Community Forum Archive

The Epilepsy Community Forums are closed, and the information is archived. The content in this section may not be current or apply to all situations. In addition, forum questions and responses include information and content that has been generated by epilepsy community members. This content is not moderated. The information on these pages should not be substituted for medical advice from a healthcare provider. Experiences with epilepsy can vary greatly on an individual basis. Please contact your doctor or medical team if you have any questions about your situation. For more information, learn about epilepsy or visit our resources section.

Nightmares or actual seizures?

Fri, 11/27/2009 - 17:35

Hi, my name is Violeta and I`m 18 years old. Today it`s been a year since I was diagnosed with epilepsy, almost two since I had my first seizure, and a year and a half since I`ve been having seizure nightmares, or my own freddy krugers as I call them.

When I woke from the first freddy I thought I`d actually had a real seizure, but later convinced my self that it couldn`t have been as it hadn`t felt as the first real one which had been whitnessed by my friends (as a difference to this nightmare, which no one had seen me have). In the real seizure I`d lost conciosness and when I became concious again I wouldn`t remember what had happened, it sort of felt like being dizzy or a little drunk.

Freddys always take place less than an hour after I go to bed. I usually fall asleep and the nightmare sets in the exsact place where I am in real life (meaning that if I go to bed in my room, that`s where the nightmare is set, if I go to bed in a friend`s house the nightmare will be set in that very place), and I see things happen from the exsact position at which I layed down. It`s always as if having my eyes open I feel myself shaking from head to toes, and I see the whole bedroom shaking as well. I always panic when I have them, at first I didn`t realize that I was dreaming so I would try to call for help, or even try to make my self fall off my bed so I`d make a noise and my parents would hear me. But of course I never managed to do it. I told my neuro about this and he said they were only nightmares and I had nothing to worry about, but honestly, it feels so real I`m just not so sure about what he said. Plus I read somewhere that sleeping seizures, or nocturnals as they call them often come in the shape of dreams. When I wake from freddy`s I know exsactly where I am, I don`t feel lost at all, I`ve never wet my bet (I know it often happens with seizures) and never had toungue bitting. I am medicated now, and never have suffered from seizures since I`ve been. It`s just that lately, this nightmares that had gone away a while ago have come back, as I am under a lot of stress. I know stress might be a trigger for seizures.

Anyway the question is, has anyone had any experience with nocturnals without any tongue bittin, or bed weting, or not even feeling lost after having them? Now that I`m used to them when have them I just tell my self to calm down and try to wake up, but sometimes when I do, the shaking gets worse and it feels so bad, so I just choose waiting. It is so scary, and don`t even know whether I`m just dreaming or really seizing.

I hope some one will have an answer to this.. or at least tell me about your own stories with nocturals..

By the way, sorry for any spelling or grammar mistakes, I never should have dropped out of my english classes. 

 

Comments

Hi! I have just had this

Submitted by abbey97 on Mon, 2018-03-26 - 10:25
Hi! I have just had this happen to me too! Two sleeps in a row, the first one i thought i heard something in my room but i couldnt move and then my body started convulsing until i told myself to wake up . I dont know if it was convulsing for real or just dreamt it though because it felt so real. Then the next sleep I had I remember becoming aware that I was dreaming and then a part of my dream a TV asked if I wanted to enter a portal and I told myself yes lets enter (I'm a curious person) and then I started to go through but I started convulsing again, this time I let it happen for a little longer before I thought I was going to shake myself out of bed and do damage so i forced myself awake again. However I think I must not have been shaking for real because I did research and apparently the body goes into paralylsis when you are at REM sleep (when you dream)> but it just felt so real so I dont know. Would love to get in touch with you to see how everything is going for you!.

Hi! I have just had this

Submitted by abbey97 on Mon, 2018-03-26 - 10:25
Hi! I have just had this happen to me too! Two sleeps in a row, the first one i thought i heard something in my room but i couldnt move and then my body started convulsing until i told myself to wake up . I dont know if it was convulsing for real or just dreamt it though because it felt so real. Then the next sleep I had I remember becoming aware that I was dreaming and then a part of my dream a TV asked if I wanted to enter a portal and I told myself yes lets enter (I'm a curious person) and then I started to go through but I started convulsing again, this time I let it happen for a little longer before I thought I was going to shake myself out of bed and do damage so i forced myself awake again. However I think I must not have been shaking for real because I did research and apparently the body goes into paralylsis when you are at REM sleep (when you dream)> but it just felt so real so I dont know. Would love to get in touch with you to see how everything is going for you!.

Let me just start by saying I

Submitted by Earlized on Sat, 2018-08-18 - 08:09
Let me just start by saying I have had sleep paralysis but I’m not sure what this was or the cause but it’s weird because I saw Freddy Krueger too but i heard very loud wind and every time the wind picked up my body started tensing up and shaking  and I tried to speak but I couldn’t I was just shaking but it stopped after 30 seconds and I was completely aware through the whole thing that’s how I can remember seeing Freddy Krueger but it was moving it was just a still image I’ve never felt that before I’m not sure what it was or what to do 

Sign Up for Emails

Stay up to date with the latest epilepsy news, stories from the community, and more.