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Injuring In Your Sleep

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Deleted member 1860

Hi all,

I am wondering if anyone else experiences this.

I often injure in my sleep. I wake up with bruises on my arms and legs, ripped clothing, and scratches all over my body. The only way I know I've injured in my sleep is by the evidence that I see when I wake up. I never wake up in the act of injuring, nor is my injuring accompanied by nightmares.

Right now its pretty bad. My stomach is torn raw. I have cut my nails super short so that i don't tear myself up anymore while I sleep.

Someone suggested that these may be night terrors? I've had other forms of night terrors before, but those were different in that I remembered them and I didn't injure during them.

I don't even know how to go about stopping this! I am seeing a sleep specialist, but didn't mention to her that I am experiencing this during my sleep as my prominent symptom at the time was insomnia and I was mainly concerned with getting that under control. Now that my insomnia has improved, my nighttime injuring has gotten worse!

Thoughts?

Hugs,
SOL
 
I haven't injured in my sleep in that way, but I have woken up with a sprained ankle, aching muscles, etc. I'm glad your insomnia has improved and I hope you can talk with someone professional who might be able to help you get good sleep and a calmer sleep.

Hugs.
 
I do this occasionally when I've been feeling particularly distressed, and it seems to be worse when I've gotten into a significant argument with someone close to me. I actually sprained my wrist in my sleep when I punched the end table. I found out what happened because the sound woke up my husband and the pain woke me up. I don't exactly know how to stop it either. I try to de-stress as much as I can before bed and will take a bubble bath or try some aromatherapy, or if it's my husband who I'm having the argument with, I'll de-stress and sleep separately. This seems to help me, but I don't do it nearly as regularly as you seem to do.
If you find something else out though, would you please share? I am not entirely sure what to do about it either... my wrist still clicks from that one incident...
 
Many people do this. Don't know the number that do on this site but I do know it's not uncommon when someone has a traumatic experience for this to happen
 
Don't think it's a good idea to withhold information from any specialist you are seeing.

I never said I was withholding info from my specialist. You go for MONTHS with getting only an hour or two of sleep a night and see how coherent you are! In addition, at the time it was not a symptom I was experiencing. Since my appointment this symptom has resurfaced.
 
I am seeing a sleep specialist, but didn't mention to her that I am experiencing this during my sleep as my prominent symptom at the time was insomnia and I was mainly concerned with getting that under control.
Take it easy SOL I'm not wanting a slanging match, have gone back and reread the post but it still seems the same to me. As you suggest maybe you haven't described it as you meant to ( I'm the worlds worst for that ) or maybe it's me just not taking it in correctly, whatever it is I don't want to get picky about it.

By the way I don't know why you assume I have had no sleep problems of my own, I'll put that down to tiredness as well.
 
I've injured others, and myself even, by having a sore fist from hitting the bedside table, all without even waking or knowing until morning and being told.
 
I wear wrist splints at night for because I twist my hands and wrists painfully if I don't . It was giving me carpal tunnel syndrome. I did't wake up when I did this. My wrists are good now but I must still clench up because my elbows and forearms are always sore. Not sure if I'm up for full arm splints!
It felt weird to go to the doctor and tell him I was injuring myself in my sleep but wasn't aware of it. He was great and came up with a solution.
I have had a few times when I've taken the splints off in the middle of the night without knowing it. Fortunately not often.

Tell your sleep specialist, maybe there is some way you can limit the painful damage.
 
I had to bandage my face up for a while and get rid of long fingernails because I would scratch at my wounds on my face in my sleep. It typically occurred when I was under a lot of stress. I would wake up to a bloody gash on my nose where I scab was finally healing or even wake up in the midst of doing it in my sleep. It took 4 mos to heal a wound that could have healed in a few weeks. I don't consider it too strange, though, having done other things in my sleep - like scratching healing bug bites - my whole life.
 
I wear wrist splints at night for because I twist my hands and wrists painfully if I don't .

I have had to do that also seedling. I kept spraining my wrists in my sleep and had to wear the splints for probably 6 months straight. I still have to wear them sometimes, but it's not as bad as before.
 
I also do the scratching in my sleep. For years I have woken up with scratches on my back and sides and occasionally on my stomach--some of them deep enough to scar. I sometimes wonder what contortions I must go through to scratch the areas on my back the way I do. It has just been recently that I will wake up with bruises--some in strange places. In the past year I sometimes wake up and the entire bed is stripped--even the bottom fitted sheet is off. These injuring times don't necessarily correspond to nights when I have bad nightmares--at least ones that I remember.
 
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