Advice Needed To Sleep All Night Without Nightmares

[Skye3]

Hi, I have a recent diagnosis of PTSD from events that happened years ago. I pretty much just pretended they had never happened and started my life over in a new location with no connection to the past. Now, it has all caught up with me and for the past several months, my life is in shambles. One of the difficult areas is sleeping. I cannot fall asleep without various aids - alcohol, benadryl, melatonin, etc. and even with that, I can't stay asleep for more than a couple of hours without taking more. I often have nightmares or wake up and am stuck in kind of a flashback/nightmare kind of thing where I'm kind of awake, but not completely and can't figure out how to get it to stop. I just want to sleep. Any ideas?

I have the diagnosis from a trauma therapist, but don't have a regular doctor and am on no prescription meds. I'm hoping to avoid prescriptions if at all possible.

Thank you for any advice!

 

[angymac1986]

Doing some cardio exercise not long before sleep helps me...then a nice hot shower or bath. Also...some bed linen washed with a nice smelling washing powder.

 

[cherryblossom]

There is a lot of information available here and on the www about 'healthy sleep routines', advice for insomnia, creating a 'sleep haven' etc, etc. But the bottom line is - if you have insomnia due to trauma, and PTSD, then you need to 'deal' with the trauma. You need a trauma counsellor, and you need to talk about the past.

Medications may be of benefit while you are going through therapy, but can also lead to more problems in the future. Alcohol is certainly not the answer. While it my help you to sleep now, any dependency or addiction will only add to your problems in the long run.

Therapy is difficult, okay, therapy can be hellish, but the only way to in any way 'heal' from your trauma, is to face it, talk about, and work out a way that it doesn't have such a negative effect over you.

There isn't a simple solution - sorry!!

You will need to put a heck of a lot of work in, and I imagine that with a recent diagnosis of PTSD, this all probably sounds really scary. It can be done. PTSD and all the symptoms (including insomnia) can be managed (by you). It's a difficult road, and I recommend that you share as much information as you can with relatives and friends so that they can support you on the way. Read and learn as much you can here, and continue to seek support from others here.

I won't lie to you..... I think you have a mountain to climb, and it's going to get very tough at times. But there are many folks here, going through similar, who can help to support you on your way.

Find yourself a decent trauma therapist, who you can learn to trust. Build a rapport, and talk about all the things that haunt you from your past.

Regards
CB

 

[Martin Taylor]

My nightmare tend to come go in waves, sometimes a bunch, then not too many, than a bunch again. The therapy helps. Cherryblossom is right, get started and climb the mountain. Best advice I can give. Good luck. You have friends here.

 

[pandora]

My nightmares come out when my stress levels go through the roof. I do have prescriptions though. I know you want to stay med free and that I think is great but I take immovane and it has an amnesic effect so you don't remember if you dream or not. I took them every night for a very long time, now I don't. just wanted to tell you that this is available if it gets too bad. I know when I started therapy the dreams were bad, could not escape them, now it is not as frequent. Sometimes short term use can be beneficial but if you can do without...probably better.

 

[AngelaMarie]

I have never learned to control the nightmares. They come and go for me. I usually have a cluster of them once a month. For me it's not about controlling the nightmares, but learning how to handle them when I wake up the next day. I try to understand if there is something that I need to learn from them. I also try to deal with the sadness or fear that they bring up. What I always try to remind myself of is that the nightmares are never as bad as the trauma I went through. So, I can deal with them in a positive way. Also sharing them helps. I have a friend on the forum that has been having dreams and we talk about them and I hope it helps her.

Good luck!!

 

[Girl3]

I have nightmares nearly every night. When I was young I learned to control some of the aspects - like 'finding' a weapon when I'm being attacked, or learning to fly in my dreams.

I also try to find the humor in them. My husband serving me a severed human hand for instance. It's the kind of dream you have when someone who is narcissistic and controlling does the cooking. So in the dream I was disgusted not because he served me a hand but because it wasn't cooked right.

I take medication - clonidine - to help, and that softens my reactions to them, while they're happening and how I feel in the morning.

But especially since I have always had such difficulty sleeping, I now rejoice in my nightmares because they mean I have slept.