Constant Nightmares

I'm hoping this thread gets at least some attention.
I have been having (nearly)constant nightmares for over 4 months. Sometimes I have one day out of the week where I am not woken up by a nightmare. If I'm lucky.

I can't really remember them any more than a couple of hours later, but I know they are always different, or almost always, I may have a similar one once or twice more eventually but they are usually completely different.

For some background info, they started pretty much when I was forced to temporarily move out of my partner's apartment (landlord troubles) so I assumed it was because I was so unused to sleeping alone, but we found a nice new place and have been back in the same bed for 3 months now and it hasn't stopped. Sometimes I wake up 2 or 3 times a night.

I remember that some of them have been about being chased or hunted, but always in a normal setting, like having to run around trying to hide in my old city because someone is after me, I don't remember any unfamiliar places showing up in them, nothing very strange or out of the ordinary besides someone wanting to chase me for whatever reason. I also remember 2 or 3 that involved relationship type fears, but those have settled down more recently. I don't remember having any monsters/aliens/unnatural occurrences in them.

I am not sure if this is the right forum section for sure, if a mod needs to move it, I understand, I rarely, if ever, post threads so I am not completely in the loop there. It didn't seem like any other places fit though.

I am up to any suggestions, but I feel I should put it out there that I can't lucid dream, I used to try all the time but never got the hang of it, and nothing ever seems to clue me in that I am, in fact, dreaming.
I am not taking any new medication, or any medication that is known to cause nightmares or any brain-related side effects.
I have not faced any recent trauma or stress, I am living as stress-free as I think I ever have in my memory.
I do drink too much caffeine, but I had already been doing the same for at least a year before this happened so I doubt it has much to do with it, but I am considering switching to something with no caffeine in it for post-dinner liquids.

If anyone has any ideas, suggestions, ridiculous theories, I'll listen. I would do the chicken dance every night before bed if I thought it would help.

have you tried any sleep aides?

I take it you are not getting off antidepressants either right? I know Paxil withdrawl causes very intense dreams and often nightmares, no doubt some other drugs can too.

I feel bad for you. No idea why this is happening. Have you tried to focus on pleasant dreams before bed? Like try to program your subconscious mind head of time by making a positive statement again and again? Such as "I will sleep well and dream happy things tonight". Maybe even turn it into a little ritual, herbal tea in bed while focusing on good dreams etc... The subconscious likes ritual.

Worth a try, the subconscious is a tricky thing. Also yeah, cut out the caffeine early in the afternoon.

reply to post by BiohazardsBack

I remember that some of them have been about being chased or hunted, but always in a normal setting, like having to run around trying to hide in my old city because someone is after me

Do you owe anyone money..? Or do you have any 'unfinished business' with anyone..?



If research is to be taken seriously in regards to this topic, dreams are allegory...


Good luck...

You may just not be used to your new place. It takes me a year to really get used to a place when I move where the energy in the place is mine.

Being chased to a familiar city, maybe you feel the comfort of where you were.

Or maybe you fear going back to it.

Sometimes these kinds of dreaming experiences are representative of your emotions, sub-conscious or conscious. Are you sure there isn't something nagging at you? Some fear or uncertainty that you keep pushing to the back of your mind? Alot of times repetitious dreams of similar nature are your psyches way of trying to get you to confront something.

If this is not the case, you might try modifying your diet. Eat more fruits and vegetables and more water. Take some vitamins. Excercise works great too. My favorite thing personally is ambient music while you're trying to fall asleep. If you got the money to spend they even have brain wave machines that function similarly to ambient noise machines, in that they emit harmonic frequencies that your brain really likes.

My bet is on some repressed emtional issue though, this is consistent with the being hunted, running away theme. You're trying to avoid something and your psyche is telling you to deal with it.

Just my opinion though.

Good luck

My assumption is that your nightmares, is a result of your stress. You may have alot of suppressed feelings in your subconscious.
I would recommend placing a notebook and pen next to your bed. You should be able to remember some or parts of the nightmare. You can then review what you wrote down and possibly find the cause.

The only person who truly knows you, is yourself.

Stop coming to this site for a while, stop listening to whatever make's you stressed. I kinda envy you i don't remember any of my dreams i might remember about 10 a year. iv also heard that some "substances" make you not remember your dreams. Might wanna look into that...

Stress could be the cause, but I am curious as to how sensitive you are to the supernatural? My boyfriend who is super sensitive has nightmares quite a bit which I believe are due to the ghost(s) that are in our house. He doesn't know how to tune it out so it messes with him to the point we are about to move out of the house we own and into an apartment. I know you said the dreams started when you were living apart but its just a thought.

Now besides all that maybe you should try meditation, and the hot tea is a great bedtime treat. Good luck and I hope you get some zzz's.

First, I would like to thank everyone for their replies! It is great knowing that there might be a solution out there somewhere!

reply to post by tatersalad

I have taken some melatonin on occasions when I feel like I need to get to sleep quickly, but maybe one night or two a month. The problem is, many sleep aids make dreams and nightmares more vivid.

reply to post by Sonya610

Not going off of any medications either, should have said that in my post I guess.
As for trying to put good dreams in my head, my boyfriend reminds me almost every night that I should dream about kittens or something equally cute and fluffy to try to help.(too bad i never do, i would love to dream about kittens!
)

reply to post by chapter29

Nope. No owed money, nothing new in terms of situations with people, no new things that I have to deal with.

reply to post by amatrine

The problem is that it started maybe a day or two before I left the place I had been staying at for barely a month, then I was back at the home i had lived with my mom in for almost a year beforehand for about a month and a half. All my bedroom furniture including my bed, pillows, blankets, comforting things are here too. I feel more at home here than I have pretty much anywhere.

reply to post by Gigatronix

I thought I had stated that they werent usually similar, I just had had a couple that were somewhat related, but here it is again. These aren't really "recurring" nightmares, as they are never the same situation, rarely have the same people involved, never really in the same place either. The only part that is repetitive is the fact that they scare me.
There is something that I am trying a bit to deal with, but it would more be the opposite, me trying to find something etc etc, I don't exactly want to go into it here but I have been working on it, and also it wasn't a problem or even existant when these started.
I can try your eating suggestion maybe though (im a bit of a kid when it comes to eating still. Too many years of eating what was put in front of me leads to a lot of chips, and a recent newfound love for frootloops)

reply to post by Bringer

Same here in the past, I didn't remember anything, maybe one a month would stick with me just because I was woken in the middle of it or something. These just kindof hit me all of a sudden, I never used to remember my dreams until the last few months.

reply to post by PurpleIvy

Well, this has been in 3 separate homes, one of which I did just fine in for at least 6 months, more like 9ish I guess, so I doubt it is that. I have no experience with supernatural things, aside from tv shows and reading too much ATS haha.


Thanks again everyone, I will be back tomorrow morning, if I have a nightmare I'll get right on writing it up for you guys. If nothing else, it will give everyone something to read, as this site has given me so many times!

reply to post by BiohazardsBack


Hi there!
First post here.

Boy, I can really sympathsize with you because I have a very similar problem but I wanted to tell you what seems to help me.
Mine differ from yours because they're always the same theme and very violent. It's almost like they come on in clusters. For a few weeks I have them and for a few I don't and it doesn't seem to matter if I've had caffiene or stress. They just happen.

Anyway, I know this is going to sound weird and exactly the opposite of what you should do, but it works for me.

Right before I go to sleep and my mind is wandering around, sometimes these nightmares flash in my mind. I have tried before to just put it out of my mind and think of something good when that happens, but that never worked for me.

Now I let myself remember the nightmare. Just for a minute or so I let myself think about it until I fall asleep. I don't try to analyze it or change it, but just remember it. It seems that when I let my mind address whatever issue it has, if even for a minute, the nightmare doesn't seem to happen when I fall back asleep.

Anyway, I just wanted to put this out there and let you know what works for me and hopefully it can help you.

I hope you can find peaceful dreams soon!!



[edit on 5/9/2009 by Etanya]

Try praying before bed, whether you believe or not. It works wonders!

It might help to remember more. The notebook on the night stand is a good idea. It will help if you start writing as soon as you wake up.
You can also take a vitamin B6 supplement. This helps you remember your dreams for some reason.
Another suggestion is to get some exercise in the afternoon at least 2 hours before bed. It will help you relax.
Good luck.

Have you tried reading before you go to bed?

Can't really remember last night's one. I remember I was on a bus, and a man was trying to track me down. I think I went past my stop. That's all I've got.

reply to post by badgerprints

I had planned on typing it out on here right away, but I didn't really realize I had had it until after I woke up this morning. It was completely hazy even from the start and I remembered things slowly.
Can't really afford to go out and buy vitamins at all right now, but I will keep it in mind for when I have more money around. As for exercise, I can try that too.

reply to post by Max_TO

I've officially run out of books I want to read, it seems. But I had been reading a bit a while back when I found a good book finally (I believe there are at least 1000 bad books to every good one, something like 10,000 are released every year and they cant all be good!) it didn't seem to help.

being chased implies fear of whatever is doing the chasing, need to get away from person, place, or situation quickly,

A feeling of helplessness or powerlessness

"your past catching up with you."

Something is bothering you before you go to bed. Either that or you are eating too late. It helps to read a nice story before you go to bed

running running into a situation or away from something or someone.

running away from your fears instead of facing them

getting nowhere fast

old city


a place in you dream which you are unenlightened something you must deal with eventually

feeling of deprivation and hopelessness

reply to post by BiohazardsBack
I understand what you are going through. That could have been me writing that post about dreams.

All the suggestions any one made I have already done. Nothing helps so far.

Yesterday when my mate woke me up he said I said, "Thank God that's over, it was rough." I did not remember the dream but was exhausted when I woke up.

It isn't ATS, I've lived in real life many of the events we talk about here.
I've taken B12 injections and B6 supplements for several years.

I have taken a sleep aid ever since I was diagnosed 8 years ago with sleep apnea so I can sleep with that darn contraption on my face that keeps me alive while I'm sleeping.

I read, I pray, and I think nice thoughts when I go to bed.

My mate said I sleep like a rock but he wakes up frequently because of our dogs making noises.

I'm not sure there is a cure for nightmares. I am beginning to think there are things going on that my mind is picking up on and I'm not realizing it.



[edit on 9-5-2009 by dizziedame]

I don't know if this will work for you but...

As I'm drifting off to sleep, I think of something I wanna dream about, and more times than not, I dream about what I was thinking about.

Try it, maybe it will work.