Horrible dreams

[jill07]

Hi all,
Just wondering who else has problems with dreams? Horrible, lucid dreams so realistic and disturbing that its hard to get back to sleep after them...
Mine seem to be when I have done too much or am too tired. After a shopping day yest I was exhausted - mentally and physically, bad idea in hindsight, far too much activity in one day. Anyway, went to bed 9.30pm only to have a restless night, full of dreams. Worst one was the sensation of being suffocated by a bright white light, like a flood of light that really overwhelmed me.... and my gran (who is still alive) was telling me to relax, enjoy it, it would make everything ok, but I remember being terrified, and then woke up - very disturbed indeed, felt like a near death experience and scared the life out of me!
I feel shocking today, really light headed and weak, not got the energy to do much at all so as per usual the majority of my day is being spent sat on the sofa.
I think a lot of my fear comes from the fact that my gp's dont seem to be doing much at all to find out what is wrong with me, they just put it down to anxiety and try to give me medication, but surely anxiety cannot make you so physically ill?? Guess I will be back again next week, annoy them a bit more! x

[mothernurture]

Hi Jill, just to reassure you that very vivid and disturbing lifelike dreams are part of the symptoms of m.e/cfs. i have been having them for a very long time now. im not sure which criteria it is but i read somewhere that it is part of the criteria for diagnosis.

we have had other threads on this in thre past and it seems to be a common problem.
as for the anxiety im afraid that a lot of the symptoms of anxiety and cfs/m.e do overlap, but they are not the same thing at all.

have you not been given a diagnosis at all? (bar anxiety/ depression) have you considered taking along the NICE gudeline on diagnosis and askinjg straight out if they will look for a diagnosis of cfs/m.e with you? if they wont even consider it i would think about changing your doctor. alternatively you could write a letter to the practice manager asking or a meeting to discuss things and to find a way forward. writing a list of all your symptoms and maybe keeping a diary of them is a good idea - then you can take this with you when you see your gp or have a meeting witht the practice manager.

with depression - people who are depressed lose the will to dothings or take part in life, whereas cfs/m.e patients have the will ut not the energy.
anxiety - a pure anxiety disorder will be helped by exercise and activity especially aerobic activity -which burns of adrenaline - cfs/m.e patients on the othr hand are worsened by exercise and activity - that they woud dearly love to be able to do. of course if you have cfs/m.e it is still possible to suffer from depression and anxiety as well.

this website has lots o info about m.e/cfs and also about how to get a diagnosis, including a booklet you could take to your gps with you  http://www.afme.org.uk/

[laurashaw]

Hi there Jill.

I've suffered and still do suffer from horrendously vivid dreams.  I had a recurrent dream about wolves that seems to have offset a lot of sleeping problems.  My doctor referred to it as a night terror as I was awoken in sweats with a racing heart rate.  Eventually it went away but you have every sympathy from me if yours are still badly effecting you.  I wish I had some invaluable piece of advice but I just had to stick at it and sure enough it went away but not before making me incredibly poorly. 

I hope yours aren't as bad as/never get as bad as this.

L
xx

[Sleepy slug]

Hi Jill,
I'm afraid I too suffer with what feels like 100's of terrible violent and traumatic dreams each night. I wake up after some dreams really disturbed as I experience very real sensations during them (like feeling warm blood running over my hands). I can then go back to sleep and continue with chapter 2 of the awful nightmare. In the morning (or when I wake up next day) I feel so mentally and physically worn out as tho I've ran a marathon. I think watching the tv before I go to sleep encourages my brain to stay active so I try not to do it. A few times I've done a meditation while lying in bed waiting to go to sleep, which has helped to encourage a more relaxed state of body and mind. Sorry your having a rough time of it - I can empathise with you. Stay strong x

[willow]

For years i havent had dreams (or remembered bits and bobs) but the last month, theyve been so so real and vivid.  Ive been talking, screaming, kicking in my sleep.


One that really freaked me out was i was having a lie down and had spoken to my OH about 20mins before and he said hed be home in about 2/3hours.  It felt like i woke up, he walked in the room and i said " oh you came home early, how come?" and he replied "Oh the office was quiet, and everyone else left early too" and then he lay next to me on the bed and i fell back to sleep.  When i 'woke' up i called out for him, and when he didnt answer i called him and he was at work still   It was so real......

So when/if i do sleep im not sleeping cos these sodding dreams are destroying any rest i could get.

Sigh, someone should whack us over the head with a sledgehammer...wonder if that would work.....

[Philpy1999]

I read about this in a book my wife bought. The book is called "From fatigued to fantastic!"

It talks about CFS and the ways it can effect us, one of which is our ability to sleep. There are 4 levels of sleep, but we only manage to enter the 2nd level (the level at which we dream) and not the deeper levels (those which are required in order to wake up refreshed).

So, in summary...Sleep = vivid dreams and zero refreshment. 

[mothernurture]

Hi Philpy - i also read about this years ago. i definately suffer from this lack of stwge 4 sleep. although recently i have been sleepinmg for longer -8-10 hrs a night and i am finally - after a couple of years getting a bit of deeper sleep. The dreaming is so exhausting!

What is teh book you mention like? i have thought about getting it. Also are you managing to increase your activity levels or not?

[Slow_Leopard]

I had a really lucid dream last night.

It was my first day at work, but at my old job.  I was being introduced to everyone but there were hundreds of people there, way more than were at my work.  My old boss was introducing me to people, I remember the second person present at the interview introducing themselves under the wrong name, I corrected them and it turned out he was doing it to test my memory.

The building was also my primary school not my work.  I remember thinking "I shouldn't be here, this is not where I work" so I left.  I crawled to the bus stop but not on my knees, like on hands and feet like a crab or something.  I got a bus into town (can not remember being on the bus).  When I got into town it was either early morning or early evening, I think morning about 6:30.  I was walking to my new work although at one point I turned off track and walked down a hill, very lucid, real street.  A homeless person then fell from the sky and landed in front of me.

At this point I woke up.