It was a dark and stormy night...
February 27, 2010 2:46 PM Subscribe
What do you make of this strange nightmare I had? Has this kind of thing ever happened to you?
My husband is a night owl and I'm usually asleep first. The other night he got into bed and turned off the light like every time before, and he says I sat up and started screaming loudly for him to get out of the room. He asked me what was wrong and I told him I was afraid someone would call my cell phone who I didn't know. He says my eyes were wide open and I was speaking clearly and appeared alert, but went back to sleep after a few minutes. What was happening there? I'm not the type to sleepwalk, I didn't ingest anything odd and I wasn't reading/watching scary stuff before bed. I don't remember anything of what he said happened.
My husband is a night owl and I'm usually asleep first. The other night he got into bed and turned off the light like every time before, and he says I sat up and started screaming loudly for him to get out of the room. He asked me what was wrong and I told him I was afraid someone would call my cell phone who I didn't know. He says my eyes were wide open and I was speaking clearly and appeared alert, but went back to sleep after a few minutes. What was happening there? I'm not the type to sleepwalk, I didn't ingest anything odd and I wasn't reading/watching scary stuff before bed. I don't remember anything of what he said happened.
Response by poster: Interesting article, but it does say someone having a night terror doesn't usually talk. He says I knew he was there but I just didn't know who he was. Do you think that still fits?
posted by dissolvedgirl22 at 3:00 PM on February 27, 2010
posted by dissolvedgirl22 at 3:00 PM on February 27, 2010
I don't make much of anything about this nightmare. When we sleep, our brains do a lot of sorting of the inputs we have all day. During this sorting process, a lot of unassociated facts, impressions and stimuli get mixed together. Did you see someone on a cell phone who was complaining they didn't know who was calling? Maybe that happened at the market while you were focused on what kind of fruit juice to buy. Did you read about someone who was being threatened by their husband's presence but who ended up on the cover of a newstand magazine? Your brain absorbs these trivial things, sorts them out when you are asleep and discards most of them. You happened to wake up (partially) in the middle of that process.
My wife still kids me about the detailed description I gave her of the sheepgoats in the Oldsmobile. An encounter I still don't remember twenty years later.
Now, if you start hitting him or causing bodily harm, then you might have a concern. For now, just shine it on. In twenty years you can laugh about trying to kick him out of the room while you were asleep.
posted by Old Geezer at 3:00 PM on February 27, 2010
My wife still kids me about the detailed description I gave her of the sheepgoats in the Oldsmobile. An encounter I still don't remember twenty years later.
Now, if you start hitting him or causing bodily harm, then you might have a concern. For now, just shine it on. In twenty years you can laugh about trying to kick him out of the room while you were asleep.
posted by Old Geezer at 3:00 PM on February 27, 2010
From personal experience, this seems to definitely be a case of night terrors.
When I was 9, I began experiencing something very similar. I would be sleeping and a dream would start to occur - I was walking down a suburban sidewalk, lined with human-sized flowers with the face of my sister. Eventually I got to the end of the sidewalk where I faced an enormous, monstrous dark cloud, bigger than the landscape and basically my entire dream-world. Every time I reached this point, I was filled with intense dread and fear, and would begin to scream.
Meanwhile, in the waking world, my parents both would attempt to wake me, but although I was sitting upright, eyes wide open, screaming and even able to answer some of their questions about what was happening, they couldn't wake me no matter what they tried - which once included dunking me in the bath.
Strangely, I can remember that I heard their voices in the dream and their reassurances were actually helpful. On one of the odd nights where my dream-scenario was different than usual, and I was surrounded by blue snakes amid some stone ruins, I can distinctly remember the snakes disappearing when my mother told me "There are no snakes. There are no snakes."
Oddly, these night terrors ended almost exactly a year after they began. During this year, I experienced them basically every night. I have never come to any conclusions about why these occurred, and my parents were never able to explain them either.
Surely, people's experiences with night terrors vary widely, but certain characteristics - such as the upright, eye-wide screaming and the ability to interact with others as if one was sleepwalking - always stick out as red flags to me.
posted by operaposthuma at 3:06 PM on February 27, 2010 [5 favorites]
When I was 9, I began experiencing something very similar. I would be sleeping and a dream would start to occur - I was walking down a suburban sidewalk, lined with human-sized flowers with the face of my sister. Eventually I got to the end of the sidewalk where I faced an enormous, monstrous dark cloud, bigger than the landscape and basically my entire dream-world. Every time I reached this point, I was filled with intense dread and fear, and would begin to scream.
Meanwhile, in the waking world, my parents both would attempt to wake me, but although I was sitting upright, eyes wide open, screaming and even able to answer some of their questions about what was happening, they couldn't wake me no matter what they tried - which once included dunking me in the bath.
Strangely, I can remember that I heard their voices in the dream and their reassurances were actually helpful. On one of the odd nights where my dream-scenario was different than usual, and I was surrounded by blue snakes amid some stone ruins, I can distinctly remember the snakes disappearing when my mother told me "There are no snakes. There are no snakes."
Oddly, these night terrors ended almost exactly a year after they began. During this year, I experienced them basically every night. I have never come to any conclusions about why these occurred, and my parents were never able to explain them either.
Surely, people's experiences with night terrors vary widely, but certain characteristics - such as the upright, eye-wide screaming and the ability to interact with others as if one was sleepwalking - always stick out as red flags to me.
posted by operaposthuma at 3:06 PM on February 27, 2010 [5 favorites]
My sister did this when she was a child, frequently, and her doctor called it night terrors. Turns out, later on, it was one of the [many other] symptoms of temporal lobe epilepsy. I am not in any way saying that this is you, but if you have other symptoms [hyperglossia, frequent deja vu, smelling things that aren't there, hyperreligiosity] this would be a good impetus to get it checked out. If you have no other odd neurological symptoms, I'd just figure you don't know where it came from and talk to your partner to have a strategy in case it happens again.
posted by jessamyn at 3:08 PM on February 27, 2010 [3 favorites]
posted by jessamyn at 3:08 PM on February 27, 2010 [3 favorites]
last year i was out of town and decided to come home early. i showed up a couple of hours after my fiance had gone to bed (8 or so hours before i was supposed to arrive). he sat straight up in bed and yelled "WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE!?!?!" he was shaking and wide eyed and obviously freaked out. as i came home early because i missed him terribly and had been looking forward to crawling into bed with him the entire 4 hour drive, i nearly turned and walked right back out again. now it's something that brings the lulz every time it's brought up.
absent of any other symptoms or weirdnesses, i'd say you were having a nightmare and your body snapped out of it before your brain.
posted by nadawi at 3:26 PM on February 27, 2010
absent of any other symptoms or weirdnesses, i'd say you were having a nightmare and your body snapped out of it before your brain.
posted by nadawi at 3:26 PM on February 27, 2010
Oh I do this *all* the time. Ha ha ha, the stories I could tell about terrifying myself and my girlfriend. Talking, walking, screaming, running. Sometimes I remember, sometimes I don't; when I wake up I just go straight back to sleep whilst she's left staring at the ceiling.
As Jessamyn mentioned, could be a form of epilepsy, so it's a regular occurence maybe think about getting it check out (says I, who haven't).
But yeah, don't worry about it, contrary to popular belief, most dreams don't 'mean' anything.
posted by smoke at 3:30 PM on February 27, 2010 [2 favorites]
As Jessamyn mentioned, could be a form of epilepsy, so it's a regular occurence maybe think about getting it check out (says I, who haven't).
But yeah, don't worry about it, contrary to popular belief, most dreams don't 'mean' anything.
posted by smoke at 3:30 PM on February 27, 2010 [2 favorites]
Have you started any new medications recently? Psychoactive drugs (like antidepressants) can cause vivid dreams and can cause things like what you describe. If this is the case, it should get better over time as your body adjusts to it. IANAD.
posted by emilyd22222 at 3:45 PM on February 27, 2010
posted by emilyd22222 at 3:45 PM on February 27, 2010
Well, this happened to my son a few months before he was diagnosed with OCD. In fact, it was the first sign that anything was unusual about his behavior. He'd wake up in the middle of the night, walk over to me and start a completely nonsensical conversation with his eyes wide open, then I would guide him back to bed until he fell asleep.
There were a few occasions where he'd come to me, completely hysterical, and he would scream nonsense. The same protocol followed.
I'm not saying in any way that anything like this is happening to you, but once he was diagnosed and went on an SSRI, it ended.
posted by dzaz at 5:11 PM on February 27, 2010
There were a few occasions where he'd come to me, completely hysterical, and he would scream nonsense. The same protocol followed.
I'm not saying in any way that anything like this is happening to you, but once he was diagnosed and went on an SSRI, it ended.
posted by dzaz at 5:11 PM on February 27, 2010
I once woke up and ran for the door because my sister was calling me. I couldn't open the door (being still asleep and clumsy even when awake) and my husband repeatedly told me she wasn't. I yelled at him more because "can't you hear her!? She's calling me!" - it took about five minutes before he could get me back to bed. I once woke up yelling "fuck". The night after the sister dream my sister did actually knock on our door at 2am and I didn't even stir when my husband got up and let her in.
Other notes: I'd been on lexapro for about 4 years at that point and always had vivid dreams. I often had night terrors as well and react very badly when woken suddenly or startled when I'm half asleep (the time I ran to jump off the balcony when my husband opened the bedroom door as I was about to open it to go to the bathroom was awesome). I'm no longer on lexapro and don't have dreams nearly as vivid and haven't had a night terror in ages.
posted by geek anachronism at 5:36 PM on February 27, 2010 [1 favorite]
Other notes: I'd been on lexapro for about 4 years at that point and always had vivid dreams. I often had night terrors as well and react very badly when woken suddenly or startled when I'm half asleep (the time I ran to jump off the balcony when my husband opened the bedroom door as I was about to open it to go to the bathroom was awesome). I'm no longer on lexapro and don't have dreams nearly as vivid and haven't had a night terror in ages.
posted by geek anachronism at 5:36 PM on February 27, 2010 [1 favorite]
This kind of thing has happened to me my whole life, though less so in adulthood. These days I'll only sit up and yell at the non-existent people (who are sleeping on my bedroom floor, natch) when I'm stressed out in my daily life. Stress can trigger these events, so you might look into that.
posted by jenmakes at 6:02 PM on February 27, 2010
posted by jenmakes at 6:02 PM on February 27, 2010
One of my parents does this. Generally, it seems to be triggered by a combination of them hearing a noise (someone talking or someone in walking in the hallway) and them sleeping in such a way that their hand falls asleep, because they'll sit bolt upright in bed screaming about how someone is has cut their hand off. They're not awake when happens, though their eyes are certainly open and they look and sound awake, and sometimes even respond to questions. No meds, epilepsy, or OCD involved, to my knowledge. While Wikipedia may claim that night terrors with talking (or with words) are rare, I've never found a better explanation for my parent's experiences.
posted by ubersturm at 8:10 PM on February 27, 2010
posted by ubersturm at 8:10 PM on February 27, 2010
Like smoke and jenmakes this happens to me all the time, and drives my wife nuts at times.
I sit/stand up, walk around, talk, yell, and sometimes even make sense. I've also been known to go sleep on the hardwood floor and claim its as comfy as a cloud. Also, my eyes are open and I'm not mumbling.
In short, I wouldn't worry about it. Though it may confuse you there is really no harm in it, and can even bring some comedy. I must say the thing that is annoying, though funny, to me is that now she doesn't always believe I'm actually awake when we're talking sometimes.
posted by zombieApoc at 8:37 PM on February 27, 2010
I sit/stand up, walk around, talk, yell, and sometimes even make sense. I've also been known to go sleep on the hardwood floor and claim its as comfy as a cloud. Also, my eyes are open and I'm not mumbling.
In short, I wouldn't worry about it. Though it may confuse you there is really no harm in it, and can even bring some comedy. I must say the thing that is annoying, though funny, to me is that now she doesn't always believe I'm actually awake when we're talking sometimes.
posted by zombieApoc at 8:37 PM on February 27, 2010
If this is the one and only time you've ever done this in your life ever, I wouldn't worry. It could just be a fluke -- my grandmother said that my grandfather did almost the very same thing one night (scared the daylights out of her by sitting bolt upright in his sleep and yelling something, then flopping right back down and going to sleep again). If you don't do it again, I'd write it off as a fluke.
If it happens again a few more times, and you hadn't ever done this before, maybe ask your doctor whether something may be behind it.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 5:11 AM on February 28, 2010
If it happens again a few more times, and you hadn't ever done this before, maybe ask your doctor whether something may be behind it.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 5:11 AM on February 28, 2010
Response by poster: Odd. What happened to the person's comment that linked to a certain YouTube video? I was going to watch that.
posted by dissolvedgirl22 at 6:33 AM on February 28, 2010
posted by dissolvedgirl22 at 6:33 AM on February 28, 2010
It was a comment that didn't really answer the question. The person who posted the link is free to email it to you.
posted by jessamyn at 7:15 AM on February 28, 2010
posted by jessamyn at 7:15 AM on February 28, 2010
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posted by sallybrown at 2:50 PM on February 27, 2010