43 replies to this topic

[MySuicidalTurtle]

Hello, is anyone else having problems with nightmares. This past year of me being gluten-free I have had nightmares almost everynight. Sometimes they are so bad I stay up and try not to sleep. I think it has to do with the anxiety I am dealing with about worrying that I will be sick again liek I used to be before going gluten-free. I just am curious if any of you all ar having the same problem with the nightmares as I am.


Kristina

[SadiesMomma]

Hi,
Well, I have had some pretty vivid dreams this last year after going gluten-free... Some are so bad that they seem so real I wake up balling, I wake up and check on my daughter making sure shes still alive or make a phone call at 4am. I usually have troubles falling asleep eventhough I am so exhausted because my mind is racing. I think a lot of it is the anxiety associated with Celiac. Honestly, as of now I do not have any suggestions but I am going to a psychologist and theyre going to prescribe me meds for my mental issues. Hopefully that will help the anxiety and ease my nerves so I can fall asleep and actually sleep, not have these dang dreams. Ill let you know how it goes.

[outthere39]

I have some scary and extremely vivid nightmares. They seem to be real, real enough to the point that I become physically interactive. Sometimes I wake kicking, or punching, or feeling high anxiety. I have notice that these usually come during a bout with gluten. I noice that they will not stop until my system has recovered enough.

[MySuicidalTurtle]

I go to a therapist and take anti-anxiety medication. I did notice while I was on spring break that I had only one nightmare. Then, when classes started back up I had them again. I think it is all related to the anxiety I feel about going to classes and such. I am glad to know I am not the only one with the nightmares but that also saddens me that we are having them. Thank you for the replys!


Kristina

[jknnej]

Since going gluten-free, I have had extremely vivid dreams that aren't always nightmares, but keep me feeling tired throughout the day due to lack of restful sleep.
I also read in "Digestive Health and Nutrition" magazine, or some similar titile that I can't remember, that dreams such as these are common in people who suffer from bowel disorders. Hmmmm....

[Maggie1956]

I've been having really vivid dreams for at least a couple of years.

They are often about me having terrible arguments with my parents (who are both now deceased), other members of my immediate family, or even worse, dreams involving the father of my two adult children. The ones involving the 'mongrel' are by far the worst. It was a very violent marriage.

After dreaming any of them, I wake up very upset. Often crying in my sleep and kicking or something similar.
I take sodium valproate which is supposed to help me fall into a deeper sleep pattern. It isn't making any difference after taking it for two years.

Hopefull, one day we will all be healed and we can sleep easy.

[phakephur]

I've had bad dreams on a regular basis all my life. Generally it's things like being shot at, natural disasters, my pets being horribly injured.
Since going gluten free, I have dreamed repeatedly about being far away from home and there's nothing to eat. Often I am in a crowded place and there are large buffets of food, but it's ALL bread, breaded/fried vegetables, processed meat, pasta, etc. Once I dreamed I was on a train and the porter started handing out bags of bread for lunch. I asked if there was any fresh fruits or vegetables I could have but there weren't. Another time I dreamed about being trapped in a nursing home, again with nothing to eat.

Sarah

[Deby]

I can't ever remember not having nightmares. I started taking Paxil about a year ago and that was the relief I needed. The nightmares are way down, maybe one or two a month as opposed to four or five a night. Has anyone else tried Paxil? My doc said it was good at relieving anxiety, which was my biggest problem.

[Thomas]

Sorry to hear about your nightmares.

[jknnej]

It's almost a month since I posted last, and I still have awful dreams every night.
For my IBS my doctor prescribed Elavel? sp? and I haven't started it yet but it's supposed to help you sleep as well as help your IBS..it's an antidepressant.
Anyone else take this?

[Professor]

I might as well throw in an answer. I have either no dreams, or extremely violent ones. HOrrid ones. Scary.

OK, there is one other. At least once a week, in my dream, I suddenly realize I'm eating bread. Always on the third piece (maybe it's a roll, or pastry, or a piece of pie, or whatever), I realize what I've done and am shocked and terrified. My daughter woke up the other day and said that SHE dreamed I was eating bread, too -- also three pieces. Odd.

Patty

[Carriefaith]

I just am curious if any of you all ar having the same problem with the nightmares as I am.

I also have a lot of nightmares. I'm not quite sure why though... maybe it's stress?

[KaitiUSA]

I get nightmares occasionally. Some are worse than others. I will wake up sometimes with tears dripping down my face and my heart racing and im in a sweat. Other times I just wake up and turn my body and go back to sleep. Even with the really horrible dreams I can usually go back to sleep pretty fast. I don't know if it is a correlation with foods I eat? Since it only happens occasionally I am wondering if possibly when I have a certain thing to eat it may cause that. They have actually gotten alot better since I have been on a gluten-free diet so it might have had something to do with a reaction that the gluten was causing to my body.

[cdford]

Are nightmares just part of the mix? I have had them for years. Periodically they get really strange...last night I delivered five babies in one night and kept losing them in the bed. It was hilarious to remember the next morning trying to nurse all those babies. My poor aging mother was having a time helping me keep up with all those tiny babies. For a while there I kept dreaming that someone in the family was in the hospital and I could not move to get to them (I have the neurological problems and am wheelchair bound so I know where those come from.)

Sometimes the dreams are awful, sometimes just vivid, and sometimes just plain weird. Rarely, they are the usual run of the mill kind other people talk about.

I do not tend to have them as badly when the docs keep me on a really low dose of nortryiptilene. The dose is not high enough to be efficacious for depression but really helps with the sleeping and nightmares.