“What are the main causes of night terrors?”
My husband wakes up suddenly in the middle of the night because of night terrors. I'm pretty these are night terrors, too, because he doesn't remember what he dreamt and wakes up completely covered in sweat. Why could this be happening?
1 Answer
SleepMedicineSpecialistNightTerrors
This actually has a fairly complex answer. The behavior you describe is called a parasomnia. A first question is, "Has he done this since childhood?" If so, night terrors are quite probable. There should not be more than one episode nightly in general and there should be no history of injury. There may be a predilection for them happening early in the night.
If this is not a long-standing problem, there is probably something more serious medically. That could include sleep apnea or PTSD or seizures or medication side effects or a harbinger of Parkinson's called REM behavior disorder. If these are "just" night terrors and they disrupt your sleep, treatment with medication is likely to be quite effective. Other entities would each have their own intervention. Seeing a sleep disorder specialist would be helpful.
If this is not a long-standing problem, there is probably something more serious medically. That could include sleep apnea or PTSD or seizures or medication side effects or a harbinger of Parkinson's called REM behavior disorder. If these are "just" night terrors and they disrupt your sleep, treatment with medication is likely to be quite effective. Other entities would each have their own intervention. Seeing a sleep disorder specialist would be helpful.
