Anyone suffer screaming in the night?

[IncompleteSenten]

I've had this problem my whole life.
I will scream in my sleep and yell things like "help me" and "get off me "

I will sometimes wake myself up with it or be woken up by someone coming in to see if I'm ok.

Sometimes the scream comes with dreaming someone is standing next to my bed and as I wake up while screaming that image fades but mostly i don't even wake up.

I don't share a room with my husband (luckily for him eh?) But my son has told me that it's getting worse and I've woken him up most nights at the moment. He's absolutely knackered and obviously worried about me.

Does anyone else suffer from this and if so have you ever found anything that stops it?

I'm particularly worried because we're getting new neighbours and I'm worried they are going to think I'm being abused!

Our old neighbours were deaf and never heard a thing. I don't want to end up with the police at the door

Have you tried natural calming aids beds time such as chamomile tea or valerian?

Yeah I wake myself up yelling and screaming sometimes. It's worse when I'm under stress generally.

Do you drink caffeinated drinks in the afternoon/evening? Quitting that might help.

Please dont take this the wrong way but do you drink a lot?

Years ago my Bofriends Mum would scream constantly in her sleep but she was a heavy drinker, I always put it down to that.

I do this, but not as frequently as you, but have night terrors/see things just before I scream. Horrible. In my case I think it's my medication (blood pressure tablets for migraines) that seems to cause it, plus worse when stressed. Good idea to quit caffeine from mid-afternoon or even midday. It is not nice for everyone else either!

Have you seen a GP about this? I've heard of other people having it - a friend had a boyfriend who would sometimes scream bloodcurdlingly in his sleep, I'm not sure if it passed. I found out about this as they stayed at our house once, and she had to warn me.

I've just realised it reads like I share a room with my son! I don't. We aren't on bunk beds or anything. He's just in the closest room and hears it the worst.

No, I rarely drink alcohol these days. I used to drink a lot in my youth but maybe have a drink once or twice a year these days.

I drink a coffee in the morning. I'll have one or two chais during the day.

I dont drink camomile tea. I have tried it but it's not something I really drink. I'll happily give it a go.

Another thing that can affect your sleep behaviour and dreams is psychiatric medications — I know a lot of people (including me) who have had strange things happen to their dreams and sleep behaviour when taking certain SSRIs, which went away when they switched to a different one.

Meds didn't occur to me tbh. I am on a shitload of meds but the screaming predates them by decades. I will talk to the gp see if they could be making it worse.

I do this, but not that regularly. DH calls it yodelling because I sort of mutter and moan before actually getting the words out. I'm normally dreaming that I'm trying to escape from someone, or being attacked. No idea why but it is disturbing.
Btw I drink about 6 cups of camomile tea a day so that doesn't work ( for me).

I've had this in the past.

Its triggered by aspartame in drinks and food.

Do you eat a lot of diet products or low sugar products? Yoghurt is the one I always forget.

Yep, I talk, laugh and scream in my sleep. I have night terrors, and I used to have horrific sleep paralysis, several times a week. And I have really bad nightmares. My sleep is atrocious and has been since I was a child. I can remember having sleep paralysis (without knowing what it was) at age 8. Nightmares long before that.
After years of not admitting it to anyone (except my girlfriend when I was about 17 who gave me a lava lamp for night time, I slept with that on for years) I finally spoke to my brother who admitted that he routinely fell asleep with an out-of-body experience, which has only happened to me a handful of times, and he’d had my kind of sleep paralysis a handful of times. I think we must just have a family disposition for it.

I almost never drink, and if I have had a drink (e.g. Christmas) it makes no difference. I don’t take medication. It predates puberty, which can be a trigger. I think it’s just part of who I am. Somethings do make it worse though, ironically being overtired in my case. And if I’m very stressed.

I used to do this but gradually grew out of it. The last time I had a night terror and screamed was when I was 29.

I have night terrors where I not only scream but I run around in my sleep. Apparently my eyes are open too. I have always had them but never frequently until I left an abusive relationship and I was then diagnosed with ptsd. I still have them but medication helps and I run around less. Tiredness, stress and heat are the main triggers for me. Please don't me ashamed to ask the doctor to refer you to a sleep clinic if it's affecting you.

I used to scream in my sleep but it suddenly stopped.

I gave up aspartame products about this time as someone I know was studying it and told me how awful it was. I never made the connection.

I still talk sometimes and sit up with my eyes open, but haven't screamed for years.

It's worth a shot OP.

I have had this on and off my whole life, although sometimes it’s chatting nonsense instead of the shouting.

Agree with others it’s worse when over tired but I also find that it’s triggered in part by things i can see and get confused by when half asleep. So a shadow cast by a street lamp was someone by the bed, a dressing gown hung on a door was an intruder etc. Making sure my bedroom is completely dark, with nothing casting any shadows, seems to help me avoid the worst of it. Might help you too?

You sound like my poor DD. She has always struggled with sleep, had a breathing issue corrected which I thought would solve it but it didn’t. I figured maybe it was by that point a habit- but then maybe it is something she’s just born with. She doesn’t find it as hard to fall asleep now but she’s always talking and laughing in her sleep (more disturbing than the wailing at 3am tbh). Frequent nightmares, always has to have little lights on and lullabies playing even now.

She has ADHD, I also wondered if that could play a part.

My ex-h did this and eventually I made him get counselling. Turns out it was anxiety and he was having a panic attack in effect.

I keep trying to reply but just get redirected to that 🤬 popup

My poor DH suffers with sleep paralysis. It wakes me as soon as I hear his breathing change and he gets covered in goosebumps. In his mind he is screaming at me to help him but nothing comes out of his mouth. If I wake him or nudge him he screams and it is terrifying. He hallucinates as part of these and the things he describes are horrific. His triggers are alcohol (he no longer drinks), stress, tiredness and when he is run down. He can also he worse when he is a new environment/room such as on holiday or in a hotel. He went to the Drs once and they asked him if he took drugs (he doesn't and never has!). He never went back! It sounds awful OP. Have you found any triggers for you?

@Chattycathydoll ah I’m sorry to hear about your DD. How old is she now? I was really disturbed/ upset by it until my mid 20s. Since then it scares me less and I can sleep with the lights off, although I don’t like to sleep alone. And if I’m overtired I get… a bit highly strung, and then like a PP I get jumpy about shadows or dressing gowns etc. I hope your DD isn’t too distressed by it. It’s a terrible feeling being terrified in your own room/bed.

My mum, primary school teacher, told me recently that if I were a child now she’d have me assessed for ADHD and ASD. And my brother for ADHD. Interestingly, I’d already considered getting an adult assessment. I don’t know if there is a link, but I find it interesting that you mention it.

Didn't know about aspartame. I'll give that change a go.

Many GPs don't know anything about them, mine didn't and suggested it might be trauma related, which it might be for some people, but I googled my meds and found 100's of people who had similar experiences and I realized that I'd only started the screaming/night terrors after starting the meds. They help me a lot though, and so I don't want to stop them. I also have hallucinations (hypnogogic/hypnopompic) which come on on falling asleep or waking, and they are also scary. Weirdly I quite like sleeping!

Your poor DH! I tried to tell my dad once and he accused me of taking drugs. And I was terrified for years people would just think I was schizophrenic or something, as I realised they were hallucinations, but not what was causing them. I’m so, so relieved my sleep paralysis has stopped. It was by far the worst to live with. Everything else I can deal with (although DH having to stop me running out the front door starkers and asleep to escape from a dinosaur was fairly embarrassing 😂). How old is your DH? Is it very frequent? I twice had the experience of feeling like I was trying to scream for help and nothing coming out, and the memory has stuck with me for 16 years, it was hideous. I really feel for him, I can’t imagine that terror regularly.

I think knowing what they are, and knowing it's not a sign of deep trauma or madness in my case has helped a lot. Night time hallucinations are really common.

@ImNotOnTwitterButMySupportGoldfinchTweets She is 7 so still little! She is doing better at falling asleep on her own, but I have to promise to check on her every 10 minutes. She hates to be alone- but actually she hates to be alone 100% of the time, that’s not specific to sleep!

Audio books have also been a help. It was also good when I was doing a course in the evenings, I’d put my lecture videos on and they would bore her to sleep, as well as reassuring her I was still there- it does help also if I do something she can hear, like she can know I’m still there because she can hear me washing up or whatever.

Interesting that ADHD is a thing for you too. I don’t know how scientific it is but I really feel there is a link.