FlyerFan

Really really really suck....

Since getting sober 10 months ago I have had them, not often but once a month I would say, and they appear to be progressing in detail and sick feeling. I am not sure what this means but it really disturbs me.

A friend of mine keeps telling me to let them go as they are only dreams but this morning I got sick to my stomach after I woke up and couldn't shake that hungover feeling. It was so real. Now it is about 3 hours later and I am finally starting to feel normal again. Ugh.

Oh and I stepped on my cat in my disorientation and he screeched so horribly that I felt guilty and gave him extra treats before I left for work...lol

wallup

Those can be the worse. I think I know what you mean, you literally feel drunk and wobble out of bed. For me I tend to get them more when I don't balance out my sleep between weekends/weekday. For example, I tend to stay up late during the week and get really tired, then weekend hits and I'll sleep 11 hours... that's my trigger.

I don't suppose it's like that for you, or is it random?

FlyerFan

They appear to be random. But I am now wondering if stress might be a trigger too. My boss is in the hospital and has been for a week, and probably wont be back to work (he is an active alcoholic with several other health issues) and so I have been given more duties at my job and it has been kind of overwhelming me.

I have felt more stress than this before though and haven't had any dreams, so I think it might just be random.

Either way it sucks.

tammy711

I've noticed stress is my trigger. I've never awoke feeling hungover. But, I have woke up feeling sick and scared and angry for drinking! The dreams are so real. And the dreams where I realize I killed my sobriety are the worse.

I guess the only silver lining is that it was just a dream. They can be used to help you remember the value of your sobriety.

regeneration

FlyerFan, I'm pretty tired and stressed, but I'm also doing a lot of working through stuff to do with my family. Which means, for the past week, I've spent every night dreaming about one of them (the time my mother had the affair, my brothers who don't speak to each other, me wanting to speak to them.... arrghhhh).

I think sometimes when we're processing/letting go off stuff it happens. Mine aren't drinking dreams but in a way that could be what's happening with you? You've been sober for months and moving on but sometimes it pops up in your sleep as you recycle the past/make changes in your life. I might not be right but it's just what I was thinking as the same thing is happening to me in another area of my life at the moment. I think the stress can set it off too along with that. Maybe try and get some rest/take care of yourself and think of it as part of the processing? I bet it will pass soon.

Admiral

I've been having these dreams for years, in fact I had one last night, I probably had several this week now that I think about it. I don't find them stressful really, if anything it's annoying that they take up dream space that could have been used for something better. I think a lot about my dreams, not so much WHAT they mean, I don't think that's so important, I look for patterns and oddities and categorize them based off a book I read, so even the relapse dreams can offer something to be thought about.

tomsteve

hhhmmmm. stress a trigger. now im wonderin iffen thats culd be a cause when i get em.
the thing that gets me is just how real they are. it may seem hard now to let em go, but 2 things you can do to work on it:
be greatful it was only a dream.
use em to remind yerself you could be there in real life if ya chose to.

i have had em where i woke up and didnt even know where i was, only to find i was in my own bed. what a relief!

TSDD

If you were a carpenter for 20 years you'd probably dream about banging nails after you retired.

Don't try to read anything into it. They will go away eventually.

paul99

I was upset the first couple of times I had those dreams, wondering if they were a pre-cursor to a relapse or something. I would ask everyone I could about them and what they could possibly mean.

But as realistic as they may be, and much as I kiss the pillow thanking God it wasn't real, I really do ignore them. I mean, I dream of work, I dream of old friends, I dream of flying porcupines who speak Swahili. And I spend as much time trying to decipher them as I do the the drinking ones - none.

2granddaughters

Many of us have had those dreams to some degree, F.F.

Far better to dream it than do it !! ... This too shall pass.

All the best.

Bob R

Cottonwoodchris

I have had the dreams about drug use (clean 15 years) and drinking for about 5 years now, every night. This was only after returning home after the 6 week hospital/ care home stay I had back in 2007. Guess I just have gotten used to them. But, I never get more than an hour or two of sleep at a time, I always wake myself up from the dream I am having. at least, I recognize that I am dreaming and wake up, because some can be really bad. And the dreams connect, picking up where one last night left off.

They have no influence that I can tell on my "regular", waking, day to day life. It's more like an extension of what it would be like now, if I hadn't changed my past. I actually sleep better in the day time/ afternoon than at night. Like now, 2am, not tired, don't even want to sleep. But I'll try.

FBL

At 3+ years sober, I still get the "drinking" dreams once in awhile. They were disturbing at first, but now I'm grateful they are just dreams. I also have plenty of dreams where others are drinking and I'm the only one not...those are WAY more pleasant

Db1105

I was told that I have no control over my dreams so don't worry about them. After years of worrying about them I found I have no control over my dreams. I'll let the scientist continue to figure them out. And, as others have said, thank God they were just a dream.

Quinne

I get these about every 3/4 weeks, too. Drinking wine out of a frying pan?! That was the last one. I have recurring dreams that i'm having full-blown epileptic seizures; I could read a whole lot into it (or not at all), but a little bit of "homework" tells me they symbolize a lack of control in my life. Hmmm......!

THEOjibway

yeah I too also find stress to be a common factor in this post. About a month ago I broke up with my girlfriend of 10 months and I was so stressed I had to deal with it emotionally in which for years I havent coped normally for 7 years to be exact like a normal person.I use to drink everytime I got something to deal with. I drank alot when I broke up with each girlfriend within those 7 years of drinking. But anyways Im getting off track here.... When I first sobered up again a year and 2 months ago for the first time again I would dream about drinking almost every night. And it upset me alot. As time went on the dreams diminished but then I found sometimes I would dream about drinking.... that was where I was going with this... so I was stressed with the break upand when I had a dream it would be about going back out and drinking and not giving a damn anymore. In the back of my mind the alcoholic side would like to just forget everything and go back to drinking with my drinking friend and the only heart break I would deal with was drinking again and again. Instead of dealing with heart break from a girl who promised to never leave me. I never had an actual urge to drink though when awake. Sometimes yes the split second of wanting to drink would pop up then I would say firmly NO. The dreams seemed so real. I wasnt really affected except for closing my eyes and thanking god I don't have to drink anymore to have fun. And thankful it was just a dream. but sometimes they do seem so real and I wake up in a panic and scared that I picked up again when I didn't. I'm glad to be sober today and each day.

FlyerFan

Yes you are right. It is just really crazy to wake up and feel like you're drunk off your ass, when you know darn well you aren't. lol.

flutter

I just had one last night. I have them about once a month, even after 4 years in recovery. I try to remember what my counselor told me, they are 'freebies', you "get" the feeling of going out, drinking, regretting it, and reaffirming your recovery all without actually doing the drinking.

Lauren30

It's funny how you hear things you need to when you're sober. At my home group last night, the topic was drinking dreams. There was lots of insight but the main consensus was that they are just dreams...but how you choose to react to them is your decision! You can use the dreams to be reminded that you have an illness and it needs to be maintained on a daily basis!

FlyerFan

yes they are definitely a good reminder. Sometimes they are just so life-like that it's insane. Then again that makes sense...we all started out insane i suppose. lol

Windancer

It is only day 5 for me but Ive struggled with alcoholism for years and Ive struggled with dreams like that. Only they scared me more than anything...and I woke up ever so relieved it didnt actually happen.