I Know My Nightmares Are Not Reality, But My Body Feels Like It Really Happened.

[Marguerite]

Last night I had a very scary and violent nightmare. In my dream, I was so frightened that I was shaking violently. When I woke up, my body felt that I had lived this experience, even though I know I did not. Five hours later, I am still on edge. Is it possible to have physical experiences from dreams?

 

[The Albatross]

I do have body reactions from dreams/nightmares. I keep my nails short because I clench my fists so hard that I was cutting into them and both hands were numb. The thing is, on waking, if it is not a memory retrieval (memory fragments of my life that were formerly missing) I spend some peaceful time in the mornings grounding and setting myself in the present. I can and do have nightmares but they do not cross into my waking day as often.

Management is key to calming down your body and mind. With practice, it pays off.

 

[zymogram]

When I have nightmares & remember them I get up in the night & write them down & try to ground myself. I tell myself why I am experiencing is not happening now and reread that in the morning. Unfortunately, most of my nightmares I do not remember & my whole day is "colored" by them. I am dissociated and struggle to try to stay in the presence. It is so hard to work that day. I feel like I am in flight or fight all day. I don't know how to get over this. I used to take propranolol in the night & it helped a lot but it makes my heart rate too low so that I can't take it.

 

[Mariajose]

Is it possible to have physical experiences from dreams?

I know I do, often. I not only hurt myself, but my husband has had his shares of blows when I am in that state. I also scream and yell in my sleep which is very disrupting to anyone in the same house as me... I have woken up needing to throw up or in such state of panic that I have to medicate. I wish I could tell you what helps me, but so far nothing really does.

 

[Marguerite]

Thanks for your responses, everyone. It sucks that my subconscious is able to get me so upset. The images are so vivid that I cannot get them out of my head. Even with grounding, these images become false memory of a past event.

 

[Fart Smella]

I too experience vivid nightmares, they are violent and most often are easy to recall during the days following. I wake confused, angry, frightened and too scared to fall back asleep, even if I could.

Only recently diagnosed with PTSD and extreme anxiety my med's haven't really kicked in yet. My counsellor is great (I'm one of the lucky ones I suppose) and it feels good to get things off my chest by telling her of those nightmares.

Yeah, you hit the nail on the head - "it sucks" ... wishing you all the best Marguerite.

 

[chaoticwings]

I've been having vivid, physically painful dreams since about age 12. I'm 24 now. My mind doesn't usually rest due to the nightly barrage, my brain goes from one state to another and back again, and the body (lucky jerk) gets to rest after we get to sleep. I used to think maybe someday I'd stop having such vivid dreams and night terrors but now I try to work through the particularly bad/interesting ones through art or discussion.