Anyone experienced night terrors (in adults)?

[MooMooFarm]

Sorry, this may not be the right place to post this as it's a problem with my sleep, not my childrens...

For just about as long as I can remember, I've regularly been 'woken' with a start, not long after going to sleep. I wake up shouting or screaming and can clearly see somebody standing next to my bed. Sometimes they are leaning over me, peering into my face. It is absolutely terrifying and very real at the time. My DH always wakes up and can never see what I'm staring at. After a few moments I calm down and the 'thing' disappears. This can happen nights on end, then not happen for months.

I've never understood what it is; i've tried searches on the web before and only come up with things which have freaked me out even more (ie, suggestions of paranormal stuff, which I really wouldn't want it to be obviously!). Over the years I have really started to wonder if it really is some kind of ghost following me around (as it's happened wherever I have lived). I know that sounds nuts, but it seems so real and I feel like I have woken up completely when I can still see it. The other alternative that I could see was that I was just imagining it, which seems equally mad really.

Anyway, today I was on the web looking at night terrors, as coincidentally our son has been suffering from them on and off. There was a description of symptoms of them in adults, (which I didnt even know an adult could have) and it sounded very similar to what I regularly have happen. The description wasn't followed by any useful suggestions on how to stop them though, other than taking prescription medicines, which I really wouldn't want to do.

So, as a recently recruited addict to MN, I thought I would see if anyone on here has had any experience of this; if you think this is indeed night terrors, and if there's anything I can do to stop them?

Any help very, very gratefully received - thank you

Yes. Google "sleep paralysis".

I get this, so does my DD1 (she thinks a bad dream grabbed her the other night). It can be terrifying and I have noticed it is more frequent when I am stressed.

I've sort of learned to recognise it as not real (and so not panic) but sometimes I still can't help it and find myself standing by the light switch.

I have night terrors. Sometimes dreams are so vivid that its easy to mix up dreams with reality. It is surprisingly common to halluninate when half asleep. For example I once had a hideous dream and woke thinking that there was a huge snake wrapped around my daughter. Momentarily I am sure I saw the snake, even though I know its impossible.

What I find strange is when I have extreme night terrors and I have no memory of them the following morning.

I think that night terrors are more common with a lack of sleep.

that fact that it is not long after you have fallen asleep makes me ask if it could be a variation of the falling sensation that a lot of people get.

i have had night terrors as a adult and generally have been a sleep for a good couple of hours before the happen. They generally occur when i am worrying about something. I tend to wake up screaming and nearly broke the nose of one boyfriend. I find lists and making sure that i am not worrying helps.

My best advice is to keep a log. major issues - eg stress at work/personal life etc (can be listed in this bullet point) and amount of sleep each night, and when you get them. you might discover a pattern that helps.

I have had something similar. Sometimes it is someone in the room looking at me, sometimes I dream that someone is trying to hurt me with some sort of weapon. I say dream, it feels incredibly real at the time. Sometimes it is a swarm of insects or just a spider or something. Sometimes something else entirely. But always menacing in some way.

I have found myself at the bottom of the bed cowering before now,I often throw pillows into the middle of the room to try and deflect them. Because pillows are a great defense against machetes and guns

I have asked online before and there are always other people who suffer. I dont' have them all the time, but they seem to come in stages, a lot for a coupld of months then nothing.

Yep, mine are hallucinations in a half asleep state. I don't sleep well at all. See people leaning over me, also had a feeling of being pinned down by someone a few times, not pleasant. Also see silly things, teddy bears on my pillow, giant spiders crawling up the curtains etc.

I know it's nothing paranormal and just my mind playing tricks on me so have learned to just tell my conscious self to wake up and see the room in normal darkness.

You are not alone.

Thanks all of you, its really good to get so many replies straight back with similar experiences - which makes me think I'm probably not going mad and its quite 'normal' - off to bed now!

Hynagogic hallucinations is the term I think.

I suffered from these for years - it started when I was 11 and had a period of quite bad insomnia. I'd see spiders crawling on the walls or rats running across the floor or odd things like cameras floating above my head taking pictures. I knew they weren't there, but sometimes it took a few seconds to remember that! I'm a lot better now, but still get bad nights if I get over tired (or if I'm going to have a migraine, but that's also connected to overtiredness)

That sounds like it Serenity.

I get spiders climbing the walls or red ribbons floating across the ceiling. I can open my eyes, sit up and watch them and they are still there for probably 5 seconds.

Quite freaky sometimes.

I used to suffer from demonic nightmares, I have also had sleep paralysis in the past. The thing that sorted me out was I spoke to a local vicar (church of england). He did a brief simple prayer and the nightmares stopped. I've attended 4 or 5 churches regularly and this guy I respected the most as he seemed to have a lot of integrity. I occasionally have them if I misbehave like watch porn or listen to howard stern but other than that the issue is resolved. I think the guys integrity gave him authority in his prayer.