occurances in sleep

hey
for the last week or so ive been having odd occurances in sleep.

Im normally asleep by 11.30 on a weekday and 1 at latest at the weekend (if im raeding a book). I normally sleep really heavily, dont snore, and rarely have an "active" sleep i.e. no tossing and turning.

For the last 15 days i have had a very different occurance in sleep.
It started with very vivid dreams, of things that i may have thought of recently or about people i know and what i feel. I thought the dreams were just random ideas going off at first, things i may want to happen or contemplating what had happened.

It then turned to paranormal with deaths and pretty close to nightmares despite the fact it didnt really scare me. I of course awake at a dramatic point in my dream.

I often have had dramatic or fanciful dreams i believe due to my overactive imagination choice of computer games and the fantasy novels i read. However i rarely have a "vivid dream" which i can remember every slight detail the next day.

Well the last 3 days i have given to actually doing stuff in my sleep. the first night i went downstairs and turned on the television and fell asleep with my dog on the sofa.
The next night i closed my blinds (which are heavy and noisey due to being broken) and kept complaining the sun was too bright.
Last night i awoke went and got ready for a shower even getting a towel from the cupboard and was about to go into the shower before my dad turned me back to bed.

Now i wasnt worried when it was just dreams, as although i felt like i had had very little sleep it was manageable.

But then as the dreams progressed i would awake covered in sweat (maybe due to hot weather?), and have trouble getting back to sleep. With the sleep walking i am a little disturbed because i have not done this since i was very young maybe 6 or 7, and when i used to sleep walk i once rolled down the stairs due to tripping. So its clearly not something i want to happen again :p:

But why this sudden regression? are there any remedies or ways to overcome these occurances?

If it was just me affected i wouldnt mind as much, but whole family is awoken by me so there is a tired effect on everyone, and my dog is clearly kept awake at all hours so i must be talking in my sleep aswell. (she is very intuitive to me as im the closest to her, i.e. treats, feeding, etc).

Any ideas or help much appreciated.

PS. if this is of any use:
im 17, male and finished my AS's for the year

Reply 1

Ywiss

I'm sorry to hear that :frown:

It can't be very fun for you.

Nobody really knows what dreaming is, but a simple way to explain it is to say that it's a kind of film which your brain puts on while you're asleep. When you're asleep, you don't have to use all your voluntary muscles or your consciousness, so basically there's enough energy/space for your brain to have a little party with itself. Sometimes your dreams are particularly vivid, especially if there's something significant going on in your life which you think about a lot.

Basically this means that your vivid dreams and sleepwalking could be to do with something going on in your life which your brain is constantly thinking about and processing. Is there anything, anything at all, that you're particularly worried or distressed about? Anything that you have strong emotions about - anything that you think about a lot? For example, are you looking forward to going to university? Are your friends annoying you? You say you play very intense computer games - do you think about them a lot, even when you're not playing them?

Alternatively, the fact that you're stimulating your brain so much, through the use of computer games, vivid books and your imagination, may make it difficult for your brain to switch off at night. Perhaps you could try cutting out the computer games for a while, and see if that makes a difference. Don't play computer games or watch any kind of tv at least an hour before you go to bed, so that you get your brain into switch-off mode nice and early. Don't drink any kind of stimulant, e.g. coffee or coke, before you go to bed either - instead try something like Horlicks or just a glass of fruit juice to try and settle your brain down. See if that reduces your sleepwalking.

One last thing - you say you've finished your ASs. Were you particularly stressed during them? Did you have irregular sleeping patterns, or did you sleep less than normal? Sometimes if you disrupt your sleeping patterns, and/or stress is suddenly relieved, your brain can go a bit crazy, and it's just a question of getting back into a routine again. Your brain may think, "Okay, finally, I don't have to remember Physics formulae or English quotations, so let's party!" and then go a bit mad by giving you all these funky dreams and making you get up.

Sleepwalking can be very distressing - and if it continues to happen, I suggest you see a GP. They can take scans of your brain and find out if there's anything strange happening - e.g. you could have particularly strong brainwaves or something which is doing something to your sleep cycle. Don't worry - I'm sure it'll sort itself out.

Good luck - PM me if you ever need to!

xxx

Reply 2

Alamothih

Yeah i have things on my mind a lot so that could be the cause i think.

But over exam period if anything i got more sleep than normal, as i made myself into a nice routine which made me healthier happier and worked harder. But now back at school that routine was shattered pretty much.

Thanks for the reply, will wait and see if it continues.