Sleep Talker/Walker

mamajack86 · December 2014

So my H is a big time sleep talker/walker. After 10 years of being together I'm used to it. Well our son is 16mos old and I think it's hereditary because he's started sitting up in his crib at night rambling then laying back down. My MIL just freaks me out with all her stories of stuff my H used to do when he was little and I really hope my kids aren't as bad. For example they found H in the driver seat of their car in the garage trying to fit the keys into the ignition, or he'd just walk out the front door and knock on the neighbors door. She said eventually they had to put latches high up on the doors and just always listen for him.
Since we've been together it's been fairly comical catching him sleep walking or talking, but it has worried me that he would try to pick up our baby at night since I've caught him walking around holding our dog. Luckily I'm a very light sleeper. Anyone else deal with Sleep walkers or talkers in their homes? Any funny stories ?

ngolimento · December 2014

I am a consummate sleep walker. I used to do it pretty much nightly when I was younger, but now I usually only have mild episodes once a week and major ones once a month.

Honestly, people have just adapted to it. My parents used to just subconsciously listen for me, and my Dad caught me in the hall so often that I would just listen when he told me "go to bed".

If it helps at all, sleep walkers don't wake up like they do in the movies. If you are holding something, you don't drop it in start element. You just send a groggy moment going " wtf?". Then go "oh, sleepwalking. Dammit". Then it's time to grumpily set whatever you did to rights and get in bed. You also don't do anything with your eyes closed, so you actually have all the motor skills down pat. You don't bump into things, or drop things any more than you would awake.

My funniest story with sleep walking was right out of college. I had an apartment and nobody was around to catch me and put me back to bed. So one night I decided the sheets on my bed were no good, and stripped every last item on the bed (even pillowcases). Then I took everything outside and put it in the dumpster.

. There is a damn good reason I don't sleep in the nude.

ngolimento · December 2014

Oh, sorry for the novels, but you may want to have a sleep study done on your child if he persists in sleepwalking. Children with sleep apnea are very prone to sleepwalking, and it can be a secondary sign of the disorder. I personally had sleep apnea that wasn't diagnosed until I was 19.

JCWhitey · December 2014

I'm the sleepwalker and talker in my family. I've never left the house but always try to take sleep showers. I went to a boarding school and the night supervisor used to have to escort me back into my dorm room at least 1-2 times a week as I kept trying to go into the Rec Room to watch TV. I actually wasn't even aware that I was a sleepwalked until MONTHS later he mentioned it to me one day, I had no idea it was happening! And then when I thought about it I remembered always waking up in weird places/positions as a kid. Weird stuff, sleep walking!

I didn't/don't have sleep apnea so it's not always connected but good to find out as early as you can!

wishiwaspreggo · December 2014

I'm a sleepwalker/talker, too! I don't have any crazy tales of leaving the house but once in a while I'll wake up somewhere I didn't intend to (like my brother's room when I was little, in the hallway, or any other room in the house). I've gotten up to eat before. The walking was worse when I was a kid but I still do weird things. I talk in my sleep and ask C nonsensical questions. She'll relay them to me in the morning and we both laugh.

C said in my most recent weird episode I got up to sit on the edge of the bed and stare at the window. She asked me what I was doing. I said "Just making sure the window's still there." She told me to go back to sleep and I said "Okay" and laid down again. It's true, if you tell the sleepwalker to go back to bed, they will. My parents sent me back to bed many times when I was young.

Oh, and when I was a teen I had a dream there were 4 scorpions in my sheets so I got out of bed, ripped off the sheets, and shook them as hard as I could. No scorpions, thank God.

@Peledreamsofrain - I didn't realize sleepwalking/talking was a symptom of sleep apnea! I may want to get tested for that because I've been doing all kinds of weird things in my sleep recently (especially waving my arms and talking during my dreams). I'm going to bring it up with my doctor at next week's appointment.

ngolimento · December 2014

wishiwaspreggo said:
I'm a sleepwalker/talker, too! I don't have any crazy tales of leaving the house but once in a while I'll wake up somewhere I didn't intend to (like my brother's room when I was little, in the hallway, or any other room in the house). I've gotten up to eat before. The walking was worse when I was a kid but I still do weird things. I talk in my sleep and ask C nonsensical questions. She'll relay them to me in the morning and we both laugh.

C said in my most recent weird episode I got up to sit on the edge of the bed and stare at the window. She asked me what I was doing. I said "Just making sure the window's still there." She told me to go back to sleep and I said "Okay" and laid down again. It's true, if you tell the sleepwalker to go back to bed, they will. My parents sent me back to bed many times when I was young.

Oh, and when I was a teen I had a dream there were 4 scorpions in my sheets so I got out of bed, ripped off the sheets, and shook them as hard as I could. No scorpions, thank God.

@Peledreamsofrain - I didn't realize sleepwalking/talking was a symptom of sleep apnea! I may want to get tested for that because I've been doing all kinds of weird things in my sleep recently (especially waving my arms and talking during my dreams). I'm going to bring it up with my doctor at next week's appointment.

It's not a certainty, but your risk for apnea is very much higher. Something about having your sleep cycle turn choppy makes you more likely to get up and wander around.

The other signs are heavy snoring, unexplained daytime fatigue, inability to focus, mood instability (unexplained anger and depression), memory loss, and even hallucinations in severe cases (my case was severe).

wishiwaspreggo · December 2014

I've always been a snorer but C said it's gotten way worse. I am very tired during the day (almost fell asleep around 11:30 this morning at my desk) and I've had a hard time focusing. I definitely think something is wrong and I'm fairly certain it's sleep apnea. I listened to a recording C took of me and I'm gasping periodically.

Good thing I'm seeing the doctor soon. I would like to try one of those CPAP masks.

mamajack86 · December 2014

@wishiwaspreggo‌ Yeah I can engage in funny conversations with my husband when he's sleep talking, he looks straight at me but talks in a different voice (hard to explain). When he gets up and starts walking around, I can talk him to getting back to bed. I've been lucky to record him a few times but it freaks him out to watch it lol.
@Peledreamsofrain‌ my father inlaw has sleep apnea, but my husband was tested and doesn't. My son has only had a few episodes and since he's so young I'm not too concerned, plus he sleeps in his crib so there's really no where for him to go.

bdazzld · December 2014

wishiwaspreggo said:
I've always been a snorer but C said it's gotten way worse. I am very tired during the day (almost fell asleep around 11:30 this morning at my desk) and I've had a hard time focusing. I definitely think something is wrong and I'm fairly certain it's sleep apnea. I listened to a recording C took of me and I'm gasping periodically.

Good thing I'm seeing the doctor soon. I would like to try one of those CPAP masks.

Gasping is a big sign. Could be pregnancy is exacerbating the sleep apnea.

Good luck!

lisap0924 · December 2014

My h and I both sleep talk. I used to sleep walk as a kid but nothing ever major. I remember one time waking up at the kitchen table eating ice cream in the middle of the night. I also remember waking up in weird places like the couch or in a hallway.

drudolph11 · December 2014

My SO is weird. He doesn't walk or talk in his sleep except for that time in between me waking him up and him actually getting up. He doesn't hear alarms no matter what kind we get so I have to wake him up every morning (which btw is horrible and I dread it every damn day cuz the process takes around an hour) but anyway like when my alarm goes off I am straight up out of bed functioning, him on the other hand usually falls back asleep 34895794385 times before he actually wakes up and during those falling back asleep spells is when he talks in total nonsense. He has said so many things and with my pregnancy brain I cant even begin to remember some of things but the other morning my mom was over and his alarm goes off (which like I said he cant hear so its just for me to know when to get him up) and I wake him up and he just sits there and asks:

"why did you wake me up?"

"because your alarm was going off"

"oh I thought that was a machine gun [falls back asleep]" hahah wtf?

071115 · December 2014

My husband talks in his sleep really weird things. We have had a conversation once and he kept saying I am not sleeping I am making perfect sense. Yah ok hubby go to bed

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