[mlyons409]

Just recently, my boyfriend has started sleepwalking. He has been under a lot of stress lately which might be the cause. Some online sites say that when asking a sleepwalker a question, they will be slow in answering. When my boyfriend is sleepwalking, he is very talkative, laughing, will horseplay with me, goes outside, runs, etc... I even try to wake him and he replies..."I am awake!" I thought he was awake but then the next morning he has no recollection of any of it and really is starting to think I am making up everything I tell him he did during the night mainly because it seems so farfetched! My question is...how can I really wake him up when he is sleep walking??? I have tried sqeezing his arm while leading him back to bedroom, pinching him, shaking him...etc. When trying to wake him, he keeps telling me he is awake. What should I do???? HELP!!!

[sleeperswife]

mylons409

My sweet, wonderful husband of 7 years is also a sleepwalker. When we were newly married, I honestly thought for a little bit that we were going to have to have separate bedrooms to get any sleep (hahahah). I've found that there is no waking him, ever. Sleepwalking episodes are the only time he's ever gruff or rude to me (in fact, he's downright beligerent)--in his waking hours, he's very kind and agreeable. And he always INSISTS that he's awake. The only thing to do with him is just to lead him back to bed, saying as little as possible. Or, if he resists, to ask him nicely to lay down with me. For some reason, he always agrees if I tell him I'm lonely. I know it sounds ridiculous, but we do whatever works.

Stress, fatigue, and a change in sleeping arrangements almost always provoke episodes in my husband. In fact, he did the most of his walking just after we married and had started spending nights together, and subsequently is always worse after we move or have a new baby (hopefully we've just had the last of both of those for a while!). Watch him, though, to make sure he doesn't injure himself. Shortly after our first child was born, I had to talk my husband down off the top of our dresser (he saw the light of the smoke detector, and it triggered an episode--I think he was trying to get it down). I'd just had a c-section, and it was not fun, believe me!

Hope this helps.

[hezeronek]

Wow... This is going to sound horrible, but I feel sooooooo relieved that I'm not alone! My husband and I married several months ago, and he has since started sleepwalking. Sleep drinking (alcohol)... to be a little more descriptive. At first I accused him of being an alcoholic, as he always appeared intoxicated and evidence of consumption was undeniable. He avidly denied drinking (as he never remembered), and this was a point of contention in our new marriage until we found the real culprit!