Foggy

@saltandpepper absolutely yes...

with me it is sleep apnea not MI- that feeling like your head is full of cotton wool.... like you need someone to yank it out of your ears and nose and maybe then you could think or breath again?

takes ages to wake up.... waves of exhaustion out of nowhere through the day?

it feels like I haven't been breathing

my guess is that you probably haven't been and I know the feeling very well. And the numb hands. I strongly urge you to look into getting a sleep study done. You do them at home now rather than have to attend a clinic overnight.

Thankfully I don't have sleep apnea @SJT63 but thanks for sharing your thoughts

It's not something that happens every night, will tend to tie in with trauma related nightmares. At times when I wake up with either the foggyness or numbness, I feel a bit disoriented, like I'm not sure where I am or what's going on sometimes.

@Emelia8 might be able to answer this @saltandpepper 💙

Sorry this happens 😔

Sending you love 🙏💙

@saltandpepper I suffered similar experiences with nightmares for a very long time. There were times I was completely unsafe because of the pain I felt after the nightmares and was often very disorientated ...feeling very much like I was back in the situations that caused the trauma in the first place and feeling everything that I had then also. I also have sleep apnea but the sensations with the nightmares are very different. I felt I could not breath and that was as a consequence of the trauma and what I went through. I did not want to go to sleep because of what I knew was to come but then I wanted to sleep and never wake up also - it was that hard.

It always took me some time to know where I was and to ground myself (often not very successfully). Those were the most dangerous times as I could have quite easily given in to the pain and the memories. I have now been on medication to help with those painful nightmares - and for the most part they work but there are still nights that the nightmares come back. Those nights I get up, turn the lights on and 'find' where I am. Luckily I have a fur baby that follows me everywhere so he is grounding. It is very hard though and feels so real.

Hey @Zoe7 thanks for sharing with me. I'm sorry for what you've been through, very glad you're not in that unsafe place anymore.

The intensity of the actual nightmares has eased up greatly for me. Every now and then it gets a bit hairy but mostly they're like last night and it's more the aftershock from it that's hard to get through.

I did get something to help me get to sleep from GP (which hasn't worked) and she talked about medication specific for the nightmares but I said no to that since they aren't as horrendous as they used to be. The side effects sounded like I'd end up with more issues than solutions

@saltandpepper Yes, yes & yes!

I have c-ptsd relating to childhood trauma and have regular nightmares and night terrors. I know that sensation you speak off, I often wake up in an anxiety attack also where my heart is racing, there's a heavy weight on my chest and I can't breathe.

Nearly every morning I'll wake up and need a good 15-20 minutes to clear the cement from my brain. And I do also get the numbing sensation in my arms and fingers.

Some sleep meds can cause night terrors so you need to be careful what you take. I was given a muscle relaxant to calm me down of a night if I wake up in a panic or need to settle, but they just chill me out and don't make me sleepy.

They probably keep me asleep longer but then I wake up drowsy & dopey and it takes me half the day to start functioning so I only take one if I absolutely have too.

BB 🐰💙

@Zoe7 So sorry you have to deal with such trauma and nightmares my friend. Apart from the sleep apnea I can truly identify with what you go through. Feel like I could have written that post myself. I completely understand the fear of not wanting to go back to sleep and the desire to sleep and never wake up. Truly a horrendous experience. I almost feel like every time I have a night like that a part of my soul dies with it.
Big hugs to both you & @saltandpepper xx

BB 🐰💙

Hey @bipolarbunny thanks for chiming in.

yeah I don't take any medication specifically for managing nightmares, mine are manageable now. When they were bad I wasn't getting treatment for anything. It's settled since being in therapy, no where near as bad as it was. Still not fun when it swings into full gear but at least it's not like how it was.

im intrigued by the muscle relaxer option @bipolarbunny i get very tense and sore and have to consciously relax my muscles. I wonder if it would help with that and my insane teeth clapping thing I do when stressed. Might add it to the list of stuff to look into. I'm drowsy and dopey anyway so meh.

I'm sorry it's a nightly occurrence for you BB. I remember when it was like that, it makes everything very hard hey? I hope tonight is kind to you and as restful as it can be.

The physical numbness and the not breathing thing has been a but more frequent of late. Perhaps stress and what not adding to it.

I had this nightmare not long ago where I was being held down by my arms and having stuff done to me. When I woke up I couldn't move my hands or arms at all and I fel so groggy. Like drugged up. It wasn't a nice sensation. These kinds of things don't usually stick with my but that has.

I've had this kind of thing happen on and off for a long time, but not really paid it any mind until recently. Seeing that perhaps there's a connection to both the numbing and not breathing thing and past trauma.

Can absolutely relate to a lot of all that @saltandpepper @bipolarbunny My nightmares continued for years and the intensity and vividness of them - and the after effects - meant for me there was no question when it came to getting medicated help. I would not sleep for days on end to avoid the nightmares so along with medication to help sleep I too was pretty foggy for a long time ..but and this is a big BUT - they eventually helped both sleep and the lessening of the nightmares so I could begin to tackle other issues and begin to move forward. It did take a couple of years but where I was then and where I am now are poles apart. I still have the medication - neither me nor my pdoc want to stop or reduce anything as they are still helping - and with everything I have had to deal with over the last year neither of us want me to get to a place where I fall backwards again.

Even with the meds I do not always sleep well and I certainly feel that the next day but like you @saltandpepper the nightmares are now infrequent and usually as a result of a trigger or something that has happened in the day to put me off guard. I can now find ways through them though - I get up, usually hug Tobes and then lay on the couch until I return to sleep. Bed is not the best place for me when I wake or feel like that but I feel safer on the couch. In-fact for the majority of those two years the couch is where I slept.

@saltandpepper @bipolarbunny Hugs and hugs and hugs to you both - it is not easy but we are doing it 👍💖