Published on 12, July, 2020
I suffer from the dual evil of nightmares and insomnia and need help.
For example, today I woke at 4am from a nightmare and I cannot fall asleep (insomnia). I am also afraid to go back to sleep because in the past I have had nightmares following nightmares when I fall asleep after a short break.
With inadequate sleep I get up tired. With nightmarish sleep I get up tired.
I don't have sleeping tablets at home as a precaution. Because in my recent past I've attempted suicide by overdosing with tablets.
So I sit in bed. Either reading , worrying or on the internet.
Any Help or advice is much appreciated!
Hi Robert123, I sympathise with you as I suffer with both nightmares and insomnia too. This has been a constant problem throughout my life since a child.
Have you noticed if there is any pattern to when you suffer with the nightmares or insomnia? I will go through 3 phases - first phase is the insomnia where I cannot sleep, I'm too wired to sleep etc. This will go on for a few week. The second phase is where the nightmares start and like you if I wake from one, I go back to sleep only to have another. These can be incredibly frightening for me as well, so I always make sure I have things around me that will bring comfort and reassurance should I wake. After this, the third stage will consist of broken sleep where I will wake up numerous times throughout the night.
It might be worth keeping a log to see if being more stressed or emotional triggers them or whether you go through cycles like me. I can normally predict when I am due a nightmare depending on how I am sleeping, so see if you notice any patterns so you can better prepare for them.
It doesn't matter how old you are, nightmares are terrifying end of and even now I sometimes wake up hyperventilating, screaming or crying.
The insomnia is a long term problem and always there.
Predicting nightmares is more difficult. Usually I have none. Or two or three per night. So they are connected. If I have one. Then others follow when I fall back to sleep.
I still don't understand why they repeat.
Another common one that is related to reality is that I'm in college and I have fallen behind too far to catch up. Or I'm attending lectures after I have already failed. And it's the following year.
In reality I've never failed higher education courses. But I've never done as well as I wanted.
Some nightmares are related to TV I was watching before I went to bed.
I don't know which is worse. Insomnia and not being able to sleep. Or sleeping with nightmares????
Robert124 said:I still don't understand why they repeat.
All dreams follow a particular theme that we are in the process of working through, and until we we do so ~ they repeat.
Can you trace your vivid dreams to particular items of food and/or drink? Maybe keep a diary of your diet versus dreams?
I admit to being rather jealous of all you persistent dreamers because I very rarely remember any of mine, though I suppose I must still have them.
There is one odd, recurring nightmare, but it only happens when I have a bad fever (used to get them a lot when I was very small, and the dreams were scary because they didn't make any sense). I can't really explain what they're about because there were no frames of reference.