Why Do I Have This Recurring Nightmare?

I am a 21 year old woman, I normally have very pleasant vivid dreams. I have dreams that authors would envy and I should write books from the concepts. For me to have a nightmare is extremely rare. So that is why I am posting here. Also I am engaged to a Marine who got back from Afghanistan in Oct. I never sleep on my back and the two times I have had this dream he was with me sleeping on the left and I was on my back.

My First Experience was December 25th 2011:
In my dream I was lying on my back in my bed and my fiance was in my bed too on my left and both of our torsos were off the bed slightly and our arms were floating sort of like zombies and I could hear this loud horn sound. I could see a smoke like substance coming off both our bodies and arms toward the ceiling as I felt my soul being pulled out my body and out the tops of my arms which I figured was the smoke substance. My first thought was this is the rapture. Second thought was wow this is really it, on Christmas morning were going to heaven to be with God. Third thought was man I really wanted to open my presents. Then I was scared and thought about how I was somewhat surprised that I was going to heaven. Then it kept going on and I started to feel scared like this isn’t a holy thing. Then I woke up and the only thing that changed was our arms were down and there was no sound or soul departing. I was so scared I woke up my Fiancé and held onto him for dear life. I thought about it and it seemed so real. I normally NEVER sleep on my back because I am a belly sleeper and always have been. I have never heard the sound in the dream before and I have never felt my essence be pulled out of my pores toward the ceiling before. This dream felt like a experience. I had this dream around 5:00 or 6:00 in the morning. I had normal dreams the following nights and decided to forget about it.

My Second Experience was February 19th, 2012:
In my dream I was lying on my back once again in my bed with my fiancé on my left side. Our arms and torsos were lifted off the bed as the rest of our body was on the bed.  Our spirits were being sucked out our pores and I heard the dreaded horn sound again. This dream was IDENTICAL to the one I had in December but the only difference was I knew I was dreaming this time and I desperately wanted to wake up knowing it wasn’t any rapture. I couldn’t move and I tried hard to talk and wake up my Fiancé but I couldn’t do either. The other difference was that I heard a very deep voice tell me to “pay attention”, it was making complete sentences but I could only make out a few things like “Listen” and “need to know this” I was so afraid. I wanted to wake up and when I finally did the only thing that had changed in the room was the sound, the feeling, our bodies were in the same position as they were in the dream except we weren’t floating and the voice was gone. I shook my Fiancé awake and started crying and telling him I had the dream again and I had him hold me and I felt like the being I couldn’t see in my dream was watching me. I feel like he is watching me right now as I write this. I am scared to be alone now and I feel vulnerable. I feel like if I have this dream one more time I wont wake up.  I had this dream in the early morning around the same time as the last dream in Dec. Please help me understand what is going on because I just dont know.

[niantix]

Hi,

Im not an expert, and you should possibly see a doctor, as this could be caused by stress, anxiety or something of the sorts.

To me it sounds like whats been referred to as an " Out of Body Experience" - This is when you have an experience that typically involves the sensation of floating outside your body. Sometimes it can occur spontaneously, or it could be caused from mental trauma, dehydration, sensory deprivation, or drugs.

The part where you couldnt move, or talk sounds like a feeling of sleep paralysis, which i have experienced that, and supposedly about half of the people who have had an out of body experience ( which i have not ) have noted a feeling of sleep paralysis.

It could be due to an extreme amount of stress stored in your subconscious that you havent dealt with, due to your fiance being a marine and having been in afghanistan, perhaps its worries you've had about him that is causing it.

I know how terrifying it feels, as after i had another one of my dreams just the other night, i couldnt sleep properly the night after.

I hope this helps in the slightest, if it keeps occuring you should seek advice from a professional of some sort.

[kitkatclark]

Thank you for you response. I believe you may be right and it must be a combination of sleep paralysis and an out of body experience. It has shaken me to my core. If I have the dream again I will take your advice and seek professional help. I am sorry to hear about your nightmares also. It is nice to know people out there care. Thanks, I hope you have sweet dreams too

[Paderla Anitha, DNB]

Hello and hope you are doing well.

The study on dreams is still abstract. Your symptoms of seeing things could be due to  sleep disorders “Nightmare” or "Night terror" disorders . Here the person experiences symptoms of bad, frightening dreams which interfere with his sleep schedules. Disorders related to dreaming could occur with REM sleep behavior disorders. Here the person acts out the dreams.

This can be assessed by a sleep questionnaire and therapy is based on the severity of symptoms. If your symptoms persist, I would advise you to discuss your symptoms with your primary care physician who may then refer you to a sleep specialist for further evaluation.

Hope this helped and do keep us posted.