Night Terrors!

[msradar65]

I started on CPAP November 2010. I have been 100% compliant. My only issue is night terrors. The first one I had I woke my entire house up during the christmas holiday. I nearly fell out of bed screaming and was dreaming someone was trying to kill me.

That night was not taking medications to help me stay asleep on a regular basis. After that I started taking elavil every night.

I had another night terror a few nights ago. I fell asleep without CPAP. Needless to say I scared my partner when I grabbed him sceaming in my sleep. I woke up but do not remember anything about the dream.

Is this normal? If so when does this stop?

[Julie]

If you mean are NT's a normal part of apnea, of course not. But you need to get referred to a neurologist who will sort them out for you. And Elavil is not a good idea to be using if you have apnea and are on Cpap because it depresses your system and may make it harder to breathe properly. That's something else to talk to them about.

[msradar65]

Hmm....My doctor prescribed the elavil as a good choice with prozac. I am on a very low does. I think the smallest does. He The night terrors thus far have occurred when I am NOT taking the elavil. i will have to ask my new family doctor. My old doctor retired over the Christmas holiday.

The night terrors are new to me period. I never had them before my sleep study. I have had one on CPAP and one not on CPAP.

[Julie]

What seem to be night terrors might be some reaction to either the combination of meds (and your personal physiology), or to either of the meds, or to who knows what, or ... just plain night terrors. You need to get them properly looked at by a specialist, not some stranger's opinion on the internet.

[msradar65]

I sent a message to the sleep tech and the lab I had my sleep study done. She is setting me up with an appnt to see my sleep doctor. I will report back his findings after my appnt.

[Big S]

I almost never made it to REM before cpap so I wouldn't consider my wildest and scariest dreams as nightmares. I think "night terrors" were a regular occurance prior to cpap and my wife always said I had them because oxygen wasn't getting to my brain. I was always able to remember what they were about though, and it usually involved harm to a family member that I could prevent if I warned them early enough. My wife was good about it even though the dreams often involved her. I was always saving her from the monsters and demons of the dark and usually the only thanks I received was constant complaining about not being able to return to sleep after one of these episodes. I never had any problem getting back to my OSA fragmented style of sleep. My dreams were often the subject discussed during dinner parties and church gatherings and my "special annointing" and revelations into spiritual mystery. I just thought they were wild and I often wanted to contact S King to confer about movie and book collaborations. My NTs were very real to me and often it would take minutes of wakefulness to see the dream dissolve into reality. Cpap pretty much ended these nightly sojourns into the netherworld except for very few special and frightful nights. I once awakened in a terrified and protecting mode and in an effort to save my wife, I bolted out of our kingsize bed on her side and I still was attached to my S9! Since the hose is somewhat short and the power cord is long, and the headgear so constricting, it tried to follow and crashed loudly. Luckily, my wife was out of town so this juicy morsel of cocktail party lore was lost forever. I, however, was worried about the flimsy hose and possible puddles on the floor, but everything was ok. I don't mean to make jokes about this condition but I've had them so often, others have made the jokes for me. They are terrifying. I didn't know I could seek help in stopping them. Cpap has helped me to get to REM where I still have dreams but the timing and oxygen levels have changed and they are now kindler and gentler. I pray that you can also get these under control. Good luck.

[msradar65]

I'm back from seeing my pulmonary doctor. He feels I have abnormal rem cycles. He increase my Elavil and wants me to take it every night...also recommended good sleep hygiene which I already do. Call him in three weeks to let him know if I get more night terrors.

Then he will take the next step with sedative type medication and refer to see psychiatrist if the night terrors persist.

[CruzTerri]

Ok, after reading the messages in the topic, I guess I've had these too. Although, I didn't know that this is what they were called. Usually after having these episodes, it would take me a long time to go back to sleep. Never have told anyone really thought I was just dreaming and it usually occurred early in the morning about an hour or two before I needed to wake up.

I won't miss them. BTW - My sleep study showed that I never entered REM sleep during the first part of my split study.

Learning something new everyday!

[Sherry_H]

My mother (soon 103 yo) has had night terrors off and on for several years. Since she had a urinary tract infection and took a floraquinoline (sp?) antibiotic, they are nightly and one with hallucinations so bad that I called 911 & transported her to the ER. Her c pap is new to her, she started it the day she got out of the hospital for the UTI so it's hard to sort out the floraquinoline hallucinations and if the c pap is involved. On line it is classic for the antibiotics to cause this in a small percentage of elderly who take it.

[Julie]

Sherry, you and your mother are dealing with a lot, especially the meds, and even if you weren't, it's not considered by most involved that starting Cpap at such an advanced age is a great idea unless the person/patient is very 'aware', otherwise very healthy and active and can really participate in their treatment as much of it is subjective (adjusting to mask fit, pressures, etc). Are you sure that Cpap will help her now or possibly only add to her problems?

[archangle]

I started on CPAP November 2010. I have been 100% compliant. My only issue is night terrors. The first one I had I woke my entire house up during the christmas holiday. I nearly fell out of bed screaming and was dreaming someone was trying to kill me.

That night was not taking medications to help me stay asleep on a regular basis. After that I started taking elavil every night.

I had another night terror a few nights ago. I fell asleep without CPAP. Needless to say I scared my partner when I grabbed him sceaming in my sleep. I woke up but do not remember anything about the dream.

Is this normal? If so when does this stop?

Check your data for any clues. You might think about increasing your minimum pressure. Sometimes your breathing is somewhat restricte even though it doesn't record any actual apneas or hypopneas. I find I sleep better with a higher minimum pressure, even though my AHI doesn't show the need.

BTW, if it happens again, make a conscious effort to remember the dream right after you wake up. Maybe even write it down. This helps me remember dreams when I want to.

[pbriggs]

Welcome to the club - for me these started when I was 17 and still go on today (more than 30 years later) I finally see a neurologist and in my case they describe it as REM Sleep disorder. Google will produce some good results on that term.

For me - my neurologist decided to try clonazepam 0.5mg - so 5 months into this and all is well. Just before I went for my sleep study I was having what I thought were night terrors weekly. I would scream some times like someone was killing me (In my dream they or it was!) other times I would jump, and I mean jump out of bed and have even run our of my bedroom. Injured myself on numerious occasions over the years - wife finally had enough and pushed for the sleep study - luckly for me that she did!

My opinion - see a neurologist to be sure all is okay with the brain as there are many treatable causes if caught early that are brain related...

[chunkyfrog]

No doubt the science around night terrors has made advances--even since 2011 (the first post)
I hope that relief has been found for earlier posters, and anyone dropping in for new information.

[tattooyu]

Just some anecdotal evidence: I was prescribed Cipro (first-gen fluoroquinolone) a few years ago, and my GOD I had such terrible, vivid nightmares/hallucinations. I had to stop it and switch to doxycycline which knocked my infection out of the park with NO side effects.

[sleepycinderella]

I know this is an old thread... but I have some crazy, weird, and scary dreams. I have my sleep study next Saturday night so I'm not on cpap therapy yet (although I have tried my hubby's cpap a couple nights). I have read somewhere that crazy/scary dreams can be a symptom of sleep apnea so I just chalk it up to that. Hoping it gets better after I start treatment.