Sleep Issues Auditory/visual/motor Sleep Start/sleep Paralysis/others

The dreaming while awake thing, and the part where your husband says you are snoring but you have been awake can be a symptom of narcolepsy if I understand it right, b/c it happens very quickly.

http://www.medhelp.org/posts/Sleep-Disorders/Dreaming-Whi...

Fatigue and exhaustion, as well as some meds can contribute to sleep disorders. I hope you get a sleep study soon and have it all figured out! That coupled with fibro must be difficult.

The body jerks/flashes, pressure could possibly be cataplexy, also a symptom of narcolepsy.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narcolepsy
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cataplexy

I think you should do some delving into your adrenal glands. My daughter has the chronic pain /sleep issues/fatigue/low blood sugar/(leads to diabetes if not taken care of) Low blood pressure (dizzy, fainting) feeling wobbly, eyes go blurry, pain in eyes/headaches/migranes, clumsyness, inability to handle stress, anxiety, angers easily, acne, PMS, chest pain, chest pressures, low back pain, muscular pains, depression, crying jags, tendonitis. She has adrenal insufficiency. Your adrenal glands put out several hormones that are responsible for how your nervous system and metabolic processes function.
Look up these diseases: Addisons, Cushings, autoimmune polyglandular sndrome.

When someone has adrenal fatigue the body will try to compensate by upregulating the nervous system. So you will have symptoms of chronic fatigue and then also symptoms of restlessness, anxiety and "adrenal rushes". Tired and wired. Thyroid disease can also cause many similar symptoms, but since the adrenals FEED the thyroid, always start there. One sure way to know you have adrenal issues is when the doctor treats your thyroid and it makes you feel worse!

I've read that pre eclampsia can be a magnesium deficiency.

B complex drops under the tounge and taking 400-500 mg magnesium day can help support nerves/adrenals/thyroid. B deficiency is related to sleep disorders like night terrors, which are on a simlar realm.

I dont have any 'sleep issues', and normally fall asleep ona dime, but every once in a while I will get the hyper awake/dream state that you are talking about. My daughter has it on occassion too. And then I do see manefestations of B deficiecnies on and off in me (like scaling skin around my nostrils or ears on occasion) so I do know that these deficeincies can come and go.

Also any other prescription drugs you are taking can seriously affect your nervous system. ALL drugs have side affects. So dont overlook that as a possiblity of contributing as well.

Have you described these symptoms to your doctor? It sounds like you could be having symptoms of narcolepsy (sleep disorder) or epilepsy (seizure disorder). I would strongly suggest that you write all of your symptoms down in a journal as they happen, including everything over the lastfew years, and when you go to the neurologist, tell him everything, and show him the journal of symptoms. It could be that many of your symptoms are all one thing that have been mislabeled as several different things. Good luck!

I get some of the same symptoms you have, the jerking & flashes of light but w/me, at the same time as the light flashes, I feel a zap of electricity, as if I stuck my finger into a light socket which makes me have a big jerking movement...as far as the 'jerking', that's normal from what I've been told...it's like your body is resisting to goto sleep b/c you still want to stay up. As for the weird dreams, I get seriously weird dreams if I eat something 'heavy' just before bed. If I don't, and eat earlier like around 7pm, then I'm usually fine. I'm not sure a neurologist can help w/sleep issues, perhaps you should try a sleep disorder clinic first??? Hope this helps & good luck.

Here's a link you might want to check out. I do not mean to imply it will solve your problems, but the system can be very supportive of your entire physiology. -- Let me know if you want to learn more about it and I'd be happy to share more. - Good luck to you. Keep looking!!! -- http://store.heartmath.org/s.nl;jsessionid=wLkhM6TJ9nJTqG...

If you find anything useful for sleep seeing a neurolgist, please post again!

I have had a full sleep study, and have the c-pap, and yet I never had that big boost in good sleep or feeling better. I have long periods of time when I am aware but dreaming too, so I know what you mean, and I don't think you are crazy.

M.

to add to my post from earlier I also experience the dreaming while awake,it's interesting to find out so much information on the subject when being discussed.....hearing the experiences etc. I am learning lots and will be checking into some things.

i dont know much about most of the things you are talking about, but if it makes you feel any better, that dreaming/awake thing happens to me too, mostly when i am completely exhausted and sleep deprived. and i would definitely take lettuce and dogs in dresses over my stephen king acid trip variety lol..... best of luck to you :)

I have experienced the sense that I was awake and knew what was going on around me while I was actually asleep. My granddaughter tells me I was snoring. When this happens much of the night, as it does every once in awhile, I wake up tired in the morning. I think that there is a superficial level in sleep during which our senses are still working. I have heard severak others describe this happening to them too. I also think feeling awake tho asleep can be caused by one of the medications I'm taking. I was taking Effexor when I noticed this. Some of the anti-depressants list sleep disturbances as a side effect.

I've also sensed that I started dreaming while I was still awake. I think this is a stage in sleep also. I have found that I can stop the dreaming by telling myself to stop.

I've not experienced your other events but I have another sleep disturbance one. I wake up and see patterns on the wall. One time I woke up and saw 3 people floating face down just a short distance from the ceiling. I asked about this and did some research on the internet. My therapist and my medical doctor said that this is not all that uncommon. It's related to sensory nerve patterns or some such thing. I'm 67 and feel that my aging brain may be a part of the reason.

At first, I was very concerned about the visual stuff. I was in general feeling very anxious before these episodes and the therapist prescribed and anti-anxiety medication, lorezapam, also known as Ativan which reduced my general anxiety and reduced the visual symptoms. I take it only when I'm anxious to the point I'm not functioning very well. I still see patterns on the wall from time to time but no more people. lol

I have been certified sane. You, no doubt, are too. LOL