Overwhelmed by nightmares and aftereffects

[Guest]

Hi, does anyone else have trouble with not really being able to remember dreams, but struggling with the physical presentations that afflict your day-to-day life? I keep having these really bad nights where I keep… loudly hyperventilating and yelling myself awake? I don’t really know how to properly explain it. I have frequent nightmares, but they usually aren’t this bad. But it screws up my day, I’m not well rested and unsettled by the flashes I do remember of my nightmares, which I find makes me even more susceptible to what I think are silly triggers, like things that shouldn’t upset me on the caliber they do.
It just feels like I’m tense the entire time I sleep, and my body just feels sore and exhausted the minute I wake up. It feels like I’ve just been clenching every muscle in my body for however long I stayed asleep. I’ve had, as silly as it is, a consistent stomachache going on three days now, and it feels like im on the edge of a panic attack all the time.
I guess I was just wondering if anyone had any tips to maybe prevent the nightmares, maybe something I’m missing to do before I go to bed? (Or more accurately, pass out from exhaustion.) And if that’s not the case, maybe something I can do to get rid of that thing in the back of my head whenever I have a really bad night. I try to clear my mind, but it just feels… stuck. Any help would be appreciated.

 

[DharmaGirl]

They may be night terrors if you can't remember them. I often wake up screaming and can't remember the nightmare. Do you know any relaxation techniques? Any grounding exercises? Those go a long way in making you feel better when you wake up like that. I listen to an audiobook to get back to sleep. Usually the same one.

 

[Freddyt]

Sorry to be blunt but - get the therapy to find why the nightmares, then they stop.

Really....otherwise you are stuck in the same place doing the same thing over and over.

 

[MM3Mac]

I have nightmares do to ptsd but also due to schizophrenia. It’s a double whammy for me so I’m basically screwed by an existence of this reality. The schizophrenia dreams will probably never go away because of their nature. I’m working on the ptsd part and have been for years but as I’ve already mentioned it’s a sticky situation for me. Oh well I survive and shall continue to survive until they pry the coffee mug from my cold dead hands lol

 

[Friday]

Agree with @DharmaGirl … If you’re not remembering them, but are physically involved (screaming, getting up, physically thrashing/hitting/kicking, etc.)? You may well be looking at NightTerrors, rather than nightmares.

Night Terrors are NOT really bad nightmares, like some people think just from hearing the name (which actually comes from what other people observe & experience; as it is absolutely terrifying to watch someone sit up and scream and scream and scream… and be unable to wake them; or watch them assault walls/ furniture/ people/ pets/ floors/ anything & everything within reach or easily lurched to… and be unable to wake them).

Instead? Rather than falling in the dream-spectrum, they fall in the sleep walking spectrum! (Sleepwalking occurs when the sleep paralysis that keeps us from acting out our dreams? Fails. To greater or lesser degree.).

Night Terrors are very common amongst small children, and people with PTSD, and people with certain kinds of neurological conditions, head injures, & certain infections.

Whether nightmares or night terrors? Seeing a sleep specialist can be a great big giant red “easy button” in learning to manage them & minimize the effects on your life.

 

[Lionheart]

I struggled with PTSD nightmares for years. Extremely vivid and disturbing nightmares that would bother me for weeks or longer. That is until my psyche doc prescribed a medication called Prazosin and my nightmares stopped. Prazosin is actually a blood pressure medication that the VA discovered was effective for PTSD nightmares. I have been on it for years with no negative side effects and a lot of positive ones. It may not work for everyone however, it may be worth asking your doctor about. Hope this helps.