Sleep-walking mum is hospitalised after she woke up drinking bleach ‘like it was juice’
A SLEEP-WALKING mum has revealed how she woke up in the night to find herself 'gulping down bleach' like it was juice, after an episode of parasomnia that could have been life threatening.
The mum of four was watching her dad and father-in-law battle cancer, when her severe episodes of night activity began.
Andrea Davison, 41, had a history of sleep-walking but her episodes became increasingly extreme following the family stress and took a dangerous turn one night when she woke up to find herself drinking bleach straight from the bottle.
Eating or drinking in her sleep was a common occurrence for Andrea but this time it could have ended in disaster.
The mum said: "I was holding the bleach bottle in one hand and a ginger nut biscuit in the other.
"I have no idea how much of that I'd drank, but I woke up gulping it down like it was juice."
The medics gave her something to empty her stomach and she was violently sick.
Andrea, from Leigh-on-Sea spent the night in Southend Hospital but was released and thankfully made a full recovery.
Now the anxiety charity founder is speaking out about her late-night antics to show sleepwalking can be more dangerous than people think - and could risk lives.
She said: "It's really scary. This isn't just typical sleepwalking."
"When I drank bleach, at that moment, I thought I was going to die."
Andrea finds she doesn't always wake up during her night time activities and some can be more harmless than others.
She visited her mum one morning to learn she'd had the scariest episode of parasomnia so far - by sleep-driving to her house six minutes away.
"I'd driven in my sleep. Apparently it is a thing though, especially on familiar routes.
"I looked it up and they said you must be semi-conscious to do these things, you just don't remember them."
Andrea decided it was best to hide her keys after that so it couldn't happen again.
Aside from her terrifying brushes with danger, Andrea has also learned she regularly leaves voicemails of gibberish on friend's phones or enters paid competitions while asleep.
Her cheeky teenagers, twins James and Arthur, 18, Stanley, 16, and Lenny, 13, all now wait until she is asleep before asking to borrow money - hoping she'll sleep talk and agree.
"The other week I found myself walking around with washing up liquid under my arm, holding it like a child.
"I looked at it and thought thank God I didn't drink that as well."
The mum's partner is now on guard since the bleach incident and takes her back to bed if he senses anything abnormal is taking place.
Andrea also tries to counteract her condition by using mindfulness practises before she goes to bed.
In other news, a mother and luxury travel presenter has revealed that she gives her kids pocket money for designer clothes and holidays.
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