How do I stop nightmares?

Question

I've been having a pretty tough time at the moment...I have had a miscarriage after trying for a baby for three years, I have been abused by my psychiatrist, and am no longer interested in the thesis I'm supposed to be writing. I am having really horrendous nightmares where I wake up crying or feeling so low that I just want to die. Is there anything I can do before bed to stop nightmares?

Answer 1

You may want to consider finding a decent psychiatrist if your unhappiness seems to be more than what you can deal with alone.

It may help if you try to change something about the either your sleeping habits or your eating habits or the mix of something about the two of them together.

Its one thing for an unhappy person to wake up feeling like he wants to cry and then as "the brain gets up and running" that feeling kind of dies down. Its another, though, to have horrible nigthmares. There are dreams that may be sad or eerie that people have when they're unhappy, and the dream is kind of working out "issues". Nightmares, though, which involve horror of some kind are different and are very often associated with digestion problems.

If you're eating something heavy or spicy from dinner time on that could do it. Even if you drink strong tea or coffee that gives you acid/heartburn that could do it. Usually, though, its something that's hard to digest (for example, Doritos, or maybe raw vegetables).

Artificial sweeteners cause digestive problems, so do some soy products. So does some mediation. Someone I know was taking an anti-inflammatory and was plagued with nightmares.
(I've never found aspirin to cause problems, but this person was taking a prescription-strength version of something like ibuprofen.)

Foods that have been altered from their natural/usual state can cause digestion problems (low-fat peanutbutter for example). You may want to just eat foods that are naturally low in fat and stay away from "altered" foods for now.

You probably may want to try staying away from alcohol. This is just a guess on my part, but I would think it may affect your natural processing of any grief during your waking hours. If there's grief to be processed or cried about or even suppressed during your waking hours do whatever seems right for you at the time.

Although you may not want to do this as a permanent lifestyle, add some fat to your diet. It is calming. I've always found that tuna salad helps, and now science has confirmed my belief that tuna had some kind of fat in it that actually helps a depressed mood. Cheese or a meal with cheese sauce can help. A couple of cups of mild coffee with a real lot of cream and one sugar in it are calming. Again, you probably don't want this stuff as a regular part of your long-term diet, but it could help calm your body enough to maybe reduce some of the "anxiety" or "stress chemicals" that may contribute to your dreams.

I joke to people that I have a couple of cups of coffee at night to help me sleep, but that's true. A couple of cups of the mild coffee with a real lot of cream (more than you may ordinarily like) and one sugar makes me sleep the way a baby does after a big bottle of formula (milk). It just seems that being calmer before you sleep might help.

If you're sleeping long stretches at a time, break them up. If you're not sleeping much try making it a point to either sleep a little longer or else try something like shorter stretches of sleep more often.

Try to make it a point to find something that will make you laugh at least a few times a day. A sitcom you like would serve this purpose. Laughing changes your brain chemicals.

If you're not listening to music that is uplifting or calming try doing that for even a short time. If you think you're not getting as much fresh air as you think a person should get each day go out for a half hour or so and get some. Even a short walk would add a little exercise and fresh air. Make sure you do something that gets your mind off the bad stuff for a while and gives it a rest (it doesn't matter if its playing a game, gardening, talking to someone about other stuff, whatever...).

I'm not sure that any on of my suggestions by itself would necessarily get rid of your nightmares because you could have something else going on there that would make the problem bigger than some little natural cure could help. I think, though, if you try a few that you know may be things that are different from what you're doing; and if you generally try to make some kind of change (even if it doesn't involve anything I've suggested here) in the blend of your sleeping/eating habits (and maybe including a little mood-uplifting activity of some sort) it may help.

Waking up feeling so low you want to die is part of being unhappy. If the feeling wears off after you've been up for an hour or so that's one thing. If it doesn't I would think you really do need to find a doctor. (Losing interest in your work is just another symptom of having gone through loss and other things.)

A doctor would know (while I don't) whether your nightmares are part of clinical depression. When a person is in grief or other unhappiness they need a certain mix of things in order to give their body what it needs to be able to cope and support the needs of a mind that has more demands on it. Living on diet Coke and sleeping five hours a night may sort of seem ok when all is well, but once real challenges to one's moods/mental state hit it becomes more important to find that right mix of things that aid with coping.

Answer 2

well i was gonna say see a therapist, but you have had a bad encounter, which would be hard to get over and trust another, but really its very unlikely you will run into that problem again. My only other suggestion is to buy a dream book and better analyze the nightmares you are having...I have a very good book called Dreams by David V. Barrett. It tells you the different types of dreams there are, and also has an A-Z guide of dream symbols to simplify dream interpretation. Once you figure out what the symbols in your dreams are, you can change your life. Dreams are a way of letting you know things that are wrong in your life so you can fix what is wrong. In this book you can even identify what the different colors in your dream mean up to what water means in a dream....buy this book, its a cheap cost, and you may get rid of the nightmares. Good Luck!

Answer 3

It's difficult to actually "stop" nightmares - or any dream for that matter - but there appear to be things you can do to lessen the probability that you will get them. First and foremost (at least for me, this is true), don't eat strange junk food or spicy food immediately before sleeping. Also, try not to watch disturbing television shows or movies, or listen to any particularly upsetting music.

However, that may not be the problem. Many times, nightmares can be caused by deep psychological issues, or even may be worries or concerns manifesting themselves in a scary fashion. Try thinking about what might be concerning your or stressing you out, or even if there's some event you're repressing. If you keep having really traumatic nightmares constantly which are disrupting your sleep or are just of a concern to you, try talking to someone you trust about them.

Good luck, and I hope you sleep well!

Answer 4

Dreams are only your own dreams ie if someone had the same dream as you it wouldnt necessarily mean the same thing. what works for some people might never work for you, so you have to see it from your own individual perspective.

what are your sleeping patterns like? are you eating and sleeping well? i guess under these circumstances you may not be. Don't go to bed paniced and exhausted, really do something to relax your metabolism like gentle exercise, warm milk, a funny TV program to take the focus off a little.

also, if these nightmares are really giving you trouble then write about or paint them, or the feeling you are going through.

Answer 5

That's funny, I was about to suggest you smoke some pot, but PP beat me to it. You could also try to power of suggestion, I do this with my kids and it always works: as you go to bed, say out loud "I won't have a bad dream" and you won't.
Or smoke a J.

Answer 6

Smoke a J. No more dreams.

Answer 7

watch some thing funny b4 you go to sleep.
also lunesta works..

Answer 8

get a dream catcher

Answer 9

UM I DONT KNOW HOW TO ANSWER YOUR QOUTION ON THAT. YOU NEED TO GO TO YOUR PASTER AND ASK HIM

Answer 10

pray before you sleep. IT REALLY WORKS!