Hi, this is the first time I post in here, although I come here from time to time.

The situation I am asking your help for is the following: I've always had sleep issues that just recently found out, with the help of my pdoc, that are part of what are known as parasomnias. Some of them include sleepwalking, sleeptalking, exploding head syndrome, and more others.

Well, I was reading about sleepwalking and always found out that people who do that mostly don't remember they do it, and that they always are acting up a dream they are having.

Since I always remember what I do during those episodes, I asked my pdoc how to fit this into sleepwalking. Then she said that at those times what I do is not sleepwalking, what I am doing is dissociating!

What happens is basically this: after I get asleep at night, I "wake up" in the middle of the night and start doing things, normal things, like coming here to the computer, check my e-mails, read posts at PC, do entries in my electronic journal, eat something, stuff like that... and all that time I think I am "awake"... later, when I am truly "awake", I return to my journal only to find out that I wrote down words with no sense or just symbols and numbers... that is when I realize that I was "asleep". Now my pdoc tells me that that is dissociation, but I can't find that kind of dissociation anywhere.... does anyone have an idea of what is happening to me?

I would really appreciate your insight of what kind of dissociation is this...

Thanks!

- Cat

Hi cat-eyes

I'm not sure what kind of dissociation it is OR if it is dissociation. I have always walked in my sleep, talked in my sleep, and had night terrors. Sometimes I remember it, but not clearly remember. I always wondered if my sleep walking had anything to do with dissociation....since I can sometimes sort of remember it.(as if looking through a veil)

What is "exploding head" syndrome?
I wonder if you Google parasomnia/dissociation if any new info will come up?
Your P doc must know what she's talking about or she wouldn't have mentioned that she believed it was dissociation, right?
I'm just not sure and am starting to ramble....sorry
I hope you find out what it is.

[turquoisesea]

hey there =)

I'm really not sure either, but I'd still like to welcome you to DD section of PC and hope that posting and reading here can help you in some way =)

Originally Posted by Calista+12

Hi cat-eyes

I'm not sure what kind of dissociation it is OR if it is dissociation. I have always walked in my sleep, talked in my sleep, and had night terrors. Sometimes I remember it, but not clearly remember. I always wondered if my sleep walking had anything to do with dissociation....since I can sometimes sort of remember it.(as if looking through a veil)

What is "exploding head" syndrome?
I wonder if you Google parasomnia/dissociation if any new info will come up?
Your P doc must know what she's talking about or she wouldn't have mentioned that she believed it was dissociation, right?
I'm just not sure and am starting to ramble....sorry
I hope you find out what it is.

Hi Calista+12!

The strange thing is that I can remember perfectly what I did while I was sleepwalking... not seen through a veil or anything like that... a bit ago I remembered that I also use to answer the phone while asleep and then I can't remember doing that nor the conversation I had (so I need to have the phone far away from my bed, lol).

Exploding head syndrome is when you are starting to get asleep and you suddenly hear a huge bang that awakes you, but that sound did not really happen.

I googled what you suggested and found out the Dissociative Experiences Scale, that scores your likelihood to have a dissociative disorder... I took it and scored 42.5 (30 or Above, Higher Association With DID)

although it says that it is not always accurate and that not everyone that scores high actually suffers from DID and the other way around, not all DIDers score high in this test. I just found out this interesting since I had never thought of myself as someone that dissociates ever.

- Cat

Originally Posted by turquoisesea

hey there =)

I'm really not sure either, but I'd still like to welcome you to DD section of PC and hope that posting and reading here can help you in some way =)

Thank you so much turquoisesea... I hope that too!

Sorry, I don't know what to say about your dissociation stuff because I don't really know about experiences like that...but I took a test that I found of Google...maybe it's the same one? I'm really bad though at marking myself on a scale though so I probably exaggerated but my score was a 60 (okay, retook the test and this time I lowered a lot of my answers and still got a score of 50)

[billieJ]

Cat Eyes ~Well, the sleep meds Ambien and Lunesta can do this. Also, I think if you go long enough without sleep, you could begin to confuse your waking circumstances and dreams, and since you are actually dreaming you may not recall it. One time, I worked very, very late in my office after 7 days without sleep, fell asleep in office, dreamed I was supposed to shower and get on a bus, and physically moved to the ladies room in the office building, still thinking the dream was real. I prepared to step into the shower, but, not finding one, I began bathing in the sink. By now, co-workers were beginning to arrive, and those stopping by the ladies room were above appalled. As they appeared, I repeatedly called out in exasperation, "where the [deuce] is the shower?" One held her hands out straight before her, palms outstretched toward me, and cried, "we'll bring you one!" Next thing I knew, my supervisor and the Department Head were winding me tightly in a bed sheet and waddling me away to the psych hospital. Moral: sleep walking can be kind of dangerous, but at least sleep at home! Caring for you Situation ~ billieJ

I forgot to say Welcome Cat. ..sorry.

I have done the same with answering the phone. It makes for amusing/embarrassing conversation with the caller, later.
I took the DES and the T giving the test, told my T my score was so high, I must be faking it! I know I dissociate but I don't know if the parasomnia has a part in it or not.

[(JD)]

It's considered a dissociative state. Some aspect of yourself does this activity. That you are aware but unable to control the activity makes it "dissociative."

I suggest keeping a log of when it happens, and if you can recall what you did before you went to sleep, or what high anxiety events may have occurred that day. It could be a response to a trigger, or even a habit created to help cope with the memories or events of the day.

[Kiya]

Hey cat - really good to see you!!!
Interesting subject you bring up. I'm glad Billyj brought up the sleeping pills because i know there are really high incidences of this in the US with people even driving in these halfsleep/half wake zones, and then the next morning can't find their cars and so forth.
But if there are no meds aside, then it would be a dissociative state like Sky said.
I, too, used to sleepwalk/talk/climb... but it was always just that. Only one time do i remember being slightly lucid in the dream and (as i walked past my poor confused mom) i said "I'm the leader but they're not following me!" i guess i turned on the hall light, went down the stairs... i do remember waking up downstairs and looking at all the fog outside. I said "look at the pretty fog....!" fell back asleep (evidently) retraced my steps, passed mom again and this time went and fell into her bed. @_@ Oh, i do remember one other one in college where i was dreaming there was a party at the end of the dorm hall. I was going there when I woke up with my hand on the door nob of my door - going what am i doing!?!? Good thing i woke up, or i would have shown up at a stranger's door, in my nightgown, with no key (doors lock automatically) and no id, at 3am. Thankfully i seem to have finally grown out of this!

Sorry, i digress - back to you. I have read that people with DD/DID will do that - go to bed, another self wakes up and does things, then next morning the usual self can't understand what happened. I find it interesting that you are mostly aware of being up. I hope you find more info as you go along!

I'd never heard of exploading head! I also for years had the thing where I'm just about to fall asleep and then I'd jolt awake because I had the feeling like i was falling in blank space - and then would feel like plummeting to the floor. Freaked me out!!!

(((((((((((((((Cat!))))))))))))))))))

[Zorah]

(((((((((cat)))))))))))) dear friend
don't be afraid

it does sound like dissociation (& ty Sky for the really clear definition), but could equally well be a med side-effect,

did you have this always ? or only since the change of meds ?
talk to us, love

Originally Posted by Kaika

Sorry, I don't know what to say about your dissociation stuff because I don't really know about experiences like that...but I took a test that I found of Google...maybe it's the same one? I'm really bad though at marking myself on a scale though so I probably exaggerated but my score was a 60 (okay, retook the test and this time I lowered a lot of my answers and still got a score of 50)

Hi Kaika!

Probably these tests are not so accurate because of what I wrote above at another post, so I think we shouldn't take it as a real proof that we do or don't dissociate... when I first did it, I got a bit scared... but now I don't care about it that much... so I would suggest you to not worry about it that much but better to try to understand yourself and your own experiences, and if you DO dissociate maybe it would be a good idea to talk to a T or pdoc if you're not doing that already... jmo

- Cat

Originally Posted by billieJ

Cat Eyes ~Well, the sleep meds Ambien and Lunesta can do this. Also, I think if you go long enough without sleep, you could begin to confuse your waking circumstances and dreams, and since you are actually dreaming you may not recall it. One time, I worked very, very late in my office after 7 days without sleep, fell asleep in office, dreamed I was supposed to shower and get on a bus, and physically moved to the ladies room in the office building, still thinking the dream was real. I prepared to step into the shower, but, not finding one, I began bathing in the sink. By now, co-workers were beginning to arrive, and those stopping by the ladies room were above appalled. As they appeared, I repeatedly called out in exasperation, "where the [deuce] is the shower?" One held her hands out straight before her, palms outstretched toward me, and cried, "we'll bring you one!" Next thing I knew, my supervisor and the Department Head were winding me tightly in a bed sheet and waddling me away to the psych hospital. Moral: sleep walking can be kind of dangerous, but at least sleep at home! Caring for you Situation ~ billieJ

Hi billieJ!

Wow, that was some terrible situation... and you're right: sleepwalking can be dangerous!... good thing that I've never wanted to get out of my house. With respect to meds... I've had these "I-think-I-am-awake" sleepwalking experiences since childhood and adolescence before I started taking any med, but yes, I've found that some meds increase the times this happens, for example Seroquel does that to me. I have never taken Ambien nor Lunesta.

- Cat

Originally Posted by Calista+12

I forgot to say Welcome Cat. ..sorry.

I have done the same with answering the phone. It makes for amusing/embarrassing conversation with the caller, later.
I took the DES and the T giving the test, told my T my score was so high, I must be faking it! I know I dissociate but I don't know if the parasomnia has a part in it or not.

Thanks for your welcoming Calista+12

Yes, answering the phone does give us a good conversation with the caller later... the good thing about me is that I don't say anything embarrassing, I always sound as if I was completely awake, so ppl not even know I am asleep when I am talking to them, lol.... I read somewhere that some specialists consider parasomnias as sleep/wake state dissociations, whatever that means!

- Cat

Originally Posted by _Sky

It's considered a dissociative state. Some aspect of yourself does this activity. That you are aware but unable to control the activity makes it "dissociative."

I suggest keeping a log of when it happens, and if you can recall what you did before you went to sleep, or what high anxiety events may have occurred that day. It could be a response to a trigger, or even a habit created to help cope with the memories or events of the day.

Hi Sky!

That's exactly what I feel: that some aspect of myself does the activity and I am unable to control it... I have to follow it, I don't even question if I should do it or not. I will do the log thing to try to find a pattern to it... that's a really good explanation and suggestion, thanks!

- Cat

Originally Posted by Kiya

Hey cat - really good to see you!!!
Interesting subject you bring up. I'm glad Billyj brought up the sleeping pills because i know there are really high incidences of this in the US with people even driving in these halfsleep/half wake zones, and then the next morning can't find their cars and so forth.
But if there are no meds aside, then it would be a dissociative state like Sky said.
I, too, used to sleepwalk/talk/climb... but it was always just that. Only one time do i remember being slightly lucid in the dream and (as i walked past my poor confused mom) i said "I'm the leader but they're not following me!" i guess i turned on the hall light, went down the stairs... i do remember waking up downstairs and looking at all the fog outside. I said "look at the pretty fog....!" fell back asleep (evidently) retraced my steps, passed mom again and this time went and fell into her bed. @_@ Oh, i do remember one other one in college where i was dreaming there was a party at the end of the dorm hall. I was going there when I woke up with my hand on the door nob of my door - going what am i doing!?!? Good thing i woke up, or i would have shown up at a stranger's door, in my nightgown, with no key (doors lock automatically) and no id, at 3am. Thankfully i seem to have finally grown out of this!

Sorry, i digress - back to you. I have read that people with DD/DID will do that - go to bed, another self wakes up and does things, then next morning the usual self can't understand what happened. I find it interesting that you are mostly aware of being up. I hope you find more info as you go along!

I'd never heard of exploading head! I also for years had the thing where I'm just about to fall asleep and then I'd jolt awake because I had the feeling like i was falling in blank space - and then would feel like plummeting to the floor. Freaked me out!!!

(((((((((((((((Cat!))))))))))))))))))

Hi ((((( Kiya)))))! It is very nice to see you too!

I would say then that I experience this dissociative state exacerbated sometimes with some type of meds.
Lol with the "I am the leader" experience Kiya... I am so glad that you have grown out of this... once I was getting ready to go to school, getting my uniform and stuff when suddenly my father entered my room and asked me what was I doing... I suddenly noticed it was still dark outside and told him: nothing!... and went back to bed... who knows what would have happened if my father had not awakened me, lol.

I have experienced the falling feeling as I am starting to get asleep too... and also don't like it!

I too hope I can understand what has been (and still is) happening to me! Thank you ((((( Kiya )))))

- Cat

Originally Posted by Zorah

(((((((((cat)))))))))))) dear friend
don't be afraid

it does sound like dissociation (& ty Sky for the really clear definition), but could equally well be a med side-effect,

did you have this always ? or only since the change of meds ?
talk to us, love

((((( Zorah ))))) I'm so glad that you are back, welcome! I hope we can talk soon .
As I said earlier, I've had this since I can remember... and it has been sometimes exacerbated with some meds I take now, especially if I change to a higher dosage of them... so if this is dissociation, what am I supposed to do about it? better said: is there something I could/should do about it? does it mean something?



- Cat

Cat
If this is dissociation, could you leave a journal out at night and see if anyone responds? Just a thought....

(If you & I were both "sleeping" and called each other, it could be sent to a Funny Video contest!)

[WePow]

Wow! This post is a VERY interesting read!! I have that sudden internal sound wake me up a lot! Never understood what that was about or knew anyone else did it. \ Thanks for sharing all this!

Originally Posted by Calista+12

Cat
If this is dissociation, could you leave a journal out at night and see if anyone responds? Just a thought....

(If you & I were both "sleeping" and called each other, it could be sent to a Funny Video contest!)

That is a good idea Calista+12... however that has already happened in a certain way... when I was on that state, I wrote on my sleeping journal but it was only nonsense, random words with numbers and symbols in there. I did not find a message or something like that... but still I will be waiting in case something like you say happens.

Yes, it would be interesting to hear what kind of conversation we would have, lol.

Originally Posted by wpowers

Wow! This post is a VERY interesting read!! I have that sudden internal sound wake me up a lot! Never understood what that was about or knew anyone else did it. \ Thanks for sharing all this!

Just google "parasomnias" and you will find tons of information about it... that's how I knew about the exploding head syndrome and much others. Thank you for reading and posting your comment

- Cat

PS. I used multiquote for the first time, and it worked!! Now I don't have to make a different post for each of the answers I want to do! I can answer to all of them in one post only and don't make the thread that long and boring to read, yes!!