Night Terrors
Last night, or rather early this morning around 3AM-ish. My husband Jason started screaming. Screaming is not even the right word. How do I describe this? He was in a state of utter panic. Horrified terror or terrified horror are some other words I could use to describe it. He was sitting up screaming and pointing at some invisible person/monster in the room. The way he was reacting you would've thought there was a three headed monster in the room that just ripped my body in two and bit my head off. I swear to you, I am not exaggerating!!
I had to call his name several times and shake him awake before he would stop. By this time my heart is racing and I'm feeling a little bit panicky myself from the shock of being woken up this way. My first thought was that someone else WAS in the room. One of my biggest fears is to have someone break into my house while I'm there. Once I peeked in the direction he was pointing and knew all was well and got him calmed down MY heart felt like it was going to thump right out of my chest. Even though I knew there was nothing to be afraid of I couldn't shake the fear. By this time Jason was already snoring again!
I found his swift return to restful sleep without me unacceptable and a bit of a betrayal! I snuggled up next to him until I could calm down.
The craziest thing is that this is the second time he's done this!! I guess the first time was around a month or so ago. The first time he didn't remember anything about it. This time he vaguely remembered it and cracked up like it was the most hilarious thing ever! It kinda is, but it sucks at 3AM-ish!
He thinks these night time attacks are called "night terrors". I'm going to have to google that and see what we can figure out. If there's a pill... he's taking it. If he can't eat cheese after midnight.... so be it. This reign of terror must end.
I had to call his name several times and shake him awake before he would stop. By this time my heart is racing and I'm feeling a little bit panicky myself from the shock of being woken up this way. My first thought was that someone else WAS in the room. One of my biggest fears is to have someone break into my house while I'm there. Once I peeked in the direction he was pointing and knew all was well and got him calmed down MY heart felt like it was going to thump right out of my chest. Even though I knew there was nothing to be afraid of I couldn't shake the fear. By this time Jason was already snoring again!
I found his swift return to restful sleep without me unacceptable and a bit of a betrayal! I snuggled up next to him until I could calm down.
The craziest thing is that this is the second time he's done this!! I guess the first time was around a month or so ago. The first time he didn't remember anything about it. This time he vaguely remembered it and cracked up like it was the most hilarious thing ever! It kinda is, but it sucks at 3AM-ish!
He thinks these night time attacks are called "night terrors". I'm going to have to google that and see what we can figure out. If there's a pill... he's taking it. If he can't eat cheese after midnight.... so be it. This reign of terror must end.
posted by Jennifer @ 10:26 PM
5 Comments:
At 11:10 PM ,
Anonymous said...
actually Jen, my cousin Olivia had night terrors growing up- it was horrible.... every stinkin night she would scream and cry in her sleep. Very disturbing....
At 4:21 PM ,
scott d said...
Sometimes I'll have a dream that someone is in my house and I'm paralyzed and unable to defend myself or my family. That's scary enough for me. That had to be scary. I guess thank God Jason can't remember them... although that doesn't do much for you!
At 8:57 PM ,
Anonymous said...
OMG! This is precisely the same reason I broke up with my most recent b/f, Justin.
One night, he woke up and DID EXACTLY THE SAME THING YOU DESCRIBED! He just kept pointing and saying, "IT'S RIGHT THERE, TRINITIE!"
I felt just like you; I thought someone or something actually was in the room and almost wet my pants.
He refused to talk to me about it, I'm a stubborn mule, so to make a long story short, I ended up walking 3 miles in 20 degree whether at 3 in the morning.
Not fun.
But this poses an interesting question:
A lot of my friends that I have told this to bring up the fact that Justin is an ex-junkie, which would exlplain this abnormal behavior.
Could it be the same with Jason?
I'm not sure which drugs he did or to what extent (and you can erase this comment if it's private business) but it's possible...
Trinitie
At 4:04 PM ,
Anonymous said...
Night terrors are much more common in children, but they are serious whenever and to whomever they occur.
Did he have such attacks as a child -- I would think it odd to never have them until he was an adult but it is possible.
Night Terrors, from what I know, can be brought on by a traumatic event (such as coming back from war, seeing a family member killed (or anyone), molestation, etc). It's something to look in to because no only is it disruptful but it is scary for both of you.
Below are some links:
http://www.nightterrors.org/
http://pediatrics.about.com/cs/sleep/a/night_terrors.htm
http://www.stanford.edu/~dement/adultterrors.html
At 9:25 AM ,
Tennessee Mama Duck said...
Jen,
This is terrible! When "Game Master" was younger (like 2) he had night terrors. It was horrible! He had no recollection of it the next day though. The doctor told us that he was asleep the whole time, despite the fact his eyes were open and it seemed he was awake.
I have read that it can manifest as an adult as sleep-walking. I've never heard of an adult having them. He should probably talk to his doctor. At least for YOUR sake! It is terrifying for the witness!
Love you!
tnblogginmama
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