A once fit and healthy young man has had his life turned upside down by a devastating rare condition after he suddenly started having night terrors.

Ben Tarver, from Folkestone, began developing anxiety symptoms which soon escalated to suffering up to 12 panic attacks a day, as well as sparking seizures, confusion and aggressive behaviour.

The 29-year-was taken to hospital but doctors were initially unable to work out what was wrong.

Medics eventually diagnosed him with anti-NMDA receptor encephalitis - a type of brain inflammation.

His partner of eight years, Liam Nougher, 26, says Ben had been fit and healthy before he started experiencing night terrors where “he was in a house fire, a woman was there and it felt like reality”.

“Ben didn’t suffer from anxiety or seizures but then on September 11, he woke up in the middle of the night from a bad dream,” Liam told KentOnline.

“He explained it wasn’t just a nightmare but that felt like he was inside the dream.

“After that, he was scared of going back to sleep in case he went back into this weird reality.”

Ben began having episodes of panic and chronic headaches – so he went to A&E where he had a CT scan but nothing abnormal was found.

However. he then started having up to 12 panic attacks a day.

“On the morning of September 25, he’d already had four panic attacks,” Liam said.

“He looked at me, started talking gibberish and then his body seized up, he fell to the ground and started spasming and frothing. He was having a seizure.”

Liam was told to start CPR as Ben wasn’t breathing correctly and paramedics soon arrived.

He was taken to hospital where he had more scans but nothing worrying showed up.

Ben then started experiencing audio and visual hallucinations and suffered a second seizure two days after his first.

Medics told him not to return to A&E if there were further episodes. Instead, paramedics would have to stabilise him and he was told his GP should be contacted after each seizure.

But three days later, Ben awoke in the night with a panic attack and started talking “gibberish” again and screaming before a third “violent” seizure.

His heart rate was above 200 beats per minute – a normal resting heart rate is 60 to 100 bpm – so he was rushed to hospital via ambulance.

Medics desperately tried to stabilise him and Liam was told they would try cardioversion, a procedure used to return an abnormal heartbeat to a normal rhythm.

His heart rate lowered and Ben was told he had to remain in hospital where the medical, psychiatry, cardiology and neurology teams would spend time looking at his case.

“Across the nine days [at William Harvey Hospital] he became extremely paranoid and was trying to run away and attack people,” Liam said.

“His symptoms got so bad he didn’t seem like himself at all.”

Doctors experimented with different medications to help stop Ben’s symptoms before he went three days without having a seizure.

Liam had to stay at his bedside 24/7 in case he tried to flee.

“Ben was planning escape attempts and did run away sometimes until he was pinned down,” he said.

He was eventually discharged and sent home but had a “really severe” episode that night.

He was transferred to Kent and Canterbury Hospital where he was diagnosed on October 15 with anti-NMDA receptor encephalitis, before he was sent to King’s College Hospital in London, where he has remained since.

Doctors have still not been able to find the cause of Ben’s condition, such as finding any possible tumours.

Anti-NMDA receptor encephalitis is usually associated with tumours of the ovaries.

It is an autoimmune disease, where the body creates antibodies against the NMDA receptors in the brain. These antibodies disrupt normal brain signalling and cause brain swelling, or encephalitis.

Liam added: “His immune system is very strong which is playing against him.

“If he had a weaker one, he likely would have recovered from this as his body would have given up producing antibodies.”

A fundraising campaign was launched to help with Liam’s travel and accommodation costs between Folkestone and London, with the timeline of Ben’s recovery uncertain.

“We are raising funds to help cover these travel expenses and provide Liam with some relief during this incredibly challenging time,” it states.