So the last three nights or so, I have had night terrors. A little while ago I fell asleep and had the same issue. My sister noticed I looked upset and woke me up and I woke up swinging because I was having another night terror. I had these right after surgery but not since until the last few days. I don’t remember them, but I have woken up trying to scream but no sound will come out, or I wake up and can’t move, or like today I woke up wanting to cry…but I don’t know why I wake up screaming or crying or whatever. I know they are night terrors and I know they are vivid, but I can’t remember what they are about once I wake up. Is this normal? Is this Chiari related? How do I make it stop?
My other issue right now iS my right hand keeps randomly going numb and/or tingly. This morning, I woke up laying on my left side but my right hand was tingly and numb at the finger tips. Later today, my hand was pretty useless…I couldn’t do anything with it. It wasn’t working correctly. I couldn’t get it to grasp things or it would randomly flinch and drop whatever was in my hand. Opening gifts and eating lunch were hard because it only worked periodically and virtually not at all while eating. Now since my nap where I woke up all screwed up, the hand is working just fine. I was having the tingly/numb issue for about the past month. I had my doc appt on Tuesday last week and she just said to keep an eye on it and if it “got worse” to let them know. I figure they will do another ct-scan, but idk. Anyway, is this Chiari related? Is there a way I can make this stop?
I have not been diagnosed with anything other than Chiari.
The numbness/tingling has been going on for a bit. My NS just released me last week and I don’t have any other doctor that knows anything about Chiari. I had one doctor tell me that it was rare and I needed a specialist so there were no primary care doctors that would even see me because of it. But my NS did say he’d still answer any questions or if I had an issue he’d look into it if need be.
And I have been playing with how to sleep and haven’t found anything yet. My problem is I may start on my left side, but will turn to my back or stomach or other side or whatever. I don’t just sleep one way so I’m having a hard time finding something that would work for any type of sleeping, but I am trying.
I’ve heard about raising the head of the mattress up some, I would assume it would do the same as the wedge. It is in the plans to do, I just haven’t done it.
Raising the head of the bed often times helps with many things down to indigestion. It is different than a wedge because your whole body is elevating (head to feet.) A wedge can help but it can also cause lower-back problems because of sliding down. I would be VERY cautious of a wedge if you move around a lot in your sleep. If you roll over and fall off, you can fall out of bed---especially if in a night terror!
If you can't find a comfortable way to sleep, try a recliner for a while until you can kind of train your body to stay on your back. It also helps the elevation thing.
Do you have a regular Neurologist to follow-up? If not, you should try to find one. It would be good to keep one as a team member. Also, they are more able to pinpoint brain-related issues.
And medications can absolutely cause both night terrors and numbness. Even if it isn't a NEW medication. Sometimes a build-up of one medication can cause new and different side effects. Sometimes you may even have to go above your PCP to find answers. They should be able to research medications and things like that though!
Also, please make sure if you are taking any narcotic pain medications, mood-stabilizers, or other sleep aides-stay in CLOSE contact with you PCP and have routine bloodwork! Some can cause some crazy things that only show up in blood.
I don't have any new meds, but I do have 2 different narcotics.
I don't have a neurologist or PCP. But I talked to someone who lives in the same town I work in and she gave me here PCP information. I am going to try and call there tomorrow to see if she's willing to work with me. I will ask her if she has a good NL. I fired my NL when I went and found my NS, he sucked (Chiari isn't what is causing your problems, there is no need for an MRI....ugh).
I've slept in my recliner, I tend to end up on my side at least :)
Cole, I have had the problem with bad dreams since surgery…I wondered if it was the anesthesia but will probably never know. I agree about looking into CCI or other neck issues.
jdcemar, I had the bad dreams (worse than last week) right after surgery as well. My surgeon told me that it was likely to happen because of the surgery being the brain. It was just kind of the brain's way to start healing.
Last week was just weird, I had about 8 or 9 nights where I had them, and then haven't had them since....just weird.
My sister, whom I live with and has been my biggest care-giver since surgery, and my older brother, whom I used to be really close to but he has not been real supportive since my diagnosis, really got into it with each other. My sister woke me up from a nap I was having because she could see it was getting ready to turn into something bad. I came up screaming and swinging fists. The next nap (hehe, it was a day for naps) she had my other sister wake me because it was about to turn into it but did it a bit earlier. Well, my brother got pissed off about me being woke up and argued with my sister on whether or not I was having night terrors or just a nightmare. He has not been around, he has no idea, he was just being a jerk.
I hate some the side things Chiari causes, but I hate the lack of support from my family and the wedge being driven between family members because of it....it sucks.
Cole dont take on guilt about how your family deals with it- guys tend to get angry because there is nothing they can physically do to change the situation. Glad your sister is taking care of you, though. You need a buddy who is looking out for you.
