Dreams too intense

[rincewindrocks]

Ever since I quit smoking weed (court mandated) I've been dealing with dreams that were way too intense. Like, for a good half-hour after I wake up, Im having trouble distinguishing between reality and the dreamworld. And on top of that, the dreams are usually disturbing as fuck, almost always involving me either being shot at or shooting at someone else, sometimes good friends of mine.

Anyone have any advice on how to stop this? either legal herbs or some sort of holistic yoga meditations thingy....I dunno, I just want them to stop, or at the very least, calm the fuck down.

 

[psychomimetic]

Seeing a therapist might help, if you think the dreams may be a reflection of your mental state. There's a lot of herbs you can take for a calming effect- L-Theanine, Holy Basil and Kava Kava to name a few.

Meditating before sleeping every night could help to calm you, so you might want to try meditating for 15 minutes- half an hour at night. It kinda depends on your personality what works. Have you considered Hari Krishna? I'm sure there are dream suppresents, but I've never heard of people using them. I'd talk to a therapist if I was in your position.

 

[Rogue Robot]

Homeless -> HL

 

[artaxerxes]

I've had intense, disturbing dreams since I was a young kid. I actually had one this morning. It was pretty fucked up so I can relate.

I know that a lot of people experience graphic dreams when they've taken a break from smoking, so you might be able to find even more info about specific techniques and supplements if you search for past threads.

I don't know much about supplements, but I practice a couple of techniques that have worked. Yoga before bed, then meditating, definitely tones down the intensity of the dreams.

Keeping a dream journal has worked really well for me too. When I start waking up and I'm in that in-between state, I immediately start writing. (The first sentences are always surreal and sometimes pretty cool when re-read because my brain is still communicating in dream form and it's not yet in the verbal state.)

It seems illogical to expect it to work since the dream is already over. But dreams express conflicts or worries that are active in the mind, so getting them out of my brain and safely onto paper helps me to process them when I'm not aware of them in conscious thought.

Writing your dreams down, then analyzing them, can be great therapy. With practice, you can isolate some of the shit that's causing the dreams, then you can deal with it. Seeing a professional helps too, but there's a lot of work you can do on your own.

 

[rincewindrocks]

Thanks for the responses, I don't have time, money, or a feeling that I have a big enough problem to seek a therapist, but I'll try the yoga and meditation, those sound like something I can handle on my own. I'll check back in a couple weeks, let you know how it is going.

 

[deadhead507461]

I finally started dreaming when I quit weed. I didnt have a damn dream for 5 years.
Its awesome to dream now.

Try taking Melatonin. All natural, it helped me sleep and gave me peaceful dreams during detox.

 

[yucatanboy2]

Let us know how its going, i also have intense dreams fairly frequently

 

[satricion]

The extreme dreams will stop after a while. The time depends on how long you've been smoking, and for how long. I doubt it will last more than a couple of weeks though.

 

[clamjuice]

The couple times ive quit smoking cannabis the intense dream phase has lasted only a week maybe.

I dont care so much about the intensity, rather how much i sweat during them haha. Nothing worse than having to wake up and actually wipe yourself off with a towel and take your boxers and shirt off cause they are so wet, then going to sleep on the floor cause its dry.

I do find that if i do breathing meditation and fall asleep from there that i dont have those types of dreams and my sleep if quite restful. Tends to happen to me when i meditate cause i usually dont sleep well, can be a pain if you only want to do a 15 - 20 min session and you wake up 2 hours later lol

 

[moonshadow82]

exercise and yoga/breathing exercises will probably help.

i have intense, disturbing dreams almost every night, to the point i don't evenWANT to go to sleep for fear of the nightmares. it's horrible. I hope you find a strategy that helps