nightmares and night terrors

Yeah, I'm always surprised I'm not scared of it. Mostly it's my friends and it's just a bit bewildering - like "Why is Chaz here?! I'm sure he doesn't even know where he lives", but they're always just sat there talking. I did once dream that my dead nan was in my room, and that was a bit strange cause I was thinking "I know you're dead, so why are you here?" but I still wasn't scared.

ok this may seem wierd in stuff, but maybe the dead are contacting you, like ESP or Clairvoence? ok my spelling sucks, but maybe you can communicate through your dreams? Or flash backs from another life, I am buddist, and I belive in things like this.

I also belive if it interfers with your life you should seek help, holistic or traditional. Be careful of the sleep Paralysis though, sometimes its a sign of something else.

http://watarts.uwaterloo.ca/~acheyne/prevent.html

Yeah it does sound like people are coming through to her on purpose - but I didn't want to be the first one to say that! I know I've had 2 people come to me in dreams after they died, but I've never woken up talking to anyone, which seems to be a step further in level of progression. Maybe you're just one of those people who's really open, and so spirits feel they can come to you. Which obviously they can. I have also read that night terrors can be things that you are remembering from a past life, and that the best way to get rid of them is to recognize that they are images from a past life, and to ask that it be dissolved in love and light. I had that thought when you said you sometimes see dead bodies and things in your dreams like from a horror film. If you believe in that sort of thing, it's possible you may have lived during a time or war, or in a concentration camp or something like that. Of course, if that's not your cup of tea, then that's fine too - but I suppose it's another possibility!

Rachie,

I used to have very similar problems as you did. When I went to live with my grandparents I use to talk and scream a lot in my sleep. It got so bad that once the neighbors called the cops because of all the screaming I was doing in the middle of the night. I really don't remember having the cops come to our house, but was told all about it, I don't think I ever woke up all the way. I remember that almost all of my dreams were about something bad that had happen to me when I was little. The longer I lived with my grandparents the better I got. I think it's because I slowly was able to start to actually relax in my sleep without being scared, knowing that I was in a safe place. I also slowly (it took years) learned how to control my dreams in my sleep, this helps a lot. Today, almost 18 years later, I have very a few bad dreams were I talk really loud, but these are so few, that it may happen about once a year. Do you feel safe were you are sleeping? if not is there a way for you to make it feel safer for you?

I also use to have panic attacks, It was almost like once I got the sleeping part under control my anxiety wanted to come out in another way. I got really bad with my panic attacks. They were getting to the point were I didn't even want to go anywhere. I did end up going to a therapist for a little bit over this. At first she wanted to do nothing but push pills on me, but all that would happen is as soon as I took a pill I would start having a panic attack. This is because I hated pills and started worrying about the pill, which in turn would start a panic attack. After that we started working on other ways for me to control my panic.

One of the best ones was were I would be were I would sit down or lay down with my eyes close and start to tighten up my body slowly, little by little. First I would tighten up my toes, then my legs, then my thighs, moving all the way up my body, then I would just release it all. Sometimes I would have to do it a few times in a row. Also deep breathing help, as well. Listening to relaxing sounds when doing either of these things can help even more. For example I got cds that had the sounds of the ocean and the rain forest on them. I think they helped me because while I was tighten up my body or doing my deep breathing I could image I was somewhere else. I would often leave the cds playing at night to help fall asleep. One book I read, that help some was called "From Power to Panic."

Another big thing that helps is to be able to talk to others, kinda like what you are doing now, about your problems. I believe if you wanted to find another source of people to talk with that there are message boards out there with people going through similar things. It nice to support in as many ways as you can.
I do believe these ways can help, but can take awhile. As for me I'm happy to say that by doing these things, I haven't had a panic attack in 11 years and I haven't even felt like I was getting close to one.

Sorry this is so long, but I hope this is helpful to you.

oh, im glad that people here are taking me seriously.

i thought about finding a different place to post, but this works better for me, actually. i already know you people. ;)

i actually feel a lot safer here than i ever did in the usa, and i am so thankful for my wonderful bf and the opportunity to move, every single day. additionally, last night before bed, i had some of that tea, and when i woke up this morning, all i could remember from the night before was a coughing fit in the middle of the night (im sick atm--boo!) and a dream about breaking up with one of my ex-boyfriends, which was completely liberating. :-P hm.... perhaps that was my minds way of telling me that the tea works? ;)

as far as liking the taste of tea, i tend to prefer putting honey in my black tea, and even the green, from time to time. the ones with licorice are naturally sweet, and in general, herbal "teas" (they dont have actual tea leaves and therefore dont taste like black, green, or even white tea) will taste similar to what they smell like--whatever is in them, like chamomile, rooibus (sp?) root, ginger, etc.

so what do you all think? :-D

(((Rachie)))

Some very bad stuff happened to me about 18 months ago... I would wake up crying/hysterical/scared etc. Flashbacks and nightmares about it all happening again. I had reached the stage of being scared to go to sleep as I knew I would wake up terrified and have to go to work exhausted the next day.
I spoke to a counsellor about it and she gave me some advice for helping me to calm down when I woke up.

Your bedroom/bed is your sanctuary, your safe place. You need to make it a comfortable place that feels/looks and smells good. You need to have somethings that instantly remind you of good times, good things, safety and security.
For me, it was a security blanket and a lavender pillow. A Teddy bear from a very good friend and a t-shirt that always made me smile. This worked in a two-fold way. The lavender and the blanket helped me get into a frame of mind that was peaceful and calm for sleeping, if my mind started to drift to things that were scary, I would force these away by thinking about something boring and tedious..... i.e. I taught myself how to recite the alphabet backwards without making any mistakes. I would run through the alphabet and think of as many girls names as possible beginning with each letter (this also works with boys names/ vegetables/fruits) I also used to go A-Z of feelgood words that I would like used to describe me (positive thinking)
This normally would have me asleep by about the letters H or I as I would be bored senseless.
If I woke up with a nightmare/terror, I would turn the light on and look at the things that felt 'good'. I would hug the blanket or teddy bear, squish the lavender pillow to release the smell, then start thing about fruit names beginning with A again. lol

Sometimes, it is the fear of these things happening that make them happen, so I replaced the scary and imagined bad things, with real and comforting good things.

It took me a little while, and apart from the odd moment (say once every couple of months) I don't have these nightmares/terrors any longer.

I don't know if this will help, but you never know.

Wishing you sweet dreams and peaceful sleep,

Kimmi
xxxxx

Ooh I know the tightening thing! Another thing which helps send me to sleep (which I had totally forgotten about) is you shut your eyes and you go "I can see..." x3 (obviously your eyes are shut but you'll have a mental image of the room), then "I can feel..." x3, then "I can hear..." x3 and keep it all within the room. That works surprisingly well, unless you can't hear anything.

Another thing I was told to improve sleep was to make your bedroom just for sleeping, no distractions - although for me that's impossible; my room is where I live, it's where I have to do all my studying and sewing and watching TV.

I've tried all the tricks to improve sleep and none have worked for me. I just haven't the knack of falling asleep, even when I was a kid I would lie awake for hours. My ma said that when I was a baby I slept for about 18 hours a day so maybe I used up most of my sleep quota then=)
Whatever, I've accepted that I just don't need that much sleep and if I'm gonna be awake at 4am reading then so be it. At least if I'm awake I'm not having a nightmare lol. Strangely the times when I've woken up "paralysed" were after having nightmares about being attacked by an invisible thing that bound my arms and legs. I call it my invisible nemesis. And sometimes I've woken up to find "people" watching me, though they've tended to be a more comforting than frightening presence. I had the hag once in a nightmare and I was terrified, I woke up because a man's voice was calling my name. I was alone though.
Soz I've rattled on a bit=/

i've suffered from night terrors, twitches, talking and walking in the past. Unfortunately, even if there's nothing psychologically wrong things like blood pressure and hormones can also cause it.

I find sleeping with some ambient noise or quiet music helps.

I downloaded the White Noise app to my phone which is meant to help, it's very relaxing but I find myself actively listening to it rather than going to sleep lol

I have a friend who has sleep problems, only sleeps about 3 hours a night. I think he has tried it all too.

I don't know what works when you have sleep problem, sometimes I can't sleep well too. I am up till two or three some nights

I used to love going to sleep to relaxing cd's! It would probably still be nice, if I had a new cd player. Or I suppose I could always download some onto my ipod and do that! Usually the only thing these days that keeps me awake into the wee hours of the morning is getting sucked into a good book! =)

When I was a kid I used to go to sleep listening to the Smiths on my walkman, then I'd wake up cos the headphone wires were strangling me lol. Nowadays I just read, it's a lot safer=)

I like watching films till I sleep, but it has to be a film I know inside and out so I don't need to look up. Juno's a good one for that. Or Pan's Labyrinth, cause it's not in English anyway.