Disir
Platinum Member
- Sep 30, 2011
- 28,003
- 9,607
- 910
As a girl, Michelle Heizelman developed an elaborate ritual to fend off the flesh-eating monsters that haunted her dreams.
Each night, she would carefully arrange her stuffed animals and dolls in a circle around her body, and then curl into a fetal position. “My desperate hope was the monsters in my nightmares would eat the animals first and leave me alone,” Heizelman said.
But the nightmares persisted. Night after night, she imagined monsters crawling under her bed and groping at her limbs. At times, she imagined the walls of her bedroom dripping with blood and the shag of her carpet turning into dozens of outstretched hands. Eventually doctors diagnosed Heizelman with a rare and sometimes debilitating condition known as “nightmare disorder,” defined by frequent, extremely vivid dreams that usually involve threats to one’s survival.
Then came a miracle: On Dec. 28, 2016, Heizelman slept through the night without a single nightmare. It marked the first time in 40 years that she awoke without feeling distressed and fatigued.
“I literally felt reborn,” said Heizelman, now 43, who lives in St. Cloud. “It was like a dark shadow had been lifted from my life.”
Heizelman attributes that breakthrough to a promising new treatment approach at Hennepin County Medical Center. Traditionally, sleep disorders have been diagnosed and treated solely as a mental health condition, based on the predominant view that persistent nightmares and other sleep disorders were signs of trauma or deeper psychiatric problems. As a result, patients were prescribed anti-anxiety or psychotropic medications with such serious side effects that they often prevented a restful night’s sleep.
Instead of focusing on a single cause or antidote, the specialists at HCMC use a wide range of treatment methods that go beyond traditional, one-on-one therapy. Patients such as Heizelman have access to a team of specialists including psychiatrists, a neurologist, a psychologist, a pulmonologist (lung doctor) and nurse practitioners. The team meets regularly to discuss cases and to share the latest research on conditions such as insomnia, sleep apnea and narcolepsy.
The multidisciplinary approach is based on the premise that sleep problems are highly complex and require a sophisticated and, at times, experimental response. It also reflects a growing body of research showing that patients with sleep disorders often have a range of overlapping conditions, known as co-morbidities. For example, up to 30 percent of people who suffer from insomnia also have sleep apnea, a common disorder marked by interrupted breathing; and insomnia, in turn, increases a person’s risk for depression and anxiety, researchers have found.
Nightmare finally ends for St. Cloud teacher cured of rare sleep disorder
I can't imagine having nightmares for 40 years.
It's good to see a move forward with treatment.
Each night, she would carefully arrange her stuffed animals and dolls in a circle around her body, and then curl into a fetal position. “My desperate hope was the monsters in my nightmares would eat the animals first and leave me alone,” Heizelman said.
But the nightmares persisted. Night after night, she imagined monsters crawling under her bed and groping at her limbs. At times, she imagined the walls of her bedroom dripping with blood and the shag of her carpet turning into dozens of outstretched hands. Eventually doctors diagnosed Heizelman with a rare and sometimes debilitating condition known as “nightmare disorder,” defined by frequent, extremely vivid dreams that usually involve threats to one’s survival.
Then came a miracle: On Dec. 28, 2016, Heizelman slept through the night without a single nightmare. It marked the first time in 40 years that she awoke without feeling distressed and fatigued.
“I literally felt reborn,” said Heizelman, now 43, who lives in St. Cloud. “It was like a dark shadow had been lifted from my life.”
Heizelman attributes that breakthrough to a promising new treatment approach at Hennepin County Medical Center. Traditionally, sleep disorders have been diagnosed and treated solely as a mental health condition, based on the predominant view that persistent nightmares and other sleep disorders were signs of trauma or deeper psychiatric problems. As a result, patients were prescribed anti-anxiety or psychotropic medications with such serious side effects that they often prevented a restful night’s sleep.
Instead of focusing on a single cause or antidote, the specialists at HCMC use a wide range of treatment methods that go beyond traditional, one-on-one therapy. Patients such as Heizelman have access to a team of specialists including psychiatrists, a neurologist, a psychologist, a pulmonologist (lung doctor) and nurse practitioners. The team meets regularly to discuss cases and to share the latest research on conditions such as insomnia, sleep apnea and narcolepsy.
The multidisciplinary approach is based on the premise that sleep problems are highly complex and require a sophisticated and, at times, experimental response. It also reflects a growing body of research showing that patients with sleep disorders often have a range of overlapping conditions, known as co-morbidities. For example, up to 30 percent of people who suffer from insomnia also have sleep apnea, a common disorder marked by interrupted breathing; and insomnia, in turn, increases a person’s risk for depression and anxiety, researchers have found.
Nightmare finally ends for St. Cloud teacher cured of rare sleep disorder
I can't imagine having nightmares for 40 years.
It's good to see a move forward with treatment.
