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What Causes Disturbed Sleep With Sleep Walking?
Question: I have a problem sometimes when I sleep. Most nights I seem to sleep fine but there is some nights I have these dreams where I am doing something and I get waken up cause I'm doing this in real life. I have scared my wife many times cause If I have a nightmare I can attack her or even ran from her and didn't wake up until I laid back down in bed. I do not know if this is night terrors or very bad sleep walking. Is there something over the counter I can take to stop this?
Brief Answer:
looks like sleep walking; has predisposing factor
Detailed Answer:
Hello,
The symptoms mentioned in your query suggest sleeping problem of short duration begening recently. I want to tell you that it is not rare- such episodes can happen to many normal people as well - where they walk and talk in sleep for several minutes or hour but don't remember anything till they wake up enough...outsiders cant tell if they are really in sleep or acting, but closed ones like wife or parents can feel the difference (as there is usualky a blank and lost look on face).
This is not harmful in itself but as you yourself said - precaution is definitely necessary. One might just goout of home ir do some harm to self or others.
These episodes tend to happen on nights when-
1. daytime was sterssful/ very busy
2. if someone tends to sleep in afternoon & misses it
3. consuming alcohol or other drugs
4. any pressure on mind..
So, check if your episodes correlate with it or not.
You may take zolpidem 10mg or clonazepam 1-2mg at night when you feel you can have this again.
Dont worry, many people have such episodes on and off since childhood. Knowledge is itself half cure, so please dont panic.
If you are very worried, getting an EEG brain and may be an MRI brain will rule out any CNS (neurological) pathology.
Hope the reply is useful.
Wish you good health.
please feel free to ask more questions for clarification.
Dr. Manisha Gopal
MD Neuropsychiatry
looks like sleep walking; has predisposing factor
Detailed Answer:
Hello,
The symptoms mentioned in your query suggest sleeping problem of short duration begening recently. I want to tell you that it is not rare- such episodes can happen to many normal people as well - where they walk and talk in sleep for several minutes or hour but don't remember anything till they wake up enough...outsiders cant tell if they are really in sleep or acting, but closed ones like wife or parents can feel the difference (as there is usualky a blank and lost look on face).
This is not harmful in itself but as you yourself said - precaution is definitely necessary. One might just goout of home ir do some harm to self or others.
These episodes tend to happen on nights when-
1. daytime was sterssful/ very busy
2. if someone tends to sleep in afternoon & misses it
3. consuming alcohol or other drugs
4. any pressure on mind..
So, check if your episodes correlate with it or not.
You may take zolpidem 10mg or clonazepam 1-2mg at night when you feel you can have this again.
Dont worry, many people have such episodes on and off since childhood. Knowledge is itself half cure, so please dont panic.
If you are very worried, getting an EEG brain and may be an MRI brain will rule out any CNS (neurological) pathology.
Hope the reply is useful.
Wish you good health.
please feel free to ask more questions for clarification.
Dr. Manisha Gopal
MD Neuropsychiatry
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
Answered by
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