Please help! Nightmares!

[Pudding098]

Hi there, I'm Kay, I have anxiety, depression including bad derealization feelings. I think i have suffered with at the least derealization as long as i can remember and often as a kid i struggled with these feelings and awareness that liked to haunt me. I have some coping strategies that sometimes work but not always... anyway i also seem to get bouts of nightmare every year like a month or so filled with nightmares ( tends to be September time or april time) so suffered through September and now they seem to be back. They dont usually make much sense and there tends to be nothing really scary happening but i feel fear or dread or loneliness or sad, some that have more substance i try and fix the scenario before i wake up, sometimes trying to push myself back into my nightmare to fix it when really i should be waking up. Its hard to come round to reality and because i get 3 or 4 of these nightmares within a night i wake up tired and worn out. I cant keep going on like this and at my wits end i just want it to stop...help! I dont want to go alseep because i know what it leads to. Any suggestion i would be so grateful.

[Claire1992]

Hi Kay,

I’m really sorry to hear you are experiencing these nightmares! Please know that you are not alone.

I personally don’t have a problem with nightmares, but sometimes I just can’t sleep and my mind is running a million miles an hour from anxiety. I know that a lack of sleep can make things worse and you can just get into this cycle which is hard to break.

From my personal experience it’s important to look after yourself. I know I said I don’t suffer from nightmares but I do have problems sleeping like I said before.

Try to avoid sugar and maybe limit or avoid caffeine, this can make your brain go into panic mode if you suffer from anxiety - doing this helps with my sleep too.

I’m still trying to fill my life with fun and exciting things, that way I can think about happy things and be able to sleep better at night.

If you feel up to it maybe going for a walk in the evenings? That can help you go into a “good sleep” if that makes sense. Also try to connect with nature, try to admire the trees, grass and any wildlife you see. It may help as a distraction as well, and again it’s something wonderful to reflect back on in the evenings.

I personally love burning essential oils before I go to sleep, of course blowing it out before I get into bed.

I enjoy a mix of lavender, camphor pine, eucalyptus and peppermint oils.

I really hope you feel better soon and hope you know we are here for you! 💐🤗

[HearYou]

You don't mention if you have or are currently receiving medical care for the nightmares or if you are taking any type of medication for any reason, even over the counter meds. If you are receiving professional help, tell him/her of any meds your taking and ask about a RX called Prazocin.

I had a serious accident 17 years ago, and experience similar nightmares almost every night, You are already practicing a form of dream changing by trying to change the nightmare before you get up. Mention that also to your professional.

My service dog is no longer with me to wake when the nightmares start. Since he is gone now, my neuropsychiatrist waited a few months to see if the nightmares would change because I was grieving for my helpful friend of over 12 years. They didn't, so I have taken his RX of Prazocin for about one month 30 minutes before I go to bed. They have reduced the number of nights when I have nightmares, but wake up with a feeling that I had them, but don't remember any.

I do not have high blood pressure; Prazocin is a high blood medication, so my doctor had me check my blood pressure every morning for awhile to make certain my blood pressure wasn't too low. It wasn't. Prazocin used by the VA for some of the military with PTSD nightmares, I don't know iwhy it works, but it does.

Hope this helps you, but please have your doctor check to make certain you don't have a blood pressure issue and that whatever meds you're are taking won't be incapable. Let us know how things go, I wish you the best, as I know what it is like to have terrible nightmares.

[Pudding098 in reply to HearYou]

Thank you for your reply, and so sorry to hear about your fury friend i lost mine of 17 years last year, even though i knew she had had a good life it was still hard to lose her. I have been to the doctors about my nightmares but they have dodged the subject but i havent told them about me trying to fix the nightmares so i will try again. Thankyou for telling me of your experience, i knew i couldnt be alone with this problem but everyone i have spoken to so far looks at me like im making it up. Im not on medication for my nightmares but do take fluoxetine which seems to have no effect on them. I have low blood pressure so the meds you take could be a possibility. Thankyou.

[HearYou in reply to Pudding098]

About you trying the "dream change"...My neuropsychiatrist taught me to try to remember the nightmare and think about how I wanted it to change it when I was awake. To practice thinking about that as often as I could while awake, and even saying it out loud if I had a place where people didn't think I was crazy. It worked on one specific dream that occurred in some fashion for years.

But this blood pressure medicine design to lower blood pressure is actually working....The same psychiatrist RX it, and my insurance doesn't want to pay for it as they say it is only recommended for high blood pressure. which I don't have. I found the costs is not high so I'm just paying for it.

I didn't remember any nightmares last night and am taking 2 tablets now instead of one per the instructions of the psychiatrist as well as temazepam to help me sleep.....Often I was into my third night of no sleep before I would give in and lie down around 3 a.m......because just like you, I would rather not sleep than have those nightmares now that my dog is not around to wake me.

Good luck and I hope this helps.

[Claire1992]

I have studied somewhere that smells is one of the biggest trigger for the brain. Maybe when you do find a moment of peace burn some oil? That way you might be able to train yourself to associate that certain smell to happiness and peace? That idea is just that, an idea. I only thought of that now.

Listening to cheerful music might be good too. I’m actually listening to “The Piano Guys” right now.

Everyone is different too, I’ve learnt over the years you cannot ever compare yourself to other people, even on here. We all respond differently to different things and that’s not a bad thing - always remember that. Everyone’s bodies are different and that’s something I am still learning. When people give advice, I try to stay open minded and work out if that is going to work for me by giving it a go. If it doesn’t work, no lost. It was worth a shot!

Thank you for your kind words 😊

If you

Please feel free to keep us updated with your thoughts and feelings!

[Claire1992 in reply to Claire1992]

Sorry, of course you have already thought about the walking part of what I said and if you don’t think that is going to work for you then that’s fine of course! You know yourself better than anyone else does. That’s what I mean 😊 just thought I’d clear that up

[Pudding098 in reply to Claire1992]

Thank you, your information on smell is very interesting, i will see if i can try that and please keep me updated how if you find it helps you. I think you misunderstood my reply, i was saying i have used lavendar/oils in the past and found using it too much can make it lose its effect so i just use it every now and again. I also hope to try the walk you suggested but will need to build myself upto it due to my agrophobia. Sorry if you thought i was shooting you down i honestly appreciate the time anyone takes to answer and offer advice. Thank you.

[Claire1992 in reply to Pudding098]

That’s no problem at all 😊 I’m happy to share what I have learnt over the years.

I’m sorry about the misunderstanding. I find it difficult over messages at times, I definitely prefer face to face, if that makes sense.

Please keep us updated! 😊

[Pudding098]

Thank you, i will definately give that a try seems really hard remembering what nightmares are once awake but will definately try, do you remember them okay? I live in the UK so i dont have to fight with insurance but still the nhs is happier to give cheaper tablets than the expensive ones so i will have to see what doctor says. Would you consider getting another dog or would that be too much, i was lucky that i got a lovely puppy before my old dog died, and though she will never replaced my old dog she is a bog comfort and my little rock.