Nightmares. Vivid stressful dreams

[paintingwords]

I am 22. I suffer from anxiety and depression.

Nightmares and really vivid dreams are a major part of my suffering. I get a headache almost every morning I get up. Initially the dreams drove me crazy-death, humiliation, pain, stress, fear, powerlessness, guilt, shame, are the common themes and emotions in my dreams. They still bother me a lot but now that it has been a long time (about 4 years) I have learned to move beyond them and divert myself. It gets me really tired and never feel I have slept enough.

I wanted to know if this is a common symptom of people suffering from depression and anxiety?

[4Cece]

Yes, I sleep all the time, but I cant get out of bed. A lot of medications cause this. Maybe they a sleep study. I took trazadone I think, there are meds that stop vivid dreams that leave you exhausted.

Maybe, I'm no doctor, you aren't getting the REM sleep.

[paintingwords in reply to 4Cece]

Hello. Thank you for listening Cece.

I am not on any medication right now. I did take sedatives before that helped with vivid dreams. I stopped taking meds in hope of healing without it. Mistake, or not, I don't know.

[PrimoB]

Dr.’s are prescribing alpha blockers like prazosin for nightmares more. Don’t know exactly how it works but my Dr. swears by it! She uses it a lot with her PTSD patients. It might be something to check out! Good luck.

[paintingwords in reply to PrimoB]

Hi PrimoB! Thank you for listening.

I would definitely try this med. Do you think I can take it without getting it prescribed? I am not seeing my psychiatrist right now. Not a good idea, is it?

[PrimoB in reply to paintingwords]

A Dr. has to prescribe it. Since it’s not a narcotic docs usually don’t have any issues prescribing it. Hope this helps

[ge99]

Hi, Are you taking medication? This can cause sleep disturbance. You could try writing down your dreams they may be repeating something in your sleep that you are worried about in the day and come out as nightmares, if you can link the two then you can try to talk to someone about your worries and this may lessen the nightmares as you are trying to find solutions. If you lower your stress in the day your mind will be more peaceful and this could help. Talking to someone about your dreams and the content might help too, the other person might be able to see patterns and ways to understand what your mind is telling you when you are asleep. All my very best wishes to you.

[paintingwords in reply to ge99]

Hi ge99. Thank you for listening!

No, I am not on any medication right now. I'll try writing, most of the times I'm so shook or frustrated or angry that I can't bring myself to do anything after the dream. I do talk about my nightmare content to my friends sometimes, since I live in a hostel.

I believe stress is the major cause. I don't how to not stress or worry anymore. It's come such a strong habit.

Thanks again!

[Purple34]

Hi painting words and thank you for your share. I suffer from depression and anxiety and have always struggled with nightmares. They cause hangovers in the morning and affect my mood throughout the day. I was recently diagnosed with night terrors but not sure if it’s accurate as i remember my dreams as if they were real life. My psychiatrist prescribed me A low milligram of praxosin. It didn’t help me. Then I jumped from 1 mg to 5 mg. I have low blood pressure to begin with and this knocked me on my ass. I physically could not get out of bed. I tried a similar medication but it didn’t work at all.. someone recommended some type of eye therapy but I still need to look into it.. I need to find some type of relief because now I’m afraid to go to sleep!

Best ,

purple 34

[Womannchains]

Yes!!! All my life. I feel your pain. They are terrible