Recently started sleepwalking...

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shaker

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Hi. New here, so let my first post be a ridiculous one: I recently started sleepwalking after my nocturnal seizures. I'm wondering, has anyone here with a similar issue ever tried to chain themselves to their bed?
 
Hi Shaker,

Welcome to CWE.

Most of my seizures were auras & complex partials during the day but about 3 - 4 years ago I started to suspect that I was also having auras or simple partials in my sleep as strange things were happening. I would sometimes wake up in the morning & find that things were in spots they weren't when I went to bed & sometimes I had different clothes on. I asked my neurologist about it & he said it was just sleep walking.

I thought it was more then sleepwalking so when I was referred to an epitiologist I asked him & he said that he was certain that I was having partial seizures in my sleep.
 
hi, ive been sleep walking on and off since i was a kid. my brother in law just old me that last night i got up wnet into the bathroom came back out immediatly and stared and the wall and laughed for about 10 minutes before returning to bed. i woke up this morning feeling hungover and awful, though i wasnt drinking last night, i just wonder now if every other time i wake up feeling like this i have been sleepwalking, and is it seizure activity that prompts it?
i was a couple of hours late taking my keppra last night too i wonder if that could be it.
i usually do benign things when sleepwalking, i walk about, laugh, sit down and repeat words. once though i went into my brothers room and urinated on his desk, he woke up and asked what i was doing, i turned looked at him and kept on going then finished and went back to bed, embarressing
 
:-D
Ah yes. I've done the "PEEculiarities" before. Once, I remember dreaming distinctly about standing at a urinal. When I woke up, I found a puddle in the corner of the room and my dog giving me a "Don't even!" face. And a couple weeks ago I was observed going in the bathroom sink.

My real concern, however, is that I've tried to drive to drive a couple times (once I found my shoe crammed under the gas pedal). That's not good. And there are other means around the house by which I could easily harm someone. So, I'm considering chaining myself to the bed.
 
the driving thing is not good, people do tether themselves to bed sometimes, there are medications for sleepwalking but more meds?. have you discussed it with your neuro or your gp? it can be medication that causes it in the first place, have you changed meds lately or had an increase in seizures?
this epilepsy thing really is a rich tapestry of mad symptoms
 
Wow Shaker -
The driving thing while your sleep walking would be a worry.

Most of the 'sleepwalking' episodes I've had have been at home with no witnesses so I could never blame any one for moving things around while I slept lol. I have had a couple of these episodes at relatives houses though.
Once when I was staying at my parents place both my parents said they heard me walking around in the hallway in the early hours of the morning. My Mum said she called out to me but I didn't respond & my Dad said I was muttering away to myself. I had no memory of that because when I woke up I was in bed.

once though i went into my brothers room and urinated on his desk, he woke up and asked what i was doing, i turned looked at him and kept on going then finished and went back to bed, embarressing
I was visiting one of my Uncles once when I urinated all over his bathroom floor :paperbag:. My Uncle has an ensuite which he used so I had the bathroom/toilet all to myself. I had an aura in the early hours of the morning & I had gotten up to go to the toilet then went back to bed. When I woke up later that morning I had this feeling that I may have urinated in the bathroom instead of going to the toilet (the toilet was separate to the bathroom). When I got up & went into the bathroom, sure enough here was a puddle in front of the bath tub. I was so embarrassed but my Uncle was understanding when I told him what happened.
 
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Yeah, I'm one who tries to go as far as possible without meds. In fact, Im not taking anything for my seizures either. Maybe that's not a good thing, but I can't really afford insurance or meds right now anyway.

Regarding tethering: For a while, I tried chaining my ankle to the bedpost, but when I finally did sleepwalk, the chain tripped me and I landed on my face (not that that's a big tragedy). That was a dumb approach. So I thought I'd try a sort of upper body, "backpack straps" sort of arrangement. Of course, the obvious concern is to avoid things that might slip around one's neck, etc.

The whole thing might seem a little odd or even dangerous, but I can do some dangerous things sleepwalking, and I DEFINITELY don't want to hurt anyone else.

Another option I've considered is a sort of "safe room" arrangement with a combination lock on the door that I couldn't operate in that sleepwalky state of mind. Again, maybe an element of danger (house fires, etc.), but better than getting out and hurting someone else.

---------------------------------------------

"I really want to see you
Really want to be with you
Really want to see you lord
But it takes so long, my lord"
-- George Harrison
 
I've done a bit of sleepwalking in my day :) My sister said it used to creep her the f-ck out because she'd hear noises in the hall, walk out and softly call my name but hear only low growls muttering, flip on the lights and see me staring at the wall. She shrieked every time which would wake me out of it and make ME shriek so she took to closing up the door with little hook and eye type latches at the top of the door ( if I was awake/ coherent I could easily undo them, so no fire hazard). Worked like a charm although she did find some 'wet' laundry a few times (hey when you gotta go, you gotta go!).

"I'm your sister! How can you lock me in here??"
"You freak me out, Sis!!"
"I can't help it, you know that..."
"I can though haha" *click!*

Funny :)


Ouch, chaining yourself, tripping over the chain and landing on your face does not sound like a good way to keep yourself in there!
 
wow shaker you should try and sort out meds for the epilepsy. the health system here in ireland is so different, once you get a diagnosis of epilepsy your meds are free forever as are all visits to neuros and eegs mris etc (which are free beforehand anyway, it can just ake a long time to get to see a neuro in the first place), anything to do with it really. i dont know how you manage in america i dont think i could manage, im currently unemployed so i guess i would be without insurance. i have private health care here and its like the equivalent of 90 dollars a month and will cover pretty much anything.
 
@Rory: Yeah, the political shoulds and shouldn'ts aside, I'm a bit flummoxed by the healthcare system here in the US. I'm very much a "right-brained" person with a greater aptitude for finger painting than finance anyway, but I just don't understand how we can have the resources we do and our healthcare be such a mess. :twocents:
 
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