Sleep? What's That?

[LSNP]

So.... I wake up a lot during the night. Sometimes due to snoring (which I believe is related to my entire downward spiral, in general) but also do to vivid dreams AND nightmares which I have had since the beginning of my time, nearly.....

The ones lately, though... heck. I can't sleep. I live an entirely different, albeit .... crap. Lost what I was going to say because a different tab in Internet Explorer started "talking" and I freaked out, thinking I was NOW hearing VOICES, too!!!! ROFLMAO

I am active when I dream. I fight, I kick, I cry, I moan, I talk......... I LIVE the dream.... and have bags and yawns and fatigue to prove it.

 

[Iam]

I am active when I dream. I fight, I kick, I cry, I moan, I talk......... I LIVE the dream.... and have bags and yawns and fatigue to prove it.

I used to do this all the time too. Thankfully it is only on an occassional basis now. Over this last year I have slept decently maybe every 3rd night, though now since starting EMDR I am sleeping far better. I sometimes wonder if my sleeplessness is due to menopause as that is a common symptom and I am quite sure that the night sweats wake me up. Nightmares and lack of sleep are common with PTSD too so who knows?

My T recommended valerian root and melatonin along with other vitamins and minerals. Getting exercise during the day (not at night before bedtime) has also really helped me.

 

[cherryblossom]

If you are suffering nightmares due to past trauma, the only answer is to face up to your trauma, and deal with it.

Yep, no easy task, but if you remove the fear from your trauma, your bedtime hallucinations will change from nightmares to dreams.

 

[elikai]

I recently got an app for my phone that uses the accelerometer in the phone to keep track of my movement during sleep - it is crazy - but it shows when I'm in REM. Recently I got put on Gabapentin for sleep and thank God it has reduced the amount of times I hit REM during the night. (and the amount of nightmares I have) BUT it also reduces the amount of movement I have during sleep (I was diagnosed with rapid body movement from a sleep study).
Maybe you can see a sleep specialist?