There are Sleep Issues More Terrifying Than Nightmares

[davidpdx]

http://www.alternet.org/personal-health/there-are-sleep-issues-more-terrifying-nightmares



1. Sleeping Beauty Syndrome. Sleeping beauty syndrome, or Kleine-Levin Syndrome (KLS), is a sleep disorder characterized by repetitive and unusually long episodes of sleep in which the sufferer is too tired to leave her bed even when awake. The disorder can cause a person to sleep for up to 20 hours a day. There have been reported cases in recent times where two British girls suffering from the disorder slept for up to two months, waking only to use the bathroom or eat.

***SNIP

2. Exploding Head Syndrome. Despite what the name suggests, this sleep disorder does not involve your head exploding in the middle of the night. Rather, exploding head syndrome occurs during the onset of deep sleep when a person will become startled by a loud booming noise that seems to originate in the head or inside the skull and is often accompanied by a flash of light. The noise can sound like a gun, a clash of cymbals or explosives detonating right next to a person’s head. The phenomenon doesn’t cause any physical pain and has not been associated with any serious illness.

***SNIP

3. Sleep Paralysis. Ever woken up and not been able to move? You may have experienced sleep paralysis. This freaky sleep disorder is characterized by an inability to move any part of your body just as you fall asleep or wake up. It occurs when a part of your brain wakes up before the rest of your body, which gives you a sense of feeling alert, even though your muscles remain immobile. Despite the unnerving sensation, the condition is not permanent. In fact, this temporary paralysis, which usually occurs during REM sleep, is there to stop us from acting out our dreams or hurting ourselves.

4. Sexsomnia. Sex in your sleep doesn't sound all that bad, right? That is, unless the unconscious behavior is unwanted or the issue of sexual assault is raised, which can get the sufferer into serious trouble. In a number of controversial cases before the courts, men have been acquitted of rape by arguing they were sexsomniacs or asleep during the attacks, although the defense is hard to prove.

h/t to Xchrome

[JustAnotherGen]

1. I've had incidents of sleep paralysis

I always used to see aliens and you literally cannot move, scream, anything.

Last sleep study was in April 2011 and learned I had shifted to a slight case of narcolepsy and hypersomnia - both lead to incidents of sleep paralysis.

[davidpdx]

2. I had posted on the other thread (the one in GD)

about my problems with waking up screaming. It only started around 2007 or so and is so sporadic that I could go 5 or 6 months without it happening and then it happens. I've found that I start to get a burning feeling under my tongue right before I wake up and I continue to feel it a bit after I wake up. Can't figure that one out.

[JustAnotherGen]

3. Have you had a sleep study done?

Sometimes it doesn't result in meds. . I sleep with body pillows to make sure I sleep on my sides. I learned that all of my sleep paralysis incidents happened on my back.

[davidpdx]

4. I might have to have that done in December once I go back on vacation

I'll talk to my doctor about it. He is on staff at the local hospital as he teaches there as well. I'm already on sleep meds and just had them cut because I was too groggy. I suppose it's worth a try to see if there is anything comes up.

[JustAnotherGen]

5. Definitely do!

I have an auto immune disease and sleep is key to my good health - to everyone's actually!

[MuseRider]

6. I am narcoleptic

and that sleep paralysis thing is frightening. It is always accompanied (for me and many others I have spoken to) by a dream (?) that seems more real than any other dream you will ever have and it is always terrifying. I have actually injured myself as I come out of it slowly. Sucks but thankfully the episodes have become less frequent as I age I guess.

Interesting article! Thanks.

[davidpdx]

7. I've never experienced that, but it does sound scary

It is certainly strange that these types of things are hit and miss in terms of when they happen.

[SheilaT]

8. Every so often I'll have an episode

of sleep paralysis, and it's rather scary.

While I haven't exactly had Sleeping Beauty Syndrome, in my youth I was capable of sleeping anywhere from ten to sixteen hours straight and it was wonderful. Getting a sufficient amount of sleep has always been a priority for me.