I hear ya, in my nightmares I am back where I was tortured, their faces and voices as clear as like they are really there. Somebody once told me you can not feel pain in a dream but I know that is not true. My nightmare is almost always the same, something they did that haunts me the most, in my nightmare I can feel the pain and the fear. When I wake up it takes me a long time to realise that I am in my bedroom and safe, when I have a night like that the day that follows is ruined, the following nights I will be afraid to go to sleep till I get so sleep deprived that sleep takes over eventually. Doctors precribed me sleeping pills as well but they make me feel like a drug addict so i dont take them, my husband often tells me I should because I will sleep better.

Unfortunately, I know them all to well also. It always goes back to the time I was captured, beaten and tortured. I was blindfolded the whole time, but the smells and the sounds are burned into my memory. I bolt upright in bed, covered in sweat, screaming....it takes me awhile to finally realize that I am in my own bed. I try to sleep on the couch hoping being in a different place might stop the nightmares...yeah right, like that is going to do anything. Sometimes it even happens when I am awake. I will hear a certain tone of voice or a certain smell, and I instinctively reach for my weapon....at one point I had to park my car and wait until I stopped crying. Sleeping pills? they dont do anything. Sometimes I just dont understand.....

Man.I can tell you some wild ones.I have acually woke up in the middle of a nightmare by my wife were I was being abducted and she woke me up in the floor I had about a 1 inch gash in my forehead were I fell out of bed.Went to the hospital and got 8 stiches.Try explaining that one to a nurse.

The nightmares, I can identify with.
The dreams themselves are awful.
I have not suffered the very horrid conditions that most on this site have experienced.
I speak from a lesser level.
I experience pain in my dreams.
It is bad enough being in the dream.
The part I hate it when I think I am walking up, but I just dream that part, then the nightmare goes on.
The pattern repeates itself.
When I finally do wake up, I am unsure of where I am.
It takes me a very long time to figure out where I am.
It takes me a very long time to open my eyes.

One thing that did help me is Melatonin.
It is a natural herb.
I buy it in CVS drug store.
It is non addictive.
It has no side effects.
If you take it for a very long time, such as I do, it is best to stop for a week or so occasionally. They body becomes immune to it after lengthly use.
I would not have slept at all in the past 10 years if it were not for melatonin.

.

in the light of day, the past seems far away. but with the crossing shadows and the setting sun, I am drawn to the edge of sainty. with the deep abyss before me, I fear the closing of my eyes; for in sleep I find, the passage into hell. The darkness reigns with terror, and my memories of the past. The horrors unfold to remind me, of what I can never leave behind. The tears and pain will remain until the light of day. The shadows are now hidden, with the rising of the sun. But I can't quite see the light of day for the inner darkness still remains. I am left in my nightmare world, caught between the darkness and the dawn; when will the dark madness end, when will the chains that bind me be freed? I await the light of dawn with the promise of hope and healing.

in the light of day, the past seems far away. but with the crossing shadows and the setting sun, I am drawn to the edge of sainty. with the deep abyss before me, I fear the closing of my eyes; for in sleep I find, the passage into hell. The darkness reigns with terror, and my memories of the past. The horrors unfold to remind me, of what I can never leave behind. The tears and pain will remain until the light of day. The shadows are now hidden, with the rising of the sun. But I can't quite see the light of day for the inner darkness still remains. I am left in my nightmare world, caught between the darkness and the dawn; when will the dark madness end, when will the chains that bind me be freed? I await the light of dawn with the promise of hope and healing.

Wow Sargeant, that gave me chills. Scary stuff.

sergents writing was strong and powerful.blew me away!i have nightmares. my husband is a vietnam vet and has nightmares.mine are strong but i feel they are mere cartoons compared to what my husbands are.and he gets up goes to work everyday despite the night before.he has my respect and so does everyone here for what they have gone through and survived.......

Jannis, you have a strong husband...but that is what is important in surviving...is to get up in the morning and go on with life...because i you dont those that caused your ptsd have won...I will never let them win...I was stronger than them when I was in their hands and I am stronger than them now.

My hubby has nightmares from Nam, I often find he sleep walks, talks in a foreign lanuage I can't understand. When I wake him up, he looks around, says nothing and then stares. Finally when he realizes he is is home he goes back to bed. When this happens he leave his night stand table light on and he is able to sleep.

For me when I have nightmares, I stay awake till sunlight, as I feel I wont have them anymore I guess.

My best friends hubby was a POW twice. She often finds him out of the bed, in a corner of the room that is the darkest. He has his knees up under his chin and hands over his head. He is babbling about something. She has to sit on the floor with him, talk to him about stuff they know only and it seems to help him ease back into reality and not NAM.

not so often anymore but for a long while after a really bad nightmare I would sit outside no matter how cold because I needed to feel fresh air because anywhere inside felt like I was locked up. My husband often found me outside shivering in the cold.

Because of a horrific tragedy I was in the hospital a little bit over 29 months ago.Back than I almost lost my life because of my severe injuries.
God has saved my life and he has given me a second chance in life.For that I will be forever thankful.While I was in the hospital I was diagnosed with PTSD. Ever since my "tragedy" I am unable to sleep because of the nightmare I have or I just sleep for 2 hours sometimes and than I wake up because of very bad dreams.I talked to my P.doctor and he prescribed me Rozerem. It helped me only for so long and than it stopped working. Because of the nightmares I have panic attacks. For that I take Ativan. The nightmares scare me the most.

I'm with you there. If I'm not involved with flash backs, then it's endless nightmares. I never feel rested any more. I even take tranquilizers for sleep, but they still don't hold the nightmares at bay. My husband wakes me up frequently at night because I am fighting him, hitting, yelling. Then he wakes me up, and I always want to know why he doesn't wake me up when I first start. You know, when I'm rolling around and talking in my seep ( thrashing ). I guess it's not his job, but I would hire him.

I stay up until 3:00 or so. So exausted, I have no choice but to fall asleep. I usually wake up around 7:00.
I go back to bed around noon and I actually get my best sleep during the daylight hours.
I can pretty much fight the demon's off at night, and then sleep during the day.
I don't know what I would do if I wasn't retired.
It does make it hard to be available to people during the day for whatever reason.