Nightmares

Sarah-Jayne

Gold Member
4 out of the past 7 nights this week my OH has woken me up in the early hours of the morning as im crying, shouting, mumbling, being hysterical in my sleep. Been having horrible nightmares of my family passing away and OH cheating on me/leaving me.

Ive always suffered with bad nightmares but this week has been the worst in a long time.

Does anyone else suffer from them? If so, how do you cope and deal with it?

xxx
 
I suffer with them periodically. They usually come when I am really tired/unwell/very stressed.

I just have to take a minute or so when I wake up to calm down, not a lot else I can do. I am lucky as it happens very rarely now. I used to find that distracting myself with something nice just before sleep really worked - i.e. reading a nice book, planning holiday with OH, whatever - anything that made me feel happy!

Sorry to hear that you are suffering at the moment. x
 
Thank you. Ive tried reading books before bed, even tried relaxing baths! Contemplated sleeping tablets but cant see that working as its not drifting off to sleep thats the problem. Hmmm.
 
Are you on star week? That makes your body temp when sleeping my warmer than usual, and that can lead to disturbed sleep.

Hope they go away soon. xx
 
I always had the worst of my nightmares when I was pregnant - I think it was to do with being nervous about things going well.

Is there anything particularly bothering you at the moment? I wouldn't stress yourself about it too much, it will pass and you will go back to normal sleep pretty soon if nothing is really wrong, but if there is something worrying you then talking about it may help to clear your mind.

Try and stay away from high levels of stimulation before you go to sleep at night, put the telly off a good hour before, don't drink caffiene after you had your evening meal and steer clear of difficult to digest foods late at night. But most importantly don't be going to sleep worrying you might have another one. Coz that is a pretty surefire way to guarantee that you do. Think about all the good stuff in your life as you drift off, the things that make you happy..

HTH
 
Just try not to stress about it as I have found in the past that this causes a viscious cycle. The more stressed/worried you are, the more prone to nightmares you are likely to become (IMO). Also, I talk it out with my partner and that makes me feel more relaxed about it for a start as I don't worry that I may be annoying her by disturbing her in the night! x
 
Why would it scare him? I always tell my boyfriend about my dreams - especially where I ended up hurting him after finding him cheating, etc. Dreams tend not to literally so it's not like you're accusing him of anything. My boyfriend finds some of my dreams hilarious. Just last week in my dream I met him in a nightclub and kicked him full pelt in the ribs, knocking him flying to the floor!!! very random but i was angry for some reason.

Are you anxious about anything? Might be worth discussing your dreams with your GP if they really affect you.

I can normally work out why I've dreamt that I've dreamt from what's been goin on around me and what kinda mood I've been in.

The really bad dreams Iv had about death can haunt me for days after though and its pretty awful.
 
I dont want to scare him because they mostly invole him leaving me/passing away in really horiffic and graphic ways.

Im not anxious or woried about anything other than usual day-to-day stresses but never let them get me down.

I work for a psychiatrist so may chat to him to see what he thinks.
 
Perhaps it is best that you speak to your boss, but you don't have to give exact details of your nightmares to your OH do you? Perhaps just explain that you are having a few nightmares (about nothing specific) and don't know why. Don't people often say that nightmares reflect an underlying insecurity - for me its insecurity regarding my body image. Perhaps that's an area to explore?

Ultimately I wouldn't talk to your partner about it if it will only make you feel more stressed - that defeats the object of telling him. Just be guided by what YOU think is the best course of action. Really feel for you, hopefully this is just a brief bad patch!
 
I used to have horrific nightmares when I was a teenager.. I was suffering with an eating disorder & depression at the time & the combination gave me severe anxiety - which led to these really awful nightmares (& eventually mild hallucinations!). They were worse than the stuff horror movies are made out of.. I could have sold my nightmares & I'd be a freakin' millionaire! Lol. I never told anyone about them for fear of being locked up.. Lol.. So I feel you on that one.

The best thing I found to help with my nightmares is to face them head on. I used to have a recurring nightmare when I was a child which frightened me to death every time I had it, but then I decided I was fed up of being frightened & talked myself through it.. that took a lot of the fear away because I had analysed it.

Now I only tend to have nightmares if I'm sick, but there are the odd occasions that I will have them out of the blue (Last night I dreamt that my younger brother died).

Have you tried to look up what they mean? I find that to be quite relaxing after a bad dream because often the really awful parts don't necessarily mean that there is anything to be worried about..
Eg - dreaming that you are dying or that you die can mean that you are destroying an old part of yourself that you don't like. I had dreams that involved me dying throughout my treatment for my ED & I took it to mean that the bad part of me was going.
You're trying to lose weight, maybe your mind is coming to terms with that by having this dream?

Hope you're able to get a good night's sleep soon. x
 
Thank you all. I have looked it up and found its probably all down to my own insecurities. Will have a word with my boss and will try to relax more in the evenings! xx
 
I'm glad, good luck hun! x
 
hi hon, i have awful-horific dreams on a regular basis, and often sleep walk aswell.. strangly that is usually bought on by sleeping in a room with dark/old fashioned furniture.

Ever since i fell pregnant iv been having vivid nightmares every single night, its so odd. Although not unusual.

I also quite often get 'nasty' thoughts, just out of the blue.. throughout the day.. i often think if anyone were in my head, they'd think im a complete physco. my thoughts and nightmares often revolved around accidents, people dying in movie like ways, and re-occuring dreams from childhood revolving around certain events in my life.

all i can say is relax and have windown period before bed. i often make an effort to watch somthing lighthearted or a comedy as it can influence your dreams being the last thing you thought of. x
 
I too have them sorts of thoughts, at least im not alone! So want to talk to my psychiatry boss about it all but dont want them to blow it out of proportion (which they probably will)! I just want to be able to sleep at night darn it!

Anyway, ive had a bath and a nice hot meal so now im just winding down in front of the TV (watching Primevil which probably isnt the most relaxing of programmes lol) and will watching something light hearted later.

Thank you all xxxxxxxxxx
 
glad im not alone either! sometimes il catch myself thinking something awful and il think 'oh my god,why am i even thinking this!' and desperatly try to put it out of my mind. Its horrible! im not even sure what brings it on! x
 
Your definately not alone. When young I had a reaccuring dream of this dog popping out of a bin while walking down an ally with my grandad and it would just bark and bark till i work up screaming!! Then about 3 years ago i had the same dream my dad drove off a cliff in a white van and it was all over the news and i was watching going "thats my dad"!! he drives vans as a living, but at that time it was a red one, now its a white one like the one in my dream... it terrifies me and I just hope this doesnt happen! its a dream. And I know what you mean about the horrible thoughts, I think its down to us women over thinking things, and we go through every eventuality even the bad ones!

If you take a bath, just thought id let ya know, take it 30 mins before bed time as its not the warming which sends you to sleep, its when your body cools down that it triggers the hormone to say your tired. was on a great program called 10 things you need to know about sleep. its all on youtube if you want the links x
 
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