Thread: Do you have night terrors?

Hello friends

Although night terrors can occur anytime in a persons life span, the most common is reported in children between the ages of three and five. (However more recent studies have turned up showing that many adults as well as children as young as six months experience night terrors on a weekly basis.) Night terrors usually occur fifteen minutes to one hour after going to sleep. I personally experience mine at just about the 45 minute mark. The longer the person is in NREM (the stages before REM) before the night terror strikes, the more petrified they will be when it occurs. Keep in mind though not everyone falls to sleep in the same amount of time as others. This makes a sleep study about the only way of determining what stage of sleep you are in when these events occur.
Night terrors have been shown to appear in stage 4 of sleep. This is just one thing that separates them from nightmares which can occur anytime in sleep. It is possible to make a night terror occur in some people, simply by touching or awakening them during stage 4 of sleep. Why night terrors occur is still a mystery. The mind is supposed to be practically void during the deeper stages of sleep. Most sufferers will awake gasping, moaning, crying but more often screaming.

Breathing rapidly they will sit up in bed with a wide eyed terror filled stare. This panic will often last anywhere from five to twenty minutes. I find the most amazing aspect of night terrors is that it generates a heart rate of 160 to 170 beats per minute. This is much faster than the normal heart rate that can be attained under most stressful circumstances.
Some things that can help bring out a night terror are stress, medications that affect the brain, (It is hard to list exactly which ones) being over-tired or eating a heavy meal before going to bed. Combining all of the above I can usually guarantee an occurrence for myself. Many different medical ailments contribute to the frequency of Night Terrors. (Once again to many and to hard to list, Please do not e-mail me to have one added.) The listed items DO NOT cause night terrors, they just seem to put your body into the state where a night terror can manifest itself. People without night terrors will not have a night terror just by trying the above.

Thanks for all friends
Have a nice day

Lately I've been waking up in the night, sometimes a few times in one night, for no reason really. Does that affect what stage of sleep I'm in at certain times during the night? As far as these dreams go, I usally wake up from them in the early morning ...so it''s a few hours after I've fallen asleep.Night terrors/Nightmares are a part of Bi-Polar. I take Klonopin for sleeping purposes because Seroquel hits me like a mack truck. Plus my legs get all twitchy.