Nightmares, Numb, Alone...

[SJN713]

Hello....lately I have been having awful nightmares. My trauma was a motorcycle accident last year and I was run over by the car as he was leaving the scene. I remember every detail of the accident and the feelings that came with it. I have been having nightmares waking up sweating and terrified. The dreams are always about getting hurt or someone trying to hurt me.

I also feel so disconnected and numb to absolutely everything. It's also so hard to talk about my feelings because I'm not exactly sure what is wrong, I just feel different. I feel like no one understands me.....does anyone else feel this way? :(

 

[Tswevnz]

Hi ! Welcome to this forum :)

Firstly - you are not alone- what you experience are normal reactions to a unnatural situation. I was involved in a serious white river rafting accident where I swam for my live in a raging river over 10 minutes. The isolation , feeling different , fear , nightmares are only some aspects of what can happen to your body as it is trying to recover. Allow yourself to accept it is ok to feel this way , the first year is about taking a big deep breath to just ..... Understand what has just happened? Hopefully with time , professional help & medication you might be able to revisit your trauma and let the brain accept your violent memories in order to move on.

All the best to you - this is a great starting point to move on - once again Welcome :)

 

[lukesa]

Hey man, I have very vivid nightmares as well. I take prazosin, which helps with the frequency of them as well as taking away much of the emotional feeling to any nightmares that do occur.

I have combat related ptsd, setting up my area and making sure doors are locked etc is very important to me so I can go over everything in my head of what's locked and why I'm safe before I do my sleep routine. Maybe finding a safety and relaxation routine might help? Relaxation exercises on tape can be scary effective

 

[SJN713]

Hey lukesa, I did not know there was medication that was able to help with nightmares, I will need to talk to my doctor about that. I have not tried any type of relaxation techniques but I will do some research and try it out. Thanks for the info! :)

Tswevnz, thank you for your reply. It really made me feel better that realizing my reaction to the trauma is normal. It is nice to talk to other individuals whom have experienced a trauma and see how they are handling it. It makes me feel less alone in my struggle. I have tried to talk to my fiancé but he just does not understand and sometimes it just makes me feel worse. I know getting help is the first step and reaching out to others so I am doing so in hopes to feel better.

 

[lukesa]

Sjn I have an mp3 player full of ones my shrink recorded for me that I can send if you want.

 

[SJN713]

That would be awesome!