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Suggest Treatment For Night Terrors

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Posted on Mon, 27 Jul 2015
Question: My husband has a weird problem of waking up looking really terrified even with a slight noise. Even with a small noise around he gives a shake to his body.. sometimes he gets up and stands looking terrified for few secs and then i tell him nothing has happened and make him sleep again. I don't know what he is going through. but it really feels bad to see him like that. Please let me know if this is really a problem.
doctor
Answered by Dr. Dr.Maheshwari (2 hours later)
Brief Answer:
It could be stress related.

Detailed Answer:
Hi ,
Welcome to the HCM.
Dear it could be stress related but there are some questions which i need to know first.
1.Whether he recalls in the morning after waking up ,what happened in the night?
2.Does he respond to you during this terrified attack ?
3.Has he gone through some painful mishap in the past or something which is causing increased stress?
4.I would also like to know that does this happen without any stimulation or noise sometime or always it happens after some noise or disturbing stimulation while sleeping?
5.Does he feel tired after waking up?

If I can get answers of above mentioned questions ,I will be happy to help you further.
Regards,
Dr.Maheshwari
Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Shanthi.E
doctor
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Follow up: Dr. Dr.Maheshwari (24 hours later)
Thank you doctor for your response.

He does not recall anything, i have tried asking him in the morning sometimes if he remembers anything about last night.. but he does seem to be recollecting.
Yes he responds vaguely and blabbers something slowly which i don't understand and he goes to sleep immediately.
It's hard to tell that our marriage life hasn't been very good for both of us. Consistent fights and disappointments has made us both very sad these days. And for him his job is a very hectic one in which he is having trouble with in recent days with his performance. He wakes up early to go to office and in the night he is very tired and goes to deep sleep quickly.
Sometimes even without any stimulation, he gives a shake to his body without waking up and says something which i wont understand. But generally it happens with any noise generated around.
He does feel tired after waking up for sometime, but generally he sleeps very less and is mostly active during the day. Cannot say he is tired all the day.
doctor
Answered by Dr. Dr.Maheshwari (28 minutes later)
Brief Answer:
It could be a terror attack ,which could be stress related.

Detailed Answer:
Thanks for sharing.Dear It could be a terror attack which can happen because of stressfull period of life.Even some children may have these type of terror attacks who take so much tention during exams or witnessing fights between parents.
As sleep has 5 stages, first 4 with nonrapid eye movement and last 5th with rapid eye movement. There are two types of such attacks ,one is nightmare which happens during 5th stage and person recalls everything in the morning .Other one is a terror which happens during deep sleep during 3rd and 4th stage and a person does not recall anything,he may shout for some time ,even it seems like a false seizure is happening.And the most common cause of terror attack is Stress and anxiety.

It is manageable by avoiding stress first of all.There are so many things which can be adopted to avoid stress.For example spending quality time with family,changing of the place for some days like going for visiting favourite place,adopting any new hobby like swimming,yoga or dance class.And family help is the most important tool to help these kind of terror attacks.Otherwise he might need some medicines for relaxation.

Hopefully my answer will be helpfull for you,You may ask further without hesitation.
Regards,Dr.Maheshwari
Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
doctor
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Follow up: Dr. Dr.Maheshwari (2 days later)
Your explanation is extremely helpful. now i able to understand the days where he exhibited this behavior was during the most stressful days. we went out during this weekend and spent good time and i could notice that he slept peacefully last 2 nights. actually i was planning to move to a different place temporarily for picking up a job. But now i am not sure if this would affect him more as he has to stay alone some days. Would saying alone cause him more stress on him and make things worse?
doctor
Answered by Dr. Dr.Maheshwari (13 hours later)
Brief Answer:
It depends for how long you are going to other place.

Detailed Answer:
Dear sometime giving some space to spouse can be helpfull to get his own time. Since you are talking about to picking up a new job,it may take long to come back .But if you feel that there would be just matter of few days and your hubby would have no issue of staying alone and would be taking meal and rest on time .So it depends how much he can take care of himself and depends on your support.Also it depends on priority at particular point of time.
I will be happy to help you further,if you have more questions to ask.
Regards,Dr.Maheshwari.
Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Shanthi.E
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Answered by
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Dr. Dr.Maheshwari

General & Family Physician

Practicing since :2006

Answered : 766 Questions

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Suggest Treatment For Night Terrors

Brief Answer: It could be stress related. Detailed Answer: Hi , Welcome to the HCM. Dear it could be stress related but there are some questions which i need to know first. 1.Whether he recalls in the morning after waking up ,what happened in the night? 2.Does he respond to you during this terrified attack ? 3.Has he gone through some painful mishap in the past or something which is causing increased stress? 4.I would also like to know that does this happen without any stimulation or noise sometime or always it happens after some noise or disturbing stimulation while sleeping? 5.Does he feel tired after waking up? If I can get answers of above mentioned questions ,I will be happy to help you further. Regards, Dr.Maheshwari