Why the fuck is this happening to me??

[scarydreams]

Has anyone ever been through a phase of having awful nightmares? How can I stop it happening?

basically I’ve never had a problem with nightmares before but now I get them every night. It’s always the same type of dream where I’m in my room looking at myself sleeping. Sometimes I’ll stay in my room but other times I’ll walk about my house but there’s a really menacing thing there and it makes the most awful laugh and I get a horrible dread feeling because I know it’s watching me and coming for me, then I run back to my room and go to bed and I end up waking up. It’s exactly like the movie insidious except obviously I’m not actually watching myself sleep, I’m just dreaming that I’m doing that, and I’m dreaming about the menacing presence but when I wake up it’s still bloody terrifying even though i know it’s just a dream. When I wake up I can hear the laugh ringing in my ears for ages afterwards, it’s horrendous

this has started out of the blue and I don’t understand why or how to stop it. Yesterday after it happened my heart was beating over 175bpm when I woke up because I was so terrified and my bed and pjs were absolutely drenched in sweat. I’m scared to go to sleep now because I know it’s going to happen.

please tell me someone has some advice on how I can stop this? I’m fucking petrified to fall asleep now because I know it will happen.

In the book "why we sleep" recurrent nightmares are noted as being caused in PTSD patients by a failure to process the trauma/emotion associated with a particular memory. This I think was a result of noradrenaline levels being too high during sleep. A drug called Prazosin was used to lower this and resulted in a significant drop in recurring nightmares. I don't know if or how one can get a prescription but may be worth looking into

I'd really recommend why we sleep (the book - it's be Matthew Walker) - there may be other more achievable suggestions in it. It also has a very soothing audible narration and is quite nice to fall asleep to.

Do you drink any alcohol in the evening? Wine certainly makes me have vivid dreams.
I've also had the sleep paralysis thing and it's absolutely terrifying. I second what a previous poster said - try to growl or shout - it makes you wake up and realise you can be in control.

If I get these it's hormones - periods when I was younger, pregnancy and now menopause.

My friend swears by soothing audio books if you don't want to go back to sleep. She rates Austen.

Does it happen at around the same time every night? If so, might be worth setting an alarm for a little before that time to wake you up and sort of “re-set”.

I went through a phase some years ago where every night I would have nightmares about someone trying to kill me (not anyone in particular, just some unknown person). Turned out to be a manifestation of my anxiety, after therapy and temporary medication the nightmares mostly went. I did get used to the nightmares after a few months but yours sounds scarier than mine were, more menacing.

The two things I do, is tell someone about it irl, I apologise for needing to bore them but vocalising it seems to stop it for me.

And keep telling yourself it isn't real, as soon as you wake up think- this isn't real, say this isn't real I find this eventually sinks into my subconscious and in the dream I'm saying this isn't real which eventually makes it better.

Peri-menopause? I had lots of nightmares when I was first peri-menopausal. After a while I manage to laugh them off and started to actually look forward to what messed up things my brain would come up with next.

Try cutting out caffeine earlier in the day. It worked for me. Hope you sort it soon, OP, it is horrible x

I have nightmares when I sleep on my back - they stop when I turn to the side.

Although I often go through phases of having frequent ,vivid, frightening dreams, it seems strange to have exactly the same dream every night and for the dream (and the post-dream experience of sweaty pjs and racing heartbeat) to adhere so closely to horror movie tropes. Do you spend too much time thinking about horror plots before going to bed?

I often have the same dream type again and again, but without the sense of it being exactly the same dream. There is so much additional detail on top of the repeated features.

How old are you ? I got this in peri menopause, started taking magnesium, ditched alcohol, and no cheese after 6pm.

Look at a book about understanding unconscious thoughts dreams
the symbol meanings ect,

Also analyse your dream at a distance with reflection and mediation

keep a diary on this subject..

Personally I would be curious about a dream like that - your unconscious is trying to tell you something. Is there some area of your life where you feel like you're being too hard on yourself, mocking your efforts? Is there something you're avoiding? Maybe write the dreams down when you wake up and look at them again once the nightmare has worn off and see if you can work out what your unconscious is trying to bring your awareness.

Mind you I listen to a lot of This Jungian Life podcasts so I am biased, it may be medication or being too hot as well!

Do you sleep on your back? If so switch to sleeping on your front.

The things to consider are:
-medication
-diet
-hormonal changes
-stress in your life
-mental health changes
-environment - e.g. watching/reading stressful things

Things you can do to help are:
-meditation/other relaxation technique
-review diet
-practice alternative dream endings
-change bedroom environment (lighting, temp, bed position)
-change bedtime routine

Try mindfulness meditation. It seems to help your brain process stressful stuff while you are awake.

This to start with.
If there is anything that threatens your live as you know it (redundancies at work, divorce, moving away...)
Or it could be a viral infection. Sometimes they have this kind of symptoms pre actual fever. Unlikely though, it is only a low % that you get this one.

I had this with nicotine patches any new meds, changes in diet, withdrawing from anything basically has anything changed at all

It sounds like it might be sleep paralysis, which is common, usually stress. But you can also ask your local C of E or Catholic priest to come and do a house blessing - they do that all the time.

Nothing wrong with seeing a GP and a priest to cover all the bases.

Could you be menopausal or peri-menopausal?

Are you taking an anti depressant or any anti anxiety medication ? A couple of decades ago I was prescribed citalopram for a brief period following a traumatic bereavement. I had something similar happened after starting the medication. It wasn't until I finished taking it, and the dreams stopped, that I realised it was probably the medication. Its a common side effect of SSRI class medication but no one told me at the time.

Are you taking any opioids? They can do funny things to your dreams.

The ministry of a priest stopped my recurrent terrifying nightmares. He anointed my forehead and hands, said a prayer and blessed me and that was it. The nightmares went instantly. I still get the odd one, once or twice a year but mine were every single night.

I would have some the therapy, this is unprocessed stuff coming up in your dreams.