---
title: Can sleep terrors and sleepwalking happen only before your period?
description: Yes. Two cases showed sleep terrors and dangerous sleepwalking that happened exclusively before menstruation. Self-hypnosis helped both, and one also took a l
url: https://niyora.com/research/papers/two-cases-of-premenstrual-sleep-terrors-and-injurious-sleep-walking-1995/
---

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- Can sleep terrors and sleepwalking happen only before your period?

Case report, 1995

# Can sleep terrors and sleepwalking happen only before your period?

Yes. Two cases showed sleep terrors and dangerous sleepwalking that happened exclusively before menstruation. Self-hypnosis helped both, and one also took a low dose of clonazepam.

 Early or limited evidence

Two women, one 17 years old and one 46 years old

## What they did

Described two cases of women with sleep terrors and injurious sleepwalking linked to their menstrual cycle. One was 17 years old and one was 46. Doctors did sleep studies to confirm the sleepwalking.

## What they found

Case 1: A 17-year-old with a 6-year history of sleep terrors and sleepwalking occurred only in the 4 nights before her period, starting 1 year after her first period. Medications did not help, but self-hypnosis at bedtime worked well with benefits lasting 2.5 years. Case 2: A 46-year-old with a 5-year history of sleep terrors and sleepwalking initially not tied to her cycle, but 8 months before she sought care became exclusively premenstrual. Self-hypnosis and clonazepam 0.25 mg at bedtime partially controlled symptoms.

## What it means for you

Sleep terrors and sleepwalking can occur exclusively before menstruation. In one case, it resolved with self-hypnosis alone and stayed gone for years. In another, a low dose of clonazepam plus self-hypnosis helped partially. These are two cases, so we cannot know how common this is or which treatment works best.

6

year history of sleep terrors (case 1)

2.5

year follow-up showing benefit (case 1)

0.25 mg

clonazepam dose

## About the study

Original title Two cases of premenstrual sleep terrors and injurious sleep-walking Authors Schenck CH, Mahowald MW Journal Journal of psychosomatic obstetrics and gynaecology Year 1995 Study design Case report What was tested Self-hypnosis at bedtime; clonazepam 0.25 mg (case 2) Read the paper [doi.org/10.3109/01674829509042782](https://doi.org/10.3109/01674829509042782)

## Topics

[Premenstrual syndrome (PMS)](https://niyora.com/research/topics/condition-pms/)[Sleep and insomnia](https://niyora.com/research/topics/symptom-sleep/)[ADHD](https://niyora.com/research/topics/comorbidity-adhd/)[Adolescents and young people](https://niyora.com/research/topics/life-area-adolescents/)

Research tells you what helps on average. Niyora helps on the day it hits.

Calm down, see it another way, and decide what to say, with a PMS and PMDD app built by a doctor.

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