Venting Two terrifying nightmares back to back!

[Meditation guide]

I had this morning the most terrifying nightmare I've ever had, beyond anything before it.

I was underwater in the ocean. I was looking up and could see the sunny surface of the water about ten feet above me but I couldn't get up there to the surface. I needed to take a breath of air desperately, I couldn't wait any longer, but was unable to swim to the surface and knew this was it, the end, and I was just about to have to breath in some sea water...... and I woke up. I have been crying and shaking from that all day. It was absolutely real. Unlike a dream. I was just on the very edge of having to breath in ocean water because I had to .. could not hold my breath another second.

So just now I woke up from an afternoon nap and another realistic nightmare. I was in a car and my deceased mother was driving and she began driving on the wrong side of the road deliberately. I was begging her "mom please drive on the right side of the road!!!" and started to scream at her "mom get on the right side of the road!" over and over as we started to go around a sharp curve in the road where we couldn't see oncoming cars. And I woke up.

I haven't had a nightmare in the last 20 years at least. Now two in a row? Why?

 

[todeswunsch]

I also started to have nightmares recently.
It is terrible...
Can we have peace at least when asleep?
Its bad being awake, its bad being asleep, why? :(
Hope you stop having nightmares and have some peaceful sleep again

 

[Enlighten]

I'm sorry you've had these nightmares. They can be so realistic. I've had a lot of nightmares with cars having malfunctioning brakes and i end up pushing my bed away from the wall irl as an attempt to brake lol.
I wouldn't try to find too much "meaning" into it. People say you get them more when you get stressed, but it truly feels random to me.

 

[Spaceman&Little]

I've been plagued by hyper realistic dreams and nightmares that have completely invalidated months and months of personal progress. I feel for you. Especially after so long of not having to deal with so much stress while you're sleeping of all times.

 

[moondazed]

I had this morning the most terrifying nightmare I've ever had, beyond anything before it.

I was underwater in the ocean. I was looking up and could see the sunny surface of the water about ten feet above me but I couldn't get up there to the surface. I needed to take a breath of air desperately, I couldn't wait any longer, but was unable to swim to the surface and knew this was it, the end, and I was just about to have to breath in some sea water...... and I woke up. I have been crying and shaking from that all day. It was absolutely real. Unlike a dream. I was just on the very edge of having to breath in ocean water because I had to .. could not hold my breath another second.

So just now I woke up from an afternoon nap and another realistic nightmare. I was in a car and my deceased mother was driving and she began driving on the wrong side of the road deliberately. I was begging her "mom please drive on the right side of the road!!!" and started to scream at her "mom get on the right side of the road!" over and over as we started to go around a sharp curve in the road where we couldn't see oncoming cars. And I woke up.

I haven't had a nightmare in the last 20 years at least. Now two in a row? Why?

I used to dream every night as a kid and I would often lucid dream and travel around these places or fight the nightmares off, feeling a bit like a hero. I'm not sure when it happened, but I've all but lost my ability to dream. For at least 10 years. I've always assumed it was just brain damage.

It's weird, I find myself envious of people who dream often even when they are nightmares. I think our dreams can tell us a lot about our fears, expectations, or other subconscious things. I also understand that kind of torment is not a very positive feeling.

 

[ManByTheRiver]

I'm sorry you have to deal with that, I'm here partially because I have nightmares very often, multiple per week. Very vivid, terrifying things. Not having the escape of sleep means you have to suffer both in wake and in dream which is near unbearable. I hope they go away for you.

 

[stage4johnny]

I'm sorry you have to deal with that, I'm here partially because I have nightmares very often, multiple per week. Very vivid, terrifying things. Not having the escape of sleep means you have to suffer both in wake and in dream which is near unbearable. I hope they go away for you.

Any medication you can take for that??

 

[Meditation guide]

I had the realization that dreaming of not being able to breath and being underwater in the ocean might be from imagining taking sn (salty like sea water) and being afraid it would cause me a massive asthma attack, which is the same as not being able to get in a breath of air.

My mother driving in the wrong lane and not being able to see what's coming around a curve in the road might be from not being able to tell what will happen if I try to ctb. (not being able to see what's ahead.)

I recently came to the final realization I really can do this, try to ctb, it's no longer something I think about as a possibility, but a reality.

 

[ManByTheRiver]

Any medication you can take for that??

There's probably some they could get me by doing a sleep study, haven't really looked into it. I just smoke cigarettes when I can't sleep, if I can afford them. (not good advice for anyone, cigarettes and alcohol are linked to increased chance of nightmares.)

 

[Pluto]

I had the realization that dreaming of not being able to breath and being underwater in the ocean might be from imagining taking sn (salty like sea water) and being afraid it would cause me a massive asthma attack, which is the same as not being able to get in a breath of air.

My mother driving in the wrong lane and not being able to see what's coming around a curve in the road might be from not being able to tell what will happen if I try to ctb. (not being able to see what's ahead.)

I recently came to the final realization I really can do this, try to ctb, it's no longer something I think about as a possibility, but a reality.

Nightmares can be powerfully insightful metaphors. I used to have regular nightmares involving being attacked by huge snakes while my parents casually watched me die. It makes perfect sense now, but at the time I still thought that my parents were more than murderous machines posing as human.

The scene with your mother makes me feel that she has similarly played a role in your current predicament. There is a very fine line between suicide and murder.

 

[Meditation guide]

Nightmares can be powerfully insightful metaphors. I used to have regular nightmares involving being attacked by huge snakes while my parents casually watched me die. It makes perfect sense now, but at the time I still thought that my parents were more than murderous machines posing as human.

The scene with your mother makes me feel that she has similarly played a role in your current predicament. There is a very fine line between suicide and murder.

That was very insightful and yes she has played a role in my current predicament. Thank you for pointing that out. I need to give that some thought. In the nightmare she was literally driving me "around the bend" in other words driving me crazy with her own crazy behavior.

 

[moondazed]

Any medication you can take for that??

Marijuana is known to suppress REM sleep and as such, dreaming, at least with chronic use. I wouldn't really suggest weed for depressed people though, it often leads to more depression and anxiety if that's where your basal state already is.