How Long Have You Had Nightmares?

[piratelady]

In speaking with my therapist yesterday, he asked how my sleeping was and has been. I was honest and said that I wake from a nightmare probably at least once or twice a week since April. This shocked him (he even gasped).

I am wondering how often others experience nightmares. Do they go away for long periods of time or do you have them regularly?

 

[cherryblossom]

Seriously? That shocked him. I've been having nightmares since at least 2002. When they were at their worst I would have nightmares every single night (if I managed to sleep!). But I'm better now ;). I only get nightmares 2-3 times every week.

 

[Innordinate]

Since I was a kid. So, about 17 years. Sometime's I'll go a week without one, rarely I'll go a month without one.

Some are really vivid and stick with me for a while. I had one 3 years ago, non- reoccuring, I've only had the dream once but I can tell you the entire thing still. Some just wake me up at night and don't follow me back to sleep.

Has your t dealt with PTSD before?

 

[Ice_Fire]

I'm surprised your T was so surprised. :confused: I probably have one or two a week, the rest of the time I'm probably not sleeping at all! :rolleyes: Although, I've had three nights in a row where I've slept through pretty well!

I've had recurring nightmares for as long as I can remember, but they've become regular/'worse' in the last two years.

 

[Deleted member 12723]

I am on a medication, risperdone. It makes me forget my nightmares. So I still have them, I just do not remember them. Every once in a while I can remember the dream. I have been doing that lately.But they do not haunt me the next day. I have had bad nightmares for years. I used to get up at two am every night. It was really rough.

I get a much better sleep now. I take trazedone and the risperdone. I feel so good about getting good sleep. I remember when i was having nightmares every night. I used to call it my night life, it was ridiculous. I am doing so much better now. I am grateful for anything that helps me.

 

[piratelady]

Thanks for the responses guys. Yes seriously, and yes he's dealt with PTSD. With the way he reacted I thought maybe I was a lot worse than I thought. Glad to know I'm "normal"

 

[kers]

The frequency you report doesn't seem shocking to me, either. I remember my psychiatrist being a little amazed at my sleep patterns once, too, and I found it kind of disconcerting! I wonder, too, if the gasp response might have anything to do with a sympathy response? Like, "How awful to have to have nightmares that often." It IS pretty crummy to have to deal with them, even if it's par for the PTSD course.

 

[piratelady]

Speaking of, I had more nightmares last night. I can't remember them, I rarely do. My old therapist used to always ask me about them, I tell him that I usually wake up scared, then forget them pretty quickly after waking up. I sometimes wonder if there would be benefit in my writing them down right away when I wake up so I will remember them more often, of if that would just make it worse.

 

[Innordinate]

That makes it worse...for me. I had a t tell me to do that, write them down. Made it worse. Just remembered more that way and the resonating effects seemed to stick with me longer than when I didn't remember them. But, I remember a lot of them neways, by a lot probably somewhere between 1/3 and 1/2 of my dreams. I guess because a lot of my dreams are like poorly written horror stories, only slightly disjointed. Hard to explain. Some of them make 0 sense but most of them do. Most of them are things that could or have happened. Those ones usually happen in the morning if I managed to sleep through most of the night. The ones that wake me up in the middle of the night I'll remember but by the next night I'm ok.

Sometimes I think it's almost better to not sleep through the night ever.

If i take a sleeping pill and have a nightmare they seem worse too.