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Posted by Clayre on December 08, 2000 at 15:53:13:
To C. Cole: I also sleepwalk in complicated ways. I've awakened after I showered, had breakfast cooking on the stove and made lunch - then looked at the clock (which always wakes me up) and realized it was 3am. I've also awakened standing outside in the rain looking at myself in the glass of the entrance door of my apartment building. I've awakened twice and realized I must have fallen head first into a dumpster because I had smelly garbage gunk in my hair or on my face. I have also awakened and found all kinds of foreign objects I must have picked up while sleepwalking outdoors. I've been to 2 sleep disorder centers and 3 different sleep disorder doctors. They claim that hypnosis would help me but none of the doctors could find a qualified hypnotist to help me and when I tried on my own, they vetoed anyone who wasn't experienced with sleepwalkers, so I couldn't find anyone either. I've sleepwalked on and off since my teenage years (that I know of) but these last 3 years have been very regular. I've been going to a regular therapist and I take medication. Yes, we walk during our deepest sleep and from all the head, knee and tailbone injuries I've incurred during sleepwalking, I know that I don't process pain during sleepwalking. I don't feel anything until I wake up.
If I were you, I would run to a sleepdisorder doctor (many are also respiratory doctors so there are lots of them out there). The longer you sleepwalk, the more sleep deprived you will become and the worse the problem will be. Yes, stress and anxiety (I've a very stressful job) play a major role, but I have found that when I don't stick to a regular sleep routine and go to bed late or miss sleep for several nights, then it takes a long time to stop sleepwalking. I sleepwalked for more than 2 years - EVERY NIGHT - until we could get this controlled with medication.
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