something i don't like to think about

[whiterabbit]

Last night i got a call from my girlfriend at three in the morning. She called me because she felt a pain on her side, so she checked it out in the mirror. There are scratches on her for some reason. I didn't think much of it, except maybe there was an accident. However I woke up later and I have scratches on my left arm. Two things to be noted: we live a city apart, I have been waking up at 3:00 every morning for some reason ( guess its a habit).
Does anyone out there have an ideas of what could have caused this?
Or ways to figure it out?
Prevention?
Thoughts?

Yours truly,
White Rabbit

[Deleted]

Do you have mice in your house? Or large, stinging insects? What do the scratches look like exactly? Were they bleeding when you found them or already scabbed? Do you have dogs or cats?

I would try asking a doctor. They might know what caused it.

[Railaybara]

@white
I'm with Seric on this one.
Try to find out likely causes, or try your doctor.
-Rail

[Deleted]

When I was young, I used to scratch myself in my sleep. To rule out that possibility, I'd keep your nails trimmed really short and/or wear gloves or socks on your hands when you sleep to see if that stops the scratches.

I would also look closely to see if it could be an insect bite or sting that you scratched in your sleep. If it's an insect bite, you might want to look into an exterminator or some other method to get rid of the bugs. Bed bug bites bleed on their own, mosquito bites will often bleed a little if you scratch them. Same with some other insect bites.

If the former doesn't help and the latter doesn't apply due to lack of an insect infestation, I'd talk to a doctor about it. I wouldn't worry about it too much if it was an isolated incident, but definitely talk to a doctor if it's recurring and you can't find a cause. I don't know of medical conditions that could cause scratches off the top of my head, but a number of treatable illnesses can cause bruises or other skin conditions.

Try to rule out logical explanations before assuming it's something supernatural.

[Velvet Wings]

I used to wake up at exactly 3:33am every single morning for many years when I was younger, never did figure out why but it led to me adopting 3 as my lucky number.

As for scratches, I think the other posters have pretty much covered my thoughts.
My mate often wakes up with scratches in various places because she scratches herself during the night. She's even made herself bleed quite a few times through scratching. For her it's usually triggered by a bite or some sort of skin irritation that bothers her, including the scratches themselves.