Vivid weird dreams every night which I find unsettling

Suedoko - I’m on them as well - last night I dreamt of a large python-type snake . I can cope with that but I hope I don’t get depressed or have suicidal thoughts 😫

Check the temperature in your bedroom before you go to bed. Is it well ventilated and can you leave the windows open and the curtains slightly open to get a flow of air in? I only get vivid dreams when I am hot in bed (not that sort of hot!) and wake at 4 a.m. and can't get back to sleep. I make a cuppa, sit and read, Gnet and go back to bed after half an hour. Also, the night before I try to be in bed by 10 p.m. lights out at 10.30 p.m. as I am a poor creature of habit. No drinks or lap top after 9 p.m. Sweet dreams!

Are you over 65?it could be any medication you are on,but sorry to say that sometimes it’s associated with increasingly bad memory loss.Maybe speak to your dr.

Madmeg

I've had various periods of dreaming but nowadays, despite being on a raft of medications, including betablockers and statins, it is very rare that one disturbs me or I even remember it. When my mum had dementia and a neighbour saw her admitting a stranger to her house late at night I dreamt several times that someone had attacked her. I was relieved when I found her a care home and that dream ceased. When I was a child I used to dream I was in a friend's house and heard a noise on the stairs. I went to the staircase and there was a brown bear coming down. I stood there frozen but when it reached me I floated up to the ceiling and it couldn't reach me. Then I woke up. I dreamt it so often that I use to think to myself "just stand here and you'll float up to the ceiling" - and it worked!!!

Did the bear represent someone or something in the friend's house that scared you?

Yes! I've taken it for years, but it doesn't explain why I go for a long time without dreaming, even if I get up around dawn to visit the loo almost every night.

I've put last night's bumper crop down to the curry I had last night, cheese and red wine sometimes do it too!

Do you take Montelukast? I was started on this for my asthma about 10 years ago (it's very good) and it causes very vivid dreams.
It's a medication that can also, in rare cases, cause depression and suicidal thoughts, so you should always be warned about this possibility. I just get the vivid dreams - usually when I've gone to the loo in the early morning and then dropped off again - but because I know what causes them, I don't worry about them.

keepingquiet

Funny how since this thread appeared I've started getting lots of dreams- haven't had any for ages and now several a night. What's going on??

Oops! Sorry!

I wonder sometimes if my dreams are challenging because I don't get enough stimulation.

It probably is meds, though, I guess.

I’ve had vivid and disturbing dreams most of my life, I remember many of them.

I think it’s because my brain never seems to completely switch off.

You must be like everything else, and dealing with a backlog.
Hope they're nice ones.

Funny how since this thread appeared I've started getting lots of dreams- haven't had any for ages and now several a night. What's going on??

pinkprincess

Thankyou Valdavi and MissAdventure

One of my workmates also had what she called peculiar dreams on nicotine patches, she described them as making her not wanting o sleep because of the things that appeared in her dreams

I've never used nicotine patches but I recognise that reluctance to go to sleep in case of disturbing dreams. Not helpful!

Thankyou Valdavi and MissAdventure

One of my workmates also had what she called peculiar dreams on nicotine patches, she described them as making her not wanting o sleep because of the things that appeared in her dreams

I’ve dreamt vividly for as long as I can remember and can often remember my dreams, they don’t bother me generally unless I’m particularly stressed.

Sorry should have been

I have nightmares virtually every time I fall asleep whether that is at night or a daytime nap. Some I remember in detail, others I just wake up terrified. I also sleep walk, scream, shout and lash out. Poor DH suffers terribly as a lot of my lashing out hits him. I don't remember anything about lashing out so the first I know is in the morning when he shows me the bruise, mark or scratches [embarrassed]

I had amazing dreams on those nicotine patches.

Really detailed, vivid colours, and a sort of "whole body" experience.

pink princess
Nicotine patches are the ultimate for vivid dreams. When I used them they weren't nightmares, but every night & extremely real. If they'd been distressing I couldn't have coped with it - as another poster said, once you're awake you know it's not real, but you still feel as though you've experienced it.

I always have vivid disturbing dreams if I go back to sleep after waking late in the night. It doesn’t happen when I wake to go to the loo earlier in the night.
Because of this I get up as soon as I wake, if it’s anytime after 4 o’clock.

I've had various periods of dreaming but nowadays, despite being on a raft of medications, including betablockers and statins, it is very rare that one disturbs me or I even remember it. When my mum had dementia and a neighbour saw her admitting a stranger to her house late at night I dreamt several times that someone had attacked her. I was relieved when I found her a care home and that dream ceased. When I was a child I used to dream I was in a friend's house and heard a noise on the stairs. I went to the staircase and there was a brown bear coming down. I stood there frozen but when it reached me I floated up to the ceiling and it couldn't reach me. Then I woke up. I dreamt it so often that I use to think to myself "just stand here and you'll float up to the ceiling" - and it worked!!!

Yes OP. I can relate to that. I usually wake up around 3.00 and my dream is still very sharp in my mind. I then go back to sleep and off I go again. Sometimes things are going wrong in my dream but when I start to wake I manage to put them right before I properly wake. It’s usually the feelings in the dream that stay with me - a happy dream can lift my mood all day, but a dark dream can also affect my mood significantly. I have a lot on my mind at the moment, and I think that certainly affects how vivid my dreams are. I always feel that it’s my mind trying to work things out. It can be exhausting, but I don’t see it as a problem.

Same here. I’ve been on various anti-depressants over the years, Sertraline, Seroxat and Citalopram all caused very vivid and very colourful dreams. I think there are many medications which affect the brain and have an effect on sleep and dreams.

I have Hollywood blockbuster dreams that are so huge I have questioned my
life and career choices. I could be a millionaire 😂🤷‍♀️

The recurring theme ones are quite something though, aren’t they?

I sometimes have weird dreams which I have now decided are connected with taking stains and using eye drops for high eye pressures or combination of both.

I am late 70's and take no meds but I wake up about 3 or 4 most nights and get back to sleep about 5.30. It's during this second period of sleep that I have vivid and unsettling dreams. I think they are caused by anxiety. They are usually quite sensible but frightening.