Advice for sleeping with bad dreams please

[february]

Hello friends, I'm in the early stages of recovery and would like to know if anyone had useful tips on how to stay asleep.
I can relax enough to fall asleep now, but keep getting interrupted by dreams and wake up with anxiety. The anxiety doesn't go away and I'm so dizzy that I fall back asleep again in that anxious state, repeating the same dream-anxiety-fall asleep cycle for the whole night.

Help would be very much appreciated...thank you

[Three Roses]

Hello and welcome, february! I'm glad you're here.

I'm sorry to say I don't have any pointers for you about sleep, I'm still struggling with that too. Sometimes I take melatonin but it can give you very vivid dreams and make you groggy the next day, so not everyone likes it.

Anyway welcome aboard! I look forward to hearing more from you

[bring em all in]

february- what you describe is what I have been experiencing for a LONG time. I wish I had advice for either one of us:)

If I come across something that works I will post it.

[Eyessoblue]

Hi, I went through this for 3 solid months with no proper sleep and nightmares. Before I went to bed I used to meditate (you can get free apps on the app store which you can use) I was given grounding techniques by my therapist who got me to concentrate on where I was, certain smells, sounds and focus on them, I also took my phone to bed with head phones and would listen to sounds which helped to relax me and at least take my mind off my nightmares. If you look on the App Store there are lots of free apps for relaxation, meditation, mindfulness, whichever you prefer. When some of my nightmares were particularly bad I took a pen and paper to bed and would switch my bedside light on and write about them, what I saw, how I felt etc, I find writing a great source of therapy for me and this would help to break the dreams down etc, writing is my way of expressing my emotions and I know it works on this forum for a lot of others too, I hope this is of some help to you.

[SM]

I feel your pain. I don't have a definitive answer myself either, but sometimes I find reading fictional novels or honestly watching wholesome cartoons, like Winnie the Pooh can help with that because of where they leave your mind at before you fall asleep.  Falling asleep is a bigger issue for me currently, but I am hopeful that the new medication I have been prescribed will help with that.

I wish you sweet dreams. x

[february]

Hi and thanks for the replies everyone
I'm glad to know I'm not the only one who can't stay asleep haha. I've downloaded a meditation app (Headspace), so I'll test that out before going to bed. Also I've been keeping a journal which is the most useful thing for me, at least to keep track of my progress.

[sanmagic7]

my daughter told me about using different aromatherapy oils, too, before going to sleep, putting them on wrists, temples so you have a pleasant smell to fall asleep to.  different fragrances can be for different things, such as grounding, anxiety, etc.

when my girls were little, i'd read about this smell thing to ward off nightmares, and would spritz their pillows with my cologne - the connection between mom's smell and safety while they slept.  looking back, they really didn't have many nightmares as such.  and i've heard that our sense of smell is the last sense to turn off before we fall asleep.

don't know if that might be helpful.  best to you with this - not being able to sleep is the pits!

[Fightsong]

if I'm in a run of bad dreams, I fall back on the guided sleep meditations on the internet / CD / headspace. I don't have trouble dropping off generally either but I do wake in the early hours with bad dreams / often wake with my head full of bad thoughts and anxious. Dropping off with these things in my ear does seem to help the sleep be more restful. I guess if you have a partner whatever, it might be harder as they might not want to hear it. headphones??

[Candid]

I have an imaginary masseur who progressively soothes all my muscles and I usually fall asleep before s/he (no gender ascribed or preferred) has got all the way through. Also, stay off the coffee after noon. :sigh:

As to bad dreams, I recommend thinking about them and nutting out what your subconscious is trying to tell you. When I wake in the night from a dream of any kind I usually mull over it so long that I drop off again. I'm lucky in that I have what I call compensatory dreams; my waking life is such a nightmare than in dreamland I'm often on holiday in a lovely place or even working happily somewhere among friendly people, and feeling great about it.

Yeah, I always hate waking up... and imaginary masseurs, therapists, friends etc have been a large part of my armoury for as long as I can remember.

[movementforthebetter]

I came here to post a question about this myself as I've just awoken in a state as well, for probably the 5th night in a row this time around.

I think I wake early every night. Sometimes I just get up if it's between 3-5am, and nap later if I can. Generally I find the most upsetting wake-ups happen a few hours after going to sleep, or early in the morning, as that's when I have my most vivid dreams.

I find falling back asleep to not be worth the effort if I only have 1-2 hours of night left.

I think I will have to try the guided meditations again. I also used to listen to soothing music at very low volume. I liked the stuff with binaural beats in it. These things didn't really keep me asleep, but made the general experience more "controlled" and calm.

I hope you find something that works for you. Insomniacs in solidarity!

[Dee]

I really identify with MFTB with when they hit and often getting up for good if it is after three. 

The best thing I have found is medication.  However, I often skip it if I feel like I am getting too sleepy during the day and I need to detox or if I have something important and I want to be fully alert.  I also have recorded relaxation and safe place imagery.  I use that at night and if I wake up.  Sometimes nothing helps.  However, the nights that nothing helps are becoming fewer and good nights are becoming more.  I wouldn't want to give up my meds though.  It is a crutch that I need right now and I skip them enough to know that they really do work.

[Sarah1955]

I also have trouble with sleeping. My doc gives me 25mg of Elavil and I take 1mg of melatonin. I get awful nightmares at times. I have a white noise machine by the side of my bed and have a couple of battery candles lit. Doesn't stop all the nightmares but helps most nights.

Hello friends, I'm in the early stages of recovery and would like to know if anyone had useful tips on how to stay asleep.
I can relax enough to fall asleep now, but keep getting interrupted by dreams and wake up with anxiety. The anxiety doesn't go away and I'm so dizzy that I fall back asleep again in that anxious state, repeating the same dream-anxiety-fall asleep cycle for the whole night.

Help would be very much appreciated...thank you

[I like vanilla]

I know that I am late coming to this posting, but have had a bad few months and so am currently late coming to many things in my life right now... 

I too have had, and unfortunately, am currently having, difficulty sleeping. I think I will definitely try Candid's masseur idea; that sounds blissful.

In the meantime I have found some strategies that helped me. They might/might not help you.

Sometimes, I wake up with the 'I forgot to do x' or 'I need to do y' or any number of thoughts related to my endless to-do lists and appointments, etc. Of course, these thoughts lead to fretting and anxiety. Lately, I have been trying with some success telling that part of my brain 'thank you for reminding me of that. It is important that I remember to do y. Please, tell me again at a time when I can do something about that'. So far, so good BUT the key is that I must then actually deal with y when I am able to do so, or at least consciously decide that y actually does not need doing after all - I must in some way purposefully take y off my to-do list, otherwise, my brain wakes me up about it and about x and r, q, s, p, b, and l. Only this time it does not trust my words and does not let me return to sleep.

When I have bad dreams, I have for a while been using a trick I learned in my self-defence class. The teachers of this class know that taking the class, especially at the start, often churns up strange/bad dreams in the students. The trick they teach is: immediately after the bad dream wakes you up, replay the dream but this time give it a different, more desirable ending. That tactic has helped me for nightmares related to taking the class but also more generally.

I hope that helps and that you have already started sleeping better, and will continue to sleep better.