Does anyone here experience nightmares most night?

[Lisa R.]

My 18 year old dd experiences this. These often wake her up at night. She feels she does not get restful sleep because of the bad dreams. This has been going on for a couple of years.

 

Now, her sleep patterns are usually erratic. She takes naps sometimes in the afternoon or evening. She sometimes stays up late and gets up early, stays up late and gets up late, goes to bed early and gets up early, etc. She's a full time college student so she has a schedule that allows for this.

 

Would an erratic sleeping schedule help this?

 

Any ideas on what could help her?

[Janna]

I know for me, being over heated when I'm sleeping causes me to have bad dreams, not to mention really strange dreams. I remember having multiple nights in a row of having bad/strange dreams when I was staying with a friend of the family. She mentioned about being too hot, and every one of those nights, I had been too hot. I have found that to be the case with every bad dream since then, too.

 

If your daughter has struggled with this for years, obviously there is more going on. But perhaps just sleeping in a cooler atmosphere, or with lighter PJ's or blankets, would help with the intensity. Maybe? Just a thought....

 

Sorry she struggles with that. It must be awfully scary!

[Tree House Academy]

Only when I am taking Lexapro. As a matter of fact, they are so bad, I have often told my DH that I could write a best selling horror movie based on them. :( Luckily, this is only something that happens with my meds. I had a friend in highschool that had them all the time though and he wasn't on meds. It really plagued him.

[Alexandra]

A few years ago I read a thread here about nightmares/night terrors and the folks who responded talked about adding magnesium to the diet and/or having baths with Epsoms Salts (which have magnesium I think).

hth

Alexandra

[chanda7]

I've had nightmares regularly for as long as I can remember. I'm also a light sleeper who wakes up frequently during the night.

 

I'm finding I can listen to podcasts on my iPod to help me fall back asleep. I fall asleep much quicker this way than watching TV or reading.

[Harriet Vane]

Get some bloodwork done. Sleep disturbances are a side effect of so many conditions. When my anemia was at its worst I had terrible nightmares and insomnia--both of which disappeared when my iron levels were restored.

[Michelle My Bell]

I usually only have nightmares when I drink chocolate milk before bed. I am not sure if it is the chocolate or if I have to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night (and I am holding it because I am not waking) and I am uncomfortable.

 

I try to only have a sip of water before bed now.

 

I also agree with temperature. I turn my heat down to 62 each night so I don't get overheated.

 

MIchelle

[Jean in Newcastle]

I get night terrors - sometimes I feel like I'm only sort of awake and someone is in the room, or I wake up shouting or with my heart pounding and drenched in sweat. There is no real "story line" just terror and a vague sense of something wrong. Magnesium helps me.

 

I have regular nightmares when I get too hot too.

 

There have been some violent happenings in my life - those gave me nightmares too but I knew exactly why I had them. Occasionally I will have a flashback that will lead to nightmares but the dreams are about the incidents - again no ambiguity there.

[The Girls' Mom]

I've been plagued with nightmares for as long as I can remember. It's a rare night that goes by that I don't have a bad dream of one sort or another :glare:. They are often very realistic, and I have trouble waking up from them sometimes...which leads to me beating my dh because there are 'spiders in the bed' or waking him up from a dead sleep because 'there's someone in the room'.

 

I have noticed that they get worse when I'm stressed, or if I'm eating poorly. I haven't found anything to make them go away though.

 

I've never thought of the over heating thing. I can't stand being cool or cold when I'm sleeping, so I'm usually under a comforter AND a blanket. I think I'd rather have the nightmares than be cold though :tongue_smilie:

[Stacey in MA]

This was during the time of my first year of college and I thought I was going crazy!! It wasn't just once in a while. It was EVERY night.

 

At the end of the year, I mentioned it to my father. He told me to take my socks off when I went to bed.... That very night, I had a good night's sleep! Problem was, I was being overheated, and my body was reacting. It was like magic!! How he knew, I'll never know. Ah, the wisdom of parents!

 

:-)

[Desert Rat]

My nightmares are stress induced. Is your daughter overly anxious about something? I try to meditate before I go to sleep. If I'm feeling really worried about something I take one tylenol PM. It works for me.

HTH

[In the Rain]

When I was in high school and college, I used to have nightmares almost every night. I used to watch a lot of TV at that time, and I've wondered if that somehow caused it.

 

Now, being hot or taking antihistamines (like Benadryl) cause me to have nightmares. It is rare though. I rarely watch TV now. Maybe it is related.