Member Comments are provided by individuals and reflect their personal opinions only. Under NO circumstances should you act on any advice or opinion posted in this forum. ALWAYS check with your personal physician before taking any action regarding your health! MedHelp International and our partners, sponsors and affiliates have no obligation to monitor any comments posted on this site, or the content and/or accuracy of such exchanges. MedHelp International does not endorse the views of any user.
Neurology (Expert Forum)
Re: Sleep Walking/Altered Perception Dreams
This forum is for questions and support regarding neurology issues such as: Alzheimer's Disease, ALS, Autism, Brain Cancer, Cerebral Palsy, Chronic Pain, Epilepsy, Fibromyalgia, Headaches, MS, Neuralgia, Neuropathy, Parkinson's Disease, RSD, Sleep Disorders, Stroke, Traumatic Brain Injury.
Re: Sleep Walking/Altered Perception Dreams
by CCF neurology MD MM, Jan 01, 1995 12:00AM
Posted By CCF neuro MD MM on November 03, 1998 at 11:25:04:
In Reply to: Sleep Walking/Altered Perception Dreams posted by Pamela on November 03, 1998 at 11:06:14:
Dear Doctors: I have been told that I sleep-walked as a young child age four. I have no knowledge of ever doing it since then, until about 4-6 months ago. Your clinic forum recently helped me understand my abnormal EEG-irritable cortex in left temporal area with asymmetry and decrease in voltage. It was suggested that possibly epilepsy was the cause. I have had several what I assumed were minor closed head injuries. The last one about six months ago- I was mugged and my doctor said she thought I had a blow-out? fracture right cheek/eye area though I don't think the x-ray said that. The one prior to that-I fell off the top of a military obsticle course and fell about 15 feet onto my face.(always graceful)closed head injury with retrograde amnesia for the event. The sleep walking is distressing since I found myself 1.outside in the front yard at 3AM, 2.screaming and trying to get something off of me 3. felt something brush against me while I slept. I sat up,saw a bug, grabbed a cup-and as I stared at the bug to capture it-I saw it transform into the bedside stand handle. There I was-cup in hand feeling REALLY STUPID! Could any of this sleep walking/wierd dream stuff be from epilepsy or the head trauma? Is there a way to tell which is the cause? I was hoping my military doctors would do a sleep study or one of those 24 hour EEG's, but they said they want to do another EMG with F? Waves because my last one was borderline. I have never had a seizure with loss of conciousness to my knowledge; but as I think back over some of my head trauma events-almost all had momentary loss of conciousness with unknown cause for the event. I have always been thankful for the amnesia-since I figure it is probably not a pleasant thing to remember specifics of falling/getting hurt. I appreciate your 2nd opionion. Thank-you in advance.
It would appear that your physicians are chasing a different set of symptoms
to the ones which are causing your problms, EMG withg F waves is a test
of peripheral nerve function and would not be informative regatrding your sleep problems.
Sleep walking and epilepsy are quite distinct problems although they are investigated
using similar techniques.
I think your EEG from what I remember is suggestibve of but not diagnostic
of epilepsy, but the episodes you describe sound more like a sleep problem
than epileptic events.
The best way to clarify this situation would be to have an overnight sleep study with
simultaneous EEG recording, this would allow a prolonged look at brain
wave activity and could be correllated with any behavioral abnormalities
during the recording.
An EMG with F waves will not answer these questions so I would suggest that
you request specifically that this issue be investigated.
In Reply to: Sleep Walking/Altered Perception Dreams posted by Pamela on November 03, 1998 at 11:06:14:
Dear Doctors: I have been told that I sleep-walked as a young child age four. I have no knowledge of ever doing it since then, until about 4-6 months ago. Your clinic forum recently helped me understand my abnormal EEG-irritable cortex in left temporal area with asymmetry and decrease in voltage. It was suggested that possibly epilepsy was the cause. I have had several what I assumed were minor closed head injuries. The last one about six months ago- I was mugged and my doctor said she thought I had a blow-out? fracture right cheek/eye area though I don't think the x-ray said that. The one prior to that-I fell off the top of a military obsticle course and fell about 15 feet onto my face.(always graceful)closed head injury with retrograde amnesia for the event. The sleep walking is distressing since I found myself 1.outside in the front yard at 3AM, 2.screaming and trying to get something off of me 3. felt something brush against me while I slept. I sat up,saw a bug, grabbed a cup-and as I stared at the bug to capture it-I saw it transform into the bedside stand handle. There I was-cup in hand feeling REALLY STUPID! Could any of this sleep walking/wierd dream stuff be from epilepsy or the head trauma? Is there a way to tell which is the cause? I was hoping my military doctors would do a sleep study or one of those 24 hour EEG's, but they said they want to do another EMG with F? Waves because my last one was borderline. I have never had a seizure with loss of conciousness to my knowledge; but as I think back over some of my head trauma events-almost all had momentary loss of conciousness with unknown cause for the event. I have always been thankful for the amnesia-since I figure it is probably not a pleasant thing to remember specifics of falling/getting hurt. I appreciate your 2nd opionion. Thank-you in advance.
It would appear that your physicians are chasing a different set of symptoms
to the ones which are causing your problms, EMG withg F waves is a test
of peripheral nerve function and would not be informative regatrding your sleep problems.
Sleep walking and epilepsy are quite distinct problems although they are investigated
using similar techniques.
I think your EEG from what I remember is suggestibve of but not diagnostic
of epilepsy, but the episodes you describe sound more like a sleep problem
than epileptic events.
The best way to clarify this situation would be to have an overnight sleep study with
simultaneous EEG recording, this would allow a prolonged look at brain
wave activity and could be correllated with any behavioral abnormalities
during the recording.
An EMG with F waves will not answer these questions so I would suggest that
you request specifically that this issue be investigated.
