Discussion Tips for coping with chronic nightmares

[soft-flower345]

I experience nightmares almost every night, I still feel somatically connected in my dreams and nightmares and I can feel the pain when I'm murdered and tortured in them. The fear takes a huge toll on my mental health. I've found a bunch of things to be very helpful and the severity of my nightmares has decreased. I'll leave them here.

If you do anything specific to help cope with your nightmares or identified things that make them worse please list them here!

· Marijuana
This has been really helpful in suppressing my dreams. If I stop smoking, the intensity of my dreams increases dramatically after the 1st night. Intensity decreases after about 1 week but nightmares become much more frequent than without THC.

· Blackout curtains, Cool ambient temperature bedroom, minimization of sound(white noise is effective too), weighted blanket, essential oil diffuser.
These all improve my quality of sleep, allowing for a more restful sleep. I think this helps support resilience, having the energy to exert myself to manage my mental illness effectively makes a big difference in how often I choose to.

· Cuddling
To me cuddling is the best, either with someone you feel safe with or with plushies. Human touch is analgesic and snuggling with a plushie has a similar effect. Dramatically reduces my nightmare frequency and intensity.

· Melatonin
I've noticed that my dreams become a lot more abstract. Horror becomes more existentialistic and strange when I dream it. I feel like my sleep is more restful taking small amounts (0.5g) on a nightly basis.

 

[timf]

It is possible that there can be a physiological contribution to nightmare intensity. For example toxins in the blood system from things like a tumor, dietary contamination, or environmental contamination like mold. It might not be a bad idea to make sure there isn't any aggravation from these areas.

 

[Bunnybrains]

Something that has helped my friend is if u have re-accuring ones, reherse a second ending to it and reapeat it to yourself throughout the day. If u can memorise it sometimes it makes waking up less stressful- you have a alternate situation to use with calming urself down.

 

[stilhavinightmares]

Maybe a stupid suggestion, but have you tried taking Prazosin for your nightmares? I also have chronic nightmares and nothing really touches them, but a high dose of Prazosin actually helps some nights by making my body less activated/hypervigilant so I don't find the dreams quite as distressing.

 

[soft-flower345]

Maybe a stupid suggestion, but have you tried taking Prazosin for your nightmares? I also have chronic nightmares and nothing really touches them, but a high dose of Prazosin actually helps some nights by making my body less activated/hypervigilant so I don't find the dreams quite as distressing.

Not a stupid suggestion at all, I haven't tried it but I'd really like to. Getting a prescription for anything where I live takes forever and is really expensive. My Dr. refuses to prescribe me anything if I test positive for marijuanna and I need that to manage anxiety and nightmares so I haven't been able to try any prescriptions to help.

 

[stilhavinightmares]

Not a stupid suggestion at all, I haven't tried it but I'd really like to. Getting a prescription for anything where I live takes forever and is really expensive. My Dr. refuses to prescribe me anything if I test positive for marijuanna and I need that to manage anxiety and nightmares so I haven't been able to try any prescriptions to help.

Damn I'm so sorry it's so difficult where you are. Is marijuana illegal where you are? Where I am nobody really cares. You sound like you're stuck in a cycle; that's awful. You would think your provider would be understanding or at least have some level of empathy that you use it because it helps your symptoms… ugh

 

[Nigh]

I have nightmares every night too - thanks for the tips xx

 

[BornHated]

It is possible that there can be a physiological contribution to nightmare intensity. For example toxins in the blood system from things like a tumor, dietary contamination, or environmental contamination like mold. It might not be a bad idea to make sure there isn't any aggravation from these areas.

I've seen anesthesiologists mention that their patients with sleep apnea always warn them of their horrible nightmares before being put under. It might be something to look into since this is a known contributor to chronic nightmares, the patients always mention how horrible it is for them to sleep.

 

[soft-flower345]

Damn I'm so sorry it's so difficult where you are. Is marijuana illegal where you are? Where I am nobody really cares. You sound like you're stuck in a cycle; that's awful. You would think your provider would be understanding or at least have some level of empathy that you use it because it helps your symptoms… ugh

It is sadly, theres a myriad of loophole thc strains that are legal however and some of those work wonders, every time I get a new job I have to stop smoking though and it's always a very stressful couple of weeks.

I've seen anesthesiologists mention that their patients with sleep apnea always warn them of their horrible nightmares before being put under. It might be something to look into since this is a known contributor to chronic nightmares, the patients always mention how horrible it is for them to sleep.

I've heard about this! Its a suprisingly common experience for individuals with sleep apnea. Fortunately I don't experience sleep apnea, I think mine are a symptom of CPTSD, I've been clinically diagnosed with ptsd with dissociative symptoms since CPTSD isnt recognized in the DSM yet.

 

[stilhavinightmares]

It is sadly, theres a myriad of loophole thc strains that are legal however and some of those work wonders, every time I get a new job I have to stop smoking though and it's always a very stressful couple of weeks.

I've heard about this! Its a suprisingly common experience for individuals with sleep apnea. Fortunately I don't experience sleep apnea, I think mine are a symptom of CPTSD, I've been clinically diagnosed with ptsd with dissociative symptoms since CPTSD isnt recognized in the DSM yet.

I'm glad you can find relief from some THC strains! I've yet to find one lol. I also have CPTSD.