Re: Sleep sound for 3 hours. Awaken to nightmare?,

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Re: Sleep sound for 3 hours. Awaken to nightmare?,

Posted by LadyNightOwl on October 02, 2002 at 05:57:40:
In Reply to: Sleep sound for 3 hours. Awaken to nightmare?, posted by Erik on October 02, 2002 at 01:02:39:
Erik-
My guess is that your problems are not all related to each other, and it's looking for that connection that's causing your confusion. My advice is to stay away from self-diagnosis; if you've got the time to give yourself a blood-sugar test, you've got time to go to a doctor.
I can shed some light on the sandwich/sleeping connection, however; the sandwich and milk help you go back to sleep, not because of blood sugar issues, but because of what you're eating. Both turkey and milk are high in triptophan, a hormone that increases seratonin levels in the brain. High seratonin levels, among other things, cause drowsiness--that's why people always feel so relaxed after Thanksgiving dinner, and why warm milk helps people sleep. It doesn't sound like hypoglycemia to me; if you were hypogycemic, the carbohydrate in the sandwich would result in a severe drop in blood sugar by morning, which you don't seem to be experiencing.
The tooth-griding and hand-clenching are habitual and probably stress-related. Behavioral therapy may help; your doctor can give you more iformation on treatment options.
As for the pain in your spleen--I have a few questions. First, were you ever DIAGNOSED with mononucleosis and/or hepatitis, or is that more self-diagnosis? Second, have you been told by a doctor that the pain you've been experiencing is in your spleen, or are you experiencing abdominal pain and assuming that it's your spleen? General abdominal pain may be muscular and/or stress-related. If it really is your spleen, that is definitely something your doctor should know about; it may be indicative of a more serious problem.
As for the nightmares, they are, once again, a symptom of stress--and judging from your post, I'm guessing that you've been stressing a great deal over your health. My advice is to see a doctor about your abodominal pain, hand-clenching and tooth-grinding; once these problems have been treated and you know that there's nothing to worry about, the nightmares will probably go away on their own.
Hope that helps!
-LadyNightOwl

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Sleep Deprivation due to Sleep Apnea and insufficient sleep are common and can present as insomnia, narcolepsy, or idiopathic hypersomnia. In infants and children sleep problems commonly present themselves as ADD or ADHD.