05-17-2004, 04:58 AM
I'm a sleepwalker. I have been ever since I was a little kid. My mother tells me stories about all of the crazy places she used to find me. I once even wandered outside and woke up in my backyard.
I don't sleepwalk too much these days, but it still happens every once in a while. About a year ago I woke up sleepwalking in the hallway outside my apartment wearing nothing but a pair of boxer briefs and a confused look on my face. Fortunately it was in the middle of the night and all of my elderly neighbours were fast asleep, otherwise I'd have a hard time explaining to the cops what I was doing wandering a hallway late at night clad in my underwear.
Last night I woke up from a sleepwalking episode. It was horrifying. I don't know if anyone here has ever woken up while sleepwalking, but it's not like waking up regularly. You sort of fade into conciousness very gradually. It's rather like being in a dream, only the dream begins to get more real until you realise that you aren't dreaming at all.
When I faded into conciousness last night, I was aware that I was standing up and that it was pitch black. I felt around to see where I was. I could feel that I was in a confined area, but in my not-quite-awake state I wasn't able to determine exactly where.
I started freaking out a bit. I could feel a wall behind me and I waved ran my hand across it looking for a light switch. I found nothing. I felt a pile of boxes in front of me, so I pushed them over. I took a step into the darkness in front of me and fell overtop of the boxes. I was seriously disoriented. Imagine being drugged up, blindfolded, and placed in a pitch black strange setting. That's what I was dealing with.
I started madly feeling my way around to see if I could find any sort of lightswitch or familiar object. After what seemed like hours (it was only a few seconds), I found another wall and managed to find a lightswitch.
I flicked it on, and once again my world became sane. I was in the hallway outside my bedroom, and I apparently sleepwalked my way into my storage closet.
I think I've figured out the "trigger" for my sleepwalking episodes too. I had to pee. In fact, I REALLY had to pee. I think that what sometimes happens to me is that if I have to get up to use the bathroom in the middle of the night, my brain just puts my body into "autopilot" without fully waking me up. I'll get out of bed, walk the familiar route to the bathroom, do my business and climb back into bed. All the while I'll be completely unaware of what I'm doing. The body is in motion, but the brain is still off in dreamland.
Every once in awhile, it seems that my "autopilot" loses it's map to the bathroom and I wake up in crazy places.
My wife used to get freaked out when I would sleepwalk, but now she's pretty much gotten used to it. Sometimes she'll catch me sleepwalking and guide me back to bed without even waking me up. Other times she'll just go ahead and wake me up (btw, in my experience the "don't ever wake up a sleepwalker" rule is a myth).
So, does anyone else here sleepwalk or am I just a freak?
I don't sleepwalk too much these days, but it still happens every once in a while. About a year ago I woke up sleepwalking in the hallway outside my apartment wearing nothing but a pair of boxer briefs and a confused look on my face. Fortunately it was in the middle of the night and all of my elderly neighbours were fast asleep, otherwise I'd have a hard time explaining to the cops what I was doing wandering a hallway late at night clad in my underwear.
Last night I woke up from a sleepwalking episode. It was horrifying. I don't know if anyone here has ever woken up while sleepwalking, but it's not like waking up regularly. You sort of fade into conciousness very gradually. It's rather like being in a dream, only the dream begins to get more real until you realise that you aren't dreaming at all.
When I faded into conciousness last night, I was aware that I was standing up and that it was pitch black. I felt around to see where I was. I could feel that I was in a confined area, but in my not-quite-awake state I wasn't able to determine exactly where.
I started freaking out a bit. I could feel a wall behind me and I waved ran my hand across it looking for a light switch. I found nothing. I felt a pile of boxes in front of me, so I pushed them over. I took a step into the darkness in front of me and fell overtop of the boxes. I was seriously disoriented. Imagine being drugged up, blindfolded, and placed in a pitch black strange setting. That's what I was dealing with.
I started madly feeling my way around to see if I could find any sort of lightswitch or familiar object. After what seemed like hours (it was only a few seconds), I found another wall and managed to find a lightswitch.
I flicked it on, and once again my world became sane. I was in the hallway outside my bedroom, and I apparently sleepwalked my way into my storage closet.
I think I've figured out the "trigger" for my sleepwalking episodes too. I had to pee. In fact, I REALLY had to pee. I think that what sometimes happens to me is that if I have to get up to use the bathroom in the middle of the night, my brain just puts my body into "autopilot" without fully waking me up. I'll get out of bed, walk the familiar route to the bathroom, do my business and climb back into bed. All the while I'll be completely unaware of what I'm doing. The body is in motion, but the brain is still off in dreamland.
Every once in awhile, it seems that my "autopilot" loses it's map to the bathroom and I wake up in crazy places.
My wife used to get freaked out when I would sleepwalk, but now she's pretty much gotten used to it. Sometimes she'll catch me sleepwalking and guide me back to bed without even waking me up. Other times she'll just go ahead and wake me up (btw, in my experience the "don't ever wake up a sleepwalker" rule is a myth).
So, does anyone else here sleepwalk or am I just a freak?