[japakar]

Howdy, just found the site today and since the sleep/nightmares are starting to bother me to the point I want to see a doctor I figured here would be a good place to start. (yeah im one of the guys who does not go unless im dieing)

I rarely on occasion can sleep more than 3 hours strait without remembering waking up. Usually I sleep between 1 and 2 hours wake up and usually go back to bed within 5 minutes or so. Sometimes I cannot go back to bed sometimes I sit there for an hour trying to go back to sleep. Part of my main issue is I have not slept more than 5 hours strait in probably 6 years.

A normal work week is coming home from work, sleeping for a few hours. Stay up until 4 hours before work and sleep another hour or 2 again before work. Its been this way for years. I used to go many days without sleeping sometimes but thats gone away, its just staying asleep I cant manage now.

The nightmares. Horrible, usually people are dieing, whether its me killing them, someone else killing them in front of me or me just seeing many people dieing all over from either a war, some kind of killer or myself as someone else who is the killer or I am myself but the above still applies. Sometimes people I know sometimes random people. Sometimes I am being tortured either by being cut up or by things that they say they will do while hurting me other ways. Not much of it makes sense. When I was younger (20s) I used to have more torture dreams as opposed to the ones I do now and I ground my teeth at night and ended up breaking 4 or 5 of my teeth.
Nightmares do not repeat usually, I have alot of trouble remembering them when I wake up, sometimes I remember quite a bit of it other times just little bits here and there. Whether I remember alot or a little generally I do not remember the dream at all within an hour.

Generally I can remember maybe 1 or 2 dreams a year and not forget them. Otherwise its gone within an hour or I dont remember anything at all. So for awhile its been nothing or nightmares.

Any input would be appreciated where I should start. Any questions I should be able to answer pretty quick.

Thanks!

[japakar]

never mind

[slummerville]

There is a med called Prazosin that can help with nightmares and early wakenings due to anxiety dreams/nightmares. I tried it for awhile and it did seem to make a difference. It is a blood pressure med and I'm on the lower side of normal anyways so it did have a physical effect on me, but it's pretty harmless!

Also I find that limiting your exposure to certain things might help.. such as video games and violent or gorey types of TV or movies. If you are exposed to a lot of violence or are a vet or what have you, the images of people dying or torture are not so readily processed by our brains.. Like your brain just can't make sense of these things. I know how hard it is to deal with this. After I did a stint on prazosin, I was left with anti-anxiety drugs which seemed to work to keep me asleep and not wake up in a panic from dreams or a physiological reaction to stress or anxiety (waking up with your heart beating, gasping for air, jumping out of bed..)

[shabur]

I have the same problems with sleep for the past 10 years. It has gotten better, but I still do struggle. I did ask my GP for a sleep study early on which showed I have sleep apnea. Now I sleep with a CPAP and I sleep better.

My pdoc has me on medications to help - 1 to help me fall asleep, 1 to help me stay asleep and 1 that I take as needed to help me fall back to sleep when I do wake up usually from nightmares.

Sometimes my nightmares are all over the place, sometimes they are several nights long, each a continuation of the previous and sometimes they have something in common (which I only discover once I really look at them).

The continuation dreams have led me to specific past traumas I suffered. The ones that are all over are usually trying to make sense of my messed up brain. And the ones that have something in common usually have to do with what I'm working on with my tdoc or something that is causing me anxiety.

I try to write down my dreams. Besides helping me to sort out what they're about, it helps to get through the anxiety and panic they provoke.

I would suggest talking to your GP about a sleep study. It is possible you have sleep apnea or some other sleep disorder that can be treated.

[Quitgirl79]

I can totally relate to your experience.... My dreams are often reoccurring , whether nightmares or just dreams..... But I can usually recall mine vividly. I've woken sweaty and crying on many occasions . I'm on a short term sleeping pill ATM , it's supposed to keep me asleep all night- I'm thankful when I get 4-5 hrs in one go!! I've not had a full night sleep since I was a teenager, I'm now in my 30's!! Well I hope u find a solution for your problem. Oh I found a dream journal can help ??