sickk&tired

Hi all.......day 5 today!

I wanted to share the scary dream I had last night. (Dan, this is the more detailed version :spectacle )

So it starts of with me in my pijamas walking to a liquor store, holding an open bottle of SKYY vodka. WHILE i'm holding the vodka, i'm purchasing some mini bottles of rum, whiskey, tequila,etc etc, I get to the cash register and feel guilty, so I have the lady cancel the transaction. I try to pretend i'm sober (while chugging from the vodka bottle), then run out of the liquor store. I start walking/stubling down the street and i pour out most of the vodka bottle, leaving just enough for me to drink when I get home. As soon as I get back up from pouring, a homeless woman asks me if she can have a sip of the bottle. I realize that i'm feeling pity for her, then realize she might be pitying me too and I get mad. Then I tell her how drinking is bad for you, and refuse her the bottle. In my head I kow i'm not giving it to her because I want the remainder of the drink though. So I run home, and.........then I woke up. I swear i fully expected to be drunk, and was really happy that I wasn't.

Anyone have dreams like this recently, and what do they mean?

Paulie

I don't know what they mean...but I do know that I used to have dreams often where I woke up sure that I had used, or I was back living in the Hotel Grand Am, or that I was stranded in the middle of some scary place. You get the point.

Day 5 that is great, be proud of yourself. Take the dreams as reminders of where you came from and where you don't want to go again. That is what I do.

sweeks

Sounds like a nightmare to me...but I think that this is the most important part.

Even thought your subconcious is trowing you a curve you were HAPPY when you work up sober. I think that's awesome.

Moontime

I heard it's better to use in dreams and not in real life

Jalyn

Hey, S&T, I am on Day 5 as well! We can do this and we will leave the night terrors in the dreams. Your dream sounds like a pretty normal one to me. When I quit smoking many years ago and would dream I smoked and then wake up and actually think I smelled it. I would feel badly until I realized that I had not smoked at all.

What a relief it is to find out that it is only a bad dream! Maybe they are there to help us remember how bad it used to be!

J

Kit

I have had really weird dreams since I have been sober. I think it may be part of detoxing. Your brain isn't responding to alcohol and it is getting back in shape(?) I don't know, but I'm still having them and I'm on day 20. Your dream is frightening because you don't want to be a drunk!! You're working out your feelings while you are sleeping. I wonder if drunk dreams are in Freud's Interpretations of Dreams. I have that book someplace. I'll try and look it up. He'll say it has something to do with sex. lol Stay tuned S&T, you might have more!! Love, Kit

sickk&tired

Hi Jalyn-

Hooray for day 5!!! Lets keep each other in check :shades: . I'm leaving now to go to NEvada for the weekend, but I'm logging on as SOON as I get back and will check in with you!!! We can celebrate our day 7 together!!

Have a good (first) weekend and stay strong.

sickk&tired

Hi Kit, thanks for posting! Do you remember if it says you have them after sex? Cause I'm not one to kiss and tell, but I did the hibbitty jibbidy a few hours before I went to bed! Hmmmm.

Looks like i'm telling my b/f than sex is a no-no until I stop having these dreams. hee.

Gutterdrunk

I used to have a lot of drunk dreams too. I talked to the therapist about this while is was in rehab and she had a couple of things to say:

That they shouldn't really be taken to seriously, unless there is a reoccuring dream that happens over and over.

They are symbolic and shouldn't be taken literally. And like Kit said, your brain is getting back in shape.

They are very common in early recovery.

For me it helped to talk about them. Otherwise the thoughts would swirl around in my head, By talking about them, it seems to disarm them. And when I talked about them to other alcoholics and addicts, I found that I wasn't the only one having these types of dreams.

I don't remember when they stopped reoccuring, and I still have them occasionally, especially around certain dates, like the dates that I got arrested, holidays, etc..(I'm just 16 months sober). And there were times while I was going through the steps, that I had some. Which seems logical to me, as I was facing aspects of my life, that I had been avoiding for a lot of years.

But it seems to me, that the farther that I dived in to the program, and integrated it in to all aspects of my life, meetings, sponsor, steps etc... That those dreams dwindled away.

And I started sleeping through the night.

squirrelly77

Hey S and K--have fun!
Yep, I remember having those dreams (still do since I'm fairly new to sobriety). Like Jayln, I would actually wake up either seeing, feeling, smelling, or tasting something that wasn't there.
For example...I remember this one dream where I was at a bar, getting totally plastered and chatting it up with some guy. Right after I woke up...I SWORE I wasn't in my bedroom, I felt like *CRAP* -- being able to taste the liquor I thought I drank and the bottle stuck in my head (so to speak). I thought for sure I got wasted and ended up in some guy's bed. When I was fully awake...I couldn't believe how vivid it all seemed.
So yeah...kinda shakes you, but makes you thankful at the same time!

Danielle

degadar

Hi Guys,

my drunk dreams went on a while. mabe a couple of months. Mine were almost always me dreaming i was driving under the influence.

It's not nice. Now they're gone I chalk it up as yet another good reason never to drink again.

Very unlikely that hibbety jibbety had much to do with it! made my day that did...

Deg.

lulu70

Hey guys--I have had a LOT of using dreams. I still have them and I am six months sober! My sponsor also haves them. (She has 3 years.) It is my understanding that they are completely normal. If you think about it, we spend our whole time awake thinking about not drinking or using, so it makes sense we would dream about it when we are asleep. I have had dreams that were so realistic that I woke up thinking, "OMG!!!! I have GOT to call my sponsor! How am I gonna tell her?" I haven't had one that I can remember for a while. I think they get fewer and farther between with more sobriety. At least I hope so!!!!

Hugs--

splendra

S&T-

It is my understanding about dreams that everone in them is an aspect of ourselves. THink about the different people in your dream and understand what each one is telling you about your using..... I don't know you real well but, I beleieve the people represent past, present and, future as it relates to your addiction. One part of you is selling liquor, one part buying it and, another part is begging for it. The part that bought it is admonishing the part that is begging interesting.....

Jalyn

Last night I had a good dream I wanted to share.

Next weekend, Labor Day, I will be put to the test. I know we are not supposed to think past today, but I am already planning how will NOT drink without having to explain during this event.

Well, my dream last night was at the event and I was using all of the tools and "stuff" that I planned. I made it and was so proud of myself. I woke up in the best mood and really determined to stay sober today! Day 6 will be a good day for me!

Thanks for letting me share! J

sickk&tired

I had a oh-crap-I-drank-what-am-I-going-to-say-to-the-people-on-the-SR-boards-tomorrow last night =).

I spent the weekend in Nevada (a trip which involved me and 11 drunk people on a boat :boat for 10 hours yesterday with a gigantic cooler full of liquor, me driving the boat as my excuse to not drink, then me eventually jumping off a boat to cure the cravings :p .). Last night I dreamt that i finally gave in and had some shots, then woke up convinced that I had drank! I spent about 5 minutes thinking of how to excuse my behavior to you all, when I realized that it had just been a dream =). Thank god I didn't.

Jalyn

Hip hip hurray for S&T!! Great job in staying sober at a tough time! :35:

lulu70

Boy, our minds can play nasty tricks on us.

S&T--Way to go getting through a tough situation without drinking. If I were you, however, I would try not to put myself to the test too much.

Jalyn--It is GREAT that you are already thinking about your upcoming situation. We always need to have a plan in place when we go into situations where there will be alcohol. You can do it!!!! I'm glad you had a pleasant dream.

Love and hugs--

sickk&tired

Lulu- Thanks for the post, and I definitely agree with you. I don't want to be in those kinds of situations too often (I hadn't realized that would be the case yesterday) because they ARE incredibly tempting. At the same time, its easier for me to refuse a drink when hanging out with other people than it is when I'm alone. Does that make sense? Its times like right now when I'm home alone, with no one to watch me get silly drunk that its hard. Thank god for DSL =).

Jalyn- HOoray for you making no-drinking plans! I agree that Labor day weekend will be hard, since a lot of people will be drinking, I'm glad you have a plan =).