REM Behavior Disorder

[kelownagirl]

Hello, I was awakened at 1:30 A.M this morning by my husband hitting my cat and my cat terrified, jumps unto the back of the bed, breaking some of my glass ornaments. Usually it's me that he hits, sometimes he falls out of bed, it seems to start with jerking motions I feel from his side of the bed. Then he starts yelling or moaning. It is so terriffing for me. I decided to get out of bed and do some research on this problem. My husband was diagnosed with Sleap Apne, but he won't wear the device he was instructed to wear. From what I have been reading in the wee hours of the morning this is an actual condition. I was wondering if other women out there are experiancing this and what they did about it.

Thank You

[angel103]

This sounds just like my hubby. It first started about 2 years ago, but is getting more and more frequent, like every other night. He jerks and twitches as he goes off to sleep, and when he dreams, he jumps about the bed and flails his arms and makes kicking movements with his legs, often kicking me in the shins or swiping me in the face. I often shove him quite hard to make him stop as I get annoyed when woken like this in the night, but I know it's not his fault and he in unaware, until I tell him in the morning. Sometimes if I ask him what he was dreaming of, he will remember dreaming of fighting, which is weird, as he is a very quiet gentle man. He feels awful about this and apoligises to me profusely but one of these days, either he will hurt me in his sleep, or I will hurt him as I lash out when I am woken like this. I think I single beds may be the next step . . . Glad to know I am not alone though :)

[kelownagirl]

I am so sorry it took me so long to reply. It was nice to hear from you. I am sure glad I am not the only one that has experianced this with a spouse. It is very fightening, especially if you are awakened out of a deep sleep. My husband feels bad the next day after I tell him what went on the night before as well. He is going to go through another sleep study, he already knows he has Sleep Apnea, but he refuses to wear the head geer he was asked to wear. He will be having surgery on his foot in the near future so the doctor said he wouldn't do the surgery unless he went through another sleep study. So I think it is good. I did tell the doc. what has been going on so he thought it was a very good idea to go ahead with another sleep study. Well, good luck to you and yours in the future.

[Gayl]

I wish I could offer some help or advice but I can only offer you companionship. My boyfriend has the same problem and I am desperately trying to find some help. Last night he grabbed my arm in his sleep and I thought he was going to break it in two. I was terrified and now he is thinking of breaking up with me because he doesn't want to expose me to this problem. I am not going to let that happen. I am going to keep digging to see if there is something, anything that we can do to help this problem. I wish you luck and will keep checking back here in case anyone comes up with something!!! Let's have a great new year!

[woobie]

I am reaponding to all of these posts. My husband has RBD (REM Beahvior disorder) and has done all of the things you are all describing. My husband too is a gentle person and has NEVER physically hurt me intentionally. However when he sleeps he becomes "Sleep Disorder Man." We've been dealing with this for about 5 years now. After my husband has hit me, tackled me, kicked the animals off the bed, jumped out of bed to get on his motorcycle, golfed, bowled, fought off the evil of the world, joined the military in Iraq, and several other things over and over, all while dreaming, I stopped sleeping with him. Part of the problem was that when he hit me, before I was even awake I was hitting back! So I told him that he had to see the doctor. Our family doctor gave him Lunesta (sleeping pills) and sent him on his way. That same day I happened to be working in a class in a college (I am a sign language interpreter) and the professor was talking about this rare sleep disorder. She was describing what was happening to my husband. I got home, Googled "REM sleep disorder" and got an article on Web MD. I called our doctor and told him what I had found. He sent Husband to a sleep study with a specialist and they agreed with my diagnosis! So, the point here is...THERE IS HOPE! He's on a medication called CLOMAZAPAM. He started at 1 mg and is now using 2.5 mg. Everytime he starts to move too much for more than a week, he works with his doctor and increases his medication. The good thing about this med is that it is cheap. Less that $25.00 monthly if you have no insurance. There are other meds available and he may need to be changed at some point.

I have suffered from PTSD due to this situation becasue it went on too long. I was afraid to sleep with him and when I did, it was not restful. GET HELP ASAP for your "Sleep Disorder Man!"