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nightmares


Guest Denny

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lately i've been waking up in the middle of the night freaking out after my nightmares. i can't breath and i can't seem to distance myself from the nightmare. i've tried everything from journaling when it happens to prescription sleeping pills in the hopes of sleeping through them. it's getting to the point where i am scared to go to sleep.  does anyone have any practical advice on how to deal with this?

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(((((HUGS))))) Hun i dont have any advice but i do have the fact to tell you that your not alone. Sometimes that is a comforting feeling to know that if your awake many others are too or if your having very bad dreams others are too. Maybe it would help for you to write down your nightmares or dreams for as much as you can remember, you dont have to post them if you do not want to but i always find writing is one heck of a tool. That way your mind isnt plaguing itself with each and everyone of them Hope this helps..please take care.

Donna =)

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Denny,

I am so sorry you are having such a hard time sleeping.  I want you to know you are not alone.  I don't know how practical this is, but before you go to bed you might try visualizing safe, fun places or memories.  Distance yourself as far away from the bad stuff as you can...right before you go to bed.  I know there isn't a cure.  For me...I practice a lot of positive visuals in my mind.  Hope that was a little helpful at least.  Take care, hon.  You are not alone.

me

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Sorry to hear this. :(

My own nightmares have not been so bad. Hot baths, exercise, reduction of caffeine have helped out. Talking to a therapist (for recovery, but about the nightmares, too) has helped, too.

Hope that was a little helpful at least. Take care. You are not alone.

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just a note on ambien, like all sleeping pills they are supposed to be for short term use, many are used as long term (been on ambien for 2+years)... a hint with ambien is take a potassium supplement if used for more than a few days... ambien depletes your natural amounts of potassium. but yeah, should help with nightmares and sleep.   less severe solutions might be kavakava and or valerian root.

angel

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I also suffer from horendous nightmares. I have learned that if you think about something good when you are trying to go to sleep it seems to help. At least some of the time. Try not to let your mind wonder to the things that upset you. I know this is easier said than done. But it might help you to get a good nights sleep. I hope that it helps you out hun. Good luck. *hugs* :)

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  • 5 weeks later...

Boosting...couldn't find Lis's thread, but perhaps we can build on Denny's.

Louise xxx

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  • 1 month later...

I have a little bit of advice for you because I have the exact same problem and I know what its like its scary overwhelming. What I try to do is right before I fall asleep imagine myself I'm some where else I try to picture as much as possible to keep my mind focused just on that. Its something a councelor at the hospital taught me when I came out of surgery to take the pain away but I also try to do that to make the nightmares go away. See if that works.

HollyAnn

TigerCat016@aol.com

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  • 2 weeks later...

I have really bad nightmares too, and I have a little advice for them that might work.  My counsellor told me this the other day.  When you first wake up from a nightmare, try to imagine it ending a different way.  Imagine that you are getting control of the situation and that the person harming you or making you afraid is being killed or growing smaller, or whatever works.

I am still not sure if this works, only because she just told me recently, but try it out.  It can't hurt, right?

Stay safe.

MoonFyre

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I have to sleep with the lights on sometimes. I wake up not being able to breathe screaming in my head, crying, clutching my little teddy bear named Rattlebutt. I have such VIVID dreams, i dream in particular about this one moment. Its awful, you are DEFINANTLY not alone.

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Guest kat tahut

i have a very close friend who lives on a different continent to me. i complained to her about my nightmares once, and she told me that since she couldnt be there to look after me in real life, as i was falling asleep i had to imagine she was holding me safe, and stroking my hair. she promised she would keep me safe from bad dreams, and so now whenever i have had a bad day & i'm worried i might get nightmares i just think of her looking after me & she keeps the bad dreams away.

is there someone like that for you who you could maybe come to an arrangement with? i hope so :)

love & hugs,

tanni

xxx

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Quote: from MoonFyre on 6:28 am on Jan. 16, 2002

I have really bad nightmares too, and I have a little advice for them that might work.  My counsellor told me this the other day.  When you first wake up from a nightmare, try to imagine it ending a different way.  Imagine that you are getting control of the situation and that the person harming you or making you afraid is being killed or growing smaller, or whatever works.

I am still not sure if this works, only because she just told me recently, but try it out.  It can't hurt, right?

Stay safe.

MoonFyre

It does work. I used to have nightmares..many many moons ago... and when I would wake up from a nightmare I would change my dream when I fell back asleep. I haven't had any real nightmares since....except for last night. That was the first terrifying dream I have had since at least 1990.

I can't say for sure why I had a nightmare but I think it's because of being upset the last couple of days. Someone here upset me so much that I was having trouble sleeping. Then last night I had the nightmare... so I think they are connected.  Your dreams are your minds way of telling you something. By writing down your dreams you can see if there is a pattern to your dreams and maybe pin point what it is that is triggering you to have nightmares. Just a thought.

Hope you have a peaceful nights sleep. :)

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  • 1 year later...

Boosting and wishing I would have seen this a couple of weeks ago.

Cathy

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(((((Danny))))) I have nightmares too, but I can never wake myself from them... if you have a trick to pulling yourself out of these dreams, I'd love to know... I can't even seem to take myself out of them when I'm barely asleep.

all my strength to you

-Tears

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  • 5 years later...

Hello I suffer from horrible nightmares myself If you have a partner have him/her gently wake you if you start twitching or talking or jumping in your sleep. If you are doing any of these things you are most likely having a nightmare.

I have also found sleeping with a pet or a stuffed animal will help me (if it does not trigger you)

(((((((hugs if ok))))))))

Piggit :)

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  • 1 year later...

The nightmares I have always seem so real. It used to be a lot worse, I would wake up in tears, shaking, not able to get a certain image out of my head. It is a little better now because I am not alone when I go to sleep. Knowing that the person i trust the most is right next to me is a huge comfort. If ever she is away, I sometimes sleep with the light on. Other times, I don't even sleep at all.

Danny.

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  • 7 months later...

The nightmares I have always seem so real. It used to be a lot worse, I would wake up in tears, shaking, not able to get a certain image out of my head. It is a little better now because I am not alone when I go to sleep. Knowing that the person i trust the most is right next to me is a huge comfort. If ever she is away, I sometimes sleep with the light on. Other times, I don't even sleep at all.

Danny.

My nightmares are so bad that i have tried to stay awake so they dont happen , i cant handle waking up thinking he is there,pr seeing certain things, now i have found out i am pregnant as a result of HIM and his ..... and am so tired i cant stay awake , so i go to sleep and have nightmares only instead of waking up and getting up , im so tired i go back to sleep and it happens again :( :( not sure what to do :(

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  • 3 weeks later...

Hey

My partner also has bad nightmares. Some are worse than others but it seems impossible to wake her up. Its pretty obvious when she is having one because she shakes, breathes heavily and sometimes talks in her "sleep." Sadly sometimes when i try to comfort her during a nightmare I become the person in her dream and she tells me to get off her and please dont hurt her again :( Obviously when this happens I just leave her alone and let her wake herself up.

She tells me that in her nightmares she sees her abuser and re-lives what happened to her, it seems so real and after really bad ones she doesn't realise that she is safe when she wakes up.

:(

She doesn't feel ready to post on here herself yet but wants to talk to you all about this.

Edited by Luke
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Please pass on that she is not alone in this and there is support here when she is ready.

Rather than touch her in her sleep you might want to try calmly, but clearly, talking her out of the dream. Tell her that she is safe and you are there. Repeat these calming phrases until she is awake and feels safe again.

I hope this helps :)

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Please pass on that she is not alone in this and there is support here when she is ready.

Rather than touch her in her sleep you might want to try calmly, but clearly, talking her out of the dream. Tell her that she is safe and you are there. Repeat these calming phrases until she is awake and feels safe again.

I hope this helps :)

I do that constantly, it just doesn't have any effect :( I think some sort of grounding might help as she loves to play with my hair while shes having bad dreams.

oh well, cheers for the reply xxxx

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  • 2 weeks later...
daybydaybyday

I have awful nightmares any time I smell cigarette smoke or beer anytime throughout the day. I get up in the middle of the night and spend the rest of the night on the couch with the lights and TV on more times than I care to count. Sometimes I bring my dog out with me. As soon as my husband leaves in the mornings (it's still dark out) I turn on the lights and TV in the bedroom if I'm in there. I'm pretty sure that my anxiety is the reason that one of my dogs can't sleep when it's dark and my husband isn't home.

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  • 1 month later...

i wish there was a good solution for all of us :/

just know you're not alone.

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  • 9 months later...
SmokeWriter2014TS

I didn't use to have nightmares too often. I've been having them more lately, which is strange to me. I've started opening up to someone, slowly, and want to trust yet am feeling exposed at the same time. Perhaps they are connected? I block out what happens in them, then I wake scared, alone, and have difficulty getting back to sleep. I want to know what they are, what happens in them, but it's too scary to know. Does something help you remember, after you wake up? Advice appreciated.

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  • 11 months later...
Buddhas_heart

I had a nightmare where I was being raped again and my boyfriend was being held back and couldn't save me. The next one I had that he was in he saved me I think I loved that nightmare, ever since he's been like my knight in shining armor saving me from the darkness and the ever present sadness that threatens to over take me.

I am going to try the fixing the ends of nightmares to a better ending

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