sleep walking/talking and dreaming- should I have another sleep study or be worried?

sarahsweets · Mar 15, 2020 at 02:19 AM

Years ago- like over 10 I had a sleep study for insomnia. With the bipolar and my personal body makeup I suffered from terrible insomnia. All nighters and waking up really early. I cant remember the dx but it was something along the lines of latent sleeping issues or something..I wish I could remember. One of the things I do remember going over my results with the doctor was I was observed moving and dreaming a lot. Not sleepwalking for that particular study, but talking and gesturing. I was told that during deep sleep phases when our brains should exhibit delta waves (deep sleep waves) I had too many alpha waves (the active waves) these were explained to me as the waves one may have while awake and thinking. Sometimes they occur during rem sleep (stage II) but during stage IV sleep (delta waves) I had both delta and alpha waves. So I wasnt in the stage IV sleep as much as a normal person.

All that aside, I have always been someone who did not need 8 hours of sleep. An early riser my whole life. The doctor confirmed to me that there are actually certain people that do not need the standard 7-8 hours of sleep. She compared it to older people that start getting up very early- they just naturally need less sleep as they age.
Anyhow I was put on sleep meds but I was a zombie and had to be helped up to bed. I would often not realize I took them or wake after taking them. I also became an alcoholic (7 years sober) and now meds like that are not an option for me long term.
I "solved" my insomnia issue myself with sleep training. I wont bore anyone with the details but it involves going to bed and waking up during the same periods of time everyday no matter what. I developed good sleep hygeine and a routine and insomnia hasnt been an issue for like 6 years for the most part.

My husband has been telling me over the last year that I have really active nights where I will move and talk and have conversations and be asleep. Sometimes I have dreamed I was trying to like open a door or something and wake up reaching along something as if there was a door there but its just the wall. Two nights ago he let me stay downstairs because he watched me "fake answer" my phone, converse and "fake hang up". He figured it would be an active night and I slept fine on the couch. My issue is, do I need to have another sleep study and should I be worried? Its not the kind of sleep walking that would cause me to get behind the wheel of a car or cook or anything dangerous. It just seems to have gotten worse over the last year. I found out I am officially in menopause which is the only recent change and am starting the BC pill soon for all the symptoms. What would a disorder like this be called and would I need treatment?
Anyone have any thoughts or experiences like mine?

Mountaindewed · Mar 15, 2020 at 07:57 PM

Yes I do similar things. I sleep walk. Sleep talk. Sleep fight imaginary demons. Fly out of bed. Send angry emails and PMs. I’m pretty sure I have REM sleep behavior disorder. One time I woke up strangling my alarm clock.

I also sleep eat. It’s pretty gross. A month or so ago I sleep ate this giant bowl of peanut butter. Just peanut butter

I have a sleep doctor but she’s not much help. I had a sleep study but couldn’t sleep.

I heard lamictal can cause sleep problems to an extent. I’ve had issues way longer then I was on lamictal though.

bpcyclist · Mar 16, 2020 at 01:09 AM

Not had a sleep study, but definitely sleep walk, sleep cook, sleep-buy-stuff-online, etc. Are you on Ambien or anything related to Ambien? It's notorious for this sort of thing.

I wonder if you might should just reach out to the sleep doctor and let them know what is happening, since it is a significant change for you.

Hoping this turns around soon!!!!

sarahsweets · Mar 16, 2020 at 01:37 AM

No, I dont take any sleep meds especially wouldnt take sedative/hypnotics for that reason and because the alcoholism makes me super careful about what controlled substances I take. It was like 10 years ago that I saw the sleep doc so my records are probably archived somewhere. I will have to ask my p-doc if I should see another one but the idea of the study again is annoying, but I will do it if its necessary. Thanks for your support though.

Quote:

Originally Posted by bpcyclist

Not had a sleep study, but definitely sleep walk, sleep cook, sleep-buy-stuff-online, etc. Are you on Ambien or anything related to Ambien? It's notorious for this sort of thing.

I wonder if you might should just reach out to the sleep doctor and let them know what is happening, since it is a significant change for you.

Hoping this turns around soon!!!!

Mar 16, 2020 at 02:29 PM

@sarahsweets you may want to call your healthcenter's records office to get a copy of that ten-year old sleep study. You can reread the doctor's notes and then make an appointment with a new sleep doctor, and forward those sleep study notes to him/her.

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Anonymous48672 Guest Posts: n/a	Mar 16, 2020 at 02:29 PM #5 @sarahsweets you may want to call your healthcenter's records office to get a copy of that ten-year old sleep study. You can reread the doctor's notes and then make an appointment with a new sleep doctor, and forward those sleep study notes to him/her.
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