Nightmares

[Eleanor]

For as long as I can remember, I sometimes have nightmares that are so scary I call myself awake.

The nightmares are different every time, but most of the time in my dream I am lying on the floor completely paralyzed. And there is always something/someone there with me meaning harm. Sometimes it's a scary man standing over me. I once saw a demon like creature. Last night, it was a robed person. I could only see dark under his hood and he slowly walked towards me and I couldn't move. Whoever I see, they never actually harm me, but they have an evil vibe around them.

I start yelling in my sleep when I have a dream like this and I call myself awake. Once I'm awake everything is fine and I just go back to sleep. I scare the hell out of my boyfriend, because my calling sounds like a zombie as he describes it. Which I find a bit funny.

I was wondering if anyone here has any nightmare experiences like this and maybe knows how to deal with them. Is there like a kind of tea I could drink or herbs/stones I could use to reduce the frequency of my nightmares? I don't have them every day, sometimes I don't have any for months. But when I do, I have a few in a row.

[anunitu]

Re: Nightmares

i have had two that really shook me in one i saw myself in a coffin,and in the second i was shot by a shotgun,and could feel myself bleeding out,woke up in a cold sweat in that one.

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i do not dream a lot and few real nightmares that i remember

[Eleanor]

Re: Nightmares

i have had two that really shook me in one i saw myself in a coffin,and in the second i was shot by a shotgun,and could feel myself bleeding out,woke up in a cold sweat in that one.

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i do not dream a lot and few real nightmares that i remember

That is really scary. I'm glad you don't have many nightmares. I'm kind of used to them, but they always scare me a bit. Once I'm awake, I'm fine again.

[anunitu]

Re: Nightmares

yhe one where i was shot stayed with me for a week after.

[prometheus]

Re: Nightmares

This has all the hallmarks of Isolated Sleep Paralysis. Sometimes referred to as Old Hags syndrome in anglo-saxon cultures. It's a disorder of the sleep/wake transition causing hypnogogic/hypnopompic hallucinations and the feeling of a malign presence and paralysis (which is a normal part of REM sleep so we don't act out our dreams).

Good sleep hygiene is the best thing you can do for it, so i hope you don't do shift work (i got exemption from night shifts as a nurse because of it).

If it's really bothering see a neurologist to confirm it is this - they can do a sleep study and MRI and prescribe meds which surpress REM sleep.

It is possible to turn it into a positive experience and a window into lucid dreaming (awesome fun). I'm sure at least some Shamanic stories of meeting demons and travelling the astral plain are down to it, so you could try exploring the spiritual side of too.

Good luck.

[anunitu]

Re: Nightmares

i think you might be on to something prom

[Eleanor]

Re: Nightmares

This has all the hallmarks of Isolated Sleep Paralysis. Sometimes referred to as Old Hags syndrome in anglo-saxon cultures. It's a disorder of the sleep/wake transition causing hypnogogic/hypnopompic hallucinations and the feeling of a malign presence and paralysis (which is a normal part of REM sleep so we don't act out our dreams).

Good sleep hygiene is the best thing you can do for it, so i hope you don't do shift work (i got exemption from night shifts as a nurse because of it).

If it's really bothering see a neurologist to confirm it is this - they can do a sleep study and MRI and prescribe meds which surpress REM sleep.

It is possible to turn it into a positive experience and a window into lucid dreaming (awesome fun). I'm sure at least some Shamanic stories of meeting demons and travelling the astral plain are down to it, so you could try exploring the spiritual side of too.

Good luck.

Thanks for responding. I've heard of sleep paralysis. I just never thought I had it. My colleague said he once experienced that, but he was fully awake when it happened and he couldn't move for like a minute. He didn't see any scary things though. I know I'm dreaming when this happens. So that's why I'm not sure it's officially sleep paralysis. I'm not going to any doctors though. I'm not very keen on taking medicine if I don't have to. The dreams can be scary, but it doesn't bother me that much as I can wake myself up.

I think my sleep hygiene is good. I go to bed and wake up the same time every day. I reduce screen time before going to bed. And I have a pretty healthy lifestyle if that would help.

The lucid dreaming is very interesting. Maybe I could do something with that. Try to train my brain to take control of the dream somehow. Do you know any good sources that I could look into?

[B. de Corbin]

Re: Nightmares

Yes - sounds like sleep paralysis.

I used to experience this at least once a week, sometimes more.

It is often triggered by stress, but not always. I used to feel like I was during, and that if I didn't fight against it, I would die. Eventually - once I understood what was happening, I realized that, if I stopped fighting it, I would just slide back into normal sleep.

Even so, my wife occasionally still wakes me up when she hears me making the sleep noises she recognizes.

Check these out:

https://aeon.co/videos/a-world-betwe...leep-paralysis

https://aeon.co/essays/the-terror-an...leep-paralysis

[iris]

Re: Nightmares

It sounds a lot like sleep paralysis yea. I get it rarely. But it's nasty. There's nothing to be scared of though, important to remember that. I usually feel like I'm awake but can't move, and can hear something breathing or talking in my ear, and then touching me. It can be a gentle touch or full on claws done my back and hands around my throat. Mine is linked to stress, especially if I'm stressed about someone very close to me.
I don't know if there's much to do about the dreams themselves. You could try a bit of meditation to relax before bed, or a dream catcher or something (seriously, even if it's a cheap one made of plastic, tell yourself "this will help". Placebo is proven to have some effect even when you're aware it's placebo. The mind is funny like that).
But really, learning to wake up and tell yourself that it was just sleep paralysis and shake it off so it doesn't affect the rest of your day is probably good too. Maybe keep a dream diary next to your bed so you can get it out of your system as soon as you wake up.

[anunitu]

Re: Nightmares

dreams can be very scary at times

[Eleanor]

Re: Nightmares

Yes - sounds like sleep paralysis.

I used to experience this at least once a week, sometimes more.

It is often triggered by stress, but not always. I used to feel like I was during, and that if I didn't fight against it, I would die. Eventually - once I understood what was happening, I realized that, if I stopped fighting it, I would just slide back into normal sleep.

Even so, my wife occasionally still wakes me up when she hears me making the sleep noises she recognizes.

Check these out:

https://aeon.co/videos/a-world-between-dream-and-reality-the-science-and-horror-of-sleep-paralysis

https://aeon.co/essays/the-terror-an...leep-paralysis

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It sounds a lot like sleep paralysis yea. I get it rarely. But it's nasty. There's nothing to be scared of though, important to remember that. I usually feel like I'm awake but can't move, and can hear something breathing or talking in my ear, and then touching me. It can be a gentle touch or full on claws done my back and hands around my throat. Mine is linked to stress, especially if I'm stressed about someone very close to me.
I don't know if there's much to do about the dreams themselves. You could try a bit of meditation to relax before bed, or a dream catcher or something (seriously, even if it's a cheap one made of plastic, tell yourself "this will help". Placebo is proven to have some effect even when you're aware it's placebo. The mind is funny like that).
But really, learning to wake up and tell yourself that it was just sleep paralysis and shake it off so it doesn't affect the rest of your day is probably good too. Maybe keep a dream diary next to your bed so you can get it out of your system as soon as you wake up.

Thanks, iris. I don't meditate as often as I'd like. I will give it a try with the dream diary. Even if it's just funny to read my past dreams. The mind can come up with such weird things.
The placebo effect is something I like to work with as well. I like to create amulets to give me strenght for example. Even though I know they're just silly creations, my mind gets a boost from them somehow.

[faye_cat]

Re: Nightmares

Sounds like sleep paralysis to me as well. I haven't had it, but I'm fairly certain my mom has.

I have dealt with severe nightmares: the kind that linger, or wake me up only to be terrified. Some things I've used with moderate success in the past to deal with them: using a salt lamp in my room, free writing before bed, drawing or doodling before bed, grounding myself as i'm in bed, mentally prepping my shields as I lay there, dreamcatchers, lighting incense in the morning to clear out the shadows of sleep, using certain music to fall asleep with.

[Prickly Pear]

Re: Nightmares

I'm prone to sleep paralysis. I've found that never sleeping on my back helps reduce frequency by quite a lot. It has also increased since getting a softer mattress. I'm not sure how universal these triggers are though. It is a little better if you know what it is when it is happening, but it is still terrifying to be paralyzed.

[anunitu]

Re: Nightmares

the amulet thing works for me,even as you said no real spell,more pl;placebo effect,but belief is strong sometimes, i alwas sleep on one side or the other,never om my back unless i pass out on my back watching tv..also not good to fall asleep with a program on. i have had dreams where i am in the tv prpgram,also at times my dreams are playing my video games,if you play a lot of video games they can bleed into your dreams

[prometheus]

Re: Nightmares

I just never thought I had it. My colleague said he once experienced that, but he was fully awake when it happened and he couldn't move for like a minute. He didn't see any scary things though. I know I'm dreaming when this happens. So that's why I'm not sure it's officially sleep paralysis. I'm not going to any doctors though. I'm not very keen on taking medicine if I don't have to. The dreams can be scary, but it doesn't bother me that much as I can wake myself up.

The experience varies between, and even within, people: sometimes more awake, sometimes more dreaming, usually somewhere between those worlds. As you can see from the responses just here it's quite an individual thing.

I don't know of online resources; i can look around if you like, but you know the keywords to search for. I did get the book Wrestling with Ghosts which is mentioned in Corbin's link. It might be a bit dated now in terms of the science.

As well as the good advice given already you might find simply knowing its a sleep disorder is enough to alleviate the episodes. A common tactic to slip into lucid dreaming is to use a trigger to indicate you are in a dream : get into the habit of asking yourself, and answering, whether you are dreaming. When you ask in dream, you'll almost say no before thinking hang on a minute... I use the sense of dread as my trigger. I am still in the nightmare, but at least i am aware; i then have to escape the immediate context, walking through a wall or flying away works for me. Other triggers i've heard are people using music based alarms synced to when they should have REM sleep (modern apps can help with this, but you can work it out without them) - when they hear the music in dream, they know they are sleeping.

Just be aware that it's also possible to make the nightmare worse, especially as you learn what does and doesn't work for you. There's a few fail safes you could try to wake yourself up. Focus on moving your toes: it takes a lot of mental effort but it is possible to get some movement and once you do its easier to move the foot, then leg and that should be enough to wake you (can lead to OBEs though). Try doing some mental arithmetic, starting from 750, keep subtracting 7 - the mental effort might wake you up. If you have a sleeping partner you could tell them to be on the lookout for certain signals - breathing, grunting or fidgety foot.

Let us know how you get on.

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I've found that never sleeping on my back helps reduce frequency by quite a lot. It has also increased since getting a softer mattress. I'm not sure how universal these triggers are though.

It's quite standard advice not to sleep on your back for SP sufferers. It's the opposite for me though, if i can move my body onto my back during the dream i can often prevent an episode.

Not heard about mattress softness before though.