Sleep Walking Issues With Partners

[Renestel]

HI everybody,
So I am obviously a sufferer and my husband a supporter, however---- we are having some serious issues with his life long habit of sleep walking that started as a kid and he doesn't know why. He only knows it is triggered by stress. He travels 60% of the time for his job and before he leaves for trips he goes totally mental in his sleep. I've woken up to him throwing dvds, and when i ask whats going on, he says there's spiders in the dvds, he's killed one of my plants that was a vine plant that he woke up and thought was attacking him, and the worst part: when he travels it gets SO much worse. He has nearly locked himself out of his hotel room nude and woke up at the last second before closing the door without the key, he ripped his sheets off the bed last night in his hotel which he did as a kid once. I am just at a total loss of education. Does anyone have decent experience in this? This is something that if he were to rip the sheets off in our house while I was laying there with my night PTSD history, we could potentially start brawling.I would get severely triggered and fight. I am very scared that he would be so out of it, (he will talk to me, he will move in the room, rub the dogs, and when I talk to him about it the next day he wont remember) I could potentially have such a pivotal trigger from this (him maybe as well?) that I am really concerned. Does anyone have any experience with sleep complications or things like this >?

 

[Lucycat]

I am a sleep walker. I have never done anything violent, but my husband has found me in the kitchen or living room during the night. He has expressed worries about me going outside and getting run over.

But all his worries like yours are 'what if...?' There is nothing to suppose these catastrophes will ever happen. Catastrophising is a part of PTSD and we are encouraged to challenge such thinking. As you say, stress makes sleepwalking more likely. So, worrying about sleepwalking is self perpetuating.

 

[Renestel]

Thanks. So the worry I express is when he's actually traveling totally seperate from me, and has acute sleepwalking activity due to lack of sleep, high stress, and no breaks while he's on work travel. So unfortunately, it's his stress that makes it worse, and while I will stress over it , my stress is totally seperate from his. Have you found any things to do before bed that help to have less activity? I keep encouraging him to have relaxing baths before bed or things like that. Yet, with work trips it just is drinks and junk food at 8 at night when they finally get done working a crazy job.

 

[barefoot]

I have night terrors and sleep walk - I don't usually get up to too much mischief but have got a black eye, ripped a ligament in my leg and hit my partner on separate occasions over the years in my sleep...

He can try to identify some triggers and then try to put some things in place to counter them. So, if stress is a trigger, it might help for him to find some ways to unwind before bed. What helps him relax? A bath? Listening to music? Reading? Something physical (but nothing too full on that it will make him really alert so that he can't get to sleep)? Writing a to do list for work the next day so that he goes to bed feeling ready and organised and doesn't lay there worrying about what he needs to do? He could also try journaling before bed (even just for 5 minutes) so that he actively processes his thoughts/the day's events before bed - this may help to calm things down for him before he goes to sleep.

Basic sleep hygiene stuff is important too. Dark, cool rooms seem to help. If he's traveling, he could take an eye mask and maybe even a black out blind (you can buy some that you can just put up temporarily without having to do any permanent fixing up, I think?) to ensure that the room isn't too light/shadowy. It may also help him to take something familiar from home with him - eg his pillow.

Other things like diet or medications could also play a part so he could experiment with those things. I have a prescription pain killer that I don't take very often - it's great in terms of its pain killing power but I nearly always sleep walk/sleep talk/hallucinate when I take them. It may help to keep a diary/log of food and sleep disturbance - it may show some trends.

I also find that doing some diagphramatic breathing exercises before bed helps - it stimulates the para sympathetic nervous system so, again, it's something to calm the system down and promote rest/restoration, which might reduce the amount of activity he engages in during sleep.

Reduce/cut out stimulants (caffeine, sugar). Also be mindful with alcohol - even though we might think alcohol helps us to sleep, it doesn't generally give us good quality sleep.

And basic safety stuff (especially when he's traveling alone) eg check there are no trip hazards around the bed, ensure the door is securely locked. And a precautionary measure, just in case he exits his hotel room in his sleep - don't sleep naked ;-)

 

[Renestel]

Thank you @barefoot , this is very helpful!!

 

[Deleted member 28403]

I used to sleep walk before, I'd eat while sleep walking and similar... I don't remember much other than htat which was told. Not sure what caused it though