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Welcome Back Nightmares

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bumbles

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I have to stop taking Prazosin, and I am kind of devastated. It's exacerbating the symptoms of my heart condition, but dang am I going to miss being able to sleep at night.
Has anyone got experience with coming off Prazosin? Or any tips on coping with nightmares without the medication?
 
What are the problems you have with nightmares?
My biggest problem with them is that they put me in a really bad mindset and seem to wreck my general mental wellness for the day after. Reliving trauma feelings all day, if that makes sense. It messes with my functioning, maybe I need some specialized coping skills
 
Drats! I was hoping it was going to be night sweats because I’ve got a badass trick for that one (thank you potty training toddlers! Who knew we’d be grateful for that someday?).

Wrecked the next day is the hardest thing I know of. Personally I’ve only been able to nix it 2 ways...

- Walking outside and diving into a pool (resets me like nothing else does) followed by coffee and a plan of attack for the day that I’m actually excited about (or deeply engaged in) so it’s a bit of a 2 pronged attack - Reset & Redirect. But I don’t have a pool in my backyard. And the time it takes to get to the public pool? It’s like the mood had already stuck. Nice exercise, but my mood is going to be in the gutter for awhile, and my head in the past.

- Chemical kick to the ass. Meaning breaking out my emergency meds (like Valium). But that’s not something I can do every day, both because of addiction issues, and because my Rx is very very tiny. Intermittent I can do, but if I’m in a nightmare cycle? I’m screwed.

I don’t know if either of those 2 things are as useless to you, as they are to me. But maybe someone else will have a badass trick for the mental/emotional reset.
 
I’m experiencing the wrecked mental health day after a nightmare right now. My only tip is honestly to take it as easy on yourself as you can. For me it’s hypervigilance and flashbacks all day and excessive anxiety. Positive self talk and lots of soothing things that stimulate all senses. Hot drinks with lots of flavor help me.
 
I don't know if you have ever experienced this... I know it is real because I have discussed this with other's and they have understood and have experienced similar....

I'm wondering if you can redirect your dreams... I can to a certain extent.. Eg. If I am having a really stupid dream...sometimes I dream to myself 'geese that is too stupid blackemerald... dream this instead' Even... if I am waking up as I think it.

It's those few seconds coming out of the dream where I can undo the damage... I can re-invent my better dream ending and that definitely has a much better impact on me post dream and the following day...

I will admit sometimes I don't get the chance to do this though.. but maybe give it a shot??

A dream journal with the emotional fall-out can be helpful - long term too.
 
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