I have RBD. Since i was very young I remember waking up from dreams screaming. I would 'scream myself out of it.' the screaming, punching, flailing were signals for my body to leave the dream because the dream often became so threatening that waking myself up felt like a defense mechanism (this is what i think at least). As a young adult, many bedpartners have told me that I scream in my sleep, kick, and punch and other invasive things. Recently I had a dream that i was choking on tomatoes, and was trying to claw the tomatos out of my mouth, in the dream i was suffocating and couldn't breathe. I woke up and found out that i had been violently choking myself all night using my pillow and my arms were sore all day from squeezing the pillow around my neck so hard. i had literally been suffocating myself. This was terrifying. I am nervous about actually killing myself in my sleep.
Weirdly, my brother also has experienced these things. I remember as a child when we shared a room he would scream and talk loudly in his sleep. He even once told me about having a dream where he was running all night long and when he woke up realized he had been running in bed. Since we shared a room growing up I thought this behavior was normal until bed partners assured me that it was not. My brother has since grown out of it, but mine has gotten worse.
I am a 22 year old female, I rarely drink and am not withdrawing from drugs. had several head injuries as a child requiring surgery but that doesnt explain my very healthy brother having RBD as well. There is no parkinsons in my family. I am really at a loss for how to solve this.
