Shaking Off Nightmares, Flahsbacks, And Anxiety In The Morning

[Faust]

Hello everyone!

I guess this is as appropriate a place as any to post this. The main problem I am having right now with PTSD is the nightmares the night before and then really bad flashbacks the next morning. I am currently in college and this has caused me to miss some classes. Does anyone have any suggestions as to how to handle this? I am currently taking Prazosin and that is helping some but not enough for me to get to class consistently.

Also it seems to be worse when I am home alone on the mornings when these things happen. I have PTSD as a result of childhood sexual and physical abuse. I don't know if that last little bit of information is helpful or not.

Like I said before, what I am looking for is a way to work around the PTSD symptoms and make it to class. If anyone has any ideas, they are welcome.

Thanks!

 

[user27357]

I often wake up feeling like I did when I was trapped in my parents basement, facing another hopeless day of abuse and harrassment. the feelings of utter frustration at not being able to escape or control any part of my life in any way often get transferred to modern day reality and hating that I now have to get up when I don't want to, I have to get ready for work when I would rather have a day off, and I have to go face the next in a long line of stressful days that I cannot change. But I do it, with as much hope for the future as I can muster and a little mantra playing in my head-"I am choosing this because it is the right thing to do, today, now".

Do you understand that? it has taken me a long time to understand that the feelings of frustration and hopelessness should have ended when i left home at 14 and been replaced by feelings of deliverance and pride in my own survival, and now at this late date, feelings of accomplishment and hope for a future and retirement. It is all too easy to have a life long habit of waking up hating life, especialy when you did it for so long as a child with good reason. You sound like a young person (in college). My hope for you is that you can find a way to leave the frustration and hopelessness at home and enter your life away from home with hope and pride in having survived your abuse.

 

[Ines]

Hello everyone!

I guess this is as appropriate a place as any to post this. The main problem I am having...

You are just starting.Get someone to make you remember.Yes you didn't like it and you don't want to remember now.It won't stop.After PTSD for years this happened to me and other people:

• I had a break down ,suicide ideas came before it,you don't listen to them and the possibility grows higher.It is attached to something IT HAPPENED .Something you think it is sorted out but it is not.It will punish you for ever unless you remember everything (every single second with full consciousness) and face it.
  For other people it can be something that you already sorted out or something with not longer any value.
  It will get worse,it won't let you work,study,live at your full capacity.The pain will be so big you will start with hallucination,even thinking you visited your lovely friend when you didn't really. Because you want to connect with other human being but that thing doesn't allow you. A lot of realistic excuses will keep you apart of the world until you lose your mind,you kill your self without looking for it.(You are not that thought , you are not that feeling,it was put there inside yourself without your agreement).or you won't bear the blast off in your head when you know the truth.
  Not being able to read or write, screams in your head when you are walking to your job,walls that melt around you in so much pain.If you are lucky you won't have the visual symptoms ,your eyes feel like coming off their orbits moving as so much speed your brain seems to burn.The pain tear you up into pieces and the people around you only think you are a bit down.It is not always good to be able to bear so well the pain.The high blood pressure ,the hart symptoms after the hallucinatios and all the rest it means It IS NOT YOU ARE A BIT DOWN.I don't know if I was the stupid one believing in other people more than in myself or they are that.They do not know much about themselves neither.They only know about being sleeping or awake and that is all.they don't know there it is a wider spectre.And they are in so much risk.
  Try to remember don't listen to," everything it is all right".You know something it is wrong,keep chasing it until you know, because that thing won't stop until you are finished after going through a lot of pain.
• I knew it would be dangerous to remember but I didn't have that choice neither.You must lead your recovery or you will crash over and over,you can lose University,I did.

u remember.Yes you didn't like it and you don't want to remember now.

 

[lovely.rabbit]

I have the same problem, lots of nightmares that I allow to affect my entire day and my boyfriends day, its just not worth it, I would highly recommend music to put on, comedy movie or tv, sounds can be really great at distracting a person which might allow time for your mood to dissipate into a better one, I should take my own advice...
I think my best thing would be once I can get a dog, Ill get myself up in the morning bad nightmare or not and take him for a walk right away..

basically anything that brings you joy, even a small ammount, have near you for when you wake up to immediately divert your bad mood/dreams to something positive.
I need to work on this ALOT so you definitely arent alone!

 

[Muttly]

Ok, this may work for you. It was taught to me from a friend who also has PTSD. We both experienced childhood trauma like you described. So, when the nightmares have been really bad we have a place to lock them away. I worked with my therapist and described the place and we talked about how to make it so the nightmares could get locked in there. - Imagining the box Imagining the key. If your brain is powerful enough to create the nightmares, it is powerful enough to create a place they can be stored until you are ready to deal with them.

It helps that my therapist has worked with me on this. I think that's helped strengthen the place in my mind. Although, now I really generally don't need to do that much. It's been a long journey but the nightmares rarely devastate me like they do.

 

[aut555]

So you were a child when all this happened. So does morning represent the time that you woke up and was forced to face your reality? You may have - learned helplessness, where you are constantly in a place of no support, and feeling anxious and no feelings of any type of security. This can play through your head, and cause you to not move past to getting to class, getting to the laundry, etc. That's why the previous post (@Ines) is saying it could get a lot worse. So you have to confront your unfriendly hostage holding thought process with the help of a therapist who will also help you with grounding techniques. The fact that you are having nightmares means that you really suffered and you are having a tough time getting past these memories. Can you think about counseling from the college you are now attending?

 

[Faust]

Thanks for the advice everyone and I apologize that it has taken me two weeks to respond. I thought I was doing better but then I had an early holiday get together with my family and I lost control again. The holidays are rough for me because the abuse happened mostly at the beginning of school starting in the fall and then during every major holiday.

I should probably explain my situation a bit more. I've been in therapy for three years now. I see my psychiatrist for the medicine side of things on a regular scheduled basis but I just see my counselor/therapist on a just as I need to talk to him basis. My counselor/therapist has been pretty persistent with the same advice, saying to just push through it and it will get easier with time. However, this is easier said than done.

I'll definitely try as many of your suggestions as I can but if anyone else can think of something else to add, please feel free.

Again thanks for the suggestions and support everyone! It means a lot.

 

[ducati45]

I find one good way to cope is to remind yourself where you are and that no-one is there that can hurt you. Yes they were real memories but they were real memories, not something happening right now. There is no perfect solution but I find it does get you a little distance and centre you in the reality you have right now. Keep up the exposure therapy and eventually the trauma memories will be become regular memories- of trauma. They will still pop up in your dreams just like your primary school did, but they won't seem so present. And be gentle on yourself. You aren't deliberately ruining anyone's day, your mind is playing tricks on you but none of it is your fault :)

 

[SeekingAfrica]

I have the same issue. Childhood abuse. Waking up feeling vulnerable after a night of nightmares or patchy confusing dreams. I choose to be self-employed after university, partially because of the whole PTSD and partially because it was my dream. This offered me a bit of flexibility when it comes to mornings.

However, my biggest PTSD trigger hit me about 2 years into my university life. I'm not sure which year you are, but I hope this can help. I had to manage classes, also jobs like that, and in many ways it worked for me. It's not ideal but it was the best I can do at the time.

One thing I did is, I always left myself pleeenty of time to wake up. For most people waking up cranky and underslept 10 min before class worked. But because of my issues, if I did that I felt like skipping class altogether.

So, I would wake 2h or 90min before class. Have hot shower(warm/hot water calms me), take my time to get ready and look as good as I can. I would listen to music I like while getting ready. Also I would have breakfast dressed comfy with hot drink, good food and usually watching series or reading something I like. After all of that, I would go to class and listen to music I like on high volume on the way to there. By the time I got to class/work I was ready to hadle it.

Also like any routine this gets easier the more you do it. Basically I use this process to shake off the dreams and the feelings that come with them. If I am a bit more shaken I also make sure I leave some me time for after work and classes for some recharging, whether that means a nap or painting or self-care things...There were some days when I just couldn't shake off flashbacks, and on those I gave myself a break and missed class, but still I tried not to miss many classes so it doesn't get my grade down. This getting ready routine has definitely helped me a lot for many years. It's not ideal because it takes time. Especially when I had 8AM or 9AM classes so I would wake extra early. But it did help me get to class though.