Can't really say anything for your insomnia but your nightmares sound like something out of the SAW movies. You should call them up and pitch them your nightmare and see if you can't make any money off them. 
Sleeping suggestions & Nightmares
- Thread starter EmzOLV
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Like I said before, I've been cutting down on things before going to bed (such as gaming, movies, things that are stimulating to my mind) but I'm either not doing it right and not giving it enough time or it's just not working.
I just joined the gym near me and have been going 4 times a week, and yeah it makes me super tired, but I completely feel it more when I'm at work than when I'm at home. But maybe a good plan - maybe I can up some of the levels I'm doing and push myself slightly more into sleep.Knusper said:
Haha! Nice plan. Although I wouldn't be totally psyched to be encouraging more Saw movies, at the moment the 3D movie has the tv advert out and it's on *constantly*. Didn't mind the first one but now there's just too many!ssgt splatter said:Can't really say anything for your insomnia but your nightmares sound like something out of the SAW movies. You should call them up and pitch them your nightmare and see if you can't make any money off them.
See a shrink. ASAP! Seriously, you've got to have some sort of underlying trauma or something for those kinds of nightmares.
Also, Alcohol and sleeping pills (NEVER BOTH, for obvious reasons) might also work.
Also, Alcohol and sleeping pills (NEVER BOTH, for obvious reasons) might also work.
It's quite normal for sleep to decrease as stress increases. I recommend getting into bed at a certain time every single day, in order to get your body used to the cycle. Also, I recommend staying away from sleeping pills, as those can be addictive. In my experience, Melatonin suppliments work quite well. It's a hormone found in the pineal gland that controls sleep cycles, and has worked quite well for me.
Please, for the love of God, don't use alcohol to fall asleep. Besides starting a terrible habit, you could puke in your sleep and asphyxiate on your own vomit.Mistermixmaster said:
Just go to sleep at an appropriate time enough times and your mind should re-adapt.
Also about the nightmares, don't eat cheese before bed. naah im jking but don't know how to help you there. Maybe stop watching gory movies beore you sleep?
Also about the nightmares, don't eat cheese before bed. naah im jking but don't know how to help you there. Maybe stop watching gory movies beore you sleep?
The ones I use are circular, 7 by 3.5 milimeters or so, weighing in at 3 miligrams.EmzOLV said:
I can't tell you what dosage you'd need, but probably not more than that.
Also, I believe they come in a melting tablet form, the kind you just leave on your tongue for a couple of seconds, after which they soften up and are easily thrown down with a glass of water.
Although I use milk myself, as it helps to mask their taste... ehhw.
Surely I'm not the only one that has random vivid nightmares like that though?!Mistermixmaster said:
Cheese does affect my dreams/nightmares - I noticed it after I cut it out of my diet - they used to be like the stereotypical acid trip and really 'real' when I used to eat cheese before bed. And I've mentioned before, don't watch gorey movies before sleepNile McMorrow said:
haven't done in months! Thanks! I may have to look into it, someone else said about melatonin supplements and visiting my doctor for it and they sound a lot better than sleeping pills!ajemas said:
Not planning to die choking on my own puke just yet... nearly had a girl at a festival I was working at do that, and it was NOT pretty.
This is true for a neurotypical human being, but there are a great many examples of this being utterly false, among them myself and my Aspergers Syndrome.Nile McMorrow said:
This is a shot in the dark, but are you having any relationship problems? With your girlfriend/boyfriend/friends/family, perhaps? Are you afraid of losing someone very close to you?EmzOLV said:
Basically, stress is one of the major causes of sleep loss. If this sleep loss thing continues for a longer period of time, you should go to a psychologist to see if he/she can help you explain things.
Ahhh well that's more reassuring, apart from the taste. I thought they'd be like massive and just be the most ridiculous thing to try and take. Especially for something which seems so minor as sleeping problems. But that's great, I feel more reassuredCCountZero said:
cheers! I have huge issues dealing with loss but after being in therapy for 5 years, I don't really want to start feeling like I've taken steps back. I learnt a lot through CBT, and although about a month ago my last boyfriend ditched me, I took it really well, I'm completely okay now and I got angry/upset and it's all good, I definitely feel like its for the best. So I'm at peace with that. There's not much else really going on :S just keep myself preoccupied with work and getting things done!ActivatorX said:
I just don't *feel* stressed. I feel fine. I'm not worried about stuff right now. I've got a new job lined up which I know I'm good at, with a pay rise, christmas is coming, I'm having some time off, all is good. I dunno!
Therapy is a very nasty word, in my opinion. However, I would still recommend visiting a psychologist and talking to him/her about this.EmzOLV said:Ahhh well that's more reassuring, apart from the taste. I thought they'd be like massive and just be the most ridiculous thing to try and take. Especially for something which seems so minor as sleeping problems. But that's great, I feel more reassuredCCountZero said:
I have huge issues dealing with loss but after being in therapy for 5 years, I don't really want to start feeling like I've taken steps back. I learnt a lot through CBT, and although about a month ago my last boyfriend ditched me, I took it really well, I'm completely okay now and I got angry/upset and it's all good, I definitely feel like its for the best. So I'm at peace with that. There's not much else really going on :S just keep myself preoccupied with work and getting things done!ActivatorX said:
I just don't *feel* stressed. I feel fine. I'm not worried about stuff right now. I've got a new job lined up which I know I'm good at, with a pay rise, christmas is coming, I'm having some time off, all is good. I dunno!
I do not know for sure, but your brain may be supressing certain emotions and experiences.
That is not good.
You should, in my opinion, face your fears/traumas and talk everything through.
Like I've said, supressing stuff can lead to a disaster, waiting to happen.
When I say therapy, it was through the NHS and it was a mixture of taking CBT (cognitive behavioural therapy) classes to identify why I behave a certain way under certain situations which was quite eye opening, and a few years of therapy/counselling which took me about a year to get into it before really exploring issues from years and years ago. It was ended when it seemed like I had progressed, and I felt I had.ActivatorX said:
I had to go through my doctor to get into that in the first place, and considering I started that at 18 and only finished a year ago when I was 24, I think I was there a reasonable period of time.
It may sound weird but I didn't feel like I have things hiding anymore and I felt reassured and confident that everything was okay. You may be totally right and maybe there is stuff that even after 6 years I haven't fixed or looked into, but I'm not sure whether I should immediately jump into it and go well I must definitely have something there, if I get further signs and I begin to notice slumps or little things I'm doing that are reflective of that kind of nature then I will pursue then
No, you're not. Don't pay attention to claims that all nightmares somehow mean something. People have been interpreting nightmares/dreams for ages and it's never been a science. Even perfectly healthy and happy people have nightmares, some even have night terrors. There's more reason to suggest that it's clinical rather than psychological.EmzOLV said:
Falling asleep has been terribly difficult for me as long as I can remember, and I've had nightmares and the occasional night terror for over 10 years now. They've been concomitant to my life, regardless of how well I've felt, physically or emotionally. Most commonly, I awake from one in the middle of the night and it strikes me with quite vehement achluophobia. A few years ago I started making recordings of what I can remember the moment I wake up.
They're always incredibly vivid. A few times I've caught myself suddenly stopping in the dream, thinking "is this real? No, it can't be" shortly after which I wake up. The worst of the all was one early morning when I awoke coughing and gagging from the sensation of having a host of live insects in my mouth that I was apparently eating in the dream.
Sleep medication has never worked, but the thing is that if you have serious sleeping issues, then you're only going to make them worse by relying on sleep medication. That stuff has serious side effects, especially with prolonged use. It's always recommended to get healthy, natural sleep. Anything other than is just procrastinating. It sounds bad but the rather disappointing truth is that sleep disorders are something that a lot of people live their whole lives with - you adapt to it rather than try to make it go away.
You'll of course hear different opinions everywhere you ask, I'm just telling you what's been told to me for the better part of a decade.
I trust that if there's actually some kind of stress in your life that you haven't dealt with then you'll know it and you'll work through it.
Thanks for that - I was beginning to get lost in a confusing mind state. I really concur with thisChatney said:
I think if things get worse I will take the initiative and just go to the doctors, and if it is a case of using a supplement, they won't be those sleeping pills. And if I do find that I'm missing something, or starting to react weirdly, or going back to old, bad habits, then I may reinvestigate going back to therapy/counselling but only if it would be beneficial to do so!
I have a few more suggestions. Try visualising the dreams you want to have that night in your head that might work. Otherwise clear your mind and see if that helps you fall asleep. Also you could try controlling your nightmares if you can convince yourself its a lucid dream. Thats when the fun begins.
Sleeping pills are the best thing for it me thinks. And as for the nightmares...I dont have them, I just have obscure dreams that my therapist labels as nightmares. Like when I stumbled into a warehouse to find Mafioso's milking a zebra for apple-juice. They put a bag over my head, drive me to a train track and tie me to it, and out of no-where my Dad ridicules me when i'm helpless and about to die...Just an example. And hell, I dunno what causes them...Some say it's cheese, but I love cheese so I aint giving it up.
I'll definitely give it a go - I may be able to have more success with visualising dreams before falling asleep than trying to control my dreams - I don't think I have ever really successfully managed the latter!Nile McMorrow said:
I definitely get an increase in strange and weird dreams after eating cheese but I love it, lvoe it so much!!Zemmy said:
There are many guides and tips in The Internet focusing exactly what you're going through here. This seems like a good one [http://www.nursingschools.net/blog/2010/03/50-sleep-hacks-for-the-ultimate-insomniac/], especially the first 21 and the last 11. There has been a 30ish page PDF spinning around, called Sleep Hacks or something, couldn't find it with Google though. Those tips and guides really work. Worked for me and a couple of my friends at least.EmzOLV said:
You didn't mention anything about how much you exercise or make your body work during a day? I can't even begin to tell you how important it is for relieving stress and making your body tired so you actually feel sleepy. Stress, which is pretty much a problem for everyone in this day and age, but exercise does improve everything from physical health to happiness and sleeping well. It's impossible to highlight physical exercises (sleeping related) positive outcomes too much.
I've had quite bad sleeping issues myself, it wasn't a long ago when I had a physically tough 14-hour work day, stayed awake for 32 hours, slept 5 hours, couldn't sleep more and stayed awake for another 30 hours. During another time few months ago, I was so depressed that I literally had to strain myself mentally and physically, sometimes staying up a whole night for three times in a week, so I could just drop to bed and fall asleep, too tired to think or do anything. I've also had some very odd and vivid dreams. One which I can remember, because I wrote it down as soon as I woke up: happened in six places in 3 countries with almost twenty different people. China had lost its cars and it was filled with elephants on small streets, there was a dam built from thousands of dead swans, TV characters jumping over laying relatives as a game... Well, you got my point and whatnot.
Ingredients for sleeping problems: Crazy internal clock (which can be manipulated), bad eating habits (can be fixed), no exercise (can do exercise), high stress levels (chill yo), thinking or worrying too much (when trying to sleep, try to cut all thoughts. There's nothing good you can achieve when thinking as trying to sleep. Might as well leave that for the next day).
If you have the time, get some exercise. Not right before bed, but about 2 hours before you normally go to bed.
And if you have responsibilities that you've been putting off, get them over with. It'll get any "Oh shit, soon it'll be tomorrow!" mentality out of your head.
I hope that helps.
And if you have responsibilities that you've been putting off, get them over with. It'll get any "Oh shit, soon it'll be tomorrow!" mentality out of your head.
I hope that helps.
Cheers for the link - I've had a look and it's reinforcing some of the points people made and some new ones, I'm going to have to have a better readbenzooka said:
interesting, thank you!Actually the responsibilities before bed one kinda helps, I do have a habit (especially on a sunday night) of freaking out about things needing doing, even if they are completely pointless and only for my benefit. And I do go to the gym, usually about 7:30, 8pm and only for an hour. I just obviously don't push myself enough! xHam_authority95 said: