by I love to sleep.
I do it every day.
When my head hits the pillow I’m asleep and five hours later I’m awake.
No problem.
The sleep trouble comes when I decide to sleep in an hour or two.
The nightmares start after hour five.
I am visited by ghosts from the past and awful memories that trigger a racing heart and night sweats.
I have no idea why this happens but I do my best not to oversleep because the terrors are real and terrific.
You wouldn’t be having nightmares unless you were guilty of something.
I’m guilty of oversleeping!
I think more than that by reading this blog.
Okay, betts, I give up. Explain my guilt.
I suggest you get right with God and find out.
I don’t think the nightmares are related to God, but I thank you for offering your perspective on the situation.
You’re giving up so easy. Better call in Simon to protect you.
I would love to have a conversation with you, betts, if you were offering a little more insight instead of offering mandates.
I’m just sharing my opinion. Isn’t that what you do here?
Yes, betts, that what we do here! We back up our opinion with facts that are verifiable beyond one person’s opinion and we do our best to understand all points-of-view even if we dare not to agree with them.
When I was about 11 or 12, I had this horrible dream that someone rang the doorbell, while I was in bed asleep. In my childhood bedroom, I had a clear view of the living room, and when my father answered the door, I saw the visitor barge in and stab my father in the stomach. Then the man headed for my bedroom, but I woke up, heart racing and muscles tensed. I looked at my clock, and it was exactly 4 am. For years after that I always woke up around 4 am, bad dream or not, and eventually go back to sleep.
Oh, and about this thing going on with betts: good grief…
Carla!
Thank you for sharing your experience! That is terrifying!
I think nightmares come out of repressed experiences that surface when it is safe to “come out” and play.
I believe my body needs five hours to build back up the energy I lost during the day and to do internal housekeeping — but then after that — the game is afoot and memories and active dreaming come alive.
A nightmare is only a matter of provocative perspective so I do actively try to get these vivid dreams to change on an interactive level and it often works.
I also notice if I get really hot when I sleep the nightmares will come at any time so I try to keep the sleeping area cool and that helps a lot.
Nightmares for me can creep up when I eat really late, so I try to be done eating by 7pm each night.
But I can sleep as long as I want with no nightmares, thank goodness! 😀
I would be one grumpy girl if I could sleep only five hours a night!
Carla!
Yes, that’s a good point. If I eat or have wine too late at night that can mean a fitful sleep. If I have any alcohol at all after 6pm I wake up instantly at 2am and I can’t go back to sleep again no matter what. Sometimes if I even it out with equal amounts of water to wine I can sleep through the night but that’s rare.
My wife needs 8 hours of sleep a night and if she gets 9 or 10 she becomes “special” and has a rare and attractive energy that amazes me. She rarely gets even 8 hours though with her schedule!
I have a question – do you see the same nightmare again and again or its different everyday?
Heya Katha!
The nightmares are always different and usually from my distant past.
The reason I am asking it is I sleep for six hours everyday and I am fine with that. But I have a recurring dream (sort of nightmare….not about ghosts but I feel like I am taking stairs and suddenly one step is missing – the feeling is eerie…) that affects my sleep at times. Interestingly its the same dream. You can try some mild tranquilizers if you wanna sleep more!
Ah! It sounds like we sort of have the same thing. I have a continued dream of falling off a ledge in a car and while no one ever dies it is still terrifying. We should investigate this a bit more!
I have spoken with a couple of counselors who told me that deep down I have some insecurities (huh!!!) – and it is a manifestation of that. If I can’t figure out what it is and solve the problem then I will see the dream again again. I couldn’t figure it out and now a days I am kind of habituated with it. If it bothers me more than two days a week I take a mild tranquilizer (prescribed, not off the shelf) and sleep tight!
I don’t know what else to do with it!
Hey Katha —
Perhaps if you think on it during the day it won’t bother you so much at night?
I try active dreaming when I encounter nightmares. I try to behave in a different manner to change the outcome of the dream. I also move and interact if I am only standing and watching. It works!
Interesting! How do you do it?
When I dream it is so realistic that it gives me a jolt and I sit up rightaway. How do you control your dreams?
Well, Katha, it is intensive and it takes some telling. Active Dreaming sounds like a good topic for a future post here.
You basically need to realize you are dreaming and not awake and then tear yourself away from the predetermined outcome of the nightmare. I’ll think on this some more to see if I can find clearer examples for you.
Thanks for your consideration! I will wait for the post.
Meanwhile, I will try to elaborate a bit. I feel like I am falling and there is nothing beneath my feet and that feeling is so vivid that it sends a shiver down my spine. Its a matter of a couple of seconds and when I am up I realize that I was dreaming.
Sounds good, Katha! Remind me about the post if too much time goes by…
My quick advice is when you have your falling dream, turn it into a flying dream instead.
Your thrill will turn from terror to joy when you actively move from falling to veering into the sky within the life of your dream.
do you ever wake up with a raicng heart???
Hi leasemaven —
Yes, quite often I awaken with a heart that pounds.
when u awake with tachycardia what does your heart rate get to and for how long? Do you wait it out? Rub the artery in your neck, take meds, not think about it.etc.
Racy heart after bad dreams????? Misery likes comapny. I am hoping it’s anxiety disorder and finding others with similar sytems is a form of “not being alone” therapy.
It’s the middle of the nigt and i just ha an episode. Thanks for the response. I appreciate it.
I feel for you leasemaven. I hope you feel better soon!
I recently had a nightmare that I attribute directly to over sleeping. I had a really bad hangover and slept until 8:30 pm (vodka is the worst). That night I slept, and slept well, but in the morning portion of my sleep I had this nightmare where my friend, mother and I met up at the mall randomly got into our family car and someone suddenly approached the vehicle and before my mom could lock the door it opened! And thats when I woke up. So it’s a real phenomenon the oversleeping nightmare thing. Don’t do it!
Absolutely right, Joe! If you’re awake, get out of bed. Don’t allow yourself to fall asleep again because that’s when the bad things start to happen.