Help for Sleepwalking in Albuquerque, New Mexico

Sleepwalking is known as a parasomnia because it is a phenomenon that occurs during sleep. Sleepwalking may be linked to other sleep problems or be the sleep problem that prevents you from getting adequate quantity and quality of sleep.

Sleepwalking Signs and Symptoms

People who sleepwalk often do more than walk. While still asleep, a sleepwalker may:

Open their eyes and look around (eyes are often glassy and the gaze confused)
Sit up in bed and/or bolt out of bed
Do routine activities not usually done at night, such as wash the dishes
Leave the house

In more extreme cases, a sleepwalker may drive or engage in unusual and inappropriate behavior, such as indecent exposure or urinating somewhere other than the toilet.

Sleepwalkers are usually have no recollection of their nighttime activities. However, they may suffer the consequences of poor sleep, such as daytime drowsiness, moodiness and/or mental fog.

Who Sleepwalking Effects

Sleepwalking can affect anyone. Sleepwalking is fairly common in children and typically resolves itself without treatment by the teen years.

In adults, sleepwalking is more common in men than women, and men are more likely to be violent during sleepwalking episodes and/or during an attempt to wake them. Sleepwalking is more likely if someone in your family is also a sleepwalker.

Diagnosis and Treatment in Albuquerque

There is no known cause of sleepwalking, but contributing factors include:

Some medications
Other sleep disorders
Stress
Changes in sleep environment
Neurological issues, including head trauma, encephalitis and migraines

Underlying conditions and causative factors need to be identified to find the right treatment, which may include changes in your sleep hygiene, prescription medications or other medical interventions. Dr. Senthil Ramasamy, the board-certified sleep specialist at Neurology & Sleep Medicine, may request a sleep diary and/or order a diagnostic sleep study to gather more information about your sleep behaviors.