I've recently (past 2-3 weeks) really gotten over my anxiety issues. I have next to no symptoms anymore, and my thought process is much clearer. The only issue I have now is sleep.
Recently (past 2-3 weeks), I've had vivid dreams almost every night, and I remember them fairly well. Since my anxiety spell, I've had sleep trouble since July. It used to be getting asleep AND staying asleep, but now I just wake up 1-3 times a night, and usually fall back asleep within 10 minutes.
To me it's progress, I'm getting to sleep easier, and staying asleep longer, but now I've got these VERY weird dreams. Most aren't nightmares, they're just acid trips. I don't do any drugs, take any medication, eat late at night, etc.
Has anyone experienced this? Did it go away? Did you do anything to promote its disappearance? I know stress/anxiety causes this, but I don't feel stressed/anxious at all. I know it's not dangerous, but it's annoying.
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tjs2112
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I am dreaming more now that I am on Lamictal. I cannot tell you why that is. Sometimes I have trouble recalling if something happened in real life or in my dream because the dreams elicit such strong emotions.
I hadn’t really thought about it. I think I wake up from them. I don’t stay awake though. I’ve switched to extended release melatonin and I’m sleeping better than I have in a long time.
Depending on the medication and how long you been taking them they can cause vivid dreams. Mine did when I first started taking an ssri. They went away after awhile. I don’t remember my dreams.
That’s the crazy thing — I’m not on or recently off any medication! I’ve had interrupted sleep for some time now, but it’s gotten so much better. However, the constant acid dreams are new within 2 weeks.
Oddly enough, my daily attitude is the best it’s been since everything started. The bizarre dreams are the only thing that’s still of any concern to me.
I know you said the dreams aren’t nightmares, but are they disturbing at all? Maybe they fall on the same spectrum as a nightmare? I don’t know much about dreams, but maybe something related to the subconscious? Sorry you’re going through that. I had vivid dreams on medication once and I didn’t like it at all.
I'm not sure about disturbing, either. I'd say they're stressful and uncomfortable in their vividness. For example, in one dream I was an ant in an anthill during one dream (except I was still myself in appearance). I felt claustrophobic, and disoriented. Once I emerged at the top of the hill, I was enveloped in a bubble and watched myself float upwards and away from everything I knew. Then a voice said, "...and he never saw his friends again". I can't make this stuff up!
It may be that the discomfort comes solely from the fact that I'm waking up during most of them, so I associate disruption of sleep with these dreams. Who knows!
I would not stress over it at all, but rather learn to like it & use it as a tool.
Like you say you have recently beat anxiety so maybe your subconscious is now letting go of fear & when your asleep you are more open to messages. I know my mind us far too over active when im awake so my intuition kicks in when im asleep I am more receptive then rather than in constant flight mode.
your not on meds so its not a side effect,
I have had vivid dreams all my life, with & without meds.
some have actually been so weird & nonsense you would think I was on acid if I told you lol. But most of them have either been a kind of vision into something that is coming or just a reflection of what I am going through or feeling around that time.
Granted i have always had anxiety & some times I have dreams that seem so real I can wake up in such a bad mood or anxious mood like it really happened, i.e bf cheating on me (fears) etc, you can really feel feelings in dreams sometimes.
I suggest u get yourself a nice little pocket sized note book - keep it by your bed & make it a dream diary,
Date it and write what you saw or experienced - colours/shapes - day night etc are all quite insightful symbols in dreams.
Write it however u feel too,
Sometimes I will note the scenario or what I can remember for example this week I saw a policeman at my door, sunflowers & lillys.. 😴
I have a dream book by Pamela J. Ball (10,000 dreams explained) Its been very helpful for years for me I wont buy another one maybe an updated version of this one,
its very informative it teaches you how to understand your dreams & even explains the states of mind before falling asleep & before waking, which is usually the bits of dreams we remember,
Anyway try the dream diary you never know when you look back in a year things might add up & you may have the same dream more than once.
I really like your suggestion to try to like it. That's how I got over my initial anxiety symptoms -- acceptance. It's definitely worth trying. I read about trying to "rewrite" bad dreams, or undesired dreams, with a new script. So if you have a dream where you're abandoned somewhere, you rewrite the dream to where you're having fun by yourself. Then you meditate on that.
I'll definitely try to reflect on the dreams, especially writing them in a more positive light so that I'm not dreading the dreams.
Quit smoking + unrelated stress + depression which all triggered anxiety and insomnia. It all comes and goes but now after 8 weeks smoke free i still have anxiety and wake up during night every 1,5 - 4 hours.
After I quit smokea I also experienced lots of extremely vivid dreams which was a bit disturbing even as I cant remember really dreaming much for the past 2 years ( i worked a lot).
Now that all is cleared and some remaints od anxiety and ocd and racing thoughts still remain.
It's not bothersome overall and it appears that simply reading one subject, exercising and overall just being in the moment is a good solution. Night sleep has changed a bit - I dont have fear or panic but I have trouble going to sleep - lots if instrusive thoughts. I hope it is my anxiety dying off.
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So my experience - write down anything that bithers you in a form of question and give an answer. If you think about bad answer think about alternatives.
WRITING is a powerful tool since it allows you to think about your problems more serioualy.
E.g. - I worry to lose my job, I havent been doing too good lately.
Answer - theyll kick me out.
Better answer - If i worked better theyd keep me. I usually am late, lets fix that first.
Answer your own negative voice is super helpful. I read about it in "Feeling Good". I've tried to verbally combat all irrational/overgeneralized thoughts with more logical (and often kinder) answers.
While I can't control getting up in the night and I try to remind myself to be patient and let the conditions for sleep happen, it's frustrating sometimes to not get your way. I used to have trouble getting to sleep, but now I just try to focus on how nice my covers feel on my feet, or the breeze from the fan. If I get a little anxious about how long it may take, I either reassure myself that I've always taken a bit to fall asleep and to relax, or I just get up and do something I enjoy. After a bit, I try again. The less pressure you can put on yourself to sleep, the better.
I only have problems sleeping at night. Once its morning or daytime I have almost no racing thoughts and can lazily sleep for hours. I don't know about the quality of such sleep, but the more I TRY to sleep, the better refreshed I feel, so I think my body hits the deep sleep phases all the time. For example - my memory works fine, my concentration is ok (I usually get a bit worked up mentally if I get idle or start thinking about mental issues too much (quite classical anxiety signs)), and even after going to gym 2 days in a row, muscle soreness remained for only 2 days, meaning body hit the deep sleep, released hormones that make the body repair itself.
Waking up during the night is quite frustrating, and it makes going to sleep an unpleasant activity, as you expect waking up.
I also have very vivid strange dreams. I can usually remember every detail the next day. Mine haven’t gone away and I haven’t found a way to deal with this but I understand how hard it can be. Sometimes I feel like I get no sleep because I’m so deep in these insane dreams
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