Hey folks, this is something that I have been struggling with throughout my entire life, in some periods on a daily basis, in others "just" 2-3 times a week.
Lately it's once again part of my daily life - every single night, these long, vivid, bizarre, stressful (often scary), convoluted dreams. Sometimes it's with family members who've caused me trauma, sometimes it's due to my phobias of losing those I love, but mostly it's just random scary and unnerving stuff. I'm content and calm during the day, but that doesn't affect the dream life positively.
I eat vegan, mostly healthy, I don't drink or smoke, no caffeine either - I'm very sensitive to stimulants and toxins. Any recommendation to help with the constant nightmares? My brain is just always ON and it's so exhausting...
Are you taking any mental health meds?
These can create a regularly intense dream life at night as a side effect.
@mitryendra80 thank you for your response. I have never taken any mental health meds. Generally I avoid any and all meds as much as I can, and am not on any prescription medications.
The first nightmare that I can remember was around the age of 3 or 4, it's just something I've always struggled with.
Hi Nadia, I am not a dream expert but observing my dreams since years and am into dream journaling too. As far as I can say, dreams that come repeatedly with quite similar content and have an emotional impact, want to tell sth.. Especially the feeling or emotion in a dream is important. So maybe it would be an idea, to put a notebook and pen beside your bed and in the moment you wake up and catch the first memory of the dream, write it down, as detailed as possible. Also note the feelings you had. As you do that, you will also see, that everytime you remember more clearly. With a bit of exercise you can even change patterns in your dreams, f. ex.
I repeatedly dreamt of a man who wanted to do me harm- mostly he stood in front of my door to the apartment. One day, I must have been half aware that I dream, I opened the door, stood in front of him and asked him firmly "What do you want from me?". Since then I never ever dreamt of it again :). Sorry, but you are running into open doors with your question- I love this topic!
@tamarap I was thinking of starting a journal, but then I read somewhere that writing them down can signal to my brain that this is something important and may actually do more harm/increase the dreaming (if that's even possible in my case). The good thing is that sometimes when it gets very terrifying/horrible, I somehow realize that this could be a dream and try to physically wake myself up, so at least I don't suffer from sleep paralysis. For the repeating themes I actually know exactly why they occur but haven't found a way to resolve the issues. It's just stuff that pains me and will always pain me, it seems.
Amit was kind enough to recommend me some bach remedies and I will give that a try right away.
@nkan interesting, do you remember where you have read that? What I know about dreams is mainly coming from the writings of the psychoanalyst Carl Gustav Jung plus my own experiences. There has already been done a lot of research about the work with dreams. I can only speak for me personally but dreams can point out to emotions and fears that are within us and want to be seen to be transformed. I am not sure if it is possible to make them stop appear without confronting them through any means. But maybe I am wrong. I hope the Bach Flowers will bring relief and I would also be curious about the coutcome if you don´t mind. Be well very soon!
Hi Nadya, this peaked my interest. I’m curious to see if you have an afflicted Scorpio or something prominent in Uttarabhadrapada or condition of Moon. Would you be open/like to share your chart with me?
@suzanstars Hey Suzan, you're good! My Rahu is in Uttarabhadrapada. My details are 27th March 1988, 13:56, born in Burgas, Bulgaria.
Do you analyze through Rasi or Planetary aspects for such afflictions by the way?
Also, have you tried any remedies before?
Based on the information gathered from you and what I can see from your chart, I would suggest Star of Bethlehem, Mimulus and Gorse. I would want to ask you a few more things but I believe that a combination of those 3 would help you. Would love to know how it goes if you do decide to try these remedies.
@suzanstars they never really go away. I just noticed today that it's been non-stop every night for the last 2 weeks or so, but honestly there isn't much variation.
Is it advisable to take several Bach remedies at the same time? Thank you for your recommendations, I haven't really tried remedies until now. I did take "Rescue" for a week or so when I was relocating to another country recently, to help with the anxiety, but that was it.
@nkan yes, it’s fine to take up to 7 at a time but no more than that. Rescue is actually composed of 5 different flowers of which Star of Bethlehem is one. Did you feel like it worked for you? If so, I would say use that since you have it for 3 weeks to see how it makes you feel and to see if the edge of those nightmares is remedied. Also, you can add the Mimulus to it to target the fear elicited by the nightmares. That would be 6 in total if you add that to the 5 that are in the Rescue. 4 drops 4 times a day and you should see results within 3 days.
I could also recommend essential oils if that’s of interest to you.
@suzanstars Thank you! I will post an update in a month or so. Feel free to recommended anything, I'm taking notes for future reference as well.
Hi Nadya, this can happen to me, and sometimes I even go into sleep paralysis, hypnogogia. What I found really helpful for me was zero sugar, only eating carbs around a workout/exercise, and significantly more meat. What happens to me is if I eat simple carbohydrates, or too many carbohydrates without enough activity or protein, I tend to get a reactive hypoglycemia. if it happens in the middle of the night (nocturnal hypoglycemia), when the blood sugar is low it releases stress hormones, which can either influence dreams, or make you more vigilant and fearful in the middle of the night waking you up and then drifting into sleep paralysis.
You said you are calm and content during the day, so maybe this isn't it for you. Thought I would share anyways. Out of curiosity, do you get very low, hangry, etc. when you haven't had food for a while during the day?