Living with REM Behavior Disorder

I am a 23 yr old female from NZ and I’ve had REM sleep behaviour disorder all my life I believe, although I only just discovered the actual ‘diagnosis’. I’ve always sleep walked, waking up in other beds, and around my room acting out my dreams, like searching through an old wardrobe no longer there due to renovation.

As a young child I would be put to bed, then come downstairs and sit with my parents in the living room like nothing was out of place - it turned out the only way to get my back to bed was to suggest I go use the toilet, so a full bladder might have been the trigger but thats too simple I think to explain the rest of my behaviour when I’m sleeping. I’ve also always talked, screamed, yelled, sworn in my sleep. The funny thing is I’ve always (except for a brief period of insomnia in my teens) woken up feeling rested!

I need 8 hours of sleep like the average person and when I get it I feel great, despite the fact I’d have been acting out my dreams all night. Its only become a problem in my life since my boyfriend and I moved in together over 3 years ago. He’s a light sleeper and has periods of chronic insomnia and my antics don’t help! Often I’ll ‘wake up’, a term I use lightly because I’m still trapped between reality and my dream, and ask him to get rid of that spider hanging above me, or turn the light on so I can see that thing at the foot of the bed, or I’ll freak out at a spider spinning its web across my side of the bed. It pisses him off, and although I don’t feel guilty as such cos its not my fault, it can cause tension for sure I actually find it all quite amusing, I remember sleeping in my childhood bedroom with my grandmother and ‘waking up’ and believing there were a bunch of snakes between me and her - she was like ‘don’t be so silly’ and shes right, it is so silly, its just that its so real for me, basically I’m hallucinating. S

o I’ve been researching different drugs to treat it, but haven’t been to the doctor - to be honest I don’t believe they would know enough about it. We’re gonna get a King size bed in the future when we can afford it. I suppose I should feel lucky I don’t injure myself or my partner really, after reading the other stories I figure I could be a lot worse.

I hope this story has helped some people with this disorder and I hope most of you can see the humorous side (when its funny, obviously hurting people in your sleep is definitely not funny and I hope you all can find appropriate help). I’d love your comments and I’ll be checking this page regularly from now on. Cheers from NZ