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Night Terrors - Waking Terrors??

Posted , 6 users are following.

richard29068
richard29068

Last week I had what can only be described as my first Night Terror - it fit the bill from the research I've done online. Last night though, something happened which has really unnerved me - I'd been watching TV with my wife and kids and fell asleep on the sofa. I woke up, very sleepy, and went to the toilet. In the toilet I started coughing, I was struggling to breathe, and then I blanked out completely. When I became "aware" again, I was on my knees in the hallway, crying like a baby in my wife's arms. All I can remember is the coughing, a feeling of desperately NEEDING to escape, and that's it.

My wife tells me that they heard a massive noise from the bathrooom, rushed out to see what was happening, and I was literally smashing up the  bathroom by flailing my arms, and then sunk to my knees and crawled out into the hallway.

Now, I was awake (although sleepy) when this started, so... and, I just don't know. Am I potentially a danger to my family? I have no control over this, how far can it go? How can this happen when I am awake? 

Also, this morning when I woke up, it was almost on me again, from waking up, I shot out of bed, panicking, breathing ridiculously hard, right on the edge - luckily i was able to reign it in and stop it from developing.

Help please, I have no history of panicking, I am a man who really doesn't fear anything, and suddenly I am scared out of my wits about what is happening. The "after-feeling" from these "attacks" leave me shaking, terrified, checking the dark corners of the rooms, and this is really not me. Help.

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  • evergreen
    evergreen richard29068

    Posted

    I hope they manage to get to the bottom of it for you, Richard. Well done for getting them to take the appropriate action.
  • richard29068
    richard29068

    Posted

    Thanks everyone again.

    A quick summary of yesterday. Had a CT scan, everything looks fine in my brain, and now have MRI and EEG appointments booked in.

    Medication given is clonazepam.

    Last night I slept better, but still had another attack. HOWEVER... I am now pretty sure I know what the trigger is. Last night I got up because I was coughing badly, then I blacked out and woke up in the middle of an attack. The attack was triggered by the cough, either the starburst or the pain that shoots into my head.

    I'm going to go back to the GPS tomorrow to get something to clear up the cough, once that's clear I can really start to figure things out.

    Long day yesterday but the NHS staff were brilliant, I have nothing but good things to say about them.

    • lorraine52317
      lorraine52317 richard29068

      Posted

      Hi Richard

      thanks so much for letting us know. I have been thinking about you as i know how dreadful these episodes are for you. Did you and your wife manage to enjoy her birthday meal? Glad that things are moving ahead for you and glad you had a positive experience with nhs. I have always found them brilliant too. Please keep giving us updates. Have a peaceful Sunday. God bless xx

    • lily65668
      lily65668 richard29068

      Posted

      That's very good news! I especially like that they're going to do an MRI as well. A CT scan will find anything really major but only an MRI will pick up on the detail. And a bit different from that first GP telling you just to take it easy! I hope you'll always see the other one from now on.

      Clonazepam is an anti-seizure med, as I'm sure you've worked out by now. Probably a good idea in the short term, as it will make you sleepy as well. However, bear in mind that it is a benzo, and therefore will cause withdrawal problems when stopping after taking it long-term. But it's clearly the lesser of two evils at the moment. As you've already noticed, it will help you to sleep, which will in itself reduce the psychological triggers for attacks, but you should still keep the dose as low as possible. If after a few weeks you find it's not reducing the frequency or severity of your attacks, talk to your doctor about stopping it.

      One thing occurs to me. I imagine they would have taken blood for general testing. And did anyone listen to your chest? I seem to recall you said you were a heavy smoker. Your talking about coughing triggered some long-lost memory in my elderly brain. Have you googled "cough syncope" or "cough seizure"? There's a strong connection with COPD (which was generally called emphysema in my day). I recall now that you also said you had an abdominal hernia. This can be the result of a persistent, obstructive cough. You might want to bring this up with the GP, but do your homework first.

      Thanks again for keeping us all updated. I'm sure all three of us in here with you have been concerned for your health.

    • lorraine52317
      lorraine52317 lily65668

      Posted

      Hi lily

      i think your approach and responses to Richard are great! Thought I would let you know!

      God bless xx

    • lily65668
      lily65668 lorraine52317

      Posted

      Thank you for your thoughtful comment Lorraine! I think that all of us who've experienced the utter helplessness of this disorder have something to offer.

      I'd like to pay tribute to Rich too, for having the courage to face this thing. Admitting one's own helplessness is usually harder for a man. Although I believe men and women are equal, I've never fallen for all this PC claptrap about there being no difference in our mental and emotional approach. One can't generalise, but men do tend to find it much harder to admit they can't cope and ask for help. I'm really glad he's getting the right kind of help now.

      And how about you? Are the anti-depressants helping you manage your night terrors? Are they true night terrors, btw, or is it the REM sleep disorder in which you wake up totally paralysed and hallucinating? I get that one too, but at least you can't hurt yourself in that state!

      I haven't had a really spectacular attack of NTs for more than 20 years now. By "spectacular" I mean locking myself out of my bedroom, trying to jump out of a first-floor window, running screaming down a hotel corridor in my nightie just as a large wedding party were returning to their rooms, or nearly killing myself by moving a large piece of furniture across my bedroom, when I can hardly budge it an inch in my normal waking state! These days I'm mainly limited to sudden startles in the night when I sit up in bed then go back to sleep. I did, however, get unlucky five years ago. I jumped up in the night with an urgent need to get a piece of kitchen roll - no idea why, of course - rushed into the kitchen, tripped over something in the dark and ended up with a hairline fracture of my eye socket! It does worry me a bit as I go into old age and get slightly less steady on my feet, especially as I live alone, but I've learned to trust myself for the most part.

      I hope you're getting all the help you need to cope with your depression too.

      Lily xx

    • lorraine52317
      lorraine52317 lily65668

      Posted

      Hi lily

      gosh yours did sound very bad. Mine were limited to my bed where I could sense something terrible was hurting me. I would try hard to wake up before the pain got too bad. I use to try so hard to wake up.. swearing screaming praying! Then i thought i was awake only to find out i was still in this locked in state of sleep. My family often would come into my room and wake me. I was alsways apologetic but grateful they had woken me! So many nights with heart thumping and continuing the night awake and watching TV. Strangely enough it always started within the first two hours of sleep.

      Since taking antidepressants I have not had any :-)

      I am still in bed most of the day and feel to weak to do much. I'm now in the process of tapering off my antidepressant and due to start a new one. Fingers crossed! I have spent six months unwell so hopefully things will change soon. My children and grandchildren have been really understanding, so in that respect I'm blessed.

      how about you lily? How are you doing?

      You are right Richard has handled his situation really well and I think your support has been exceptional xxx

  • richard29068
    richard29068

    Posted

    You're all stars in my book, no matter what stage you're at in recovery (or not), the fact that you're on here, helping someone you don't know, is the sign of a remarkable person, selfless, kind, and completely undeserving of what has been dealt to you. Big hugs and kisses to you all, you deserve everything good that comes your way, and I hope there's plenty of good things around the corner.

    I'm still doing ok.. Saturday night, after my trip to the hospital/neurologist/CT etc, was better than most nights. My sleep was less disturbed than usual, I woke up maybe 3 or 4 times, rather the the recent usual 9 or 10 times, but unfortunately i still had one episode. Again it was not a normal one: I woke up coughing, sat up on the sofa to straighten my airways, and then blacked out. I became aware, probably at least 2 or 3 minutes later, I had thrown all the rugs into the corner of the room, I was on thefloor leaning against the sofa, and my legs were kicking at a speed so fastI could hardly follow them. I then brought myself down and controlled/stopped it. The good news is that the feeling of terror was less (is this down to the clonazepam?), and I hadn't destroyed anything or hurt myself.  The bad news is that it started AGAIN from when I was awake (although sleepy of course), and also apparantly from me coughing.

    Sunday night was fantastic, I woke up only twice, no episodes at all (first time for exactly one week), apart from waking up once feeling a bit disorientated - hardly an issue when you consider everything else. I don't know whether that was a one-off, I hope not, but we'll see.

    Main issue now has become, for me, is it possible i could go into an episode during the day, when coughing? I booked an immediate emergency appt with my GP, and he says it's unlikely, because the two times I've blacked out when awake, I had only been awake for a matter of seconds each time, and he doesn't think it would happen when fully awake. This mirrors what the neurologist said to me on Saturday.

    I'm on antibiotics now to get rid of my chest infection and, hopefully, the bad cough, and I am tentatively hopeful that I will soon discover that it is the coulgh that is (unusually) the trigger for this. yes it's possible I may have situational syncope (as well) which would explain the blackouts, but unfortunately it doesn't really explain the night terrors, although there is a possibility that for some unknown reason they could be related to each other. I can only hope eh - stop the cough, stop the night terrors - that would be an incredible result, and if it's the case, I'll quit smoking overnight in order to minimise further chances of coughing.

    Anyway, because of the good night last night, I'm feeling much better today, ups and downs I know, but I'll take it while I've got it.

    The clonazepam has certainly helped my sleeping patterns, I'm on a double-dosage already (I know I know, I've ignored the good advice about taking small dosages), and the doc says I can double the dosage again if the night terrors keep coming. I'm choosing the lesser of two evils by taking a high dosage, I am very confident in my strength to beat any addiction that may result from pills, and am focussing entirely on the night terrors.

    Anyway, I'm trying desperately today to catch up from a week of hardly working at all, i have huge monthly expenses and if I let this bloody condition get the better of me at work, I'll have a lot more problems that just this. 

    Cheers all xxx

    • lorraine52317
      lorraine52317 richard29068

      Posted

      Hi Richard

      thank you for letting us know what's happening with you. I imagine the black outs must be really scary. Good news is you are doing all the right things and hopefully this will all be a thing of the past soon.

      Don't forget us we are rooting for you to get a swift diagnosis along with a speedy recovery.

      Warmest wishes to you and your wife.

      god bless

      stay in touch xx

  • richard29068
    richard29068

    Posted

    I'm feeling very calm and peaceful tonight, plus very sleepy from the pills. Definitely hoping for an uneventful night, and wish the same for everyone else.

    Night all xx

    • lorraine52317
      lorraine52317 richard29068

      Posted

      Goodnight Richard

      glad you are feeling calm. And wishing you the best nights sleep xxx

    • lily65668
      lily65668 richard29068

      Posted

      Good morning Rich! I hope your night was as calm as it promised to be. Mine just wasn't long enough!
  • Parky90272
    Parky90272 richard29068

    Posted

    Please follow this up. I too had very bad nightmares and terrors and got fobbed off by mental health/psychologists as stress, anxiety etc. I went to a different GP in my practise who saifd that it can be the early signs of Parkinson's . I was referred and got a brain scan which was positive. Im in my 50"s and have early onset Parkinsons. Nearly every parkinson patient i know has terrible nightmares and sleep. I don't have a tremor- I didnt know you could have Parkinson's without a tremor but my symptoms are what is called non-motor symptoms. Noone would know looking at me that I have it. good thing is that I have started treatment straight away and I fell better than i have in years
    • richard29068
      richard29068 Parky90272

      Posted

      HI Parky, thanks for the input mate. I've already had a CT scan, and am getting booked in for an MRI and EEG, which will be followed by a referral to a sleep clinic. I've got everyone taking it seriously now, thankfully, but will certainly bear your comments in mind of all else fails. Step by step mate! smile
    • Parky90272
      Parky90272 richard29068

      Posted

      I have had sleep apnea for years but this was different and new. I use a CPAP machine to sleep. But remember to ask for a DATScan. It is totally different to the other. You get a radioactive dye injected then wait for 4 hours to get the scan. It is the ONLY scan that tests for it. where I live is officially a gold standard Parkinsons clinic so they are really on the ball with everything and are good at diagnosing people very early. I wouldnt have been investigated in other areas-a doc told me that.
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