[SamberlyStevens]

Hi everyone. I just want to start by saying this is a long one and I truly need help with this. Some background information : I am a 22 year old woman, I suffered from a head injury over a year ago and I am still in treatment. I was previously diagnosed with depression in my teen years but have been healthy and off medication for over a year. The only medication I take is benadryl when I have a severe migraine so I can fall asleep. I also do not drink anything with caffeine because I have severe reactions to it. One soda at 9am will result in me being awake for a full night. So let me get to my question...


My whole life I have been a vivid dreamer. I dream in color and can remember most of my dreams from every single night. When I dream, I know I am dreaming. Sometimes I can control what's happening and other times I can not. I know dreams are an iffy topic with most people so please bear with me.


I can only describe what is happening with levels. And the deeper I go the more I cannot control what is going, the more emotions I feel, the more I cannot remember important people or things and the harder it is to wake up. Yet I KNOW I am dreaming. The deeper I go the more nightmares. I cannot control the depths or levels I get to in my dreams.


Lately its been getting much worse. I have periods with worse dreams than other but those times pass and the nightmares go away for some time. However lately they are progressively getting worse and there is no signs of stopping. I normally pinch myself if I know a dream is going too far. This sometimes results in bruises but mostly I wake up. More so now, I can't wake up. And I know I can't. I'm stuck and many times I have had my boyfriend wake me up because I was screaming or moving around and he knew I couldn't do it myself.


I'm getting scared from these dreams. Many block memories and distort my emotions. Waking up with bruises isn't fun either. My boyfriend and I have lived together for over a year and I can have dreams where I don't know him when he shows up. Its awful and the time in my dreams are very different, they feel like days or weeks at most. It can sometimes feel like a separate life and that's why I tend to stop during times in the day and tell myself I am awake and aware. It helps but now I am doing it inside my dreams too. Its scary.


I've been doing research on this for awhile and people say you cannot read in dreams. This comforted me because I could tell if I was dreaming that way. But somehow I can read in my dreams and it scares me because you're not supposed to are you?


I don't know what to do anymore. I can only sleep when my boyfriend is home because I'm afraid of not being able to wake up. The emotional tole my dreams take on me are exhausting and losing memories in dreams is terrifying. I just need some advice I guess. I have no idea how to handle this anymore.


Extra info: I sleep in the yearning position and free fall position. I don't eat or drink before bed. I have had sleep paralysis twice but I do not think its much of a link. Sleep next to boyfriend and 2 cats. Wake up maybe once a night for bathroom. No melatonin pills.

[joypulv]

Of course you can read in dreams - I do, although often the words are beyond my comprehension, so I don't enjoy it. I think you heard that you shouldn't 'read into' dream content looking for meaning.

It isn't far fetched to wonder if all this is related to your brain injury. The most common reason for vivid, overpowering dreams is medications, and following that, dietary habits. I took one that gave me far too vivid dreams. I couldn't shake them when awake, and when I blinked, I saw reruns behind my eyelids. It was a struggle to get off that drug, because I had a terrible time sleeping without it, but I managed eventually.

But you aren't taking anything, so that makes me wonder what you mean by 'treatment' for your injury? And what is the injury called, exactly, including area of the brain? People who take drug overdoses and people who have been in comas often report super vivid, exhausting, overpowering dreams. Very little is still known about dreaming, but it's possible that your brain is working on repair after the injury. Perhaps you can get a referral to a teaching hospital for more study.

[Dchdman]

Dreams are only limited by ones imagination and experience in life , so yes If I decide to close my eye and imagine I am reading a book , then I will see myself reading a book , just like I can dream of dragons , ponies and unicorns etc.

They can be your mind processing the events for the day , reliving past events and dark days in ones past , Fantasy dreams etc .

It does sound like you are having Lucid dreams and Nightmares with some recurring dreams to.

A Lucid dreams occur when you realize you are dreaming. "Wait a second. This is only a dream!" Most dreamers wake themselves up once they realize that they are dreaming. Other dreamers have cultivated the skill to remain in the lucid state of dreaming. They become an active participant in their own dreams, making decisions in their dreams and influencing the dream's outcome without awakening.

A nightmare is a disturbing dream that causes you to wake up feeling anxious and frightened.

Recurring dreams repeat themselves with little variation in story or theme. These dreams may be positive, but most often they are nightmarish in content. Dreams may recur because a conflict depicted in the dream remains unresolved or ignored. Once you find a resolution to the problem, your recurring dreams will cease.

Now the reason I have posted Nightmares and Recurring dreams is I believe you are possibly suffering from ( PSN ) Post-traumatic Stress Nightmare.

I say this due to the real life trauma and situation your having with the head injury and use of medication , though a sleep specialist would have to test you for the above. I also say this is that you are very worried / stressed about what is going on , this also could be a trigger as you have said things are getting worse.

Nightmares may also occur because you have ignored or refused to accept a particular life situation . A stressful situation is the biggest trigger.

A head injury can be stressful even at the good times , I mean many of those who have had a TBI ( Traumatic Brain Injury ) can suffer headache, difficulty thinking, memory problems, attention deficits, mood swings and frustration.

Anyway like I said before you will need to go and see a specialist who can then connect you to a brain wave machine and monitor you while you sleep. You will then most likely have the best answers as to why this is taking place.

Hope this helps and good lucky if you go to a specialist.