Sufferer Newbie With Nightmares

[sonicwhite]

Hello you guys. My name Daniel and I have nightmares every night. I take prazosin but with little impact. I was wondering. Will I ever have my dream life back. I was going thru a psychosis in 05 and was locked in jail with no advocacy to help me. I thought it was the end times and I thought cannibals and zombies where after me. I was in there for two and half months just to ask God please save me. I get out and I go to the hospital but the psychosis was a bad one and lasted five more months. I recover and I didn't have nightmares until 2010. Now what can I do to ease these nightmares. Do they ever go away. Does it ever get better. The dreams consists of gory bloody things. Very disturbing dreams about atomic bombs going off and the Anti Christ rising. Do these dreams ever get any better?

 

[garden]

Hi Daniel. Nightmares are typical for us PTSD sufferers. I am sorry that you are having issues with this right now. Personally I have long bouts without any nightmares, and then I have periods where nightmares come back for a period. Right now I am having nightmares, and they are disturbing to say the least.

Are you in therapy? I find that getting support and getting myself back into a routine helps me feel more grounded, and the nightmares subside when I'm feeling more grounded. I'm working on getting my routines back right now, and as my sleep is getting in order, I am getting nightmare free sleep. We are all different though, and we have to find what works for each of us...

 

[sonicwhite]

I was in therapy but I felt like it was going nowhere. So I decided to just try to deal with them which is probably not the best recourse. There disturbing. I mean it took five years after the psychosis for them to appear and since I'm a Christian I was like is this the devil until I got on prazosin and my nightmares let up but than came back. I know that therapy is what I need. I remember before my psychosis my dreams where so cool and I looked forward to sleeping at night but now they did a 180 and they torment me every night it seems.

 

[Aqua]

@sonicwhite

That sounds horrible. I also suffer from nightmares and one of the things I do before going to sleep is watch something funny. It stops the nightmares and I pass out without issues now. I usually watch the Simpson's before passing out. Try it out. Watch something you like then pass out with the TV on put it on sleep. Let me know if it works

You can call me L.

 

[intothelight]

@sonicwhite Welcome to the forum!

Getting back into therapy is an excellent suggestion. Also, try doing what you can to reduce any stress that you can during the day.

 

[sonicwhite]

You know last night I had a lucid dream and I changed everything that was going bad. I haven't lucid dreamed in years way before I started to have nightmares. I awoke with no anxiety. It was really awesome too.

 

[joeylittle]

Welcome, @sonicwhite - that is a great deal of stuff you have been through, and nightmares can be absolutely the worst.

Do you know what caused your psychosis, originally? Were you ever on medication for that? It might be that the prazosin isn't quite the right thing for you, only a doctor could say, but getting the right meds to work can make all the difference in the world. I also think a therapist could really help you, both with the stuff that has happened in the past, and the stuff happening now, plus give you better advice about how to maybe get hooked up with a psychiatrist as well.

 

[sonicwhite]

I have a pdoc and I'm on a cocktail of medication like klonopin risperdal paxil stuff like that. The psychosis they said was due to bipolar disorder being drawn out by meth. I used to do a lot of drugs ten years ago so the guilt I feel is tremendous. I no longer use drugs. I have OCD Bipolar ADHD cannabis psychotic disorder and MDD. So I have a lot of stuff going on. I'm on SSDI but I'm going to try to find a little work to relieve stress because staying in a house all day isn't helping. I wish I could have dreams like I did last night. It was ironic that I sign up for a PTSD website and had a lucid dream that was forever ago when I had my last one.

 

[sonicwhite]

Does anyone here take a benzodiazepine?

 

[sonicwhite]

Anyone? I know what I did to myself in 05 was my fault. I live with the guilt that if I would of did what was right than I wouldn't be where I am today. I just wish I did do what was right.

 

[garden]

Don't beat yourself up for what you did in the past.
You have help now, and you are here among people who won't judge you. Be kind to you. You deserve it.

Do you journal, draw, or have any hobbies? I know that painting, or drawing relieve stress for me.

Find a therapist that fits you. I just started therapy again, and I'm really glad that I did. It helps to have an unbiased party to bounce things off of.

 

[Sunshine527]

I recently have been diagnosed with PTSD and several other mental disorders. Nightmares and sweats is the norm. At times I do get a break and is allowed a peaceful rest. I would suggest that you get help in as many ways that you can. Educate yourself in as much information about PTSD as you can because it's better knowing what's happening to you than suffering in the dark. I spend most of my days resting, not answering the phone, and doing things that make me feel better. This is the most important drug to use when you suffer from this mental illness. Things are slowly moving along. When it comes to this illness it will take time so be patient with yourself and don't worry.