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Why can't I stop dreaming?!

Here is some history: I'm 24, I have Anxiety/Panic disorder. I have been taking Effexor XR since April, and it seems to help with my symptoms. I also take Xanax as needed for panic attacks. This also helps. However, I have not been able to have one night's sleep without dreaming in 8 months! I told my psychiatrist, and she prescribed Ambian, which helped me fall asleep fast, but I still had dreams all night. Then she suggested taking the Xanax every night, starting with .5 mg. When that didn't work, she told me to try 2. Nothing helps. I dream all night long. Nightmares, stupid dreams, ex-boyfriend dreams, vacation dreams, high school dreams, etc. All freakin' night! I wake up in the morning feeling like my brain hasn't rested! It is getting really annoying. This happened to me a few years back when I was first diagnosed with Anxiety/Panic disorder. But it went away after about a month. This has been 8 months now!!! Does ANYONE out there know what is causing this and if there is some kind of medication out there that would help this?
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Avatar universal
I have fibromyalgia im on tramadol Cymbalta and meloxicam and I keep dreaming about my boyfriend is packing up and moving out I end up crying and waing up crying how do I stop this??
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Avatar universal
Your sleep problem is probably due to high levels of glutamate in your body. Take a GABA supplement (like Gaba Mood Assist from MD Nutritionals) and that will stop your brain's overactivity, which is the cause of your incessant dreaming. I also recommend Ziziphus as a sleep aid. Take both supplements an hour before bed. It will take some time, but eventually your sleep patterns will begin to return to normal. I am speaking from personal experience.

Ps. Praise Jesus?? Smoke pot?? Pharmaceuticals?? There are some real jokers on this site. Remember that this sleep problem is caused by excessive Glutamate levels. So it will help to cut out sugar, caffeine, and anything that causes stress. That will lower glutamate levels to a degree, but after that, you will need Gaba Mood Assist which is actually Gamma amino-butyric acid. I got all of this information from my naturopath, by the way, and am now on the path to better sleep and better health.
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Avatar universal
Oceans3 you said you like to analyze dreams? do you have an email adress so i could talk to you personally about some dreams me and my fiance have been having
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Avatar universal
I know exactly what you are talking about!!  I have been doing the same kinds of dreams but they go from one dream to the next nonstop until I wake up in the morning.  I was beginning to think I was the only one who had this problem and started looking online for solutions when I came across your comment.  If you find out how to get them to stop I would love to know.  I have cut out all caffeine including Tea and Coffee as well as chocolate out of my life now for 5 months.  All I drink is water and sometimes a caffeine free Sprite.

I wonder if it is a vitamin we are lacking.....
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Avatar universal
All you dreaming people need to follow a ritual every night to help you relax and switch off your brain;-  
Get a portable cd player for your bedroom.
Don't drink any alcohol after 7pm
write a journal every night about your day and your feelings,
run yourself a nice warm bubbly bath with lavender bubblebath.
Light some candles and dim the lights,
Lay in the bath and soak and try to switch your brain off and think of nothing, meditate and concentrate on your breathing, it helps you to stop your mind wandering. If you start thinking stuff just re focus on blanking your brain.
Make yourself a hot chocolate in the winter or a cold milky drink in the summer.
While you are drinking your drink, write a list of things that you have to do the next day and leave the list with your keys and bag or wallet etc for the next morning.
Put on a sleepy relaxing music cd at a low volume and put a night light on in your bedroom.
Get into bed and be warm and comfortable, if possible with a small window open.
Good night guarenteed!
Good Luck!

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Avatar universal
This has been going on for years with me. Like everyone said it isn't the dreams. Its the exhausting feeling the next day. It has ruin effects on my life. I don't work ut that much cause I go thru the day with the zombie feeling.  The interesting thing is if I take a nap during the day that is the only time I really don't dream. Like everyone else I wish there was some cure for it. I have been killed in my dreams so many times. Even with nightmares I dont wake u afraid I just wake up open my eyes like it is just another day.
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Dog
taco76External User
I also have panic/anxiety disorder, for past 20 years. I don't know about meds that stop you from dreaming but there are a lot of meds for anxiety that will cause dreams. I am on trazadone at night and it causes to to have very significant dreams. But they are always good dreams so I love having them. Maybe check the symptoms on the meds you take and see if they are causing your dreams?  Vicki
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Avatar universal
You have never really experienced this kinda problem. actually it's not just a dream. it's a series of dreams all night long for months. not a single night gets spent with full perfect deep sleep.
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Avatar universal
Wow it is crazy how many people are disturbed by this dreaming thing! After I lost my brother who suffered bad for 3 years at a young age of 50, I began to have very aggressive dreams. Hateful, mean and anything unlike myself. The doctor told me to be glad that I was able to let this all out even if it was in dreams. He said its better than having the anger bottle up inside of me. I have always been a dreamer, all kinds of wierd, crazy, make no sense dreams, mixed with family, friends, husband, strangers. The hateful anger dreams that I changed to after my brothers passsing lasted only for a little while. I was mad and upset about the way he had to die but as I prayed about my anger they seemed to change back. I am sorry for the nightmares people suffer but I think those of us who dream ALOT everynight ought to be glad we are NOT having nightmares. I believe myself that the state of mind you are in and your anxiety level has alot to do with dreaming. I am gonna try that musle relaxation site someone wrote about. Thanks to everyone who shared. God bless....grandbuddyf
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Avatar universal
I too am a lifelong dreamer. I don't take meds but have been diagnosed with PTSD. I was bit by a dog on the face when i was a year and a half old but have no memory of it. I have a huge fear of the dark, loud noises, and cannot sleep in silence. I have been told i have sleep apnea. Hell, i quit breathing when i'm awake too!!!! Maybe twice a year I get a good nights sleep. What to do?????

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Avatar universal
I am SO happy to have found this, because almost everyone I've told about this I have to CONVINCE it's not a bad thing. Everyone thinks it's so cool and interesting but it's NOT.

I remember being a little kid and having a night where my mom tucked me in, then came back after what felt like a few seconds to wake me up. I was so confused... I had never experienced sleeping without dreaming at all. To me, sleeping feels like a movie length of time or longer. The only other times I have slept without dreaming were one of the first times I smoked weed, and the very first time I took the tranquilizer I'm prescribed for hormone related anxiety (that I only take when I have PMS symptoms).

I have had really awful anxiety related to my hormones and PMS since I hit puberty. I have Polycystic Ovary Disease. I take birth control to regulate my hormones (they were way too high before) and that helped shorten the length of the anxiety, but I still take Lorazapem for about 4 days a month. The dreaming has been ever since I can remember though.

I don't have "scary" dreams in the horror movie sense (I don't really get scared by horror movies, thankfully!) but I have REALLY REALLY awful negative dreams about realistic things happening.

I also have lucid dreams very often. In most of these dreams I want to wake up, but I can't. Sometimes, despite it being lucid, I'm still not rational. For example, I had a dream that my little brother (who I am extremely close to) died and I felt EXTREME anxiety, depression, etc for what felt like a very long time. I realized I was dreaming... but then for some reason I thought that if I didn't wake myself up, everything in the dream would come true. I spent a long time running around, crying, clawing at the walls until my boyfriend woke me up for unrelated reasons (I never seem distressed in the real world).

I have also experienced sleep paralysis...

When I was a little kid, my dreams were so crazy that my mother thought I was making up stories.

I'm going to a sleep clinic over the holiday break but I'm not convinced it's going to do anything to help. I hope that someday someone finds a solution...
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Avatar universal
This is really depressing to read all these comments. I feel like I will dream forever and never get a good nights sleep again. I have been diagnosed with schizophrenia and depression and I take Risperdal and Trazodone. I have a very hard time sleeping it seems my brain won't shut off. When I sleep I toss and turn from side to side. I also can not sleep during the day at all. When I wake up in the morning I wake up bright and early and can not go back to sleep until bedtime. There has got to be some research out there that can explain this. If anyone knows how to help please share.  
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Avatar universal
I too just want one night without dreaming.  I've been dreaming since I can ever remember.  I am now 34.  I am so over it.  I wake up so exhausted and drained.  And they aren't pleasant dreams either.  no fairies or butterflies or rainbows here!
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Avatar universal
I hear you...You are just like me.  I too have anxiety/ panic disorder and haven't had  a  good nights sleep in like years.  But I am sure I used to dream a lot before I was diagnosed.  I too take xanax , but doesn't help with dreaming.  I dream about train crashes , plane crashes, sunami's, bridges collapsing, travelling over the world, stupid ex boyfriend - exactly like you....I am so over it.  I'd sooner not sleep at all.
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Avatar universal
I used to have those same dreams. I would scream and I would feel the pain in my body that I would feel in my dream. I think it in my case anyway may have come from many yrs of repressed memories. I'm 38 now and I'm have chronic pain due to some injuries but I went on to have yrs of peaceful sleep. The bad dreams are back but they are not as bad as they used to be. Don't give up hope. Mabey you just need to let some things go. God bless and I pray sweeter dreams to you.
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Avatar universal
Try ashgawanda herb.I've read that it can you move into nonrem sleep.I plan on trying it myself as soon as I can find it.You should also ask your doctor if it will interfere with your meds.Plus our problem is known it just isn't very well studied because people thought that those like us were just lazy or need mental help.If you can afford you should have a sleep study done by a sleep therapist.They know more about sleep problems than other doctors.Though I think the other doctors should have at least a passing knowledge of this stuff so people don't get misdiagnosed for stuff like depression which a person may only have because they're so exausted.Good luck and I hope this helps.
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Avatar universal
Okay,I tried the brainwave music and all I got was a headache.Went back to surfing the web for an answer,any answer,and found this website dedicated to mens health.The original poster and many others have the same problem.In the answer posts there were the usual "Dreams are normal" and "You need Dream",but there was something I never heard before.This one had the same problems and a bit ago his mother took him in for a sleep study.Afterwards the doctor told him he had narcolepsy.So I looked it up and it said,"Narcolepsy is a chronic sleep disorder.Narcoleptics, when falling asleep, generally experience the REM stage of sleep within 5 minutes; whereas most people do not experience REM sleep until an hour or so later.The main characteristic of narcolepsy is Excessive Daytime Sleepiness (EDS), even after adequate night time sleep. A person with narcolepsy is likely to become drowsy or fall asleep or just be very tired throughout the day, often at inappropriate times and places."It also says," Hypnagogic hallucinations are vivid, often frightening, dreamlike experiences that occur while dozing, falling asleep and/or while awakening.In most cases, symptoms first appear when people are between the ages of 7 and 25. In rare cases, however, narcolepsy may appear at younger age or in older adults. If left undiagnosed and untreated, early onset narcolepsy can interfere with psychological, social, and cognitive function and development and can undermine academic and social activities."From the sounds of it narcolepsy means a person spends an unusual amount of time in rem sleep.Causing an extreme amount of tiredness despite the amount of sleep a person gets.Now to find a way to push myself out of rem sleep.Hope this help everyone.



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2116062 tn?1334575034
Ive had this same problem and it seems to be getting better rather than worse, i can have a good 8 to 10 hours sleep and sleep right through but be so drained! I have a young daughter and have suffered from anxiety and PND every since i've had her but my dreams are getting more and more vivid wether I take my anti depressants or not so cant see a link there, its exhausting ive mentioned it to my doctor but like many they dont see it as a problem but it is! it effects everything when your tired especially having a job or child to look after you dont have the energy to be able to do anything else! hope someones got a good idea for us all!
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Avatar universal
I am a big dreamer, everynight I sleep comes along a dream... Depending lots on what's happening in my life, my dreams mean so much to me regardless of any kind... Good, bad, insecure, lonelines, exciting and scary in a lot of cases, however my dreams have always eventually made sense to me!
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Avatar universal
I had no idea so many people had the same problem as me.I'm 30 and this has been happening all my life.Growing up I used to wonder why I had dark circles under my eyes.It never even occured to me it was because of my dreams.I thought everyone dreamed like that until my sister said she hardly ever dreamed.I've been to a therapist for social anxiety, agoraphobia, and depression.When I told my therapist he said not to worry about and to cut back on the caffeine,Not too long ago I started looking into why we dream and found out about gamma and delta brainwaves. Gamma waves happen all the time in small doses but seem to happen the most when we dream.Delta waves are apparently a state of unconsciounsness where the body repairs and recharches itself.Sounds nice huh.^-^ After more digging I found out that apha and theta brainwaves help relax the body.I plan on finding brainwave music and downloading alpha and theta waves to listen to while going to sleep in the hope of bypassing rem sleep and going straight to delta.I'll let you know if this works.  Chaos
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Avatar universal
Still, no solution - almost 7 years later :(.
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3 Comments
It’s been 16 years for me, did you ever find anything that helped?
Jettski, are you saying that you dream all night and it prevents you from reaching REM sleep?  What has your doctor done to help you?
Here's one (of many) articles on dreaming and REM sleep. We dream while in the REM sleep stage, though there are other stages of deep sleep where we don't dream. https://www.verywellmind.com/understanding-dreams-2224258
Avatar universal
I've been having vivid dreams every night for the past six years i m 30 yrs old woman my dreams feel so real that i can even eat drink and smoke like i was awake most of them feel like nightmares cause they interfere with my waking life, sometimes i even feel psychotic because of them.
To top it off in my waking life i allucinate and hear voices and sometimes i misshear what a person is saying as well as hearing noices that coincide with my thoughts as if they were answering. I've never been suicidal but felt a s force been trying to kill me in several occasions.
So it does get worse people for me it has, i obviously need help but i m reluctant in using medication besides hypnotherapy and maybe the occult.
I just felt like sharing my experience hope it makes you feel better cause it could of gotten much worse i could go on........
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Avatar universal
Hey whats your email.. i really need your help i cant stop this dreaming i pray a lot to God  but continue to sin it's so hard please get back to me thanks.
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Avatar universal
You *****.. you just don't understand do you?  it's not the dreams that bother us it's how they make us feel when we are awake. if you don't have anything nice to say or a solution to the ******* problem then don't leave a comment ok...
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