Are adolescent nightmare convulsions at all normal? my 8 year old son seems to convulse in his sleep and wakes up in a cold sweat. he claims to be having nightmares. is this an adolescent thing? could it have long term health implications?

It : It is hard to tell what is going on from that description, but i would first want to decide whether he is having seizures or if it really is just dreams. Your use of the word "convulse" is the main concern here, so i would have to know more about what that means. Some seizures might be interpreted as nightmares by a young child. You should have him see a physician about it, preferably a neurologist. There are tests to tell the difference between nightmares and seizures, but sometimes even just a history and a neurological exam are enough to convince the neurologist that seizures are not a concern. You need to figure out what is going on before worrying about long term implications. If they are seizures, he would probably need treatment for them to avoid long term problems.

Cold sweats: Your child is to young to be called an adolescent. He maybe having nightmares which can be brought on by too much scary movies or television before bed, but then again he may be having seizures. Try changing his life style before end. If no improvement i would get him evaluated by a neurologist.