense of fear. This, however, is not always the case. Quite a few people interviewed can remember portions of the night terror, and some remember the whole thing.

I was one of those freaks that (unfortunately?) could remember the whole experience.

I had night terrors when I was young; they were bad enough that my parents took me to a doctor and performed various tests and EEGs overnight. I remember almost nothing of my childhood (probably blocked out from various emotional/psychological scarring) but one of the things I remember vividly is having night terrors. I remember waking up drenched in sweat and screaming at the top of my lungs in total panic, fear, and (duh) terror. The reason why is rather difficult to explain, but I'll try.

I still remember how it feels, but to this day I cannot sufficiently put it to words. For me, it was like a feeling of extremely heightened awareness, but the world around me (not necessarily my bedroom, just vague walls or structures of some sort) were reshaping and distorting outwards and up, kind of like looking through a fisheye lens, accompanied by an instinctive feeling of impending danger. Sometimes if I think about it, it can still make me uneasy and give me chills.

So, I was wondering if anyone else here has suffered (or still does) from night terrors. Aside from definitions and descriptions of night terrors, I haven't found any statistical information besides that it occurs generally between ages 4 and 12 and more in males. Any resident doctors know more about this subject?

[Kickaha]

Yeah, I had a few bouts of them growing up.

Now, I just have these weird situations where I snap awake hyper-alert, and spend the next 20 minutes stock-still listening for whatever it was that woke me up. I'm one of those freaks that will sleep through an alarm clock blaring at top volume for 30 minutes, but will wake up at the first unknown sound, no matter how slight. For some reason, I keep thinking I've been woken up by *something* external, but I have no idea what. No real 'terror', but a definite feeling of extreme unease and... danger? Something.

[Maciej]

I suspect that the feeling you describe right after waking up is a fight or flight response of the sympathetic nervous system - getting you ready for whatever danger might be at bay... I imagine for most people the part after waking up is the worst, but I cant imagine how terrifying it would be to actually remember? What scares you more?

[Wrao]

Hm... is it akin to sleep paralysis/'dream demons' type occurrences? I've had plenty of those, as well as a handful of peculiar sleep and related afflictions.

Sometimes I'll have swooky type things happen as I'm going to sleep, like, I'll still feel awake, but mostly asleep to the point where I don't really get up or anything. Shrug. I dunno know if I've had 'night terrors' though, I've never heard that term.

[BarracksSi]

I didn't, but my sister sometimes did. Screaming at the top of her lungs late at night, almost completely unresponsive to anything we tried to do to help.

She told me recently (this was happening about 20-25 years ago) that one of the things she regularly saw was our dad being violently killed.

Last night, I woke up to the weirdest thing. I absolutely could not move, but I could see (at least I thought I could), and noticed somebody in the room. He was wearing all white and had on this plain, white, squarish mask, almost like two sheets of paper over the front & back with eye & mouth holes cut out, but made of something else and with nice craftsmanship.

He looked me right in the eye, then moved out of my field of view. Scared the bejeezus out of me, and it took me a while before I could start sleeping again.

Reading up in your link, I think this was sleep paralysis. I hadn't slept the night before, and it happened exactly as they describe.

I did have an instance waaaaaay back, when I woke up to my Raggedy Ann doll three inches from my face. HOLY shit... seriously, with that sharply pointy nose, the jagged mouth, vacant black eyes, and wild hair, I freaked. I've had a major aversion to Raggedy Ann & Andy ever since.

[Brad]

Originally Posted by Wrao Hm... is it akin to sleep paralysis/'dream demons' type occurrences?

No, although they are similar, sleep paralysis occurs in stage one of sleep. Terrors are in four and regular dreams in five.



Keep in mind, of course, that a sleep cycle is about 90 minutes and repeats through the night. That's why they say most people have six or seven dreams each night.

[BarracksSi]

Originally Posted by Brad Keep in mind, of course, that a sleep cycle is about 90 minutes and repeats through the night.

On a tangent --

I've been told that Air Force pilots work to schedule their sleep in 90-minute segments. That is, rather than taking an 8-hour sleep, they'll sleep for 9 hours or 7-1/2 hours. That way, when it's time to wake up, they'll be right at the end of a cycle and can wake up very refreshed and ready to go. Waking up at 8 hours is much more difficult, being further into the depths of the sleep cycle.

I'm going to work on a 3-hour sleep now... ugh.. lol

[Wrao]

Originally Posted by Brad No, although they are similar, sleep paralysis occurs in stage one of sleep. Terrors are in four and regular dreams in five.

I see, well... I'd hit it. I can't say that I've had night terrors, but if you're not likely to remember them, it is possible I guess. I certainly have had a fair share of nightmares in the past. Interestingly enough though, I've recently acquired the 'ability' to lucid dream fairly regularly, so my nightmare count has diminished greatly, that said, I have achieved lucidity in the midst of nightmares more often than pleasant/normal dreams. Which has always been radical.

[bb823]

Well, I answered no to the poll, but after I went to that site I read of some experiences that made me remember a few similar ones that I had when I was little. After that, I think that I have indeed had some night terrors.

When I was little I would have these really scary dreams. I only had them a few times, so I don't characterize myself as a sufferer of night terrors, but I think I've had a few. I would have dreams where it would be very bright, but I would sense this presence of something coming after me. Almost like a giant ball that would come and crush me. I would see it coming, yet it was still very very far away. The dream was always bright and flashy, and it seemed like my eyes wouldn't focus. Yet the thing that freaked me out was the inevitibility of that ball coming. I knew it was coming, even if it was moving really slow. And I knew it was coming for me. These dreams would freak me out. Yeah, they're hard to describe, and it doesn't do it justice here. But I would always wake up crying and sweaty. I remember a few times waking up and my parents were there holding me.

Fortunately those dreams went away.

I have had some crazy experiences since though. I laugh at myself after, because they don't scare me so much as leave me wondering WTF? I wake up and am conscious of my room, but it's like the dream continues in my head. Like one night I woke up with this feeling that I HAD to find a black belt that was on my floor. So I jump out of bed in the dark and crawl around the floor, feeling for this mysterious belt. Finally I was like "what are you doing? There's no belt here" and went back to bed. Other times I've woken up thinking that spiders or rats are in my bed. But it doesn't last more than 5 seconds and I come out of it.

It's weird tough, because I can see my room, and my mind projects that those things from my dream are there, even if I can't really see them. I used to have one where I'd wake up and all of my friends were in my room. I couldn't really see them, but was just aware of their presence. I would converse with them, and be all embarrased that I was in my pajamas and had bed-head and stuff. It was like they had come over in the middle of the night to hang out in my room. Eventually I just tell myself "this isn't real, just go back to bed" and it goes away.

Crazy. It doesn't happen much anymore, though if I get stressed enough, or excited about something, I always have weird things like that happen. Fortunately for me they aren't scary. But man, the brain does some crazy things...

[Dave]

I've had plenty of those "barely awake so the shadow of my coat on the wall looks like satan" kind of experiences, and I've had my fair share of nightmares, but I don't really recall anything like the night terrors that you described, Brad.

Oh. WOW. I just read some of the stories on that website you linked to. This one, in particular... just wow
http://www.nightterrors.org/readers/Baker32.html

[BarracksSi]

Julie mentions meat hooks --
http://www.nightterrors.org/readers/julie39.html

Come to think of it, one of the details my sister remembers is of our dad, or maybe all of us (I'm forgetting that detail now), hanging on meat hook(s).

If you've never been in the same household as someone having a night terror episode, it's really difficult to understand what it's like.

[atomicbartbeans]

Nope, but sometimes, I have very vivid, realistic dreams.

So much that I'll actually believe that said dreams are reality, and then I'll wake up and wonder "What am I doing in bed?" Then I'll realize it was a dream.

And Some of my dreams, I remember very well, like it was a movie.

Edit: When I first saw the thread title, I thought Brad was posting about where you get smashed, then wake up in the morning with a fat, ugly chick lying next to you, and you think "please tell me we didn't do it".

[alcimedes]

My screams used to wake up the neighbors.

[turtle]

Wow, reading those stories reminds me of "Nightmare on Elm St."

I thought I had one night terror because it seemed to be too intense for a "bad dream". I wasn't feeling good, slight fever and such at about 9 years old and sleeping in my mom's bed. Everyone was at work or school but my mom who was downstairs. Then I was attacked by the biggest hamburger in the world!!! It started small then got bigger and bigger. It pressed in on me and I could do nothing. I thought I was screaming, but later I talked to my mom about it and she heard nothing. This really freaked me out! I didn't go to a burger joint for a long time.

Fortunately for me this was the only real moment of terror I have felt in a sleep state. I'm one of those who could sleep through anything. Yes I really mean anything. I have to train my body to wake up to a certain noise (alarm clock, phone...) if I want to wake up to it. I really honed this skill in the Navy when I had trained myself to wake up to the General Quarters alarm. I still snap straight up to that one.

My wife seems to think I have sleep apnea (sp?), where you stop breathing while you are sleeping until your body makes you take a deep breath. Looking at the chart though tells me she might just be seeing me in the second phase of sleep when she would notice it.

[InactionMan]

I voted No. But I don't know. I have violently attacked people in my sleep and not remembered it. I do wake up sometimes scared out of my gourd and my heart is pounding (the only the other time my heart beat that much was the time I did coke). When I wake up like that I think the someone I know has slashed my torso open and I'm bleeding to death. It's pretty easy to believe that I am bleeding because I wake up covered in sweat.

I think it's just a recurring nightmare becuase I usually remember the end of the dream. Someone I know is standing over me holding something and I slowly slump lower to the ground. As I start to pass out (in the dream) it slowly turns into me lying awake in bed.

I will say, if for some reason anyone wants to have awful nightmares, go to sleep with a nicotine patch on. I made this mistake a few times when I first started trying to quit and the dreams I had were unbearable.

[judeobscure]

I voted yes. I always wake up screaming and then, moaning. There's always this tall faceless, black cloaked figure with huge black gloved hands. That's all I can ever remember.

[kretara]

I used to have them quite often when I was a kid. Even though I am approaching 40 I still get them occasionally.

Much like Brad, I have very few memories of my childhood except the night terrors. My night terrors were always associated with a dream.

I vividly remember 4 of them, although there were lots more.

From childhood:
1) When I was 7 I dreamt that a nuclear bomb was set off in my town. I still vividly remember seeing the mushroom cloud, feeling the wind hit me and then going black. The 'dream' scared me so badly that when I woke up I could not move or speak. My bed was literally wet with sweat. I still remember how my chest felt tight and I could not catch my breath. How I lay paralized on my bed (but fully awake and alert) gasping for breath.

2) In another 'dream' (I was 10) I was being stalked by a large animal that wanted to eat me. No matter what I did I could not get away. Finally the animal (T-Rex) grabbed me and started eating me alive. I woke up screaming my head off and looking at my mother and to the realization that I had lost all control of my bodily functions. I had been screaming for a few minutes and she could not wake me even though she slapped me a few times.

My adult 'terrors' are a bit different. They all have to do with my kid(s). The terror is my kid(s) dying. They are so powerful and still so vivid in my mind that I still can't talk about them. About all I can say is that when I wake up I am scared to death, more grief stricken than I have every been and filled with a killing rage.

Yeah, night terrors suck and I would give alot to never experience one again.

[Brad]

Fascinating. Thanks for sharing your stories. It makes me feel a little less crazy myself. Outside of this little study, I've never known anyone who has had (or at least admitted to having) night terrors.

I wonder if there's a common thread here. Academically gifted/intelligent kids? Psychological/emotional abuse or instability at home? Something in the water?

[billybobsky]

I love nightmares.

Edit: The surreality of mine is absolutely facinating to the point of my embarassing glee whenever I have one. In general, I know when I am dreaming because I tend to fly vertically, and it is no different in my nightmares.

[CoolToddHunter]

I've never had night terrors (I think), but I have woken up to strange noises in the house before. It's kind of a rush to feel the adrenaline pour into the blood stream and the physical awareness that provides. It starts slow in the head and moves down until it reaches the heart, which doubles or trebles rate in couple of seconds. After that it's no fun because it all happens so fast (and it's hard to get back to sleep).

[turtle]

Originally Posted by Brad Fascinating. Thanks for sharing your stories. It makes me feel a little less crazy myself. Outside of this little study, I've never known anyone who has had (or at least admitted to having) night terrors. I wonder if there's a common thread here. Academically gifted/intelligent kids? Psychological/emotional abuse or instability at home? Something in the water?

It is always good to know your not going crazy.

I think you might have something with the gifted/inteligent kids thing though. I have heard on many occasions that due to our already high level of brain activity and functionality that we tap into things most people never do. This heightened activity can have strange side effects. I have no link I can post or documents, just stuff I remember reading years ago.

Psychological/emotional abuse or instability are known factors in most cases for people who have nightmares or "bad dreams". Throw gifted in to and I could see why the impact would be so great.

It does give someone something to think about though...

[bb823]

Today I took a nap and had a dream that I was on my bed trying to sleep. In my dream I fell asleep and had a dream. I could wake from that dream and still be having a dream that I was on my bed awake. It was really weird. I woke up from my dream in my dream and thought that my roommate was being loud, so I yelled at him to be quiet. Then I went back to sleep (this in my dream) and had a dream. Then I woke from that dream, and woke from my real dream. (Now awake) I asked him if I yelled at him. He said no. It was so weird. It was a complete blending of my real life and my dream life. Man, all this dream talk is messing with my dreams....

EDIT: How's that for confusing?

[Amadeus]

I had night terrors when I was young. Would wake up and sleep walk. Either got caught in my room because of knocking my desk in front of the door. Or thinking that a plane crashed into the cellar. At the time quite scary. My parents would find lights on.

[geneman]

Fortunately never had night-terrors (at least to my recollection), I have however been able to have a coherent conversation with my mother or that's what she says

Usually when I sleep, I'm next to impossible to wake up. Even if our dog (a Rott.) would bark right next to me he wouldn't wake me. However if he was about to barf I'd wake in an instance (guess who had to clean up if he barfed indoors). It's funny how our subconscious mind works...

If I've been out drinking it's particularly bad, I once had my dorm room door kicked in without waking... pretty scary (it turns out some of my friends were trying to wake me, and knocked a bit too hard )

[thegelding]

cobras!!!! cobras!!!!

[Windswept]

Well, I voted 'no', and was very glad about that; but after reading the stories in Brad's link, I think I may have skirted the edges of this condition, though very mildly.

I do remember being told that I had done some sleepwalking when I was 7. But I never woke up during these jaunts, don't remember them at all, and I don't have memories of fear associated with them that I can recall.

I do remember having *chasing* dreams in which I would try to run, but felt as if I were moving in molasses or something. Or I would try to cry out for help, but couldn't get the sound to emerge. Extremely frustrating when danger is threatening (in the dream). Sometimes, upon realizing that I couldn't run or cry out, I recall thinking, "Oh no, not *this* again!" haha

Two friends and I went to the south rim of the Grand Canyon one time and stayed in a nearby lodge. That night I had a *horrible* nightmare about a rapist/predator, iirc, and woke up in extreme fear. It was SO real. I'm sure my heart was pounding as I lay there in terror. I wanted to wake up my friends to warn them, but think I was too afraid to get out of bed.

Through college and later, I had dreams of being chased through very large houses. (I lived in a sorority house. Don't know if that had anything to do with it.) But those dreams eventually stopped.

I really feel awful for those of you who suffer from night terrors. What a truly horrible ordeal. One thing I feel certain about is that's it's all biochemical, which is a good thing; because that means something can be done about it, eventually.

The link mentions St. John's Wort. I really, *really* swear by this stuff. What's great about it is that it's over-the-counter, mild (but effective) in its impact on the system, and you can experiment to adjust your own dose. I take 300 mgs. 3 or 4 times per day. The only bad thing is that it's inconvenient to have to remember to take the pills so many times per day. But I'll take 'that' problem over the side-effects of other anti-depressants. St. John's Wort acts like a serotonin reuptake inhibitor, and should not be combined with prescription anti-depressants.

I would also recommend sleeping with an eye mask. I've read that *complete* darkness during sleep is crucial for the production of serotonin, and hence for the deepest, most restful sleep. Pretty sure masks are available at any major drugstore for a few bucks.

Also, taking a B-complex vitamin with your evening meal, and calcium/magnesium supplements late in the day, might help calm the nerves for better sleep. I also take 3 mg. of melatonin at bedtime. You might scoff, but these measures are definitely worth a try for those with sleep disorders. Also, nicotine might be a contributor to night terrors. Even if someone 'else' in the house is the smoker, second-hand smoke might be enough to affect some people.

[Dave]

Here's a link to a story on Yahoo! about how your brain sleeps. It talks about how during sleep, the different areas of your brain don't talk to each other. Maybe night terrors and sleepwalking and such have something to do with "limited network activity" instead of the isolation that's supposed to be there.

[GSpotter]

I voted no, although I remember two recurring nightmares I had in my childhood which might have been on the edge: The one nightmare was rather surreal - I felt like I was in a kind of hell - with fires and devils etc. The strange thing was that it looked like a playhouse (i.e. a removed front where you could see the different levels and rooms.

The other one was much more detailed: I was walking on a meadow with some appletrees. In the middle of the meadow, there was big hedge and a caravan nearby. When I walked around the hedge, I saw a pond / pool. At the waterside lay two skeletons, one was still holding a water bottle. They were obviously poisened. At that moment, I typically woke up in a pool of cold sweat...

I had each of these nightmares for about 2-3 times when I was maybe 8 years old. Luckily, nowadays I sleep well and can remember my dreams on very few occasions.

[naren]

Originally Posted by kretara From childhood: 1) When I was 7 I dreamt that a nuclear bomb was set off in my town... 2) In another 'dream' (I was 10) I was being stalked by a large animal that wanted to eat me. No matter what I did I could not get away. Finally the animal (T-Rex) grabbed me...

Wow, I had these same experiences as a child.

The nuclear bomb version scared the bejesus out of me. I dreamt I was walking down a overly pretty brick path, with little white picket fences on either side and small, bright flowers behind them. The silence grew so intense that my ears began to ring and in conjunction with this I became aware of a giant rhythmic noise, like the tick tock of a grandfather clock, except the clock was the size of the Chrysler building. I would run down the path, faster and faster until a huge black bomb began to emerge over the horizon. It must have been a hundred stories tall. The dream was always exactly the same, except as the years went on I got further along in the sequence of the dream. Closer to the bomb.

I was also stalked by T-rex, he would come up my house's stairs in the night to kill me.

Oddly enough I was also abused by Raggedy Ann & Andy in my dreams. I still get the hebee-jeebies when I think about those dolls. I'm glad to learn I am not alone in my aversion.

Oops, I forgot to mention that I also have night terrors. I frequently have to turn the light on, once I'm actually awake and I can move again, so that the things I'm seeing in my room will go away. I know they're not actually there but that doesn't help a terrible lot.