Vivid dreams and night sweats

[gemp54]

does anyone else get more vivid dreams and night sweats when they go through a really bad patch? Something I read triggered some really bad anxiety Monday morning and I haven't been able to shake it. Right on cue - Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday night I've had crazy vivid dreams and waking during the night sweating, shaking and running all the horrible stuff through my head. The biggest problem is that my main fear my health anxiety focusses on is 'the big C' so night sweats just make me panic even more.

[StagAndHare]

Hi there,

Although I have only a very small understanding of health anxiety, I have also been having vivid/obsessive dreams. Last night was my first night without them for a while which felt terrific (or as good as possible when you're depressed lol!).

My best advice is to try relax completely before falling asleep, concentrating on breathing in and out, tapping a slow pattern or rhythm with your fingers somewhere on your body, or imagining all the stress in your muscles being released from top to bottom.

Of course these are all easier said than done if you find like me your mind runs away faster than you can catch up to it, but practicing concentration away from what's bothering you is a great tool to have anyway.

Also, remember your brain is not always honest with you when you are panicked or stressed. Take some time to be calm and be rational.

Hope this helps, S x

[gemp54 in reply to StagAndHare]

thanks my problem is I have 2small kids and a husband that works shifts. I often find myself desperately cramming house work etc into the few hours I have before bed so I go straight from that to trying to sleep which doesn't help. I'll try what you suggested and see if it helps. Oddly the dreams aren't related to what I'm worried about but its other things that make me stressed so I wake up feeling uncomfortable and horrible. Xx