Triggers

As the years went on I began to recognize that I had certain triggers for my sleeping disorders. For example, if I was more stressed than usual or had a big event coming up, my night terrors would become more frequent and intense. If I was lacking in sleep I would wake up yelling. If I took afternoon naps I would experience Sleep Paralysis. There were (and still are) many triggers, but I think the most annoying trigger was sleeping in an unfamiliar environment

For years I couldn't handle sleeping in hotel rooms. I would undoubtedly sleep walk around each one. If you ask my older sisters about our trip to Cancun in 2003, they can testify that I tried to escape our room almost every night in my sleep. Although I hardly remember freaking out in the Cancun hotel room, I do have many memories from other hotel rooms. I have a very distinct memory of my waking up in a hotel room in California. I was probably about age 13 and I was sharing a bed with my mother. I awoke because my mom had yelled, "I hate that you do this!" and it had jolted me back to consciousness. I was standing across the room and from the look on my mom's face I could tell that it had been a rough night so far. I still don't know how many times I got up and slept walked that night. It's still a touchy subject when I bring it up to my mom.

Sleeping over at a friend's house is another story entirely. I used to have to warn my friend's families that I might start randomly screaming in the middle of the night. Luckily by the time I was 12 I had a core group of friends that I spent the night with. They became used to my sleep walking and talking and took it all in stride. In fact in the beginning they thought it was hilarious and couldn't get enough. As the years went by, they figured out how to easily talk me into going back to bed once I started sleep walking.

Now that I'm older (22, so old) I am better at recognizing my triggers and trying to minimize my incidents. I wish I could say I have it all figured out but I don't. Even though I know I will experience Sleep Paralysis, I still indulge in afternoon naps. I try to manage my stress, but sometimes I let it get the best of me, even though I know it will result in night terrors. I know it sounds risky to take afternoon naps and that I'm living on the edge, but hey, I am a 22 year old after all!