[threeeyedfish]

Hello all. My name is Jodi. Kind of new to this. I've tried explaining this to my psychiatrist and therapist, but neither of them know how to respond... look at me sadly... and change the subject.

I'm 27 and have had off and on sleep difficulties since I was 18. Difficulty falling asleep, especially. Lately, it's become also waking up in the middle of the night and not being able to fall back asleep, mostly due to these horrible dreams I've been having.

Literally, I'll wake up from one of two dreams... where I'm walking, walking, walking fast and not going ANYWHERE. I almost know that during the dream, it's really boring. It wouldn't bother me if it didn't happen so often and at multiple times during the night. Like waking up from the dream only to fall back asleep and pick up right where I left off. That, or I actually have dreams where *I stop breathing.* That's the scary one. I've had a sleep study performed before, but they gave me an Ambien CR... so I think I slept pretty well that night. They didn't find any sleep apnea or "restless leg syndrome." When I asked the Dr. at the follow up appointment about the dreams, he said, "Well, there's nothing we can really do about that." Well, what about the nights where I *don't* take Ambien CR? I can't/don't want to take it for the rest of my life... due to insurance and personal beliefs. Isn't there another way to work out sleep issues that solves the possible underlying problem?? It's sad and frustrating at this point.

I'd appreciate any and all feedback. Thanks for reading.

[Miri]

If you really feel that you need to get some good help in this regard, you might try to find a psychologist who does Jungian dream analysis. You may or may not like the way they help you interpret dreams, but it might be worth investigating. It sounds like something inside you is trying to get your attention.
Also, sometimes sleep studies need to be repeated. I'm about to have my third, and while the first two showed virtually nothing unusual, my doctor put me on the "urgent" list to get in for this one coming up, and that was based on the fact that I had some dreams where I couldn't breathe.
My best to you for finding the peaceful sleep that you desire.

[robin620]

I've always had very vivid dreams - and problems sleeping. I've found that each person's dreams can mean different things depending on the experiences and history of the person having the dream. When I had dreams interpreted the therapist had me doing most of the work asking what parts of the dream could mean for me.

As far as sleeping problems, I just had my first pre-screening for sleep apnia. My problem is that I wake up early and start thinking about things, making it impossible to get back to sleep until about a half hour before I need to get up. My mom says I had problems with waking up since I was a baby.

To help me get to sleep I follow a routine including doing something nearly mindless or reading something for enjoyment until I get so tired I don't remember what I just read.

[degas]

Originally Posted by threeeyedfish

Hello all. My name is Jodi. Kind of new to this. I've tried explaining this to my psychiatrist and therapist, but neither of them know how to respond... look at me sadly... and change the subject.

I'm 27 and have had off and on sleep difficulties since I was 18. Difficulty falling asleep, especially. Lately, it's become also waking up in the middle of the night and not being able to fall back asleep, mostly due to these horrible dreams I've been having.

Literally, I'll wake up from one of two dreams... where I'm walking, walking, walking fast and not going ANYWHERE. I almost know that during the dream, it's really boring. It wouldn't bother me if it didn't happen so often and at multiple times during the night. Like waking up from the dream only to fall back asleep and pick up right where I left off. That, or I actually have dreams where *I stop breathing.* That's the scary one. I've had a sleep study performed before, but they gave me an Ambien CR... so I think I slept pretty well that night. They didn't find any sleep apnea or "restless leg syndrome." When I asked the Dr. at the follow up appointment about the dreams, he said, "Well, there's nothing we can really do about that." Well, what about the nights where I *don't* take Ambien CR? I can't/don't want to take it for the rest of my life... due to insurance and personal beliefs. Isn't there another way to work out sleep issues that solves the possible underlying problem?? It's sad and frustrating at this point.

I'd appreciate any and all feedback. Thanks for reading.

I also have the dreams that I can't walk or are crawling along very slowly. I don't know if you are a lucid dreamer or not, tho you probably are if you keep getting back into the same dream over and over. I finally found out that I can fly in my dreams and can thus escape alot of things that weigh me down. See if you can rise above any bad issues you may have by letting go and lifting off. Also flying, or sometimes just hovering above it all gives you a different perspective.

[leahcim]

I'm sorry you're experiencing this type of dream as I started a thread with a similar series of dreams.

Walking or running (sometimes trying to get away from someone) and not being able to move.

My current therapist is not knowledgeable in dream analysis, but some of the answers in my thread made sense.

Reagrding ambien. I have been on and off of that drug for several years. I built up a tolerance very quickly to the point where the most sleep I get is about 4 hours. My sleep patterns have been very bad for about 15 years, since I was about 40 and it runs in my family. I usually take ambien for a few days then some kind of pm (like tylenol). Some nights, I get no sleep and have to get a couple of hours in the day.

But, I care for my mother and do not have to get up for work. Maybe you could try just 5 mg of ambien. The CR's are 12mg.