Mrs. H, I have been wondering the same thing! I had a really horrible nightmare a week ago. It was so realistic that when I woke up I was breathing hard, my heart was racing and I was scared to death. I've been thinking about this ever since and I too have realized that since my perimeno symptom's got bad almost a year ago now, I have not had any pleasant dreams...or really any dreams that I remember.

I'm sure it's partly due to the fact that we aren't getting good restful sleep at night and we're doubly stressed because of that. Many times I go to bed at night and I'm tired, yet I lay there tossing and turning for two or three hours until I finally give up and get out of bed and try to read. I have also found it difficult to read, a hobby I have always enjoyed. I can't seem to stay focused while I'm reading and my mind wanders and I don't remember what I read.

I do try to exercise/walk every day but it doesn't seem to help me to sleep better at night. I'm just hoping I don't have another nightmare like the one I just had.

Thanks, I'm glad it's not just me, lol. I've had weird dreams for years now, but for the past couple of months or so, they are usually dreams that leave me feeling really bad or scared. Not what I would call nightmares, but just dreams about everyday things and people, but with great frustration and sadness. I hope that it resolves one of these days, because I feel like I'm tired in the morning because I've been so busy all night :)
Mrs H

Hi Mrs. H, we are having the same bad dream experience. Mine also involve people I know, or people I've known who are now passed, and horrible things happen. I wake up scared because the dreams seem so real that it takes a minute to realize it was a dream. Then I lay there for the rest of the night wondering if there is some underlying meaning in the dream itself...and too shook up to get back to sleep anyway. Weird and scary stuff.

I probably watched too many episodes of The Twilight Zone when I was younger. ;)

I have similar dreams. They involve people from my past and while nothing bad happens, there is an overwhelming sense of the time, and the people, that have slipped away. They don't always mirror real life.
I remember one vivid dream where I was lamenting the fact that I had never married or had kids, it was so heartbreaking. I literally cried when I woke up and remembered that I have a warm and loving marriage and two beautiful daughters.
The REALLY odd thing about the dream was that the person I was lamenting to was actually my younger daughter!

This is my first post here and I am so delighted to have found this forum. I'm 54 and had a hysterectomy 10 yrs ago. I'm on two bp meds and a side effect of one of them is bad dreams. At least this is what I was blaming my bad dreams on. Thanks for sharing this and everything else here. Its so comforting to know I'm not crazy...well just a little bit. lololol

Hibiscus53 - welcome! We're all in this together.

If I may ask, what bp medicines are you taking? My husband takes Toprol and Lotrel, and he's been having some strange dreams.

Cheerful thanks for your welcome. I posted earlier don't know what happened to it. I also take Toprol and Uniretic. I've had weird dreams for so long now I just take them in stride.

Wierd dreams can happen in any stressful part of life, like our minds working out the unfinished business, or connecting the dots of everyday life. Dreams can reveal a great deal about us...below is a link for those who want to know more about their dreams. This site won't allow posting of an xsorbit URL so just type in the words below.

carolina, what words?

I never realized that psychiatrists and analysts use dreams much in psychotherapy, but I have been reading books about different aspects of human psychology that lead me to believe otherwise. I guess they are attempting to get their clients more in touch with their subconscious behaviors and desires. It's interesting to me.
Mrs H

i can honestly say i've never had a bad dream in my life except i remember one when iwas a child and i had a real high fever;i think i must have had chickenpox or measles or something;until about 8 mos. ago,about the same time i had my last period.now i have many;more bad than good.does menopause have something to do with this?

In all honesty, I can't say that I know menopause has anything to do with it, but I suspect it does. I think that when you are young, and sex hormones are at stable high levels, there is a feeling of invincibility and self-worth that results from just that. If you think about it, sexual behaviors and drives are responsible for the existence of the world we live in. It's the basis of plant life, animal life and human life. Without it, there would be no reproduction to keep life ongoing. It's the most necessary component of keeping the planet life in existence. It's so basic that we are completely oblivious to it's necessity and importance. We intellectually think that we are "above" it, and that couple and reproduce purely out of love for another being, and in humans, that plays an important role, but the basic instinct must be there to even have that emotional component (imo). As we age, our sex hormone levels drop and bounce all over the place. After a lifetime of conditioning to act and respond according to reproductive drives, then the drive is not so strong anymore, but our emotional needs still exist, and we get really stressed out because our bodies are sending us two opposing messages. I suspect our brains and emotional status are so regulated by our hormones that when the hormones get out of balance or just drop off, it really stresses us, and awakens in some of us a fearful response. I know it did in me. Many years ago, humans didn't generally live long lives. Many of us died prior to or about the time our reproductive years were ending. We didn't deal with this aspect of life.
Anyway, sorry to be so long winded, but I find that the bad dreams I have are often tied in with fears that I have. I think it may be a subconscious way of dealing with these fears or bringing them to the surface (ie my daytime conscious mind) in order to deal with them.

On the other hand, I may just be full of it, and don't know a thing about what I am talking about :)
Mrs H

Mrs H,that sounds like very good,sound reasoning to me.i just wish it was a little more pleasant to deal with.lol

"On the other hand, I may just be full of it, and don't know a thing about what I am talking about :)" Being full of it is what I like the most about people, I like it when humans step out there, and well........... just be human. We were all born originals and die as copies. I dont want to be a copy.

On slightly different subject: I have terrible since menopause hit - but sleeping pills don't cut it for me - too groggy next day. Any suggestions?

Shotzy and hdlady, thanks for the smile you gave me, it was sweet of you guys. :)
Mrs H

I found an interesting (to me) site about dream symbols that a couple of you may be interested in. Hope it's okay to post links???

http://www.mythsdreamssymbols.com/

Sorry. Posted it wrong.

Here is a link that might be useful: dream symbols

I usually take a supplement made by Vitanica...a local Oregon company. If I'm off of these for a few weeks, the terrible dreams start. I wake up exhausted and achy. The dreams are always extremely bizarre and sometimes flat out scary.

Right there with you all... The strangest dreams ever... I really didn't pin point it to menopause then I read the forum... Everything you have written seems so familiar to me as I have been waking up and sometimes remembering the dreams and it seems to be doing it every night !!! But never thought about it before... Yikes, now I'll really stay awake with stress, but at least we are all in this together,Thanks Ladies, Jeana

Jeana, the weird dreams don't stress me out anymore. I started writing alot of them down and looking for themes and similarities. It's really quite interesting from this perspective.
Mrs H

shaknzmom: "I usually take a supplement made by Vitanica...a local Oregon company. If I'm off of these for a few weeks, the terrible dreams start."

Could you tell us the name of the supplement that you take? It could help a lot of miserable people!

Thank you so much!

i will be 46 in april i havent had my period since january and lately i have been hot and then cold especially at night the covers are off me because im hot then back on because im cold and also i have been having weird dreams too

This may help anyone wondering how to handle a nightmare.

I have learned from my study at the School of Metaphysics in the U.S., that nightmares are a common experience for many people�this state of oppression or feeling of suffocation that happens in the dream state, which is usually accompanied by a feeling of intense anxiety, fear, or horror. My Dream Class instructor at the College of Metaphysics, Dr. Barbara Condron has been researching and interpreting dreams with the SOM since 1975. In her book Dreamer�s Dictionary she says nightmares are 'repeated messages from the subconscious mind that have gone unheeded.' The good news is that once the dreamer receives and understands the dream, the nightmares cease.

Dream interpretation is what led me to the SOM�s course of study. I used to have nightmares often as a child. Now that I�ve been a student for almost 4 years, I rarely have nightmares. Nightmares, and in fact all dreams, are symbolic messages from the subconscious mind. The subconscious mind can be looked at like a good friend who is telling you information that is pertinent for you to understand. When it is a nightmare, then is it like your best friend yelling at you to bring your attention to the life lessons you are avoiding.

The last nightmare I had was about a car wreck. Upon waking up, I judged the dream as being a 'bad' dream. I went to a teacher, worried, and upon interpreting it I realized the message wasn�t at all negative like I had thought. SOM teaches dream interpretation through the Universal Language of Mind, the language of the Subconscious mind. This language teaches dream interpretation symbolically, as opposed to literally, and works with the 'form and function' of the symbols. A car�s function is to move us forward. Since the car was out of control, this reflected how I was directing myself. The dream was telling me I felt out of control, and that I needed to take better care of myself by being self-directed and not relying on other people to direct me. The message came as a nightmare at that time because I had known about the need to be more self-directed but had yet listened to myself and applied self-direction.

This experience helped remind me of how thankful I am of knowing the symbolic meaning of dreams. I�ve heard stories of people doing extreme things prompted by nightmares they interpreted literally, such as: a woman who didn�t drive for 16 years after having a car-wreck in her dream, or a woman kicking her husband out of their room after having a dream he cheated on her. Dreams have a deeper meaning than the face value. There is much freedom and relief that can come through aligning with this truth. If you want to learn to interpret your dreams or have a dream you need interpreted in order to get clarity and direction, visit www.dreamschool.org.

Here is a link that might be useful: