it seems like i only have nightmares when i am sleeping on...

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Answer by andresdussan@yahoo.com
Submitted on 3/17/2005
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I also have nightmares everytime i sleep on my back. I did not use to have this problem but now i do. Has been going on for a few years now. If anyone can let me know about it that would be great. Also,,, I am awake, and i am paralyzed. Very scary, because my heart starts racing and i have problems breathing. I know i am not dreaming because i have done it while i was about to fall asleep with my cousins. I could hear...and later on, told them everything they had said while they saw me paralyzed. I Now ALSO just start shaking and sweating...until i am able to get out of it. If i attempt to go back to sleep right after without being up for 20 min...or so... just to get out of the sleep mode.. i will again have the same problem all night. It occurs to me about once a month. Any help on this would be great.. My e mail is AndresDussan@yahoo.com THanks!

Answer by tara
Submitted on 11/23/2006
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I'm 19 and its always been a fact that if I'm sleeping on my back i have nightmares.. so does my boyfreind and my mother, and i actually have to turn my boyfriend over while he's sleeping if hes on his back.. i was talking to a friend of mine about this and she said that now that i said it, she has most of her nightmares in the middle of the day watching TV when shes sitting up on the couch and her head falls back.. i haven't found any explanation for this, but i was thinking it might have something to do with the fact that the position is so vulnerable. all of your vital organs are facing up without anything besides your own body protecting them, so maybe you panic and a nightmare is like an alarm to say turn over or protect yourself... thats all i can think... also to the guy who wants to have nightmares, I've tried laying on my back and closing my eyes to see if i have any small dreams and the only day-dream like dreams i get are either strange or scary.. so you might as well give it a shot

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Question by sandy
Submitted on 8/23/2003
Related FAQ: Dreams FAQ Pt.1/4: General Information, dream interpretation
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it seems like i only have nightmares when i am sleeping on my back, not on my stomach or my sides...and sometimes the nightmares are very violent or scary but not so bad that i wake up completly terrified...why does this happen only when i am sleeping on my back?

Answer by Rosie
Submitted on 9/27/2003
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I am 33 and have suffered very disturbing nightmares if I fall asleep on my back from my earliest childhood memories. In the absence of any decent explanation, I am thinking of resorting to hynotherapy. Any thoughts?

Answer by Mayra
Submitted on 4/20/2004
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I am 20 and have suffered from nightmares sleeping on my back. I've wondered for a long time about it. I just woke up 15 min ago, and it was just to disturbing, it's my first time checking on the web if anyone else has suffered, it's good to know I'm not alone... but i want to know the main reason for it.

Answer by rockhard_dplb
Submitted on 7/11/2004
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I need to know how to have nightmares on purpose. Iam a writer and i need inspiration.

Answer by Casey
Submitted on 12/6/2004
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hey everybody...just visited this site that really explains a lot. Go to www.sleepanddreams.com for those of you who don't want the nightmares it gives advice on how to get good, undesturbing sleep. for those of you who want the nightmares for creative purposes just do the opposite of what it says to do to not have them. good luck everybody.

Answer by hsg1437
Submitted on 2/14/2005
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extensive dehydration before sleep and sleeping in hot temperatures always gives me nightmares. through n.m. ive learned much about my inner/suppressed thoughts.

Answer by Dean Lomax
Submitted on 10/17/2005
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I am 30 years old and like everyone else here I only have nightmares when I fall asleep on my back. They are always very realistic nightmares like I'm under physical threat by someone or something. Always it seems like I'm already awake as everything is taking place in the room in which I'm sleeping, like I'm viewing it through open eyes(I hope that makes sense). Any answers?

Answer by hey hey
Submitted on 12/5/2005
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everybody gets nightmares

Answer by Judy
Submitted on 2/14/2006
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When I first had lucid dreams/out of body type of experiences, I was aware that they always happened if I went to sleep lying on my right hand side. I would feel them start in the back of my neck at the top of my spine. If (20 years on) they happen now, I always think to myself afterward which side was I sleeping on, left or right, invariably it's the right. Lord knows why this is...but maybe it has something to do with the brain being 'nudged' if we sleep in a certain way, which causes these experiences. Dreaming is a brain activity after all.

Answer by meluvulongtime9
Submitted on 2/27/2006
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I don't know why you would want to have nightmares on purpose. I have them everynight and wake up at 3 a.m. exactly every morning. It freaks me out since that Emily Rose movie.

Answer by macshaft
Submitted on 6/20/2006
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Answer by Lizeak
Submitted on 9/18/2006
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I also have nightmares when sleeping on my back. After doing a bit of research online it seems to be common which could indicate it's not psychological. Maybe lying on your back over stimulates a certain part of your brain.

Answer by buckethead
Submitted on 11/1/2006
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I can't believe more people have this problem. I can't remember a time in my life when I slept on my back and didn't have a nightmare and people I've told thought I was nuts. Is there a reason why this happens?

Answer by moonman
Submitted on 12/10/2006
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I always have nightmares when i sleep on my back. I can feel myself struggling to wake from them, its a real struggle to pull myself out and then realise where i am.

Answer by Spring
Submitted on 5/22/2007
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I too have nightmares when I sleep on my back, I think it's related to your heartbeat and how it speeds up, for some reason, when you lay on your back. I can be dreaming about relatively pleasant things, but the palpitations I get from laying on my back causes me to startle awake as if I were having a nightmare.

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Answer by mike
Submitted on 5/24/2007
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Yeah if I wake up from a nightmare I'm always on my back too. I can't find any 'experts' on the internet yet that agree with this but for at least some of the population this seems to be fact.

Answer by ERH
Submitted on 7/17/2007
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It is very strange because I have noticed that I have nightmares when I awake from sleeping on my back? I've noticed it within the last 8-9 months. I am going through an extreme amount of stress (all family related) and thought it was because of that? I'm searching the net and can't find answers.