Recurring Dreams or Nightmares?

When you spent your time stateside like I did, you feel guilty that you didn't "do your part" like they did.

Don't worry about it, Ken. It wasn't what it was cracked up to be and wasn't a lot of fun either. You did your part, too!

My SE Asia adventure dreams have taken a strange twist. I now remember nothing about those dreams (that's kinda nice!) but I wake up sweating, breathing heavily, and disoriented. No, you perverts, that is a different deal.

The only regularly recurring dream dates from the days of being a helicopter pilot. Trees and power lines are not the helicopter's friends! The dream is what seems to be endless hours of flying under some sort of power lines grid and there is not way to get out! Kinda like flying under an electric net. I never crash but I never get out either. My wife, whom has put up w/ the early days of talking about people in the wire and finding myself on the floor at a high rate of speed, now opines that I am simply nuts.
 
bad dreams

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Have one recurring dream (nightmare?) I'm in a shootout and run out of bullets, and I'm hiding behind a big propane tank, and the bad guy comes up, leans over the tank and draws down on me, then I wake up---Never happened in real life, nothing even similar, was only shot at once and he missed, but the dream keep coming back.
olcop:eek:
 
I have that one that everyone has where I'm a rabbit playing lead guitar in a rabbit band and all of a sudden our bass player rabbit gets a Gene Simmons tongue and then turns into a big snake that eats all the band members and i'm the last one left and he's got me on the ground and is trying to eat me but I'm blocking his jaws open with my guitar and KISS songs are playing in the background and then when I open my eyes everyone in my support group is slowwwwwwly backing away from me. We've all had that one right?

Kidding about that one. But I do get the usual stuff about the gun not firing at the bad guy or it goes off and hits him with no effect or I'm hand-to-hand and none of my blows are effective. There is also one that I get pretty routinely where i hit a ramp on my bike or in a car and I get WAY more air than I bargained for...like I'm going up like ET and can't come down. I know I'm gonna get hurt bad on the landing but I can't control my flight...then I hit the apex and start coming down fast...I always wake up right as I impact. No big deal though...I just go right back to sleep.
 
Stainless44- I've also had the dream of riding on a dirt bike or bike and hitting a ramp and going 40' up and can't hold on and I wake up at impact.

Lately I've had dreams of someone breaking into my house and I fire and fire and no matter how much I focus I cannot hit him. Also have dreams that my Grandparents are at my house waiting for me when I get home, they both passed a few years back.
 
Stainless44- I've also had the dream of riding on a dirt bike or bike and hitting a ramp and going 40' up and can't hold on and I wake up at impact.

Yeah...that one's crazy because it feels SO real.
 
I had basically the same dream every night for nearly twenty years. After I got sober I've never suffered from that re-occurring nightmare. Was it the change in my drinking? Was it the process of achieving sobriety? Who knows. All I know is that for a guy who was diagnosed with PTSD and was a problem drinker I sleep well now, every night. Thank God.
 
I sometimes have dreams were i'm spending time with my dearly departed grandma. Other times i have nightmares about my birth father who i have not seen in
TWENTY YEARS thank goodness
 
I had a strange one the other night.
I was eating a gigantic marshmallow, and when I woke up my
pillow was gone.

Sometimes it helps to read the entire thread before posting. See Charlie Sherrill's post above (#36).
 
Flapjack, you seem to have some expertise in this area. What are your qualifications?
 
Hope everyone saw 60 minutes tonight...

Bert Man and LoneJackLarry-Not remembering the dreams may be a blessing, but does not necessarily mean you aren't still having them. Our sub conscious is tricky at times. I had a situation where I would have a heavy "alert" affect come upon me, seemingly out of nowhere. One that stands out in my memory was on a day that was unusually positive and upbeat for me at the time (there weren't that many of those in that time frame). I was driving along, no traffic, gorgeous day, radio playing, nice area, and wham! went on alert, got a small shot of juice, and became very, very uptight-hyper vigilant, etc. I had discussed this phenomenon with my VA therapist, and he intimated to me that that kind of thing wasn't anything real unusual. Some time later, when I was in a deeply relaxed state in a therapy session, I saw a good old 7.62X39 round come flying right by my head, in slow motion. It was like it was speaking to me, saying, "I'll get you next time, sucker!" Well, it was apparent that this had been the source of these "unknown" alert times. Not long after this, I had another episode with this bullet going by my head, while in the shower this time, and completely alert, and this time I spoke to it saying, "I got your number now, sucker, and you ain't gonna' bother me anymore." With a little time and the Lords help, I was able to laugh at it, and soon said good bye to it. It stemmed from an actual incident in RVN, and had evidently been "flying by my head" for many years, from time to time. Using self talk, prayer, and generally, bringing this stuff out into the light by talking about it has proven very effective for me and many others. There is a great benefit in talking to an impartial party, "debriefing" our experiences, dreams, and thoughts, especially a counselor of some kind, trained in the area of stress. Regards, Flapjack.
 
Not long after this, I had another episode with this bullet going by my head, while in the shower this time, and completely alert, and this time I spoke to it saying, "I got your number now, sucker, and you ain't gonna' bother me anymore." With a little time and the Lords help, I was able to laugh at it, and soon said good bye to it.


Thanks, Flapjack. I did not have a problem w/ seeing bullets but I had a problem seeing faces. Anyhow, a grizzled old E-7 that used to run our "armory" told me--"Son, you simply have to make friends w/ the faces in the dark". It took awhile but it worked. I even gave some names so I could say hi when they came around.

My old friends don't come around anymore and I don't miss them. Our solutions sound very similar, don't they?

Larry
 
Haven't had one in many years, though I used to have similar ones as a few already mentioned -not being able to find a classroom, not being decently clothed in public, etc.

One not mentioned that I had when I was much younger is a tornado dream. I don't live on the plains, but this is still tornado country. In my dream I would look out a west window and see four of them headed right for the house. I would awaken suddenly in terror just as I heard glass shattering and timbers snapping -terrible. Sometimes just before awakening I would be trying desperately to scream, "It's a tornado!!", but be unable to make a sound.

Glad all that is history, and pray that I'll never have to actually live it.
Andy
 
Occassionally I have an opportunity to work in a power nap in my busy schedule. A power nap seems to be where the weirdest dreams come from. As far as night dreams go, the one I have most often is I come home and my safe has been peeled. I'm always glad to wake up from that one. Other dreams involve shootouts, being back aboard the USS Springfield, ex-wife (probably classified as a nightmare), and lots of weird stuff that just doesn't make any sense.
 
Every few weeks I dream of driving on a city freeway. I'm clocking along at around 70 mph. There's a steep incline in the road so I hit the gas to maintain speed. I'm headed toward the peak at breakneck speed. When I get to the top the highway ends and there's a 1000 foot drop off. As I start to go over the edge the dream ends and I wake up with a queasy stomach.
Do you have any freaky dreams that Lee will allow you to post?

I had a very similar dream, big deep hole in the middle of the intersection and drove into it. The real interesting thing is I didn't wake up and reached the bottom and asked myself, "Is this what its like to be dead?"

When I was 14yrs old and living in Hawai'i, I got my first setter. I moved to WA state two years later and had to give her up to my mom's friend who hunted and wanted a dog. Two years later, I went back to visit and found her covered with fleas and ticks which made me so angry but there wasn't anything I could do since I was not her owner anymore and he would not give her up.

I later found out she died at five years old from heart worms. I had once allowed her to chew cooked pork chop bones one night when she was younger and thought it was the cause. I felt guilty for years and the dreams I had were sickening; forgetting to feed her for months or leaving out in the field, etc. I found out later, heart worms are caused by mosquitoes and cooked pork chop bones doesn't cause worms. I also fed her de-worming pills every night. Yet after 30yrs, I still feel guilty for giving her up to my mom's friend who should not be legally allowed to own a dog.

Now, I have the usual recurring dreams of enrolling in college but not know where the class is or working again drafting (ugh). Sometimes, my dreams become full stories usually triggered by some image. Those I remember.
 
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