My nightmares getting worse

[tim0011]

I guess recurring nightmares has been my symptoms since I fell sick in 2010 but lately they have been getting worse. I often dream how I try to run away from something, how something is chasing me and I can't because I'm too fatigued. I literally feel 10 fold my numb, heavy, tired legs in my dreams compared to being awake. I feel completely depersonalized, derealized in my dreams and I often have bloody dreams :/ Problem is cuz I'm afraid going to sleep.

Anyone else having that?

 

[Dreambirdie]

Being chased in dreams is a very common dream theme. According to dream research, it's in the top ten, as far as dream themes go.

When I have a dream like this, I do a waking continuation of the dream in a meditative state. I ask to see what is chasing me, what I am "running from," and then I face it and ask what it wants. This can be very enlightening.

Knowing that I have the power to confront my fear can help to diffuse the anxiety about being chased. It doesn't always stop these kind of dreams, but it can make them less emotionally charged and/or less frequent. You might try it and see what happens.

 

[tim0011]

Oh wow Dreambirdie this is amazing! I don't know how to do this but those dreams are bugging me every single night. Most usually running away from something and feeling 10 or 100 fold what I feel during the day. Basically CFS has conquered my dreams also. It's kind of during the day I'm often depersonalized and don't "feel" things so much and this is compensated during the night

 

[peggy-sue]

I'm never running away, I'm always trying to get something really, really important done (like save the world ) and everything gets in my way.
I have to scale a 10 kilometer high rock face - without equipment, in full evening dress with killer heels, but my tights are ripped and I'm not wearing my panties and I keep falling off. Or I'm bargaining for my life with Mother (who has turned into the Minotaur) - and all I have to offer is a pencil sharpener.

I've heard the best way to deal with repetative nightmares is to continue with them and try to turn them into something safe - if you are falling, try to fly to somewhere lovely instead, or put an enormous soft mattress down on the ground to land on.
I've not managed to do this myself - but Dreambirdie's suggestions seem to be along these lines - so start there - and see if you can get something good to come of the scary bit.
A friend of mine did manage it, and never had that nightmare again.

 

[Dreambirdie]

Hi tim0011. If the dreams are bugging you every single night, that's usually due to not getting the message they are sending your way. Your psyche is telling you something that you need to hear, and it's up to you to make the effort to hear it.

Interesting what you say about "feeling 10 or 100 fold what I feel l during the day." According to Jung, most dreams are compensatory. So once again, there is the issue of bringing to your awareness what feelings you do have, and making them conscious in daytime, so they don't chase you around and haunt your sleep at night. I would guess this chase dream theme is about running from fear, but it would be good to get specific and clear about exactly what the fear is. Facing fear is half the battle. Otherwise, you will be running in circles, all night long, running from none other than YOU.

Good luck with it. Let me know how your meditation goes.

 

[tim0011]

Well those nightmares are probably reflection of what I'm doing throught the days. And that is trying to get healthy again. Looking for clues, researching stuff as much as my energy allows me to. So probably something that is chasing me is my disease and to where I want to get is my health and I'm being held back. And interesting is also that the places where my dreams are happening are places of my childhood and so are people around me. Dreams go very far back into my life. I don't really know how to perform meditation about dreams and also I don't know how to steer my dreams away from nightmares. Lucid dreaming is probably what peggy-sue mean?

 

[SickOfSickness]

Have you started new supplements? There are supplements that cause more frequent nightmares and more vivid ones.

 

[SickOfSickness]

Some supplements help people have less nightmares, but you have to watch out. Valerian works for many but in some people they get worse nightmares. Same with GABA and others.

Also nightmares could have to do with sleep apnea or hormonal problems.

 

[peggy-sue]

Lucid dreaming would be very desirable in this situation - however, it's not something I can do at will.

I believe a way to try to "get there" is to decide on a symbol (a red ball, or an ice cream - anything you like) which will appear in your dream - and when you see or find it, you know *in your dream* that you are dreaming and can make it go the way you want.

Just practicing imagining it turning into something lovely will probably help even if you can't meditate.
(I can't meditate. I just get screamingly bored.)

 

[collegeusername]

hey man just wanted to say that the same thing has happened to me. i used to fall into a deep sleep no problem and never dreamt much, until i started getting nightmares a month or so into having this virus. They kept up, some weeks very frequent and some I almost forgot about it, but now I am worried about sleeping more, anxious about it and I avoid sleeping until I'm extremely tired so that I pass right out and don't have to go through the half-awake half-dreaming period. Sometimes this keeps me up til 4 or 5 in the morning, and its been getting more frequent. The funniest part of it is that it has no relation at all to how happy/sad, comfortable/uncomfortable my day has been and also no relation to whether i sleep cuddling my gf or all on my own.

 

[adreno]

The real nightmare is waking up to reality.

 

[collegeusername]

amen

 

[justy]

Hi, i think that very vivid and disturbing dreams are a common symptom of M.E, and belive they were a documented symtom by Ramsay (? sorry - no evidence currently)

This has always been a very big symptom for me and i wonder if it is to do with sleep disorders that don't allow much stage 4 deep sleep. I dream very vividly all night long and wake up extremely exhausted from it all. I laos have had absolutely horrific nightmares - like watchiong a really nasty horro film - and i hate stuff like that - im a very peaceful non violent person. All very disturbing and upsetting.

Too much of the neurotransmitter Acetylcholine can cause high levels of REM vivid dreaming.

http://www.livestrong.com/article/478293-acetylcholine-dreaming/

Of course there are also all the psychological and spiritual acpects of dreaming, as discussed by others above, which i believe are also important to look at.

For me im quite surre it is part of the M.E and to do with brain functioning and neurotransmitters and sleep disorders.

Vivid dreaming mentioned in the Ramsay definition here:

http://www.cfids-me.org/ramsay86.html

 

[tim0011]

Wow yeah I think it really must be a symptom of this disease. The same in my case it seems to me that I dream all night long and I don't get any sleep in other stages. And there is another thing that has started happening to me since I fell sick. I'm not sure if you could relate to it but still. It kind of feels like I'm in this half asleep half awake state, waking up every 5 minutes, falling back asleep and dreaming like crazy. It's as if I'm switching between REM sleep and awake ish state. And I'm "paralyzed" in this state, can't move, can't stop dreaming.

 

[justy]

Wow yeah I think it really must be a symptom of this disease. The same in my case it seems to me that I dream all night long and I don't get any sleep in other stages. And there is another thing that has started happening to me since I fell sick. I'm not sure if you could relate to it but still. It kind of feels like I'm in this half asleep half awake state, waking up every 5 minutes, falling back asleep and dreaming like crazy. It's as if I'm switching between REM sleep and awake ish state. And I'm "paralyzed" in this state, can't move, can't stop dreaming.

Yes i have had this wake sleep wake sleep dreaming state as well. When i was at my most ill i would wake every 20 minutes. Sometimes i feel like i am not really fully asleep but am aware that i am in a dream. Sometimes i wake continuously hearing music being played - this same song or piece of music can go on all night.

So sorry you are experiencing this distressing symptom. I have no idea what to do about it.
Take care, Justy.

 

[tim0011]

No problem. If I only had this symptom to worry about but there are dozens others unfortunately. Wish one day we could get a decent normal sleep like other healthy people get and not waking up like I didn't sleep for 14 hours but was working all night long.

 

[Beyond]

I often have nightmares in which my body its very heavy, I feel terribly fatigued and my blows are weak (first fights are a recurrent theme). I also have bloody dreams at times. Overall I get lots of dreams around the feeling of frustration, being impotent (running slow its a variation of this). In my opinion this has a psychological basis, because the daily life of a "chronically" ill bears always some degree of psychological scarring experiences, lots of feelings of frustration and not being able to fight back or escape... As Adreno pointed out, the Nightmare of Reality its what causes the nightime bad dreams, in my opinion.

PD:I have started sleeping earthed! Lets see what it does, for dreams and waking up rested. So far, im feeling like shit flu-like, nausea, dizzy, weak and head pressure so that seems detox.

 

[caledonia]

For waking up stuff, it might be worthwhile to get a sleep study, or at least have someone observe you while you're sleeping. I did a sleep study and found out I was twitching my feet all night long, which was waking me up several times an hour. I started taking a large amount of magnesium and that solved the problem.

I also have a problem where I hold my breath for several seconds, then wake up with my heart racing and pounding. Taurine helps the heart pounding, and B12/methylfolate are helping with the breath holding.

I have testing confirming that I'm deficient in all of the above, not to mention low neurotransmitters (serotonin and melatonin are the two that work with sleep).

In general, recurring dreams are the ones that are trying to tell you something. For a long time, I had disturbing dreams where I was back in school, trying to find my books, my classes, getting lost, thinking I had to take more studies even though I had already graduated, etc. I attribute this to all the research I do about the disease.

Other disturbing dreams take place in the house and neighborhood I grew up in.

Since I've started methylation, my sleep is deeper. It's been awhile since I've had those kind of dreams.

 

[adreno]

High NE will give you terrible nightmares.

 

[Beyond]

I agree, a sleep study could be very useful. But first you will need to convince a doc for getting it. I told about it to my family doctor and she gave me an appointment to try and convince a neurologist that I need the study done (prior to this she was eager to suggest drugging me with psych meds but I told her I have tried lots and they dont help... which its half true! heh) Turns out the appointment will be in September! And bear in mind there is no guarantee this guy isnt a m0ron like most of the docs I have been to. Yeah why I would soften the truth and use other word? That has been my experience with them.