Chronic nightmares

[StrutterGear]

I'm not sure where to really put this, and feel a little bit silly telling you this, but I suffer from chronic nightmares. I get them nearly every day and it's fucking horrible; just today I woke up thinking me and my girlfriend had broken up.

I used to get really bad night terrors when I was a kid, and then got them intermittently from the ages of 14-17/18. Now it's nearly every day. I never have nice dreams, just fucking nightmares.

They range from:

- Getting in fights and getting stabbed repeatedly
- Running from zombies and getting trapped in dodgy looking schools and shit.
- Getting attacked by all sorts of creatures and ghosts (the stuff I see in my nightmares I'd like to remade in a film, they are that fucked up)
- Seeing family members get killed or attacked

I used to love horror films but I rarely even watch them anymore to see if it makes a difference and it doesn't. I've tried going to sleep early, I've tried getting 3 hours sleep, 8 hours sleep, 12 hours sleep, and nothing makes a difference.

I'm turned 21 a few days ago and I'm getting sick of waking up not knowing what's going on, waking up in cold sweats or with my heart thumping through my chest.

Does anyone know what's going on? Is there any type of medication that'll stop them? I'm thinking of going to my GP about it but don't know wether he'll think I'm just being a mug about it. It took me 4 hours in the waiting room of the walk in centre when I had pericarditus just to get sent to ER and wait another 5 hours so don't want to waste my time if they're not going to help me.

Any help would be appreciated.

 

[Ella84]

I also suffer from chronic nightmares. Not every day, but at least once or twice a week. I think mine started after I was mugged a few years ago, so sometimes I wonder if it isn't some sort of post-traumatic thing because I never used to wake up yelling or thrashing around before that. Can you think of any event in your life that preceded the nightmares that made you feel like you do in the dreams - scared, helpless, etc?

The other thing is, what position do you sleep in? I sleep on my side or stomach, but I move around a lot in my sleep and whenever I wake up from a proper nightmare I'm on my back. Apparently sleep paralysis is more common when you're sleeping on your back (definitely the case for me). There's also research that says that you get less oxygen to your brain when sleeping on your back, which can induce nightmares.

 

[StrutterGear]

I cant think of anything traumatic that happened to me to be honest. Not suppressing anything, just always stressed with money and shit - but isnt everybody?

I try and sleep on my side because I've got massive back problems that mean if I put too much pressure on the base of my spine it hurts a lot. I'll see where I end up tommorow morning though.

 

[NeighborhoodThreat]

Are you taking any medication or supplements for sleep? I've noticed things like valerian root (which is very weak for me) and melatonin can cause extremely vivid dreams, sometimes very intense nightmares.

 

[Pagey]

I used to get chronic nightmares as well - it would always be exactly the same type of situation, I would be trapped in a given space and would end up being killed or dying some other way. This happened every single night, sometimes multiple times a night, for years, and it was f*cking terrifying, to say the least. Sometimes my little sister or my mom would die as well, half the time murdered by my father, so it was quite disturbing as well.
Anyway, this is going to sound completely cliché and over-used but therapy was the real break-through for me. I'm not talking about psychoanalysis or any kind of dream analysis - in fact, my nightmares were hardly ever brought up. But dealing with my other issues actually made me realize how pertinent those nightmares were to my current state of mind, and now I've come to terms with that I get them a lot less, albeit fairly regularly.
When you're in a bad state of mind in general, ie. depressed, stressed, etc, you're much more prone to nightmares. My suggestion would definitely be to try to address those types of things in your 'conscious' life first

 

[Ella84]

Another thing I've noticed is that my nightmares get significantly worse for around 5-7 days after taking MDMA. Maybe even something like 5-HTP could be contributing towards your bad dreams?

 

[What 23]

Maybe something you are consuming. Do you ever fast?

I find I have insecure dreams if I am eating foods I am allergic to. And/or lots of starch. I don't really know, but I know my diet effects my dreams.

 

[StrutterGear]

Another thing I've noticed is that my nightmares get significantly worse for around 5-7 days after taking MDMA. Maybe even something like 5-HTP could be contributing towards your bad dreams?

Yes I have also noticed this ! There must be some kind of connection. I wish my ones were limited to post drug use but it happens all the time.

I eat a lot of fresh food, cook everyday but a lot of protein and carbs. Drink a lot of energy drinks though and I smoke. I think it might be stress related, but because I've been affected by them since a really young age (from night terrors as a toddler). Maybe a chemical misbalance in the brain or something?

 

[What 23]

Energy drinks might not be helping.

I would recommend a fast to find some kind of baseline, just to see if anything in diet is effecting. Not that you have allergies to foods, but you could be sensitive to some stuff and in waking you just successfully repress any difficulty your body has with it, but they are expressed in your dreams as difficulties.

Try not eating for a day. Taking it easy. Drink lots of water. Then see if they subside. If they do at all you might be able to go from there, and experiment with diet... but I would try this first to rule it out before adding anything else (drug or otherwise).

 

[Ella84]

It might help to just keep a journal for a couple weeks looking at your daily habits. Develop some sort of shorthand just to note what you eat, drink, smoke, etc. and then see if you can see any patterns emerging on the days that you have nightmares.

Is there anything else unusual about your sleeping habits? Do you have insomnia or wake up feeling like you're not rested? Are you a light sleeper?