Sleep & Dreams

[Lalalalaaaaaa85]

I remember as a child my mum telling me she always dreamt of houses, of being in a house which in the dream she thought of as her home, our family home but it was completely different. I now have very similar dreams! Always dreaming of being in my house but the house is nothing like my home. In my dreams the house is also often haunted and I’m quite frightened.

With regards to recurring locations I definitely feel I have this or else it’s just really strong deja vu/my brain telling me I’ve dreamt of this location before.

 

[ElChanguito]

I’ve had sleep paralysis at times of acute stress. I think that my blankets are coming up over my face and I’m suffocating, or I think a cat has jumped on me and is walking up me (I can “feel” it walking over me so realistically), or that someone is lurking in my room It’s truly terrifying and I have to fight it to wake myself up.

My dreams are very weird… I’ll often be in places that feel so different and alien, and I feel different, though people from my past are always there with me. I have some that have recurred over a long time - that my home gets invaded by a gang of strange men; that there is a local town completely unknown to me that I must visit; that I go to a huge supermarket or mall and I feel acute stress not knowing what to buy and how I’ll get home; other ones where I remember I own an abandoned stately home and I explore it and it’s labyrinthine and I become lost… The dreams leave me feeling confused and somehow bereft, I feel desperate to go back in and resolve them.

 

[Mamacita]

Do you find that you have mostly negative or positive dreams?
As long as I can remember I've always had a lot of nightmares and generally negative dreams but other people I know have a lot of happy dreams

 

[Lalalalaaaaaa85]

Do you find that you have mostly negative or positive dreams?
As long as I can remember I've always had a lot of nightmares and generally negative dreams but other people I know have a lot of happy dreams

I definitely go through phases and I think it depends on stress levels in my life. Luckily I get a lot of positive and neutral dreams but find nightmares come in chunks so I’ll have a few bad weeks

 

[Sibz]

I've had the hallucination thing as I've been falling asleep before, they're called hypnogogic hallucinations. They're almost always spiders or insects, which are apparently very common, I once heard a loud buzzing of a giant bee too. I haven't had them for years though, weirdly I used to always get them when I laid on my left side, but I started wearing an eye mask too while I sleep and I don't get them at all anymore.

I've never had sleep paralysis but I did feel like there was someone getting into bed with me once, like when you feel something heavy behind you and I woke up with a start, it really scared me!!

I've had very vivid dreams before, I dont get nightmares but occasionally get anxiety dreams, some of my recurring ones are getting on train or bus and getting lost, being late to get to catch a plane, trying to pack a suitcase and running out of time, a tornado coming towards my house, a tidal wave coming and trying to escape it, being back at school, going into a public toilet and really needing to go but the door is really short and doesn't cover me properly

 

[WhatABore]

I've had the hallucination thing as I've been falling asleep before, they're called hypnogogic hallucinations. They're almost always spiders or insects, which are apparently very common, I once heard a loud buzzing of a giant bee too. I haven't had them for years though, weirdly I used to always get them when I laid on my left side, but I started wearing an eye mask too while I sleep and I don't get them at all anymore.

I've never had sleep paralysis but I did feel like there was someone getting into bed with me once, like when you feel something heavy behind you and I woke up with a start, it really scared me!!

I've had very vivid dreams before, I dont get nightmares but occasionally get anxiety dreams, some of my recurring ones are getting on train or bus and getting lost, being late to get to catch a plane, trying to pack a suitcase and running out of time, a tornado coming towards my house, a tidal wave coming and trying to escape it, being back at school, going into a public toilet and really needing to go but the door is really short and doesn't cover me properly

I could never find out if they had a name or not but yes, 90% of the time, it's insects I see!

____

My dreams are mainly positive/neutral.
It's rare i will have a bad one

 

[funkimunki1984]

I’ve always been a terrible sleeper from being a kid. Think it started because I was living in a home with an alcoholic father and mum who was working every hour god sent because he was a bum. She split with him when I was 5, but even before then I’ve sleep walked, talked in my sleep and vivid nightmares to the point I’ve hurt myself.
I remember always dreaming about wolves and trying to hide from them in a cottage in the woods. I managed to hide in a cupboard in a place filled with sewing machines on tables, the wolves got in and turned into people with grey coats and hats and just as they find me I wake up screaming.
I also have sleep paralysis quite bad. One time I dreamt the demon from insidious was behind my bed (I slept in a loft conversion so the bed wasn’t flush to the wall) and stopped me from moving. It reached down to grab me and I started screaming. In reality my husband had grabbed me because I had started screaming in my sleep. He says I’m the most entertaining and terrifying person to share a bed with.

 

[HoGi]

I don't tend to have sleep paralysis but I do sleep walk and talk.

Also have quite vivid dreams

 

[Lalalalaaaaaa85]

Also hate it when a loud bang wakes me with a start but it was all in my head/dream!

 

[WhatABore]

Also hate it when a loud bang wakes me with a start but it was all in my head/dream!

Or i have my name being called!

 

[Leo100]

I mostly dream about animals (usually dogs) trying to or actually biting/attacking me. I have them a few times a week not sure if it means anything. I did grow up with a bad phobia of dogs but I'm a lot better now as an adult and I don't really think about it so not sure why I would dream it

 

[Tide'sout]

Also hate it when a loud bang wakes me with a start but it was all in my head/dream!

I'm often convinced I've heard the doorbell.

 

[prozacprincess]

I have terrible nightmares most nights and I’m quite often afraid to sleep. I also suffer from ‘exploding head syndrome’ where I hear an incredibly loud bang in my head when I’m just starting to sleep.

My nightmares have pretty much been the same theme since childhood. When I’m not having nightmares I have those frustrating dreams where I’m trying to pack up some house, or suitcase and I’m running out of time. Or trying to drive from the backseat of the car

 

[Souffle]

I have a lot of nightmares and I try to scream but can’t straightaway. My poor partner, who often gets woken by me, says that he hears me building up to the screaming. Apparently it starts really quiet and then when I find my ability to scream in my dream I wake up screaming really loudly. I’ve done it for at least 15 years. When I was younger even my housemate would run into my room thinking I’m being murdered

When I’m not having nightmares my “normal” dreams often involve me finding hidden rooms in houses I either know in real life or houses that I appear to know in my dream. I’ve found a whole apartment in the attic, a huge green tiled jacuzzi/shower room behind a wall etc.

 

[Ssshhhhh06]

I go through phases of waking up genuinely believing that I am choking. It feels like something is teetering on the back of my tongue waiting to fall down my throat and if I swallow I'll be unable to breathe. Maybe a gobstopper, coin or somethings else round and smooth. Usually it involves shouting, suddenly sitting up right or crouching, mad breathing and panting, sticking my fingers down my throat to remove the foreign object and screaming for help. I've even started getting out of bed and found myself on the other side of the room recently. It's terrifying. Every time I think, 'this time it's actually real, not like those other times. I really am going to die'. It seems to come in waves eg I do it every night for a few days/weeks and then stop. I think it might be stress related.

On a much nicer note, I also get amazing sleep orgasms which are so powerful they wake me up! These dreams happen fairly regularly and again seem to be when I'm overly tired or stressed in real life.

 

[WhatABore]

I have terrible nightmares most nights and I’m quite often afraid to sleep. I also suffer from ‘exploding head syndrome’ where I hear an incredibly loud bang in my head when I’m just starting to sleep.

My nightmares have pretty much been the same theme since childhood. When I’m not having nightmares I have those frustrating dreams where I’m trying to pack up some house, or suitcase and I’m running out of time. Or trying to drive from the backseat of the car

I get a lot of these too! The frustrating ones!
Always trying to do something but can't or trying to do something on a time limit and failing

 

[Lalalalaaaaaa85]

On a much nicer note, I also get amazing sleep orgasms which are so powerful they wake me up! These dreams happen fairly regularly and again seem to be when I'm overly tired or stressed in real life.

Oh yes I have these too

 

[Mamacita]

I have terrible nightmares most nights and I’m quite often afraid to sleep. I also suffer from ‘exploding head syndrome’ where I hear an incredibly loud bang in my head when I’m just starting to sleep.

My nightmares have pretty much been the same theme since childhood. When I’m not having nightmares I have those frustrating dreams where I’m trying to pack up some house, or suitcase and I’m running out of time. Or trying to drive from the backseat of the car

For me it's usually trying to pack to get to the airport on time

It's funny in terms of driving. Before I learned to drive I always had dreams I'm amazing at driving. Now I can drive (sort of) I have so many dreams when I'm literally crashing into everything, running people over etc!

 

[Twertle]

I dream all the time, most of the time if it’s a poignant dream where something really out of the ordinary has happened I’ll Google the event and can kind of work out why I dreamt it. I don’t really have nightmares although twice now when I’ve been struggling to sleep I’ll close my eyes and i can see my whole bedroom with my eyes closed it’s so strange. I’m awake because the last time I had to open my eyes as it freaked me out a bit.

 

[GeminiMoon]

I’ve had sleep paralysis at times of acute stress. I think that my blankets are coming up over my face and I’m suffocating, or I think a cat has jumped on me and is walking up me (I can “feel” it walking over me so realistically), or that someone is lurking in my room It’s truly terrifying and I have to fight it to wake myself up.

My dreams are very weird… I’ll often be in places that feel so different and alien, and I feel different, though people from my past are always there with me. I have some that have recurred over a long time - that my home gets invaded by a gang of strange men; that there is a local town completely unknown to me that I must visit; that I go to a huge supermarket or mall and I feel acute stress not knowing what to buy and how I’ll get home; other ones where I remember I own an abandoned stately home and I explore it and it’s labyrinthine and I become lost… The dreams leave me feeling confused and somehow bereft, I feel desperate to go back in and resolve them.

I also often have dreams of going to places that are unknown to me (or vaguely familiar but not in my real life) and it’s imperative that I get home but there’s some stress around it. I agree it’s related to stress in waking hours and maybe something to do with not feeling ‘at home’ in my life.