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Death & Dying
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Sleep Terrors

beeyore99
beeyore99
I know this may sound like strange question, but I'm not sure who else I can ask. Has anyone experienced sleep terrors following the loss of a loved one? Could that be a possible cause for sleep terrors to even occur?

I ask because I think I may have experienced this last night. I'll try to make this as short as possible.

We were all sound asleep by 10:30ish. Then at 11:30, the fire alarm in our building went off. In each apartment, all of the smoke detectors have an alarm built in them that has a really annoying, loud, piercing sound.

I don't remember any leading up to picking up my son and telling my husband let's wait out the alarm in the bathroom, since the sound is muffled pretty well in there. My husband says I started screaming in my sleep when the alarms went off. He says he tried to shake me, but I wouldn't wake up.

It's weird. All I can remember from last night is that I went from being in the middle of some dream (can't remember what it was), then the next I know I was picking up my son. Apparently, my screaming woke them up.

I read online that sleep deprivation, extreme tiredness and stress are factors for sleep terrors, all of which I have been experiencing lately.
Community LeaderThePepperMan
ThePepperMan
I am so very sorry you had that. My daughter had them once, this was after an overly scary night time story. (My bad.) That was the one and only time, so we dropped it.

You might want to write down what you and your husband remember, then if it happens again you can look for patterns. (Like what you ate, or drank, or meds or what ever.)

I hope you get a good nights sleep tonight!
Dixie260
Dixie260
Dear Beeyore,
From a nurses perspective and someone that did short period years ago in hospice nursing, yes they absolutely can be from the loss of someone. The subconscious mind works overtime when we are stressed, and emerges full force during sleep, processing what you are dealing with. Hence dreams, night terrors. You're not getting good sleep, especially if this is a new loss. Look up theta wave meditations on amazon or a book/ CD website. I do "Though Elevators" and they were worth the 49 dollar investment. They put you into a state of relaxation so you can detach from stress for a bit and give your mind a rest, thus improving sleep as well.
Just a thought...peace and hugs to you
Dixie260
Dixie260
I meant "Thought Elevators"
hollowheart
hollowheart
I do believe what you experienced was from stress and sleep deprivation and just grief itself. Trying to sleep after a traumatic event is probably one of the hardest things you can try to do. Our mind and body need to be relaxed in order to drift off to sleep.

In the days after my sister passed I recall walking up feeling like I was suffocating. But I don't know if that is the same thing because I remember getting up and pacing around from room to room, unable to settle myself. I really thought I was having a breakdown. I couldn't breath or calm down. That was very early on, literally days after it happened. I had those experiences for a bit of time, but then I was able to get some sleeping and anti-depressant meds.

What you had happen is most likely something that will not keep happening. But it's something that is not surprising with all you are going through.
Community LeaderSunCloudJD
SunCloudJD
I have had both nightmares and night terrors..... Both were caused for me from medications

When I've had nightmares they've been with me a little on waking and I've felt upset for a short while afterwards and then it goes away

Night terrors are so frighteningly vivid and real that they've been like being in the middle of a horror story and they've stayed with me weeks after... I had to stop a medication due to this side effect
Community LeaderSunCloudJD
SunCloudJD
I was looking them up and a lot of people can't remember night terrors apparently... Possibly the difference for me was the medication

I'm so sorry that you're going through this... Big hug for you and a blessing...x
koolman
koolman
No, can't say I've had sleep TERRORS. My dreams, where I met and hung out with my departed brother, were always peaceful, total bliss. I only screwed up the dream when I would "question" the dream and "question" my brother, like saying to him "It's really nice to see you, Mark, but aren't you, y'know...dead-?", at which point I began to wonder "Am I dead???", at which point, in the dream, I'd freak out, squirm and then wake myself up in this world, at which point I was pissed off at myself for being afraid of that. It was so peaceful in the dream! If that's what death is, sign me up! Obviously there are a few "things" God wants me to do here first, like improve my communication skills, swallow my ego and need to "rise above and conquer" and be better at expressing love.
koolman
koolman
In your case, seems there was a fear from not being able to enforce your protective maternal instinct. Obviously your scream broke through that fear, and, on auto pilot, you bolted out of bed and ran to pick up your son! Maternal instinct won out!
ruthgrps
ruthgrps
I've had night terrors since my mum died in april 2010, I have severe nightmares, wake up petrified, heart racing etc, dont know what to do with myself, I dont know what to suggest that makes them go away, I asked at my doctors and they said they were hard to treat.

Hope yours go away quickly, I had three the night before last, and just one last night,
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