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Karen89

Night terrors.

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I had a rough break up about 3 weeks ago. I would still say I am in the grieving stage, but I am making some improvement. I can actually go outside and not feel so crappy. The thing I look most forward to is the summer...SKYDIVE TIME :)

But anyways..since the break up I've had these night terrors. Sometimes I wake up to find myself crying and my mother asking if I am okay....I wake up and see a dark figure over my bed and I am freaked out as all hell. Sometimes I don't see anything or remember anything, I just wake up scared out of my mind. A few days before my boyfriend broke up with me, I had a night terror at his place. I woke up crying and saying "They are over there! Please, stop them!" and he said I was legit crying my eyes out and he thought a robber was in his room, haha, Funny to think about...but yeah that's how serious it is.

Anyone else ever experience this? It's getting annoying. I start a job in a few weeks and have to get up early and I don't want to have this happening a few hours before I wake up...

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I had a rough break up about 3 weeks ago. I would still say I am in the grieving stage, but I am making some improvement. I can actually go outside and not feel so crappy. The thing I look most forward to is the summer...SKYDIVE TIME :)

But anyways..since the break up I've had these night terrors. Sometimes I wake up to find myself crying and my mother asking if I am okay....I wake up and see a dark figure over my bed and I am freaked out as all hell. Sometimes I don't see anything or remember anything, I just wake up scared out of my mind. A few days before my boyfriend broke up with me, I had a night terror at his place. I woke up crying and saying "They are over there! Please, stop them!" and he said I was legit crying my eyes out and he thought a robber was in his room, haha, Funny to think about...but yeah that's how serious it is.

Anyone else ever experience this? It's getting annoying. I start a job in a few weeks and have to get up early and I don't want to have this happening a few hours before I wake up...



There is a physiological condition called 'sleep paralysis' where you can 'half-wake' and it can be pretty freaky.

When you're in REM sleep you're brain actually 'paralyses' you so you don't thrash around and hurt yourself. Sometimes, you will come out of REM and the 'paralysis' hasn't quite worn off yet. So, you're awake and your eyes are kinda-sorta half open but you can't move. Objects and shadows in the room and take on some pretty weird and freaky looking characteristics because you're not quite out of the sleep-state After a minute or so you come out of it and are fully awake and everything looks normal.

But, if you don't know what it is you might be popping rounds off at nothing or running off to join the 'alien abduction' support group.

Don't know if that's what you're talking about but it happens to me every now and again and it's really nothing to get worked up about. I take a look around, see that everything is back to normal, and roll over to catch some more zzzz's.



Hell, I've paid lots of good money to feel that way. :-0
The older I get the less I care who I piss off.

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I wake up and see a dark figure over my bed and I am freaked out as all hell.



That happened to me one time.:o
I'm lying there trying to control my pulse and breathing so as not to let on that I was awake.:S

The more I kept looking at the dark figure, the more familiar the profile looked. I finally realized it was babe who had dumped me a few months earlier. She had decided she wanted to get back together, so she had let herself in the house, and was standing over my bed.:D
"There are only three things of value: younger women, faster airplanes, and bigger crocodiles" - Arthur Jones.

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+1 to the sleep paralysis comments. It is really scary until you learn to recognize when it is happening.

It is most likely to happen while sleeping on your back, if this is how you sleep maybe try sleeping on your side or your stomach.

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If you have night terrors i wouldnt be surprised if you also had other symptoms of parsomnia like grinding your teeth, sleep talking, sleep walking, sleep paralysis. I've had all of these my entire life but they tend to come and go in cycles. Stress/anxiety definitely trigger them and make them worse. Ask your parents if they ever suffered from it as most the time its hereditary.

Also, if might not work for you, but some advice someone else gave me once worked wonders for me. Try sleeping in a slightly colder room or with one less blanket. I know it sounds silly, but for some reason if i get really warm under the covers and my feet start to sweat i am almost guaranteed to have one. Another trick although it sounds immature is to have a small light, or a big clock right next to your bed. Something to concentrate on to more quickly bring you back to full consciousness when you are beginning to wake up during the terrors.

This is a helpful resource as well: www.nightterrors.org
Fiend

I am about to take my last voyage, a great leap in the dark. - Thomas Hobbes.

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Sounds like the breakup was a very traumatic event. Wether it was a sudden thing or a series of smaller events leading up to, it can take a long time for your brain to really process and deal with everything.

I can't, for obvious reasons, offer professional advice or diagnosis but I can speak from experience... It's possible that perhaps your mind is using dream time to sort everything out. I suggest that because it's happened to me - I still have dreams that are clearly influenced by experiences in Iraq and for a good year after my big breakup I had lots of intense and symbolic things happen whild dreaming.

I hope things get better in this department for you. Sleep issues, when left unresolved, can really have a negative impact on your quality of life.

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I've had a few of these, and I agree they are terrifying. The last one was after I had taken a Melatonin to sleep. Not saying that caused it, although I have read where others say it does.

Just pay attention to what you are drinking or taking medicine-wise, also. They are especially scary if you are alone, which I was.

Best wishes!

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