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1001199 tn?1288135453

Bad dreams every night for entire life

Does anyone else have terrible dreams every night? I don't have dreams about the boogeyman or anything like that. They're relatively normal dreams but I'm always in trouble or being embarrassed. Then the dream sticks with me all day and ruins my life.

Last night I had a dream that I was in a hotel and had to leave, then I ate pizza in my truck. Sounds harmless but I was horrified and I can't get it out of my head.  

Does anyone know what the heck is wrong with me?
16 Responses
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Avatar universal
.... 17 and every single night.... bad dreams i don't even call them nightmares because these are every night. i set alarms to wake me up throughout the night so i don't have to stay in the dream. alot of it is the emotions and there are so many details than i could ever put into words. when i wake up i'm in this state of intense left over emotions from the dreams it is undescrible feelings and embarrassing to feel so helpless. and yes, they recur during the day where i'll remember more details about the dream. i am very creative, but im not motivated. i take adderal and i have a bit of sleep apnea. you're not alone it's been going on ever since i can remember.
its every day things, and it's always about survival. it is graphic and gorey almost reminnds me of final destination alot of the times. and i don't know what's real when i'm in the dream that's how deep i'm in, and when i wake up it's a shock being ripped out of that. the emotions are real, and people say they're just a dream they're not real. the emotions are real, even if the dream is not and it is not fun to go through that. i love my boyfriend and my friends and the dreams twist everyone into puppets and either i'm yeah being shunned ..everything you said. it's torture finding out i'm dreaming this after i wake up but a relief it's not real.'
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Avatar universal
I dream like this too. Mainly when I have anxiety during the day.  Also do you have problems sleeping, or falling asleep?  I have sleep apnea.  I have to use a Cpap machine. When I use the machine to sleep I don't have the bad dreams.  I know what you mean about the dreams affecting you.  Keep a journal by your bed, when you wake up write down what you remember about the dreams.  Get them out of your head.  Try to do something before bed that really helps your relax. And if you have problems falling asleep, staying asleep talk to your doctor about sleep apnea.  A lot of people have it and don't realize it.  Stressful dreams can be a sign of it.
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Avatar universal
Hi Adam. I have vivid dreams nightly also. They are usually negative. I found though, that if I think about them and actually try to analyze them like how they might relate to my life, it helps me with insight. I don't believe in all those cut and dried symbols like "if you dream about such-in-such it means you will have bad luck"  I think about many different things the things in the dream might represent, look at it from different angles. It helps me.
I heard a long time ago that it's not so much "what" you dream, but the emotion you have in the dream. Like if you are running away from something in your dream, ask yourself, is there anything I'm afraid of or avoiding in my life that I should pay attention to. Or if you're embarassed in your dream, maybe there is something you are embarrassed about in your life. And there's nothing wrong with that.
That's a little more simplistic than how I attempt to analyze my dreams but it's a starting point.
I have also read that when you dream about different people sometimes those people represent parts of yourself.  
My therapist told me that it's a common view that dreams are a way of our mind "working things out" that we aren't working out in our conscious life. Like maybe there is something you just need to acknowledge in your conscious mind.  So maybe if you actually think about your dream on purpose, it will give you more control instead of just fear. Just take a deep breath and think about your dream, and remember, they say it is normal and even necessary for us to dream.
Since you are a creative and artistic person makes me think that might be why you are more sensitive to your dreams and remember them, while many people hardly ever remember their dreams. But you are not alone, I almost always remember my dreams, and yes, every morning as soon as I wake up, I actually take time to think about them, then they do not haunt me for the rest of the day.
Hope this helps,
Take care,
dory13
Helpful - 0
1106568 tn?1258137285
I have similar problems as you do too, i suffer from ptsd and schizophrenia and my dreams are extremely terrifying and just plain strange. They don't seem scary when i talk about them to other people, but when i am dreaming them they are like nothing ive ever felt before... this sounds stupid but what worked for me, is i had a native American chief make my a dream catcher....i swear to god it works. I think if you believe it works it will, because you create so much in your mind, so try it and get one :) I haven't had a nightmare for weeks, although my dreams are still extremely strange and show my imaginative abilities, they aren't scary.
Helpful - 0
82861 tn?1333453911
My husband was diagnosed with PTSD and for the 25 years we've been together I don't think we've had one decent night's sleep.  He's had night terrors all this time and acts out his dreams of fighting.  That includes screaming, cursing, hitting and kicking.  I usually wake up before it gets too out of hand, but I've been banged up a few times.  I know he isn't attacking ME.  Most times he doesn't realize what's happening until he's completely awake.

At one point he asked the doctor to try ambien.  That stuff is horrible!  Sure, it knocked him out, but it made the nightmares worse.  When he started cursing around the house in the middle of the night while sleepwalking, I put an end to the ambien.  Not only did the ambien make matters worse, it made him forget even dreaming at all.  He only thought he was getting a decent night's sleep.

Anyway, now that he's on antidepressants and going to therapy, things are beginning to look up.  I know we're in for a long haul, but I've lived with the man this long - I think I'm up for seeing him through therapy.  :-)
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Avatar universal
Adam...
I have a similar problem as you do.   Nightmares are of:  people being unreasonably
mean to me, shunning me, pushing themselves on me, making demands; my Mom being mad at me all the time -   Mostly emotional meaness
and pain, threating to take her love for me away;   Times and places in childhood of people being cruel to me - people
who in "real time" were not cruel to me;   people who caused me problems and pain
often are characters in my dreams.  They're mad at me for something (I don't know what?)   Structural problems with my home, etc;  Cheating apathetic husband (of which I divorced 30 years ago!)  All these dreams greatly exagerate the experiences & places .   This of course is just a bit of what I dream.
Usually occurs during the few hours before I wake up in the morning.  Sometimes
leaves feeling like I'm still in the dream - and hard to get it out of my mind -
for several hours.   My head feels very heavy - as if my brain cells are exhausted
and wanting to burst out of my skull.   This sounds overly dramatic - but it is the only
way I can describe the intensity of the post nightmare lingering experience.

These nightmares started 7 years ago;   I had a nervous breakdown (2002) after being severely conned by a man whom I was married to for only 4 months.  I  couldn't sleep, and cried hysterically for 10 days;
Doc finally prescribed meds to control this post traumatic syndrome:  .I take 10mg Ambien for these past 7 years.     { Note:  I Always had mild nightmares on & off, throughout my life}
But since taking the Ambien, I experience traumatic nightmares nightly.   I don't tell
my doc, since she'll stop prescribing Ambien for me.    I also take Zoloft for the
past 7 years, for the ptsd;  I quit the Zoloft cold turkey about a month ago.    I really
can't tell much of a difference in mood; but the withdrawl side affects are some but
not bad;   some elevated aggitation (stuff like that).    Reason I mention the Zoloft and
my discontinuation of it, is that the Zoloft does not seem to be the problem.   I
still have the haunting nightmares every night.
Possibly the Ambien has something to do with the intensified nightmares?
(but I need it to sleep).

FYI:    See profile.   I'm  turning 60 in a few months;   so I'm talking the talk of
60 years!
Helpful - 0
1042253 tn?1253144394
I'm not sure if this will help you, but I actually have a close friend who claims to have nightmares every single night.  Until I read your post, I had never heard of anyone else having that kind of experience.  He also says that his dreams are relatively normal and include friends and other people that are in his daily life.  The nightmares continue whether or not he is on medication and cannot seem to ever get a good night's rest.  I'm sorry that you have to deal with the stress of the dream while it's happening and also the aftermath throughout the rest of your day.  I assume that you've already talked to a few professionals about this, but I hope it helps you to know that you aren't the only person that has this issue.  This seems to be a very rare problem, and I would imagine it would be challenging to find answers, but in any case, good luck!  I hope you can find relief from your nightmares.
Helpful - 0
535822 tn?1443976780
I thought you said Adderall 'helps' in your post so I assumed you were still on it and it is a fact it can cause more dreaming.,perhaps there is a with drawal factor involved form taking the Ambien.Good luck
Helpful - 0
1001199 tn?1288135453
I'm not taking any meds... I have taken meds in the past but did have an effect.
Helpful - 0
535822 tn?1443976780
Ask your Doctor it sounds like the meds causing the dreaming .
Helpful - 0
1001199 tn?1288135453
That's a good point. Maybe I need to workout my brain muscles more during the day so they don't let loose like wild monkeys at night. Thanks for your help.
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
You're way too creative,talented person.........early excitation after waking up shows this

Also your dream theme is balanced so why should you worry,

I think you are not living up to your innermost ideals which is probably using your inborn creativity to maximum.

Show your creativity,thinking,imagination skills on your job,works,activities etc,

Best of luck!
Helpful - 0
1001199 tn?1288135453
I'm way over-creative. I've made a lot of art but I lose concentration or motivation while I'm making it.

The only recurring theme of my dreams is negative feelings. Not any single feeling, but usually a bunch of them all in one dream. The dreams really aren't scary, just the feelings in them. For as long as I've been dreaming I've had these bad dreams. I think it's just how I am. It never ceases with or without med or drug use and some just make the daily re-dreams worse.

It's just a way of life for me, but I do hate it. Waking up is the worst. I can't even describe it. And it's odd because when I was about 5-10 years old I'd wake up at 3-4AM and go play before everyone else would wake up.



Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
Stop taking drugs,as it can have side effects also the dosage increases as time goes on.

Can you describe what kind of dreams you are experiencing,is all dreams of same pattern ?

Dreams occur on people having high imagination,creativity etc so do not consider it as bad,also if you see certain dream repeatedly,it just tells to change you're habits,behavior,change think,do certain action etc (instructing you to make some changes from your present one's)

Never try to suppress dreams,its a part of life....
Helpful - 0
1001199 tn?1288135453
I can't control it at all. I absolutely hate thinking about dreams. They just re-appear in my mind throughout the day. I do whatever I can to avoid them and they just pop up. It stinks. I don't try to analyze them or even think about them. It's been this way since the first dream I could remember when I was 4.

Not sure what I can do. The doc put me on all kinds of antidepressants but they didn't do anything, geodon made it horribly worse, Adderall seems to help with the daytime epsiodes, but not the night. I believe Ambien helped but I was only on it for two months before there was an issue with the doc office and they couldn't refill (after 7 phonecalls and 4 faxes). My heart goes out people who can't get medical care.
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
You are taking dreams seriously,that's the problem.the more you give attention to it,stronger it gets & they take control of your life.

Stronger version of dreams like hallucinations need to be taken seriously as it occurs to instruct you if you're doing something wrong or not taking responsibility.

Use your day time constructively & avoid day time sleeps this will solve many of your problems.

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