[HALLIEBETH87]

Night two of nightmares about HER. I wake up so tired from bad dreams. Scary stuff. I wish it'd go away and leave me
Be.

Have you been thinking about her before bed? Sometimes when I think about something before bed, I dream about it.

[SorryShaped]

I know that pain. I had a nightmare about my her for 20 years, every night. Have you asked your doc about prazosin?

[HALLIEBETH87]

Well I saw a movie with domestic violence in it and have had nightmares since.

[HALLIEBETH87]

Originally Posted by SorryShaped

I know that pain. I had a nightmare about my her for 20 years, every night. Have you asked your doc about prazosin?

No I have t. What is it!

Originally Posted by HALLIEBETH87

Well I saw a movie with domestic violence in it and have had nightmares since.

Yeah, that'll certainly do it. Sorry to hear that.

Sounds like your stepmom is always in the back of your mind and those negative thoughts just get triggered by things like this. (Nothing wrong with watching these types of movies, btw. Just saying that sometimes these things can trigger us.)

Are you doing EMDR? I wonder if you need some sort of closure. Like, there is something in the back of your mind that is not satisfied and so it keeps coming up again, and again, and again. Not sure if I have advice for that, but obviously if you're able to do EMDR (or you're already doing EMDR), that could be a good approach.

[SorryShaped]

Originally Posted by HALLIEBETH87

No I have t. What is it!

Prazosin is an antihypertensive (blood pressure) medicine that can remove nightmares. It does work. It was found to do that because war veterans were given it for high blood pressure and started saying things like "the nightmares have stopped." They kept reducing the dose and it still works at 1mg and most peoples' blood pressure doesn't go too low at that dose. Took away the same nightmare I had every night for over two decades. I have since stopped it and don't have that horror any more. Other changes in my life changed my dreams too, but prazosin was a huge help.
I also had to stop melatonin more recently because I found it was causing overly vivid dreams and I wasn't walking up rested.

[SorryShaped]

Originally Posted by bluebicycle

Yeah, that'll certainly do it. Sorry to hear that.

Sounds like your stepmom is always in the back of your mind and those negative thoughts just get triggered by things like this. (Nothing wrong with watching these types of movies, btw. Just saying that sometimes these things can trigger us.)

Are you doing EMDR? I wonder if you need some sort of closure. Like, there is something in the back of your mind that is not satisfied and so it keeps coming up again, and again, and again. Not sure if I have advice for that, but obviously if you're able to do EMDR (or you're already doing EMDR), that could be a good approach.

What's EMDR?

Originally Posted by SorryShaped

What's EMDR?

I don't have PTSD and have never gone through EMDR, but from what I understand, it helps you cope with distressing moments that arise from trauma you have experienced in the past. Like in Halliebeth's case, she is experiencing distressing moments right now because of her past trauma with her stepmom, so EMDR can provide techniques for how to reduce the stress.

I’m going to try EMDR therapy with my new therapist agrees to do it. It helps you reframe trauma without having to talk about in detail. It works with some sort of eye movement and a therapist, but it’s not hypnosis. They think the mechanism is something like REM sleep, but you’re awake.

It helps the vast majority of war veterans in not very many sessions either to work. Quick and effective. I can’t wait.

[SorryShaped]

I do have PTSD, but was never a vet. I'm going to ask my T about it.

[HALLIEBETH87]

Once my psyd thinks I'm truly ready we are going to try EMDR, yes. I'm excited about its possibilities and nervous too.

[GoldenSnitch]

Just wanted to say that I’m sorry you’re going through this and I hope you can start emdr soon and start to feel better

[Unrigged64072835]

Hope you'll be able to find some relief soon, Halliebeth.

I'll be seeing an EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) specialist in a couple of weeks.

[HALLIEBETH87]

I'm excited at the
Possibility of less PTSD symptoms but really scared for what it might trigger. My t says it gets worse before it gets better