Comments
Severe Sleepwalking Injury
Claude S.
4/9/2013 9:14:25 AM
My 19-year old son was severely injured when he plunged through his bedroom window while sleepwalking. He received over 40 stitches on his shoulder and arm. He had a dream that the ceiling was collapsing on him and the only way out was to put his head and shoulder down and try and escape through his bedroom window, which is on the second floor. In an effort to raise public awareness of the dangers of sleepwalking, provide research relating to sleepwalking and also provide a source for various sleepwalking alarms and safety products, we recently launched a new website called www.sleepwalkingsafety.com. If you or a loved one sleepwalks, please be aware of the very real dangers and be proactive by safeguarding your sleepwalker's environment.
sleepwalking(11)
Sandyjeanie
4/3/2013 11:27:02 PM
My adult son does some pretty frightening things while sleepwalking. When he was younger, he once climbed on top of a tall dresser and was going to dive, head first, like he was diving into a swimming pool. And the most recent sleepwalking episode was last week, when he walked from his house downtown, to my house on a hill in the woods. I woke up with him sleeping on my couch, and he was completely freaked out, because he didn't remember anything.
Sleepwalking(8)
Sandy
12/14/2012 3:55:46 AM
I suffer from very random, but increasingly dangerous sleepwalking. Mine is more sleep running and jumping. One injury left a bruise which lasted a full year, literally. But the reason I'm posting is to warn others about guns if they sleepwalk. Two nights ago I jumped from a dead sleep, ran to the other side of my bed, reached under and grabbed my sawed-off shotgun, and pointed it toward the hallway. My boyfriend asked me what the h... I was doing, and he said I told him someone was out there. Before he could get the gun from me, I pulled the trigger. I woke up immediately at the sound of the gun-in fact, I vividly recall the bright flash. This part will sound ridiculous, but though I kept the gun for protection, I'd never fired it and was actually afraid to, after seeing the amount of kickback when a friend fired it. If this had not happened to me, I doubt I would believe it were possible. But it did, and I have a witness who saw me holding the gun by my side. I fired a double barrel, sawed-off shotgun which I was AFRAID of, and I did it holding it in a dangerous position. This has been very traumatic for me. I'm blessed no one was hurt or killed. I'm done with guns in my house. Please be careful if this could be you.
Sleepwalking(7)
Eva
9/4/2012 5:23:08 AM
I suffer from depression occasionally but I have problems with anxiety, hence I have lots of nightmares. I wonder how suffering from anxiety in 'real life' is a link, particularly with students studying for exams etc
Sleepwalking(5)
Eva
9/4/2012 5:18:44 AM
I worked in a hotel and one of the staff used to regularly sleepwalk. She used to go downstairs and cook in the kitchen. I do feel there is a risk of death to her and other people if she uses gas whilst sleeping. Staff were aware of it and used to keep an eye on her but sometimes they were asleep so it was tricky. She did share a room so it helped sometimes, but not all
Sleepwalking(4)
Eva
9/4/2012 5:10:41 AM
I am glad there is a article on this. I have just had a sleepwalking experience so it is fresh in my memory. I do think sleep walking can be dangerous.
I was having a nightmare about being trapped in a room. I am claustrophobic and have been recently having hypnosis and EMDR.I am on the first story. I tried to get out of my room ie escape. I remember it being pitched black and I have a feeling my eyes were closed as I remember my eyes feeling dark and warm/comfortable. I knocked over my bookshelf as I tried to 'get out'. My heart was racing, my legs like jelly. I woke up after hearing a loud crash from my books. I didn't feel it was 'funny'. I was still get palpatations from my nightmare. I was lucky the window was away from the bookshelf and that I woke up. I have had similar nightmares and found myself by the window but when I put my hand out it was cold and I woke up and started to feel where I was. It is scary that I may have a risk of jumping out if I don't recognise where I am. Supposing I dreamed I was in a fire? I am thinking of having some kind of alarm so others are aware of my problem though not sure they will hear it
Sleep Walking
Hart Drobish
7/14/2012 11:05:29 AM
In reading about Ambien's association with sleep walking particularly with alcohol, it struck me that perhaps it is possible that the presence of chronic or acute sleep deprivation is the root issue, rather than the presence of Ambien in the blood. Because Ambien is specifically used by individuals that are needing more sleep, often over an extended period of time, and as it is fairly well established that chronic sleep deprivation causes significant physiologic as well as psychologic changes (though very subtle to detect) would it not make sense that the higher levels of Ambien in a persons blood, might indicate a person with a higher need for a larger dose of the drug the more advanced their insomnia (sleep deprivation) would become. I have seen issues where alcohol alone is the apparent single drug component that triggers sleep walking. However, the history also showed chronic or acute sleep deprivation. Perhaps sleep deprivation might be the actual component problem when combined with alcohol, and the use of ambien is merely the sign that sleep deprivation is present in the circumstance.
Sleepwalking(3)
Tess Swope
6/18/2012 12:13:33 PM
I'm a 42 year old female sleepwalker. I started around the age of 6 - most often a parent would wake me up while I was eating breakfast (sound asleep at 2am). It went for years, in my teens and twenties I slept without any sleepwalking, and then it started reoccuring in my 30's and has only gotten worse with time. This last Sunday morning I finally actually hurt myself. I'm not entirely sure what happened, but there were two episodes that night where I woke up sitting on the edge of my bed. I think the third time I tried to do that my feet got tangled and I ended up falling to the floor - bruised shoulder, hip, head, twisted my neck, back and knee. Thank God I'm in good shape or I really could've been hurt. This time really scared me - I have woken up standing ON my bed, standing in a corner of my room trying to get out, etc. and now that I've finally managed to hurt myself with no recollection of it and now that I know injury really IS a possibility, I'm afraid the next time could be worse.
To Kelly Witherow - absolutely, I get the same panicked sleepwalking episodes, I've even woken up screaming that "they" were in the house, while I was running in my room. Terrifying. Thankfully I usually wake up while trying to get out of my bedroom - keeping my door propped open just a little helps since it has to be pulled open and not just walked through.
I'm curious to know if anyone else also has suffered from cluster headaches as well? The onset of a cluster episode happens 1-3 hours after the onset of sleep - as does most of my sleepwalking, which I find to be very interesting. There's something in that phase of sleep that's flat out broken in my brain...
31 serious walker
Kelly Witherow
3/18/2012 2:43:37 PM
I am a 31yr old female sleepwalker. I started when I was 2. It seems that it is getting worse with age. I have sprained, strained, cut, bruised and broken myself. My worst incident was waking up to realize I had crushed and displaced my right calcaneus (heel bone). Sometimes I can do it several times in one night. I can also go several weeks and not do it at all. My sleepwalking doesn't seem to fit the bill. It is usually extremely intense and high speed. I run and move in general as though I'm panicking. I almost always wake up having a panic attack since I am somewhere else in the house. Most times I can remember walking, but not necessarily what I was thinking or doing. Does anyone else experience this kind of sleepwalking?
Sleepwalking(2)
Thomas Schade
8/23/2011 10:16:10 AM
Interesting article. I started sleepwalking in college, I'm 26 now. Last night my friend spent the night, I woke up this morning to drive her to the airport and she was surprised I wasn't aware of the previous nights adventure. She said I was sitting awake in bed kneeling on all fours looking around the room. I fell back asleep and then later that night she woke up to me screaming and then I ran to the window and was looking outside for something? I don't remember any of this happening. I have caught myself sleepwalking before and I'm always near a window. The odd thing is that I always have the same dream when I catch myself sleepwalking. In the dream I wake up in an abandoned house, with all the windows boarded up. I walk over to the window and see a wrecking ball swinging towards me, this is when I often wake up. I told my parents about this and my mom said that my dad use to talk in his sleep and yell about a being on train tracks. I find it all fascinating and confusing, I'm sure there's a scientific reason for all of this but it's quite amazing how the brain works.
Single and Chronic Sleepwalking
Judy A. Armstrong
12/6/2010 8:57:56 PM
I've tried to get help but the Professionals laugh. "There is nothing we can do". I've gone from occasional to broken bones to hooking up my Service Dog to the bicycle and sleepwalking. Recently I have left the house. After two broken legs and the bicycle incident I AM SCARED! Friends try to help by examples of what not to do. I was the joke of a local ER who didn't believe in Chronic Sleepwalking. I've been to the sleep center and they couldn't help. I've tried all ways of barring the front door but if I can hook up my service dog to a bicycle and peddle to the ER to only slightly recognizing that I've been there. You must also realize that the road conditions at the time were icy and 2 feet of snow. I didn't fall or get hit by a car but now that I'm mobile outside; I am really worried. If I can accomplish complished technical chores, I can't think of a fix for this. It also seems that chronic stress affects the sleepwalking dramatically. My Service Dog and I live alone. I'm grateful that I haven't stepped on her. She is not trained to pickup on my sleepwalking but then again, she might keep me safe. I'm just not aware of her presence.
I sleepwalk way too much
Brittany
9/19/2010 3:14:14 PM
I am glad I found this article. I have been sleepwalking ever since I was a child and it has gotten more worse with age. I am now 25 years old and sleep walk just about every night, sometimes more than once. So far I have not hurt myself or anyone else but I have woken up outside before standing in the middle of my driveway at three in the morning. I have taken showers while asleep and went back to bed with my new clothes on I have dreams that people are being sucked into my floor or I have lost something and I will wake up with my mattress flung across my room as well as the box spring. If i dream anything I act out those dreams and wake up with weird objects and piles on my floor. I also sleep upstairs and walk down the stairs in my sleep that are narrow and I usually have to turn on the lights just to see to go to my room. Outside my bedroom door is a landing with a kneelength bar that looks out over my stairs and one wrong move and I could easily fall. I have debated for years about whether or not to go see a sleep specialist but I am worried that if I go my luck would be that I won't do anything then and it'd all be for nothing. But it has got to the point where I wake up completely exhausted.
Sleepwalking Injuries
Maggie
2/18/2010 12:18:17 PM
I was glad to find this article and see that my situation is not that rare. I live with my fiance and have quickly become aware of his sleep-walking problems. He likes to wake-up and pee in weird places. In particular, the balcony is his favorite choice. We just moved onto the 59th floor! Luckily, I'm a light sleeper. So when he gets up in the night,I immediately panic. I try to figure out if he's awake or sleep-walking. A couple times now I've had to run to cut-him off as he charges for the balcony. He is an ex-college football player... 6'5 and 300 lbs. I think it's scary to cut-off a D-lineman! But I do it anyways, of course. :) I like the idea in the article of a chair in front of the door at night. The locks on the balcony doors aren't that great. Good article.
Sleepwalking
Sidney Roche
11/12/2009 10:41:14 PM
I too am a 52 year old sllepwalker. About a year and a half ago I had 4 episodes that I or my husband can remember. My husband found a large porcilin rooster of ours closed up in our bathroom laying on its side. After he asked me about it I recalled having a dream that there was an earthquake and in the dream I ran to catch the rooster. Another morning I noticed a kitchen chair missing and later found it in the garage near where we keep lightbulb. There was a bulb that I kept forgetting to replace. A few weeks ago I had my first injury. I walked out an RV door that was 3 feet from the ground and fell on my face, cuts on side of my face, bruised a rib & leg... My husband brought me in and I was still asleep. No memory of the fall
John Paul's comment
C. Gonzalez
11/1/2009 3:31:18 PM
I am a serious adult sleepwalker
The 7th grade suicide question is interestingl. I noticed that I have been waking up with certain items next to my bed. I do not have a family history of depression. But, I woke up with a tennis racquet next to my bed when i had watched the U.S. Tennis match the day before. This morning, I woke up with a bat next to my bed after watching the World Series last night. I think you raise a good question about the power of suggestion in daily life which may be played-out in the person's sleep walking.
I recall waking up nexdt to other objects...thank you for bringing this up as I have been wondering why certain objects are next to me when i wake up in the morning.
I feel so sad to hear of the 7th grader's suicide...So very sad
CGonzalez
suicide
John Paul
5/6/2009 7:02:15 PM
I am a school psychologist in a rural state. This past week we had a 7th grade student who was found hanged in his backyard. It has been deemed suicide but there is no evidence of depression or traumatic event. The family went to bed and the parents found him outside the next morning. I started wondering if it could be something done in his sleep. About two weeks ago there was an attemped suicide by hanging at his school, but it was unsuccessful. Is it possible that stories of this previous event could have been stored and acted out in his sleep? Nothing about this supposed suicide makes any sense.