Nightmares: Was wondering if having... - Fibromyalgia Acti...

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Nightmares

28 Replies

Was wondering if having nightmares is part of fibro, I seem to get them most nights I wake up screaming or shouting.

28 Replies
hamble99b profile image
hamble99b

I believe it's because we don't get to restorative level of sleep.

ladymoth profile image
ladymoth

I think you're probably right, Sandra.

I have this problem too - I have the weirdest dreams and often wake up shouting. I keep a pad and pencil next to my bed, 'cos I'm sure that I could write the most amazing script for a horror film - but I always write complete rubbish, so I guess I don't wake up properly.

Of course, I can never remember the facts the next day!

Moffy x

weetam profile image
weetam

If you are taking medication it could also be a side effect of that.

Thanks all thought I was going bonkers . Starting to get scared to go to bed i must wake the neighbours up.

justlilme profile image
justlilme in reply to

hiya i am in the same boat as u and i also sweat so much in fear! odd isnt it glad i am not a lone thank u for the post.

my worse nightmare was when my husband said i had a massive seizure in my sleep and i was so shocked did not remember he said i was really bad to.

I remember one about the holacaust very scary but most of the nightmares I don't remember, my husband shakes me awake he said I was screaming and some times I hear myself ,

hamble99b profile image
hamble99b in reply to

I have those and remember them.

in one I have to chose a few children out of the nursery who will be saved and kiss and bless those who I can't save Pretending it's ok, cheerful, whilst trying to keep them from realising what's happening.

I am aware of the probable meaning to me and my life, but I wake up distressed. Thankfully many times I realise it's a dream while I'm in it.

oconnor profile image
oconnor

Yes I have really bad dreams ,I can lash out so I'm told and have woke myself up doing it ;-( .

It can be very scary ,some foods that I love and could eat years ago trigger them off ,I try not to eat anything after 5 o'clock just in case .Cheese is a good example xxx Tina

Yes very vivid dreams and nightmares. Its worse when i've overdone it. I get too tired to sleep....and have to remember to save some energy for it.

My sleep has been like going to the movies. Mostly thrillers and horrors....I did have a comedy once lol

I've very recently stumbled on Quercetin which is a natural phytonutrient...a natural antihistamine too, but apparently it mops up substance p.....which all fibro people have too much of. Substance p interfere with sleep.

I started taking it 2 weeks ago. (bought on amazon) I take 200mg in the morning and 200mg at night. I've had no side effects which is the first thing that normally puts me off. I'm not having the dreams ...

I'm never sure if its co incidence. I don't trust meds at all....but so far I'm impressed.

I'm starting to feel sleepy at night as opposed to exhausted but wide awake.

I'm really hoping I've found something that actually works for me. ... Time will tell

I am hurting more in the morning....but that does wear off. I'm thinking because I'm used to moving around at night....hoping it will settle down.

carella profile image
carella in reply to

I've been having nightmares for some years now and put it down to heightened temperature - sweating and feet on fire - but will order some Quercetin immediately! thanks for that!

Hi thanks for your replys, didn't have any dreams last night for a change think it helped telling people about it, it's so good to know there are people on this site that listen and have the same experiences and understand what we are going through with this horrible fibromyalgia. Restful sleeping everyone. Anna

littlemisshurty profile image
littlemisshurty

I only have weird bonkers dreams usually involving someone or something that has died last night I was cloraformed and taken to a family wedding.yes I would have to be I hate them weddings and the family...except my parents and bro and sis the rest r nothing to me.but any way I got there in a awful dress I wouldn't have worn to be told by another guests mother to change cos . Her daughter's dress was same...I said I didn't want to be here and I don't have a change you live here let her change..I had to have been flown there drugged...then I saw mum looking sheepish being nice...I was mad...then I went in a room where everyone else was and my grandad was there it looked like him but also liminal Blair..yes I don't get it either lol

littlemisshurty profile image
littlemisshurty

Lional blair stupid text

carella profile image
carella in reply tolittlemisshurty

i'd be worried too if Lionel Blair turned up in my dreams lol!!

Haha Lional Blair LOL

littlemisshurty profile image
littlemisshurty

Yes I have no idea how or why I haven't seen him in ages..my grandad looked nothing like him..I have had bad dreams all my life..esp when I lived at home..it was stress and fear and that's what causes n.a. dreams high temperature General unwell.I had a dream when I was 16 there was. War and I was hiding in a tower and my bro and sis were lined up to be shot..I hid but mum told on me and I was next...it carried on where it left off the next night..I was so depressed and cried I couldn't get it out of my head...I was told it's. Dream don't be silly but it was so really it left me devastated...I wasn't getting on with mum..I still walk on egg shells and I know she tries not to say things now but it's not easy..she's very judgmental an I think that's why in the dream she handed me over I felt I wasn't good enough everything was wrong..and I only done as I was told I was to afraid not to but it was still wrong..I think mabe my horrible childhood and the lack of help from the other family members putting us down when they knew nothing of what we went thru.. now we're all I'll...all 3 of us never married and no kids..so I know why I have these dreams..but that's all they are dreams..I had one of those where you fall and wakeup a co you like hours ago I swear if window had been opens I'd have flown though it I jumped so fast I nearly fell out of bed ..I have a hand rail so I can pull myself up...that's what saved me lol

LindseyMid profile image
LindseyMid

Disrupted sleep, including possibly remembering lots of dreams (because you half wake up or wake up during an REM dream stage) can be a symptom of Fibro. Some medications used for Fibro - such as amitriptyline - can effect your dreams too. Might be worth asking your doctor if any of your meds could do this. Or the site below is useful for checking out side effects as it lists all those found in research, not just the common ones.

rxlist.com/script/main/hp.asp

I had a nightmare last night but don't remember it my husbands said I was shaking it was like something out of a horror film' I have a bad headache today don't know if that's a cause of the nightmare or not.

sue32 profile image
sue32

I have terrible dreams and, sometimes, nightmares!! I have 1 recurring dream where I'm forced to move out of my home by the council. I've lived here for 27 years and no one will tell me why I have to move!! It's awful and I cry in my dream and cry when I wake up!! XX

Sandy247 profile image
Sandy247

I have recently been having the most dreadful nightmares. So bad that I have woken up screaming. Other times my boyfriend has come running into the bedroom and had to gently wake me up because I wouldn't stop screaming. The worst was after I'd woken myself up screaming but thought I was still in the nightmare and became hysterical - crying and begging my boyfriend to help me.

I thought I was losing my mind! Thank God I found this posting.

I've just ordered some Quercetin now.

I will let you know if it helps.

Thank you for putting my mind at rest

S x

nagpago profile image
nagpago

Im really glad i came accross this. I have suffered from the most horrendous nightmares for years. people ie doctors and councellors get a bit upset when i tell them about what happens in them. I recently whent to a sleep clinic where they said I had very broken sleep in all stages of sleep, including REM/dreaming sleep. Apparently this is typical of people with Fybromyalgia - we wake up so often (presumably due to the pain) that when we wake up in REM; we remember the dream. The only thing to combat this is to try and consolidate sleep - that is to say try and have a regimented routine and no naps during the day - rest if you must, but dont sleep. this is to train the body not to wake up so much during a nights sleep. presumably then your REM, and othe stages of sleep will be less disturbed, therefore being more rested and not remembering the dreams.

However ive always had the dreams and not always the broken sleep. and ive worked out ive had the fibromyalgia since a child as i have always been exhausted. Looking on the bright side I now have something to aim for. My sleep hygeine is better than most, ive been desperate for years! ive had more anti depressants over the years than I care to remember and my degree is in psychology. I am also an NLP practitioner and have worked in mental health for years. so im pretty up on a lot of this stuff.

My main focus is now on emotional pain, for which painkillers do nothing. coming off anti depressants/anti anxiety which didnt help much in the first place and now give me massive withdrawl if i dont take them. Not Helpful!

So I take baclofen at nght - whichis a muscle relaxant, which I was originally given for migraines. these physically relax me, therefore reduce my anxiety and pain whilst im asleep. which means im better rested, dreams are less distressing, I dont sleep with my jaw clenched or have scremaing matches in my sleep.

A masive cause of pain in people with FMS is tension, the est alternative therapy for this i have found is Bowen. Im aso trained in Reiki, done accupuncture, love aromatherapy, bach is v effective. but for actual progressive muscle relaxation, Bowen is where the money is. I hope this helps. xx

glassbutterfly profile image
glassbutterfly

Hi,I can relate to this too. I have the most horrific nightmares and vuvid dreams every night made so much worse by the fact that I bite my tongue and sides of my mouth severely in the short periods that I manage to sleep.

Sarah-Jane profile image
Sarah-Jane

Is it possible that the lack of sleep, meds and daily fears all perpetuate this senario? I do not have the problem exactly. Every few weeks I have several nights of very poor sleep and put this down to PMT. My monthly soon appears but never during this time. The poor sleep leads to more vivid dreams which are memorable. If there are other concerns, such as losing my job, money worries, then my dreams are worse. However I cannot state my Amitriptyline is the cause as it is not all the time. I am epileptic which means I am on Tegretol - so maybe that helps countermand things and prevent the vivid dreams you are having. How to prevent it? Hmm, well I use meditation for sleep on my Ipad using Podcasts. The exercises you are talked through help relax me and I find I drift off easily, within seconds, if I do it every night for a few weeks. I use a headset so I do not affect my husband but also to cut out his snores!

I wish you all well and a good nights sleep. Soft hugs

Bacaloca profile image
Bacaloca

I too can relate to this I have very vivid dreams. I also throw my arms about and my partner has to suffer the bruises. I apparently have elbowed him kicked him and punched him during my sleep. He still sleeps in the same bed with me he must really care about me!

Slimpickens profile image
Slimpickens

Just wondering 6 years on are you still getting nightmares? I have just started having them in the last 2 months. Wondered if was part of the fibromyalgia condition.

Mizunderstood profile image
Mizunderstood in reply toSlimpickens

Just started having these myself. After my 2nd (2 nights straight), l decided to google this morning and came across this post. How long have you been diagnosed? I've diagnosed myself recently and in the process of changing doctors as my doctor is a bit of a nonbeliever and not done anything for me, except for prescribing painkillers and exercise.

thespianglobe profile image
thespianglobe

I also get a lot of weird dreams but they are not nightmares and they do not frighten me although I remember them with perfect clarity. I have thought very deeply on this and have come to the conclusion that in these dreams I am always challenged in some way either to complete a task or sort out a problem. As I posted elsewhere I had a very dysfunctional childhood as my mother was severely bi-polar and I had almost no control over my life but was tossed about like a leaf on the wind. I think that this is at the root of many of my fibro problems and has a lot to do with the dreams. The fibro pain is pretty dreadful and I would love to talk to someone about all of this but have no idea how to access any talking therapies, my GP is not interested.

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