Sleep Terrors

They are called Sleep Terrors, as opposed to Nightmares. Dr. Oz did a segment on sleep disorders and I was only half listening, until I realized he was discussing a condition I suffer from.

My husband wakes me, telling me I am screaming and anyone within the same house (such as my daughter's house in Maine) or in another room at a hotel or motel when traveling, must think I am being attacked. I've asked him to gently cuddle me and just "talk me down" when this happens. 90% of the time I have absolutely no memory of a dream or a nightmare. He tells me I thrash and scream.

Occasionally I will recall that I had dreamed I was running downstairs. Sometimes the running downstairs finds me crashing onto the floor and ending up with some serious bruises. (Poor guy: some day someone will call 911 on their cell phone and there will be lots of explaining on my part!).

I decided to post this in case there are others out there suffering from the same terrors. Health sites on the Net pretty much assume this is a childhood condition; well, it would have to be a second or third childhood on my part to fit that description. I am curious about what could be done; it appears that nightmares need a therapist while Sleep Terrors can respond to medication. One major difference is that you have NO recollection of the screaming or thrashing around.