Nightmares

[Berta]

Hypnosis can do wonders sometimes for nightmares.

We were lucky enough (after many battles and then Congressional intervention)to get my husband switched over from the VA employee psychologist to the VA PTSD psychiatrist ( now retired from the VA)

What a difference.

Many psychiatrists are trained in hypnosis and this doctor hypnotized my husband a few times and gave him a tape of his voice describing a relaxation scenario and the count down to use when he was in bed.I think the tape hypnotized me too but I could still wake up during the night to check my livestock.

It did seem to help.

[justrluk]

Thanks, Ms. Berta! I'll ask that question when I go back to the VA next month. I have some physical therapy; maybe hypno-therapy will do the trick?

[chr49]

Good morning, crew:

Personal question for those that wish to share: how do you deal with your nightmares? I've tried therapy, meds, etc., but my wife still has to deal with the physical realities of my nightmares. I constantly wake her up, and never feel like I've had any sleep. She keeps (jokingly) threatening me that she's going to move into another bedroom. It's been years of this, and I don't know what else to do. Any inputs, thoughts, etc., would be greatly appreciated.

I'm still working and taking meds for my nightmares made it difficult to wake up so I stay away from them. My nightmares have changed over the years and they are bad enough that my wife now waits until 2 AM to come to bed. My newest thing is taking rolling dives off our high bed. I have recently been told that one of these dives caused a bulged disk (cervical). I guess bed rails are the next thing I'll have to buy.

So what do I do? This was my wife's idea and I generally wait until I've had a few bad nights before I give in to this therapy but it does seem to help. I've been able to relax and get some stress relief if I take a long soak in the tub before I go to bed. My wife pampers me by putting on soft music and lighting the candles. She's even tried some aroma therapy a few times. I've noticed that I sleep much better afterwards and actually wake up feeling decent.

Edited December 2, 2011 by chr49

[justrluk]

chr49 -

Thanks for the description. I'll give it a try, along with working on some other forms of therapy. My wife told me there may be a neurofeedback method in the form of a video game (gotta love this!) and it may help as well. I'll see what I can find and will post reply/update when I can. Hey, if there's anything out there at this point I'm willing to try it.

[carlie]

just,

As Vync posted and a the MH professional peeps will suggest is

no tv - 2 hrs prior to bed and even prior to that no scary stuff, politics or war movies, etc...

no caffine for about 5 hours prior to going to sleep, very dark room, etc . . .

[justrluk]

just,

As Vync posted and a the MH professional peeps will suggest is

no tv - 2 hrs prior to bed and even prior to that no scary stuff, politics or war movies, etc...

no caffine for about 5 hours prior to going to sleep, very dark room, etc . . .

Carlie,

Thanks for the feedback. I'm pretty much there (except for the caffeine - drink iced tea with dinner). I'm in bed same time each night, dark room, don't watch TV during the week at all, MAYBE some politics while wife and I are making dinner, but mostly benign evenings. At least I'm not having the screaming terrors anymore! Those were awful. Anyway, I appreciate it and will try anything/everything.