Nightmares as an adult. Anybody find something that helps?

Embrace them? I don't know..I have nightmares every single night. I enjoy them.

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 dont know if this will help but molasses calms your nerves down before you go to sleep. brew some tea and drink it so you can just ease into the sleep. i use it religiously since i have problems with stress and anxiety and falling asleep.r

My son has night terrors. Both of my younger brothers had them too.

My son only gets them when he's sick. He had a massive sinus infection that was only found when he had a head CT scan. I don't wanna get you fearful, but do you feel stuffy? It might just be my kid, but it's worth looking into!

Embrace them? I don't know..I have nightmares every single night. I enjoy them.

Exactly! Go with it! It's like watching a scary movie as a kid...........if you just root for the bad guy it's like your winning:) lol

Posted twice somehow... My bad!

Lavender sprayed ove pillow and no dairy after 8 pm :-)

Lavender sprayed ove pillow and no dairy after 8 pm :-)

I was just going to suggest lavender, too. Sprayed on the pillow, or burned in an oil burner in your bedroom just before sleeping. (Don't burn while sleeping.) I sleep so soundly when I do this that I can't even remember my dreams when I wake. Some don't like the smell of lavender alone so mixing with a little vanilla will have the same calming effect.

I used to have them if I would eat something before bedtime, I'd get pain in my stomach but in the dream it would translate to being punched in the gut. Now I make it a rule not to eat anything that's hard to digest before bedtime and haven't had a nightmare in years. I didn't feel any pain in my stomach unless I was asleep so it took me a long time to make the connection.

edit to add: I see people suggested embracing them. When I learned some karate and jiujitsu I started fighting back in my dream, but I would still suffer pain and made it last longer. Better to find the cause and make it go away.

edit2: with children I know that when a child is deprived of sleep, or if he falls asleep with a light shining on his eyes or a noisy environment then he's likely to have it .

Why? Why would you do that...now I'm gonna have nightmares.

How do you feel about lucid dreaming? I rarely have night terrors, so I'm sorry they happen to you. I usually know that I'm dreaming and can take control if things go wonky. A last resort is *kitten*.

Don't eat before bed if you don't do that already. I dunno. I have nightmares ever since 2 years ago when I almost died in a house fire with my daughters. I wake up with panic attacks. Not fun. I find though, when I talk my sleeping pills, I'm more calm and they don't happen as often, or same with my anxiety medication. Not that I'm saying meds are the way to go, just what helps me with mine.

You are not alone. I suffer from very bad/disturbing dreams that affect me even after I wake up. From feeling like I never slept at all, or having a difficult time reassuring myself that what I experienced was in fact just a dream. I have found therapy has helped tremendously as well as avoiding sugar before bed.

People who suggest to enjoy them don't understand what a truly horrifying dream is. They are not like regular dreams, they are not mini movies. Usually with a dream your subconscious as well as your conscious brain state is aware at least to some degree that you are in fact asleep.

These dreams completely fool your subconscious as well as your conscious brain as to what is real. Now that may sound "fun" to people who haven't experienced it, I can tell you it is not fun at all.

They can be very dangerous to anyone who tries and wake, or console you. I have gone so far as attacking people trying to wake me or stop me from shouting, thinking that my life was in danger. Therapy is key. In my case, I suffer from post traumatic stress disorder and facing and dealing with my trauma has helped alot.

I went through a really bad patch when my ex and I split up. I was having nightmares that someone would break into the house in the night (because I was living on my own after he left) I started taking some tablets called Karms (I think) it was like a herbal way of reducing stress and anxiety before bedtime. I also try and meditate as much as possible to some calm music this helps to calm you down. I know it sounds weird but maybe buy a dream catcher, I am not saying they work but your mind will make you think like the catcher does work, if that makes sense?

i have nightmares too; really bad. then i practiced lucid dreaming and it kind of helps them a lot. you should pick a time of day where you arent tired at ALL and lay down, and try to go to sleep. you`ll slip into this weird kind of half sleep/half awake realm where you can dream but KNOW that youre dreaming, and practice controlling your dreams so that way when you finally DO sleep, you have the tools to control the nightmare.

sometimes i sleep with the light on so that i can wake up easier if i am in a nightmare. then once i am awake i get up and make sure i am FULLY awake so i dont go back to sleep and have that nightmare again.

limit caffeinated beverages, definitely. also maybe if you have a hot cup of caffeinated chamomile and honey tea before you go to bed, it will help you? its more calming than anything. good luck babe!