Been dreaming everynight since I was a kid, anyone know of any natural remedies to cut it down
Posted , 3 users are following.
Been dreaming since forever since I was kid. I dream every single night even when my brain isnt functioning properly when Im drunk that is. (Dont drink anymore) Apparently i use to sleep walk as a kid too. I hate it. Ive Struggled my whole life not getting enough sleep because of the dreaming. It drains me, as if I hadnt been sleeping I wake up more tired than ever. If I oversleep it makes it worst, if I dont get enough sleep it makes it worst. I even went through a phaze in my life where I was too scared to fall sleep, its th not knowing whats gonna happen when I close my eyes. Ive always thought it was normal. Ive never really spoke out about it and just recently felt comfortable about talking about it with my partner. And before i began to open up and never spoke of it to anyone i was really unhappy, growing up i was an unhappy troubled kid and I never knew why. I still get emotional and angry inside when I think about it. I have all kinds of dreams. Vivid dreams where its not disruptive and boring. Vivid fun dreams of the future then they always turn ugly. Normal lucid dreams. Lucid & scary end of the world dreams. Normal nightmares about random stuff. Night terrors that scare the s**t out of me, where I feel threatened and these things are watching me. I dream of experiencing other people who have been murdered, there past life and pain etc. Dreams where I dont realise ive fallen asleep and I see bad spirits or whatever u wnna call them and they try threaten me,but i still dont realize im actually dreaming and then small things in the dream give it away that im actually dreaming. Example: the lights wont turn on. Then I realize and I panic and wake myself up. I dream all kinds of different dreams that sometimes i cant explain..I hate it, its exhausting. I dont ecknowledge it but when times get frustrating its hard not to. Most times when im not thinking of it,it hits me harder when I sleep. I wake up like I just finished running a marathon. Anyways I dont expect a cure from anyone just am ear or eyes to read. This is my first ever time writting about it to the world and I feel uncomfortable. I know its some kind of sleeping disorder because my brother has sleep apnea and my dad also has a sleeping disorder. But Im against medication as ive taken meds in the past for it and it only made things worst. I went thru anxiety and depression because of it. I still have anxiety. Also have tried calming teas, and all that gibba gabba but dont work. So if anyone knows of any effective techniques pls advise. thanks 
0 likes, 6 replies
lily65668 shay66928
Posted
Hi Shay,
Dreaming is perfectly normal. Everyone dreams, it's just that most people don't remember their dreams. If you take the most resolute "non-dreamers", put them in a sleep lab, wake them during what is identifiable as the dreaming (REM) phase of sleep, they'll be able to recount their dream. Which they'll have entirely have forgotten again the following morning.
I too have excellent dream recall, and always have done. Although some are scary, I still count it as a blessing. Over time, my dreams have helped me save relationships in both my work and personal life, when I've told myself in a dream where I'm going wrong in a situation, then been able to fix it in waking life.
Like you, I also used to have lucid dreams - the kind where you realise you're dreaming - but these have faded as I age. I think this is very sad. I could choose to go anywhere, do anything, in these dreams, and even had a few transcendent experiences. I mourn their loss.
It sounds to me from your mention of "bad spirits" and all that stuff as if there's an element of sleep paralysis in your condition, especially as you mention that your father has some kind of sleep disorder. This tends to go hand-in-hand with good dream recall. I've had it for 50 years now, having inherited it from my father. It tends to run in families.
You can do a lot to limit the frequency of these unpleasant episodes by identifying what triggers them. My main trigger is overheating during my sleep. I also get more attacks if I sleep too much - e.g. having a morning lie-in or an afternoon nap. However, others find their attacks are triggered by not getting enough sleep. Some people find eating certain foods too late in the evening can trigger sleep paralysis. And since the brain works via electrical impulses, you need to sleep at a distance from all electronic devices. I'm afraid that means not sleeping with your phone beside the bed so you can check your social media status at intervals throughout the night. Smoking weed, especially late at night, will also trigger sleep paralysis and vivid dreaming in susceptible individuals.
If you don't want to bother with all the above, there's a simple solution which will stop you dreaming completely: ask your doctor to prescribe antidepressants, preferably the older tricyclic group such as amitriptyline etc. These suppress REM sleep, from which dreaming and sleep paralysis arise. End of problem. You will have to stay on them for life, of course, and accept all the side-effects, plus the psychiatric withdrawal symptoms if you do decide to stop after years of taking them. They only suppress your dreams while you're taking them, so the minute you stop your dreams will return. But that sounds like a small price to pay for someone who's as angry and upset as you are about your dreams. Incidentally, vivid dreaming and sleep paralysis aren't symptoms of depression, it's just that suppression of REM sleep happens to be a spin-off effect of antidepressants.
So... lifestyle changes combined with acceptance of the fact that dreaming is perfectly normal, or a lifetime on antidepressants? Up to you. Both are valid. Many people take the latter path, I took the former.
apu91247 lily65668
Posted
How not to afraid of dreams
. ?risperidone cold turkey induced me dreaming every day.out of fear am using olanzapine to not to dream.i want to come out of medication and not to afraid of dreams.
lily65668 apu91247
Posted
Dear Apu,
I suspect there are two questions in there: how not to be afraid of dreams, and how to stop having bad dreams.
The first one is easier to answer. We don't need to be afraid of our dreams. That doesn't stop us sometimes getting terrified out of our wits during a scary dream. I occasionally wake up in a state of terror, with my heart pounding, after a frightening dream. Most people go through this, regardless of their state of mental health, and there's not a lot we can do to stop it happening.
However, we don't need to be afraid of our dreams when we're awake. They can't harm us, and they're not a sign that we're going crazy. Those of us, like me, who've always had good dream recall, will have memories of doing terrible things in our dreams - up to and including murder - but there's no significance in these dreams. It's just our unconscious trying on a few different "hats". Dreams, whether we remember them or not, allow us to go completely crazy every night without anyone getting hurt.
Fear of our dreams can put us into a state of anxiety before we go to sleep, which can in itself produce even more scary dreams.
The second part of the question is much harder. You say you went cold turkey on stopping risperidone. I'm not surprised you started having bad dreams as a result. This is a medication that should never be stopped suddenly, but tapered very slowly under medical supervision. The withdrawal effects will eventually wear off, but this can take a long time, as the drug has profound effects on your brain.
And now, having gone cold turkey on risperidone, you're on olanzapine, another antipsychotic. I'm wondering whether a doctor is prescribing these medications or you're getting them on-line. It's quite understandable that a doctor would switch you to olanzapine if risperidone didn't suit you, but it would be normal to keep the patient under close medical supervision during the transition.
I think you really need to discuss all this with your psychiatrist, if you have one.
apu91247 lily65668
Posted
Dear Lily Thank you for replying.Yes I am under medical supervision.My psychiatrist didn't inform me that not to stop risperidone cold turkey.I was unaware of tapering system.I thought risperidone is like any other medication to stop at my will that symptoms subsided.what a blunder.He put me on olanzapine only to subside dreams,I blindly followed him,that is another blunder.
lily65668 apu91247
Posted
Hmmm..., yes, it might well have been a blunder to blindly follow that particular psychiatrist! Can you find another one? But please don't suddenly stop the olanzapine or you could end up in an even worse place. You should never suddenly stop any psychiatric medications. This applies to antidepressants too, but especially to antipsychotics. A good psychiatrist should have made that clear to you at the outset.
If you want to come off the olanzapine, you should preferably discuss this with a psychiatrist. If you really can't get any reputable medical help, there is an olanzapine forum on this site, where you should be able to get advice from others who've taken this medication. I was on the forum for a couple of months two years ago, when a dear friend was put on this medication, which was making her terribly ill. Here's the link:
https://patient.info/forums/discuss/browse/olanzapine-3038
Why not start a new discussion there? I would stress, however, that patient forums should be an adjunct to medical supervision, not an alternative.
Incidentally, it's always been my understanding that olanzapine made dreaming worse, not better. That's certainly what happened to my friend when she was on it. This is something you could ask about on the olanzapine forum. However, the message remains the same: don't suddenly stop taking it, or you could end up in an even worse place.
Good luck!
Lily
apu91247 lily65668
Posted
I will do what ever you suggested about forum.Thank you.