Why can't I stop dreaming?!

[Aruba417]

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?

[justmepam]

You are WRONG!!!!! My sugar levels are completely normal and I have had a glucose tolerance test.........I did not know there were other people like me. I am so tired. I just want to sleep and feel rested. I too have also had vivid dreams since I was a toddler. I'm fixing to get back to the forum to see what else everyone is saying. I also grind my teeth (have always done this) and have arthritis in my neck (now that I am older) (56). I wake up and HURT!!! My grandmother and I are just alike in this respect and come to think of it, she also had vivid dreams as did other people in my family. btw - my husband is tired of listening to my dreams. also btw - I'm diagnosed as  being ADD. Maybe I'm really not. I just never get any rest and am tired all the time.

[justmepam]

Excuse me....But I have a GREAT relationship with God and Jesus. You have no idea. I love them and they love me. They love everybody. Get a clue.

[Blueynoes]

What a depressing topic to read. I started dreaming heavily a year or 2 ago and it's destroying me. Everytime I wake up I remember every detail. On a rare occasion I'll be awake inside the dream, conscious and moving, trying out ridiculous things because I'm dreaming, only to wake up shortly ever. Random stuff. People I haven't met in years, the girl I fell in love with when I was 11 years old, work scenarios, the end of the world, monster attacks, political discussions, completely random. I started writing down my dreams hoping there was a message in between the lines but reading the lines back after I wrote them, it's like a crazy person wrote down his thoughts.

I came here looking for a solution, but all I find is more people with problems. All the suggestions here, I've heard a million times before. Calm down at night, pray to the lord, visit a therapist. I can't calm down that which I cannot control, I'm an atheist and these overprices therapists give me nothing but worthless advice that worked for their other patients.

For those that share these problems, and by the read of this topic there are many of you, you have my sympathies. I would wish this condition or whatever you call it unto no man.

[sefsermak]

Depression, anxiety, panic attacks, even OCD are all related to excessive dreaming, the dreams keep you in REM state for too long preventing the brain to stay in NREM sleep where your body is restored, that's why you always awake feeling exhausted and very tired no matter how long you sleep, in fact, the longer you sleep the worse: your brain will be stuck in REM sleep most of those hours, that's why sleep deprivation can "cure" depression at least temporarily: you just don't get on REM sleep for too much time. Awakening in the middle of a dream can be seen as your body attempt to lift from the exhausting REM state.

Read this web site NOW, it will explain everything better then me, it talks about mostly about depression but you'll learn how excessive dreaming plays a role in many disorders:

http://www.clinical-depression.co.uk/depression-learning-path/

Hope this help.

[dcgs]

Thank you, all of you for letting me know that I am not by myself. I googled " how can I stop dreaming" and this was the first site I came to. It was faith. I needed all of your words, thought and feelings. I am not alone. That was so important to me. By reading everyones post, I see that this is not something that will go away. We are a rare few..... Those who say this is " just dreaming" and " to enjoy it" will never know what we are going through. I would like to ask them to stay up for days and days and then try to function. They would never be able to do it. They would be the one who would complain after one sleepless night. We have no choice. We have to function with our day to day lives even though we did this all night and into the morning.

Thank you for all for letting me into your life and sharing your stories.
I knew I wasn't crazy

[Tasha1224]

I'm 24 but I've had these dreams all of my life and my mom has them too. Of course I have the usual.. severe panic disorder, depressive disorder, and social phobia but the dreams started before all of those really got worse. I remember my dreams, at least 1 or 2 a night, and that's part of the problem. They are so real! When I wake up in the morning I'm just exhausted, I'm tired all day. I've tried dream crystals and dream catchers.. no i'm not a hippy but I'll try anything.. when I used the dream crystal the amount of the "bad" dreams went down but I still woke up all the time and in the morning I was exhausted... hm.. Maybe I should elaborate on the dreams.. I have the "bad" dreams which range from just me laying in bed but knowing I'm asleep and I can't wake up, I've dated people who could tell when it was happening and they would wake up but mostly I have to make my body shake itself awake. It's really creepy,, then I have dreams where I wake up and get out of bed, walk into the living room and there's a demon just standing in the middle of the room or I'll look over the edge of my bed and writhing bodies in hell have replaced my floor. It gets to where I keep dreaming when I'm awake, I hallucinate.. I either hear or see things.. it was really bad a few nights ago though.. the cabinets looked like they were breathing and my hands had the "sparkler effect" I felt like I was tripping and I don't do drugs. I take trazadone at night to stay asleep because if I don't I wake up after every dream.. and I start dreaming as soon as I fall asleep as annoying as that is. It's the only phase of sleep I go through, stupid head is all messed up but my mom has that problem to. If anyone has any suggestions please let me know.. I'm so tired.