Night Terrors

My son, deep sleeper that he is, has always had a problem with bad dreams. When he was a baby, and he had a heart problem, he would get pins and needles in his face. He'd wake up with a really distressed squeal, and after a few minutes his circulation would return and he'd be fine and return to the land of slumber.

For the past 2 or 3 years, he's suffered with bad dreams. More recently this has happened at about midnight, just as I'm going to bed. He'll shout, holler, and generally panic for a few seconds, before realising he's dreaming and settle back down to sleep.

Last night things took a sinister turn. He woke up as I went in to turn off his TV and turn on his radio. He screamed "SHIIIIIIT!!!!," before completely throwing what can only be described as a 'loopy.' He screamed *loudly* for what seemed like an eternity. I really thought he was having a heart attack or something. He was inconsolable. I was preturbed, understandably. All of a sudden, with a token "SHIT!", he turned over and fell back asleep.

I emailed NHS direct this morning, and fair plays, they emailed me back with a couple of links. Reading them I realised he was suffering with night terrors. These are non descript nightmares. He doesn't remember having them, and settles back to sleep without incident. It's mostly caused strangely enough by overtiredness, and anxiety. So I've spoken to his driver on the school bus, and will talk to the school tomorrow. In the meantime, I'll soldier on with him, and cross my fingers it'll pass quickly.