Chronic Nightmares?

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lovedance4ever

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I’ve been experiencing chronic nightmares for the past seven months. They are not demonic in nature or anything - they have to do with a very, very painful situation I’ve had to deal with since January. Every night, I am forced to relive it in my dreams, and it has gotten to the point where I will try just about anything to keep from sleeping. When I do eventually doze off, I’m extremely restless and wake up in a cold sweat. Last night I woke myself up screaming, disturbing my parents in the room over. It is really getting out of control, and I’m beginning to feel physically unwell as a result (headaches, irritability, etc). I have an appointment to see a counselor (who is also a Catholic priest), but that isn’t until August 2nd. In the meantime, I’m interested in hearing some opinions from forum members.

Anyhow, I was wondering if anyone else has had a similar experience? If so, what did you do to get rid of it? I would also greatly appreciate your prayers.
 
lovedance4ever said:
I’ve been experiencing chronic nightmares for the past seven months. They are not demonic in nature or anything - they have to do with a very, very painful situation I’ve had to deal with since January. Every night, I am forced to relive it in my dreams, and it has gotten to the point where I will try just about anything to keep from sleeping. When I do eventually doze off, I’m extremely restless and wake up in a cold sweat. Last night I woke myself up screaming, disturbing my parents in the room over. It is really getting out of control, and I’m beginning to feel physically unwell as a result (headaches, irritability, etc). I have an appointment to see a counselor (who is also a Catholic priest), but that isn’t until August 2nd. In the meantime, I’m interested in hearing some opinions from forum members.

Anyhow, I was wondering if anyone else has had a similar experience? If so, what did you do to get rid of it? I would also greatly appreciate your prayers.
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Have you seen a doctor? Members on CAF are not permitted to give medical advice, and the situation you describe is certainly a medical issue.

See a doctor.
 
I had a really stressful experience at work a few years back and it really effected my sleeping. Something that helped me was to pray a rosary just before going to bed, and to spend 15 minutes sitting back and just concentrating on my breathing. (and changing jobs)
 
I used to have recurring dreams. They weren’t quite nightmares, I called the “dark dreams” because they weren’t scary enough to be nightmares but they were extremely unsettling and I didn’t want to have them and they did scare me.

They resolved themselves, but the resolution also happened when I made some changes in my life. I realized later the dreams themselves were my subconscious self trying to work things out, and possibly trying to warn my waking self that the situation I was in wasn’t any good for me.

Since your dream is the same dream over and over, and it’s a full-on nightmare, I would ask myself why I’m having the dream over and over. Is your subconscious trying to tell you something? Is your brain trying to work something out in that dream? If so, it’s probably not going to resolve until you work it out in your waking hours and address it. If you’re ignoring it during your waking hours, perhaps it’s time to stop doing that, and confront it head on. Perhaps with the help of a therapist.
 
I would ask the priest counselor to bump up his appointment with you.

You need your sleep.
 
In 2009 I was laid off from my “dream job” that I had for over a decade, and had planned to retire with after 15 more years. It was a huge blow. I had many friends there, and an expensive lifestyle. [debt, big house] I also had investment property that went south at the same time, was a caregiver and more.

I got sick and was in bed for a month, due in part to a misdiagnoses. For a year I would dream I was still on the job. Seems like I was most often in the lobby area, at my bosses house for a party, or at my desk. It wasn’t a nightmare, but it wasn’t fun. I grieved for this job that I loved like one would grieve for a divorce. This happened after the Koch Brother billionaires bought my company. I was also very bitter about that.

Slowly the dreams went away, but the pain didn’t. I was taking care of someone who was abusing alcohol and it too was having an adverse effect on my life. There was good that came out of this. It brought me closer to God than I had ever been. Some people get mad at God when bad things happen, but I ran TO God. It took a while for this to happen, when things became their darkest, when I wasn’t sure if I was even going to have a roof over my head. I embraced the Church and never looked back.

Daily nightmares are a serious problem. I rarely get them, but I have too woken up screaming. I had them during my mid 20s and that was when I first considered becoming Catholic. In hindsight, I realized that I was being pursued by evil. Evil did not want me to become Catholic. It wanted to take a pure kid and drag him through mud, which is what happened. If it were not for the church, I would be dead or insane. In the long run, well worth the journey.

I urge you to see a Psychiatrist. I am not a professional, but I feel even for the short term, the nightmares need to stop even if it means a chemical intervention. You and your doctor and your Catholic therapist can then sort things out… or find the man behind the curtain.

Best wishes.
 
Recurring dreams or nightmares have to do with unresolved issues. Resolving those issue in the most productive way is the function of psychologist or LCSW.
 
Antegin said:
Recurring dreams or nightmares have to do with unresolved issues. Resolving those issue in the most productive way is the function of psychologist or LCSW.
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Indeed.
Seek the proper help.
 
I don’t know any ways to stop dreaming. I do know that vitamin B6 causes to human beings to have vivid technicolor dreams that are recalled in great detail, and that one of the main criteria for diagnosing B6 deficiency is poor dream recall. So maybe it’s possible you could find some way to antagonise or block B6 until your appointment . I have no idea how that would be accomplished, however, and obviously it be unhealthy in the longterm. I agree with the others, you need to find a way to let go, and to do so in a real and complete way. I can tell you that meditation very effectively allows me to let go of hurt and trauma, but I don’t think I can tell you anymore than that, and anyway it isn’t an immediate or sure thing. Plus, CAF is rather leery of the whole subject, so I’ll just leave it at that. I’ve gone through what you describe though, and I’m sorry for your pain.
 
Perhaps some prayers to St. Raphael the Archangel would help? He’s been known to be a patron against nightmares among other things 🙂 I’ll say a prayer for you, as well.
 
Nightmares can be caused from a variety of things.

Medications can cause them as can spicy food for dinner.

They can also be from trauma such as the condition named Post traumatic Stress Disorder or PTSD for short.

To treat those you need to reduce daytime anxiety with he help of a therapist and or antidepressant. Prazosin is commonly used to deter adrenergic storm that causes you to wake. Consult with your physician before taking Prazosin and if you have a cardiologist with them as well. Avoid the use of erectile dysfunction medications with Prazosin because it theoretically can cause a heart attack. Always consult an experienced Psychiatrist when starting any psychiatric medication.

Chronic nightmares can also be a spiritual attack and prayers and sacramental living can help with, but avoiding sinful habits and addictions is important as well. Avoid the occult.

Bk
 
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