I have a daughter who is a college freshman. Her roommate has woken her up on a couple of occasions b/c my daughter was apparently actually crying in her sleep. Her roommate is very sweet about it. She gently wakes my daughter with a glass of water and tells her what was going on. Anyone have any experience with that? Not sure if she is an avid dreamer or something else is going on (#overly worried first time college parent here).
When your daughter is woken up, does she immediately remember having a terrible nightmare? Usually when we’re woken up during or right after a nightmare, we remember it.
When the roommate says “crying”…are there tears, or just crying sounds? Is she saying any words?
http://symptomchecker.webmd.com/single-symptom?symptom=crying-during-sleep&symid=526
Has she had some kind of traumatic event she might be hesitant to tell you about? Any other changes in behavior?
Is she doing well in college? Or is she miserable and is trying to cover it up[ but her unhappiness rises to the surface when she is in bed?]
Is she by any chance taking any new medication?
A few weeks ago I had night terrors for the first time in my life (screaming in my sleep with vivid nightmares)- turns out it was because of a medicine I was taking right before bed.
When she is woken up, she is having a nightmare that she remembers. I got the impression that she has actual tears, but not totally sure. She has not had a traumatic experience - we are very very close, so I feel like she would confide in me if anything had happened. She is doing well grade wise in college (4.0) and seems to have lots of friends…but she has had some disappointments (applied but rejected to certain programs within the college, rushed but didn’t get sorority invite, etc.)
Is she getting some exercise? endorphins and stress release
Any spring break looming on the horizon for a little R&R?
Freshman year brings a lot of stress and change. Glad she’s doing well academically but pressure to maintain good grades can still be there, along with the disappointments she’s experienced. Nice to hear her roommate is kind and understanding.
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When she is woken up, she is having a nightmare that she remembers.
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Is she having the same type of nightmare? Someone chasing her? attacking her?
Sounds like she’s had some recent disappointments which can be painful for a 18 year old.
What we call sleepwalking does not always involve walking. Sleepwalkers are not usually in REM sleep, so they don’t remember dreams. The brain is weird. Anyway, this sounds a lot like sleepwalking.
Point is, a person could easily seem to be having a conscious response to something they are not even remotely aware of. And, it might not mean anything is wrong with her heslth; indeed, it probably doesn’t. And it’s probably something that will pass in a few weeks.
But it’s worth visiting an internal physician and getting a blood workup, just to be sure
Is it possible that she did this for years but did not share a bedroom?
When she is in the nightmare. Is she aware that it’s a nightmare and does she try to wake herself up? When I get nightmares, I’m aware that it’s a nightmare but I can’t wake myself up or talk to get my spouse to wake me up, but I can breathe rapidly through my nose, which serves as my spouse’s signal to wake me up and get me out of it. (He learned this early on!)
Could the crying be serving a similar purpose?
Would it help if her roommate used your daughters phone to take a quick video so she (you,Dr.) could see whats going on?
I have nightmares and when they are intense, I cry out in my sleep. My husband wakes me. I am not especially stressed, workout daily, and am healthy. Did she share a bedroom at home? She may have always done this and no one noticed.