Nightmares as an adult. Anybody find something that helps?

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  • Everend
    Everend Posts: 90
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    Like I said above, what you are describing sounds alot like what I have dealt with. Again, in my case it is caused by PTSD. I highly recommend therapy. You may have some unresolved issues you aren't aware of. I know in my case, I wasn't even aware of the PTSD, until I explained all of my symptoms to therapist. Your brain essentially gets stuck in a loop of thinking it is in a survival situation. This can cause many issues one being terribly disturbing dreams.

    I don't even like referring to them as "dreams"...More accurately I would describe them as a second reality, one that can be truly frightening.
  • miriamwithcats
    miriamwithcats Posts: 1,120 Member
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    Do you watch/read a lot of horror genre? It doesn't sound like you do as you are bothered
    by scary dreams but thought I'd ask the obvious anyway. Some medications can cause
    nightmares as well like antidepressants, some blood pressure medications, and possibly
    even sleep deprivation (which doesn't help, I know.) Sleep apnea or restless leg
    syndrome may trigger them as well as post traumatic stress disorder. If you have any
    concerns in these areas mention them to your doctor.

    I would suggest getting a sleep study done. That way you will know if the nightmares are caused by something very easily treatable, like sleep apnea. Even small hospitals are opening sleep clinics since there is so much awareness now of sleep apnea. The little county hospital in Iowa where I just had my hernia repair done has its sleep clinic in a small house near the hospital, so it is very homey! Some sort of sleep rythm dysfunction is the most frequent cause of constant nightmares. Then look at PTSD as a cause. Many people who have been through traumas do not get labeled as having PTSD but they have the recurring nightmares related to the trauma. Therapy, especially the desensitization through rapid eye movements while recounting the trauma, can work but do NOT allow yourself to be sucked in to "handholding" therapy. That won't work and will just make you feel like a victim and helpless. I am sorry, but constant recurring nightmares are more serious than the lavender scented pillow/ dreamcatcher/ hot tea before bedtime aides that will help with occasional mild nightmares. You need to see professionals if you want to have restful sleep. And if you want to lose weight, you have to have restful sleep.
  • sakisus
    sakisus Posts: 13
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    If you dont do already, start logging your dreams daily. It doesnt have to be the whole dream. A picture here and a feeling there. Anything you remember from the dream. Not what you think it meant or where it came from after you woke up.

    If you dont want to go to a professional, just study your logs. Dont read books about dreams and myths and so on. It will confuse you even more. There word "Suppose to" does not belong in the dream world.
    See how many times specific words, pictures, people, feelings, are appearing in your dreams. Record your reaction you had in your dream, not your reaction after you woke up.

    The rest is all you, to find what makes your mind trigger those emotions in to you and how to change it.
  • Bentley2718
    Bentley2718 Posts: 1,690 Member
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    Embrace them? I don't know..I have nightmares every single night. I enjoy them.

    Really?

    it's such a horrible feeling...the one last night was so vivid I could actually smell what was going on...I've never enjoyed them :(

    I hated them as a kid, but they are kinda cool now. Once in a while I will have a really gruesome sad one which I do not enjoy, like a family member dying or something, but other than that I enjoy them. It's like a mini movie while I sleep!

    I think you're confusing what might be called "action adventure dreams" with nightmares. I have both. There is a huge difference.

    My nightmares improved significantly with anti-depressants, but since you're not interested in that as an option, have you considered why you have such terrible nightmares? I know mine get worse with stress, so better stress management, including regular exercise, relaxation, etc., is helpful. If you can figure out what factors make them better or worse, you can attempt to manipulate your environment--keeping a journal may be helpful. Also, seeing a therapist might be helpful if that is an option for you.
  • tomomatic
    tomomatic Posts: 1,794 Member
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    My bad dreams usually involve something that I have anxiety about. Teeth falling out, having to repeat a grade because I moved around, Ex-GF's, fights with friends... that sort of thing.

    I've had dreams about zombies and ninjas and all sorts of crazy stuff. They're fun and don't terrify me.

    I've also survived one drive-by, a couple burglaries and two armed robberies. All before I turned 20. Real life is kinda scarier than that crap on TV.
  • miriamwithcats
    miriamwithcats Posts: 1,120 Member
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    Like I said above, what you are describing sounds alot like what I have dealt with. Again, in my case it is caused by PTSD. I highly recommend therapy. You may have some unresolved issues you aren't aware of. I know in my case, I wasn't even aware of the PTSD, until I explained all of my symptoms to therapist. Your brain essentially gets stuck in a loop of thinking it is in a survival situation. This can cause many issues one being terribly disturbing dreams.

    I don't even like referring to them as "dreams"...More accurately I would describe them as a second reality, one that can be truly frightening.

    I have nightmares from PTSD- from an abusive marriage. All of my nightmares consist of me trying to save my kids from my exhusband's abuse. They are really horrific- I wake up sobbing. And the entire next day I have to struggle to maintain a decent mood. I am on disability now for PTSD- it got so severe it interferred with my last three jobs, causing me to quit two because I couldn't handle it, and to be "asked to resign" from the last one. I have successfully fought the mood disorder I inherited- it didn't interfere with work, but could not handle the PTSD stuff. And since I worked in mental health, I am leery about seeing a therapist I knew in other venues to have the eye movement therapy done (there are only a few qualified here in Iowa).
  • PetulantOne
    PetulantOne Posts: 2,131 Member
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    Like I said above, what you are describing sounds alot like what I have dealt with. Again, in my case it is caused by PTSD. I highly recommend therapy. You may have some unresolved issues you aren't aware of. I know in my case, I wasn't even aware of the PTSD, until I explained all of my symptoms to therapist. Your brain essentially gets stuck in a loop of thinking it is in a survival situation. This can cause many issues one being terribly disturbing dreams.

    I don't even like referring to them as "dreams"...More accurately I would describe them as a second reality, one that can be truly frightening.

    I had the same problem. I used to wake up screaming and crying almost every night. Only I wouldn't really be "awake" for a few minutes until I started thinking rationally again. I also had/have PTSD. If that's the case for you, you could try therapy. (therapy does not have to mean drugs too.) The only down side to that is as you deal with the problems head on, sometimes the nightmares get worse before they get better. I had a hard time sticking it out because of that. The thing that ended up helping me the most was my husband. I think I feel safer now that I'm with him, if that makes any sense. I haven't had any nightmares in over a year now.
  • Mguilmot
    Mguilmot Posts: 232 Member
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    Therapy.
  • areemeyer
    areemeyer Posts: 9 Member
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    Take Magnesium + Calcium 1:1, only 30% of the NA population actually get the essential minerial of magnesium that we all need. There are some pretty bazaare side effects if you don't get enough. Even if you eat really healthy, our food chain has been depleted of the amount we used to get from the soil (due to the use of pestisides). If you take 2 tablets daily for about a week or so, you should notice a difference by the end of the week.
    Good Luck, I would not suggest trying to accept them. Then again I am not into watching horror movies, even in my younger years.
  • runnerchick69
    runnerchick69 Posts: 317 Member
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    As a kid growing up I had night terrors. My parents would try to wake me up but couldn't...and I do recall having vivid nightmares growing up as well (can remember what they were about to this day...I do realize that those dreams were likely not my night terrors, as you're not supposed to be able to remember night terrors at all).

    Here's the problem, I, to this day, continue to have vivid and horrifying bad dreams...almost nightly. I'd say minimum of 5/7 days/week. It is to the point where I do not sleep well...and almost don't feel like I've slept at all when my alarm goes off because it feels as though I've been awake the whole time I was dreaming.

    Anybody else have this problem of nightmares and did you find a way to lessen them or make them stop? I am not looking to medicate...but maybe find a way to relax before I sleep or something that might help me.

    Thanks in advance.

    I have night terrors off and on and there is no reason for them nor do I know what brought them on. I have been reading before I go to bed which makes me very sleepy. They typically happen within the first few hours of sleep and if I am exhausted I don't have near as much of a problem.
  • neverstray
    neverstray Posts: 3,845 Member
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    I had them really bad as a kid. They progressive got worse as I got older, until they just got completely insane. If you PM me, I'll tell you about how I've gotten rid of them. I still have them once in a while. I have a few that continue on and on, it's crazy...ones from childhood that just keep going.

    Anyway, if interested, PM me and I'll tell you how I resolved most of it.
  • rainbowbow
    rainbowbow Posts: 7,490 Member
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    Therapy. :)
  • MFPBrandy
    MFPBrandy Posts: 564 Member
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    If the green olives don't work... :-)
    Seriously, consider therapy. There are a couple ways it could help you. First, if there's an underlying cause, it may help you figure that out, which would likely decrease the dreams (that's how it worked with my PTSD-induced dreams, anyway). Second, a therapist might be able to teach you to dream consciously, and control those dreams. So when something bad/stressful starts to happen, you take control and turn the dream in another direction. To borrow an example from Harry Potter, you'd learn to turn the boggart into Professor Snape wearing the vulture hat. I know people that can do this intuitively; others need coaching, but it can be taught.
  • myfitnessnmhoy
    myfitnessnmhoy Posts: 2,105 Member
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    Green olives.

    I wonder if it is a placebo effect?!

    Grandma always told me to flip my pillow over each night before I go to sleep to keep nightmares away. And if you wake up from one, flip it again. True enough it freaking works. I have always thought it was an in the head thing.

    Both may be placebo effects, or there could be something in the olives (fat, sodium some enzyme, whatever) that has a calming effect.

    As far as the pillow goes, that is more likely to be placebo, but it also forces you to change your head position ever so slightly and sleep on a cooler bit of pillow, so the position or temperature change might actually make a difference.

    But, hey, if something works, it works.
  • laurenellenmarie
    laurenellenmarie Posts: 331 Member
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    I actually barely dream. Once every 6 months or less...
    I did go on anti depressants though, they made me have nightmares almost every night.
    Once I decided to go off the meds, I've yet to have a bad dream since.
    Like some other people have said, it could be something in your diet.
  • juicygurl1
    juicygurl1 Posts: 195 Member
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    I really don't know because I don't have scary dreams, but then I don't watch scary movies or else I would be terrified to close my eyes. I found a website called Dream moods, or dream dictionary to research what my vivid dreams mean. Maybe you need to find out what your nightmares are telling you about your waking life? Look I’m no expert so this is just a blog with a suggestion but it might help without medicating.
  • runnerchick69
    runnerchick69 Posts: 317 Member
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    Embrace them? I don't know..I have nightmares every single night. I enjoy them.

    A nightmare and night terror are not the same thing. Trust me, if you had a night terror you would know it. Typically I wake up screaming and swinging because I am trying to combat whatever it is I think is trying to get to me. My heart is racing so fast and so hard that it feels like I'm having a heart attack. I can't breathe because my heart is racing and even as I start to wake up and realize what is going on I don't stop screaming. It is like I'm in this inbetween of reality and the night terror and I know I am but at the same time whatever it is within that dream is very real to me too. I have literally scared my husband half to death LOL I had one last summer when all the windows were open and he was afraid someone was going to call the police :wink: I also get nightmares but those I just wake up from and I might even feel sad about something in the dream that seemed so real but these I can handle.
  • MdmAcolyte
    MdmAcolyte Posts: 382 Member
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    I also have waking nightmares a lot of the time...where it takes a good 2-3 minutes AFTER I wake up for things I've seen in my dream to go away.

    Example: Little girl standing at the foot of my bed, an arm reaching around the door like someone's coming in, a dark figure standing in the hall between our room and the bathroom...Or a difficulty breathing because I'm so frightened when I wake up-a distinct feeling someone's in the room even though there's nobody there.

    Might want to call GhostHunters afterall... Lol
  • PantalaNagaPampa
    PantalaNagaPampa Posts: 1,031 Member
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    I frequently have nightmares, product of a very active military career. The trick is to be the baddest muther fracker in the dream. Fight back, kick *kitten* and own it! I have woken up a few times swinging, kicking, cusing, kicking *kitten*!

    This isn't dream related, but speaks to my mental state when sleeping. One nigth my wife got up due to insominia. She decided to turn on the light as she needed to find somehting, so she thought she would just place a pillow over my eyes to keep the light out. As soon as she placed the pillow on my face, I sprang awake, fists clinched and inches from striking her. Luckily she laughed it off, partly out of shock and suprise. That is how I deal with my dreams too; combat them.
  • Everend
    Everend Posts: 90
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    I frequently have nightmares, product of a very active military career. The trick is to be the baddest muther fracker in the dream. Fight back, kick *kitten* and own it! I have woken up a few times swinging, kicking, cusing, kicking *kitten*!

    This isn't dream related, but speaks to my mental state when sleeping. One nigth my wife got up due to insominia. She decided to turn on the light as she needed to find somehting, so she thought she would just place a pillow over my eyes to keep the light out. As soon as she placed the pillow on my face, I sprang awake, fists clinched and inches from striking her. Luckily she laughed it off, partly out of shock and suprise. That is how I deal with my dreams too; combat them.

    My wife can attest to this. I dont wake screaming, I wake fighting. Only once has my wife been on the wrong end of this and it ended in a bloody nose...After alot of apologizing we can laugh about it now. She understands it is PTSD, and I am seeking therapy for it. Funny thing is, in almost all of these dreams in one way or another I am trying to protect my wife and son. I agree with you, I have a better time with these dreams when I fight.

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