Frightening dream experience. Any ideas?????

[enota]

I have always had extremely vivid dreams (presumably due to a sleep disorder caused by excessive amounts of serotonin). Many of my dream experiences are semi-lucid and I have frequently been an "observer" to my dreams.

The other day I had a disturbing dream where there were two big animals with glowing eyes coming down my hallway toward the bedroom. I remember during the dream "saying" (or rather thinking) to myself... "It's just a dream, just wake up and you'll see they are gone". So, at that point I FORCED myself to wake up a bit, look at the hallway and confirm that they were, just dream creatures.

When I immediately fell back to sleep, the dream creatures were still there, and in fact in the doorway of my bedroom. At that point I felt inclined to reach for my bedside firearm with the objective of defending myself, which I believe I did - either in dreamland or in reality. But then I recall myself "saying" (or thinking). "If you fire that gun you are probably going to shoot one of your cats, so you better put it back". Then either in reality or in dream I remember holding the firearm in my hand and putting it back.

I really cannot say for certain if the firearm part of the experience was real or purely dream or a combination of both. There have been times in my life when I am still, to this day, not certain if they really happened or I dreamed them. My dreams are that real and vivid.

I really don't mind that much but the idea of having a gun in my hand kind of scares me a little. Does anyone else have these issues with the blurring of realty? It's a little maddening at times.

[catherine]

See, as I said in the other thread about too many guns, this is exactly why I would feel less safe with a firearm.

I haven't had that experience so much with regard to dreams.. although I have some very, very clear dreams. Have you taken any medication, by chance? Your experience sounds almost like that dream/wake-like state that Ambien has put people in.

I have had the experience of reading a book and getting so involved in the story that fiction overlapped with reality. One time I went to the window to see if it was still snowing after reading about a blizzard--and it was summertime. Another time, I so closely identified with a character, that when I got up to get myself a bowl of cereal, I made two without even realizing it.

[enota]

No there are no drugs involved. I've always had dreams like this.

[lac]

Have you googled "nightmares wild animals". I'm sure you can find various interpretations. I have frightening nightmares sometimes and often it relates back to the most horrific boss I had at my last job. I don't know why that bozo still haunts me, but unfortunately the nightmares pop up from time to time.

[bae]

If I were prone to such dreams, I would keep my bedside firearm in a lock box which required a certain amount of thought to open, or relegate it to the gun safe.

[Gardenarian]

wow. I agree with Bae, you could really hurt someone, maybe yourself!
Sounds like a powerful message in that dream. I would examine my life - are there two demons, gremlins, ogres from the past, present or future that you are coping with?

I often have very intense dreams but I realized once (during a dream) that when I was awake I never wondered if I was dreaming. So, when in a dream if I think "Could this be a dream?" then there is that knowledge. If I am asking, the answer is always yes.

[JaneV2.0]

Sounds like menopause. I was prone to the delightful "night terrors." Fortunately, they subsided before I checked myself into a facility.

[CathyA]

Have you ever had a sleep study?
And I certainly agree with Bae's suggestion.

[rodeosweetheart]

I'm confused, do you actually have a gun by your bed? I think I would discontinue that if you are having that kind of dream--I took Ambien once in the hospital and experienced sleepwalking and ripped out all my tubes--it sounds kind of like a similar state. I do not think it is safe to have a firearm there if you are having dreams where you cannot distinguish between dreaming/waking. You might shoot yourself or someone else.

[Spartana]

If I were prone to such dreams, I would keep my bedside firearm in a lock box which required a certain amount of thought to open, or relegate it to the gun safe.Ditto. I'm a very vivid dreamer myself (including amazing nightmares!) and they are just like fantastic movies in my head - but they feel like movies too, not real life. So I know when I am awake or asleep (and when I wake, I wake fully alert). If you can't distinguish the difference or you sleep walk, etc... then move that gun from anywhere you can easily get it asap!

As for the vivid dreams, I discovered mine come when I sleep too much. Apparently we cycle on and off from deep sleep to rem (or dreaming light sleep) over the course of the night at decreasing intervals. So as the nigh goes on you spend less and less time in deep sleep more in rem sleep - which can be lovely with great dreams but can often make you feel exhausted from too much dreaming after many hours of sleep. So I find when I sleep just 6 - 7 hours at most, I have fewer dreams and actually feel more rested than I do with a long sleep.

ETA: My sister, while sleep walking, once choked my mom while she was asleep in her bed. My Mom woke up to find my sister choking her and screaming "Where are the chocolate bunnies"..."Where are the chocolate bunnies"! It was Easter and apparently she wanted chocolate bunnies even in her sleep :-)! Of course my Mom almost got strangled to death and it took awhile for my sister to wake up. She was a kid then and has grown out of sleep walking but she was a hazard to everyone for awhile.

[ToomuchStuff]

Put the gun in a safe or turn it in. Have you ever done something with the car when in one of these states?

I have had a very few dreams of that state. Two that have stuck with me, as one of them, I remember having all five senses during it and when I awoke, I thought that was the dream state. (felt like I was out of sync with my body which I was observing in part). Neither was drug induced and LONG ago I pretty much stopped remembering the normal dreams and only remember a long reoccurring one, that others would describe as a nightmare.

[Teacher Terry]

I can relate because I sometimes sleep walk and have terrible nightmares where I wake up screaming, kicking, punching, etc. Also sometimes I am trying hard to wake up but can't & then keep falling asleep. Once I do wake up I have to stay up for an hour or the nightmare comes right back. This tends to run in families so I inherited it & passed it to one of my 3 kids. Recently I was dreaming someone was attacking me & I was punching him-unfortunately for my DH I was punching him in the back and woke up to him yelling Ouch-stop it. After that he put a body pillow between us:|(

[Spartana]

This is from WebMD - sort of what I was talking about and the reason I sleep less in order to dream less - it works!:

Usually, REM sleep occurs 90 minutes after sleep onset. The first period of REM typically lasts 10 minutes, with each recurring REM stage lengthening, and the final one may last up to an hour. Polysomnograms show brainwave patterns in REM to be similar to that recorded during wakefulness. In people without sleep disorders, heart rate and respiration speed up and become erratic during REM sleep. During this stage the eyes move rapidly in different directions.

Intense dreaming occurs during REM sleep as a result of heightened brain activity, but paralysis occurs simultaneously in the major voluntary muscle groups. REM is a mixture of encephalic (brain) states of excitement and muscular immobility. For this reason, it is sometimes called paradoxical sleep.

When is The Best Time for Lucid Dreaming?

Your longest and most memorable lucid dreams will usually occur in the fourth and fifth sleep cycles (after about six hours of sleep) during phases of REM sleep. Critically, during these later sleep cycles, periods of REM sleep become longer and lucid dreaming greater and periods of non-REM sleep (deep restorative sleep) become less.

[RosieTR]

There have been cases of people killing or severely injuring others while asleep-I agree with the notion to get rid of weapons by the bedside! I once had an episode of movement while asleep: a very vivid dream that someone was behind me trying to pull my bicycle away from me to steal. In the dream I elbowed the perp but woke to find I was actually doing it! Good thing DH was not right next to me-I might have broken his ribs. Never had that before or since, nor any sleepwalking issues. I sometimes have vivid dreams but nothing I can't differentiate from reality. Occasionally I've had the sense of deja-vu and once or twice this has occurred when I've told someone about a dream long before the deja-vu in waking life.