nightmares

[Khrobin]

I get really vivid dreams now. boyfriend breaking up with me, people chasing me, almost horror film kinda dreams...I had one dream where everyone was trying to chase me around and kill me, had dead bodies hanging from lightpoles, very very vivid and so real. but dreams where im not wanted or liked. its starting to affect me when im awake, and I get depressed about it...i even really wonder if its really wierd, im normally a really happy optamistic person. is this normal for people trying to quit?

[liveweyerd]

I don't know what you are trying to quit. I missed that. But I did read that you were abused and I can say that these kind of nighmares, or even...and you will know the difference if it happens, night terrors are common. It is our subconcious processing the traumas. I thought I had mine all processed and stopped a couple of years ago. I could understand the traumas and fears and rage that was behind them.
However I am again having almost constant violent dreams...sleep meds really make them worse for me...but went off them...and continue to have them. This has been going on for about 3 months now for no discernible reason. I will see p-doc this week, if possible.
This is horrible to go through night after night. One is never rested or refreshed.
It may be something to talk to your Dr. about.
Mine had stopped for almost 2 years or more....I do not know what is going on now.
Well, I am afraid I might and that it is related to my clinical depression but I am going to wait and talk to my long term p-doc about it first.

[Khrobin]

I quit drinking...after i left my husband i drank a lot...then i had a b/f, and broke up with him...2 really nasty relationships that took a lot to leave...drank lots...there was a time it wasnt hard for me to finish a 5th a night. but sense then, i have met lots of new people, got over the depression of the relationships, and became a really happy person for the most part. Drinking became more of a social thing. I would still drink lots, and black out, but i wasnt drowning out sorrows, i was having fun. im almost 2 weeks sober now. if I do sleep, they are bad dreams, and its depressing. I seem to always need reasurance now days that im not worthless. i have been a really happy person sense i been single again, its been about a year. nothing normally brings me down anymore. then I quit drinking. its wierd. I know sleepless nights and night sweats are expected. but not all this!! I know im liked and loved by people. just the anxiety i have now, and the dreams, are...I dunno how to explain it! its driving me nuts and affecting me in lots of ways

[liveweyerd]

Please talk with the people in the alcoholism forums about this also. I have no knowledge in that area.
I would guess that the drinking numbed the "issues" and now they are surfacing to be dealt with.
I think anxiety is normal with alcohol withdrawal.
I also had night terrors during some of the happiest times of my life. Some traumas take a long time to process. Anniversaries are what would set me off over the last few happy years. The ones I am having now, I am sure are related to chronic clinical depression and stress. I am pretty sure I am having "sick" dreams and need professional help. But then, I have needed professional help for years...you are in the mental loonies forum LMAO

[baggervance]

liveweyerd
I sometimes have violent dreams where I hit my wife when I'm in deep sleep.I've NEVER laid a hand on her out of anger or phsically abused her.Some mornings I wake up and she in bed with kids says I hit her in my sleep this never happens when Im drunk only when I sober?????

[baggervance]

Mom said dad did same thing to her?

[stratoc]

i dream now, most nights i dream of swigging straight out of a whisky bottle and for a split second when i awake i taste it, i had my last drink 18 months ago.
you really have to realize that these are dreams, they are pretty much out of our control, and speaking for myself the last 18 months is the first yime in many many years i have actually slept properly, my drinking and restless nights i fear where sending me insane. and so i am very gratefull for my dreams today, particully the bad ones because i have them after a sober nights rest.
when dreams become physical you can talk to your doctor, and see a therpist, its not that bad, simple advice on diet eating times, caffiene intake etc, when i first stopped i tried aqua pressure patches, i think they worked to a degree.
the most important thing for me was to banish all my demons, every little worry and minor problem, everything on my mind, i would list/ write down and try to resolve just one everyday, and when i was lying in bed i would think about the one less problem i had sorted that very day. simple things like that worked for me.
when you sleep your mind is processing data basically, try to fill your mind with as much good 'stuff' as you can, thats what works for me.
of course everyday deals its bad 'stuff' and i used to wallow in this letting it all build up untill my mind was a washing machine that could only be switched off by alcohol.
but nowadays sorting these problems is quite enjoyable, and makes me feel just a little bit better about myself.
adam

[igetallnumb]

Night terrors are so common with quitting narcotics i know that because i have them almost every night for the past month.
i try doing some deep breathing relaxation techniques before bed to help my body wind down.
Even before i quit I was having them, they are so real and so vivid and make absolutely no sense whatsoever.
BTW do you have a therapist? If so did you let he or she know about this?
And we are here for you

[GlassPrisoner]

Vivid dreams and "drinking" dreams are both quite common when quitting alcohol.

They dissipate over time, but I still get one every now and then at just over 9 months.

And remember, thay ARE just dreams.

[lostnfound1961]

For me there are two types of bad dreams. The first is the nightmare, this is a dream that scares me to the point of waking up and still being scared. I don't have many of those any more, though while getting off ani-depressents this year I did have a several with me being a young girl being hung in a basement room and begging for my life. They didn't so much scare me, but it was like I was remembering another life. That was strange. The Doc said it was because I stopped taking the pills all at once rather than tapering off.

The other type of bad dream is what I call a stress dream. This is the one that you are running and can't get to where you are going or the elevatore wont go down to the first floor so you can go home. The one I have most often is about me driving a car. For some reason the brakes dont work or the excelorator is stuck. I will reach a bridge and am afraid to cross it. I know if I do.... I will loose controle of the car and end up in the river. I will die. Most of the time in my dream I will just stop the car and get out. I admit I can't cross that bridge and just sit on the curb.

Another one would be I have driven someplace but can't fined my car to get home. The bus never shows up and my cel phone is missing. I know my husband is at home and angry at me for not being there.

With the stress dream I can wake up and say.... Oh I know what triggered that. With the nightmare such as opening your eyes and there is someone right there in your face and you wake up with the feeling they are still in the room...... WHO KNOWS whats going on there. All I know is I am scared stiff and will turn on the TV for disraction.

Here is a trick I learned. Most times when I ham heading into a nightmare I feel it comming on, it may be a wonderful dream but I feel the inpending doom come over me. Turn over. If you are on your right side, turn over to your left side. I have no idea why it workd but I will change dreams as fast as I change sides.
Give it a shot and see what happens.
D