Thrashing at night
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Thread Starter
Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: USA
Posts: 773
Thrashing at night
For years I've had a feeling and I'm pretty sure that I'm thrashing at night while I'm sleeping. This makes three different apartments where I wake up to a knocking noise and it stops right after i wake up, I assume my neighbors are waking me up on purpose cause i make so much noise. I think it's pretty loud too because on many occasions I've been up into the early hours consciencely making noise and they don't seem to mind. I woke up a couple months ago kicking the wall (and it's made of a brick like material), my right foot still hurts. I've also been grinding my teeth, I know because my dentist told me and I've woken up with sore teeth in in the back of my mouth. I just wonder if anyone else has had this experience? I know it's a medical condition that needs my doctors advice so I will see her about it. Tonight I have the webcam and microphone rigged up and I'm going to start recording my nights until it happens again, it happened twice last week so this wont take too long. This going to be weird, I've never seen myself sleeping before.. anyone been through this? I used to take a valium or two per week for years so I wonder if that has anything to do with it, I haven't used much valium in the last year and this seems to be getting worse, I've even caught myself in dreams when awake but groggy. weird, I brushed up against someone in my dream but i was awake and it felt real, I actually felt my arm being touched and bumped into, I'm fairly sleep deprived lately, but real sober, 4 months to be exact, not a drop or crumb of any substances. Everything in my life is really good, no real stress, feeling better than ever exept being tired at times. Plenty of nightmares too. 
Thanks!
Thanks!
now's the time
Join Date: Feb 2013
Posts: 2,181
I had a period of time when I slept-walked. It was when I was a kid, at summer camp, so I got to hear all about it from the other kids. It was every single night for a whole summer, and I can remember waking up and falling asleep while walking around, it was frightening. Since then, only once or twice and the last time was years and years ago. Now I more often get the opposite, sleep paralysis... I'll wake up but I won't be able to get my body to move. Thankfully I'm usually only half woken so instead of just feeling paralyzed, I get up out of bed, go into the bathroom, start brushing my teeth, realize darn I'm still in bed, get out of bed, go into the bathroom, darn still in bed get UP! etc. Sometimes it is the scary kind though. Almost like hallucinating. I'll wake up and be convinced there's something terrifying in the room but I can't move at all.
From what I understand they're both problems with the system that is meant to disconnect our brains from our movements while we sleep. This article is interesting: Brain Chemicals That Cause Sleep Paralysis Discovered | REM Sleep Disorder It says there's a link to GABA, which is also very affected by drinking.
From what I understand they're both problems with the system that is meant to disconnect our brains from our movements while we sleep. This article is interesting: Brain Chemicals That Cause Sleep Paralysis Discovered | REM Sleep Disorder It says there's a link to GABA, which is also very affected by drinking.
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Thread Starter
Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: USA
Posts: 773
no Sugarbear, i am reluctantly going to AA tho, there's some good stuff there that helps, I'm one of those "do it yourselfers" I guess. oh, i see a therapist about every ten days too, he can't believe how well i pulled out of a pretty serious nose dive.
~sb
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: MD
Posts: 15,967
We are self sufficient in many ways, Dan, not sure how surprised the therapist was, but I've heard some stories in my time.
Not imbibing is one thing, but our bodies still feel the stress of not having it's alcohol, so your body (which is often "behind the times") will still feel stress even though we aren't thinking we have any. Kind of a delayed reaction, at least in my experience.
I was a thrasher, too, but it's calmed down immensely in the last almost 5 years.
Even with my current real life stressors (parents are both older and in poor health, sibling relationships still strained, seeking better employment), I don't thrash like I had when I drank.
Those steps helped me, maybe you just need more sober time. Every year I feel more sober and I feel more, well, just call me Abby. Abby Normal.
LOL
Not imbibing is one thing, but our bodies still feel the stress of not having it's alcohol, so your body (which is often "behind the times") will still feel stress even though we aren't thinking we have any. Kind of a delayed reaction, at least in my experience.
I was a thrasher, too, but it's calmed down immensely in the last almost 5 years.
Even with my current real life stressors (parents are both older and in poor health, sibling relationships still strained, seeking better employment), I don't thrash like I had when I drank.
Those steps helped me, maybe you just need more sober time. Every year I feel more sober and I feel more, well, just call me Abby. Abby Normal.
LOL
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Join Date: Dec 2015
Location: NSW - Australia
Posts: 14,592
Congratulations on 4 months OCDDan but the sleep thrashing must be scary. Good idea about setting up video and recorder I know they use the same equipment in the sleep disorders clinics we have here in Australia and am sure they would have them in America. I've heard of people getting what are called 'night terrors'. Might be a good idea to seek out a sleep disorders clinic. Just an idea I had. I wish you the best.
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