Can you go back to sleep after having a nightmare?

[Aidan]

Hi Aidan here,

I’ve been having nightmares every night. I’m unable to go back to sleep after that. I don’t remember when was the last time I had like more than 3 or 4 hours of sleep. I’m too scared to go back to sleep because I don’t want to go back into the nightmares because it’s too real and too painful for me to handle. The nightmares are from my traumatic experiences. It’s on repeat every night. But lately, it’s changed. After almost 3yrs with the same thing over and over again, now I’m aware that I’m having a nightmare, that I’m in a dream...

Anyone here knows or maybe share the same experience as I do? Or maybe do you guys want to share ideas what’s best to be done? I’m in a slump here..exhaustion’s my new best friend. Sleep deprived.

 

[Freida]

I don't have words of wisdom but I'm doing the same thing if that helps. Mine are right after I go to sleep - usually within the first hour. They are getting more clear, which means more scary and yep -- for the first time I'm aware I'm dreaming. I got really mad at hubby last week because I kept yelling at him to wake me up and he wouldn't. Then I woke up and realized that was part of the dream.

I can usually get back to sleep eventually, after I get up and check the house

 

[Multitudes]

It's been a few years since my trauma ended, though I'm still in the habit of light sleeping, due to unpleasant dreams that still shock me awake.
I've created my own safe place, a snug, quilt and blanket-stuffed, nest of a bed with a laptop always on, a site like this always open - for light and company, should I have the need to sit up, distract myself and dispel my 'mares.

I know I'm safe, now.. my subconscious will catch up eventually.

Peace to you, Link Removed

 

[Friday]

I have nightmare cycles. The point where I'm just like "Okay, motherf*cker, bring it." ie get pissed off enough to roll over and finish the dang thing / go back to sleep immediately... Doesn't actually herald the nightmares stopping anytime soon... But it does mean I'm about to be getting more & better sleep. Which helps my days.

 

[Deleted member 12723]

I used to have nightmares every morning at two am when I was in therapy before many years ago. I do not ever go back to sleep after waking up from a nightmare, rarely have them now, yet I still have them once in a while.

Watch for when the themes begin to change as you become more empowered in your waking life. I went from unable to whisper for help to out loud screaming the word help and would wake up my poor husband. They all changed and I am no longer tormented from the same nightmares like I used to but that has been so very many years ago.

I am back in therapy for a tune up and the last nightmare I had recently was from the trauma that my sick and dysfunctional daughter did to me over an extensive period this past year.

In the nightmare I was angry at her for stealing some things from me and there was an angel from the forum there on my side trying to help me so in retrospect, I see this as actually a changing theme in my nightmare that did wake me up and haunted me for the rest of the day. I hope that this helps.

 

[Gadgie]

I know what you mean, after Ive had a nightmare, I’m too scared to go back to sleep, in case I have another one? Even if I did go back to bed, I couldn’t even think about sleeping? My mind goes into overdrive, and all my emotions kick in at the same time, then come rushing out!

It’s like when I was in the ambulance service, doing on call, and came home after a messy shout, I could never go straight back to bed, I used to just sit quiet for a while, trying to clear my head from what I had just seen and done.

I used to stand at the back door with a cup of strong tea, and have a smoke.

 

[Aidan]

Thank you everyone for replying to my post. I’m grateful to read that some of you guys are not having it anymore, that’s awesome and give me hope that it’d stop for me too.

It's been a few years since my trauma ended, though I'm still in the habit of light sleeping, due to...

I’ve never tried to have a safe place or anything with me, thank you I’d love to try this method of yours. At this rate, I’m willing to try anything anyway because I really do need my sleep. :(

I know what you mean, after Ive had a nightmare, I’m too scared to go back to sleep, in case I have an...

This is exactly it. I couldn’t stop what my mind and emotion are doing to me whenever it hits me. It’s frustrating indeed...


I took coffee to help me focus on my day because of work and sleep deprived is very bad. I tried to extend my sleeping time because that’d make me feel so tired and I thought to help me sleep better but it didn’t work. I’ve also reduced my coffee intake because I thought maybe it’s not helping me to sleep. And that doesn’t work either. It just made me more cranky and it’s driving me mad. So I started back with coffee to help me focus on work but continue with extending my sleeping time. I just don’t know what to do anymore..

 

[Ineedtoheal]

Hi Aidan here,

I’ve been having nightmares every night. I’m unable to go back to sleep after that. I...

hello Aidan,
Nightmares aren't always a bad thing, sometimes there may be a message or something it is trying to reveal & want you to see, or it could be something that happened, or is about to happen. You say it has been occurring for 3yrs, can you think back to something you did, or something that occurred around that time?
Have you tried herbal teas or even lavender under your pillow to assist with sleep,make sure the temperature of your bedroom is cool with good ventilation.
Keep a notepad & pen next to you, so that when you wake up you can record what you see, this may help to start putting the pieces of your own puzzle' together - our minds at night are like singing instruments for the sounds, pictures & music they play - if you tune in well, you get to orchestrate how you want The script to read.
At the worst stage of my PTSD - terrible trauma received from abuse, workplace bullying/harrassment, cyberstalking & unhealthy controls, deception & political/power games - they weren't just nightmares, but terrors, body shaking, uncontrollable, refusal to sleep, barely able to dress or eat, lights hurt, too much noise or 'hustle-bustle' would trigger anxiety exhaustion - chronic fatigue - from being forced to watch the reruns of everything that happened. How the nervous system gets shot to pieces, I remember another Aidan - once making a comment about "having no patience for people that live on their nerves", people behave this way due to situations that happen to them, not because they choose to be like that.
Have you tried winding down with a relaxation tape? There are some great phone apps for this. Reading is a light activity to calm you before sleep. Definitely avoid any stimulants i.e.: video games, coffee, TV, too much alcohol & heat.
I hope you sleep well soon

 

[Gadgie]

Talking of a safe place, here is part of a poem I wrote years ago,...................

I long to leave this frightening place
To break away, from the human race
To reach for a cloud, up in the sky
A welcome place, where I can cry.

 

[Ronin]

I tend to do something physical.

Even if it's reminding myself I can move toes, something simple like that on days I can't darn move. Something grounding me in the now-and-body, even if everything else remains confusing.

And some times I just go back to sleep. Painful as shit was, I was more constructive about solving the shit and giving a damn, so some times worth revisiting. Not for others in that nightmare, but for who I was.

 

[scout86]

I've never had a nightmare in my life, but I have the occasional bad dream. And, somehow, it's important to me to make that distinction. When I had my adorable English Bulldog, I'd wake up, hear her snoring away beside me, feel like things must be ok, and go back to sleep. Doesn't work as well without her. Sometimes I can go back to sleep. Sometimes I get up, make a cup of hot chocolate, and sit in the other room and read for awhile. If I try to just lay in bed and go back to sleep, I tend to keep reliving the dream. I need something different to break me away from that.

 

[trying2movefwd]

Takes me a long time, but yes maybe 2 hours later.