Night terrors

[Eagle Of Oz]

Ive been having night terrors since I was 13yrs old.

They are not nightmares, or bad dreams. They happen when I am coming out of sleep. Its when Im not fully awake. As I come out of sleep I see something in the room with me and I am terrified. I sometimes yell, other times scream.

They leave me feeling exhausted, and at times very emotional from lack of sleep. I have tried so many things over the years and nothing seems to stop them from happening.

Since I came to Christ 3yrs ago I have had people pray for me for these night terrors. I have been attending Christian counselling to deal with stuff from my past. I have had brief periods of time where the night terrors have settled down, but there doesnt seem to be any pattern to it.

One thing I am so grateful for is that I used to be afraid to go to sleep because of fear of having these things but since I have come to Christ, Im not afraid to fall asleep anymore. Most nights I fall asleep praying, and I usually feel safe because Jesus is with me.

Im just wondering if anyone has any ideas or suggestions of anything I could be doing to stop these night terrors from happening.

 

[Onlythingavailable]

I'm afraid I don't have any suggestions, but I will pray for you.

 

[Lockguy3000]

I went through this in my late twenties.

Funny, watching "Nightmare on Elm Street" Dream Warriors helped.
It's about how one can control one own's dreams, and become powerful in my own nightmares, kinda turning the tables on the demons in my sleep.

My dreams tends to be very vivid.

I also suffer from "Sleep paralysis" still, about once or twice a month.
I would find myself awake, though I can't move or scream, and I would see, or feel an evil presence in the room, or sometimes, it's on top of me.

Having a good sleep is key, too much stress, and caffine tends to cause my sleep disorders.
Here is a site that helped me.
http://watarts.uwaterloo.ca/~acheyne/S_P.html

 

[Eagle Of Oz]

Thanks for your prayers, and suggestions. The website had some interesting stuff too. After reading about sleep paralysis I know that I dont experience that because I often move around to "get away" from what I am seeing.

Hopefully, one day they will decrease. I can cope with them when they only happen occasionally, its just when they happen night after night for weeks, sometimes longer that it starts to get to me.

 

[Johnnz]

Strange as it seems the terror of terror is what gets to us. If you can begin to see that whatever you see or experience has no power over you because of Jesus it will lose its terror for you,and will probably fade away over time.

John
NZ

 

[nathan57]

Remember The Lord is beside you, even as these images come into shape they are powerless

 

[Anti Existance]

Well, i will tell you of my own experiences.

When i was around 11 years old and building my faith into Christ by reading the bible, i wrongfully hated Satan, God asks us to love everyone including Satan/Hitler,jesus says love your enemies and do good to those who do bad on you.

Hatred attracts demonical entities. Because of my intense hatred for Satan I got visits of these demonical entities into my room. A series of horrible coming out of your sleep as you describe it took place. Before i wake up i saw a demonical entity with a horribly shaped face laughing at me,a high ear ringing noise appears and the next thing an earthquake happens and everything become's black in front of my face, i physically jump out of my bed for real and turn on the light, but i cannot see anything,then the rumbling stops and then all of a sudden i could see again.

The first time it happend i was freaked out,

What helped was this, when the thing occured again i started praying Our Father ,and then the thing went away.

After the third time, it dissapeared and i never had such an experience anymore. So you might want to try praying during one of those horrible experiences if you have not done already.


Im seeing a few possibilities.

I did Astral Projection a few times, were your soul escapes from your body during at night, when i managed it for the first time, i saw a black entity in my room (it looked something like a bat or something) anyway i freaked, and jumped back into my physical body, but during that time i heard a voice saying to me: This is an attachment that has been always with you. Till today i have no clue what it means.

But what im saying is that maby you are sensetive into seeing spirits. That entity that you are seeing might be a gaurdian angel, or deceased relative that is gaurding over you. In a bad case scenario it would demonical entities looking for an oppertunity to take over your body. But in a best case scenario its just your imagination. Whatever the case, i think you need to pray to God and ask for peace in your sleep,because you don't know the meaning of it all, and just want a normal life. I think that God hopefully would honour such a request.

I wouldn't be too afraid of the thing you are seeing tho. In the end we are all spirits, what you see is something you are yourself too. Sleep well.

 

[clrvision]

Hey Chrissie,
I was touched by your story and wanted to write to you so i registered for this forum that i'll probably not use again. lol
I had some traumatic events happen in my life as a child and I remember the nightmares starting when i was 6. I had so many questions and didn't know what to do so it was a long story all together but i'll shorten it for you. Basically i would pray and listen to worship music and plea the blood of Jesus and it seemed to not work. Finally i had a dream and a blob was chasing me. I ran into different rooms and finally i was able to slam a door. the next day in a prayer meeting a prophetic msg came to me through someone that said the enemy was trying to hold me back but God was closing the door and pushing me forward. I knew God was bringing closure to that part of my life. During the time that God healed me of deep seated fear, of sleep etc He started revealing to me through his word and people all the things that were open doors for the enemy. Things like controlling dreams or lucid dreams, Astral projection and everything like that have their roots in the occult. I was getting involved in the occult without knowing, dream books that are not christian, articles that claim to have power, horror movies, satanic inspired t.v. shows. etc. God brought me through a time of cleansing where my eyes were opened. I don't have fear, paralysis etc any more and if i have a dream it's usually a msg of something i'm supposed to pray about. The enemy uses these kind of torments to steer people from their destinies. The spirit of fear tries to cripple people. Usually people who are supposed to hear from God and are very prophetic are the ones that are targeted by these things. So take courage and discover how much authority you have in Christ. A book i recommend (Dream language by jim goll i think) You have an amazing destiny ahead of you. If you want to know more just msg me. I tried (although you might not tell) to be brief lol

 

[Bellicus]

I think what you struggle with is called sleep paralysis, it can be explained by natural causes. It might help if you don't sleep on your back. And if you mention it to a doctor you could also get medication for it that might help.

 

[Eagle Of Oz]

Thanks again for your replies. I am thinking I will talk to my doctor next time I go to see if there is any medication to help with this.

I dont think it is sleep paralysis, because I can move when I am having the night terrors. Usually I thrash around, or sometimes jump up to turn the light on. Sometimes I pull the doona over my head.... like thats going to stop whatever Im seeing from "getting me". lol

 

[UnitynLove]

Thanks again for your replies. I am thinking I will talk to my doctor next time I go to see if there is any medication to help with this.

I dont think it is sleep paralysis, because I can move when I am having the night terrors. Usually I thrash around, or sometimes jump up to turn the light on. Sometimes I pull the doona over my head.... like thats going to stop whatever Im seeing from "getting me". lol

How are you night terrors now? Praying for you sister!

 

[hotsauce5000]

my thoughts, i dont know much about some of the things the others have said, but these things i do know about me. see if they may apply to you.
certain things you eat affect your body chemistry. if i eat more than a couple spoons of peanut butter before bed i will dream strongly. if in a bad mood they will be bad, if in a good mood they will be good and sometimes i can control them but not often.
the best thing i can eat near bed time that makes me sleep well and feel rested is oatmeal. i can guess that it sucks toxins from the body, anything the body doesnt have to process and expell it self. thats my guess, but it works for me.

try oatmeal before bed a few times and see what happens.

 

[1ofakind]

You could learn to lucid dream and conquer your fears, however if this is against your religion then find out something that bothers or scares you in your life. Say you get over-stressed from daily activities then minimize your stress. Take a few days off. Relax try to be as calm as you can.
If your body is moving in your sleep then you may have a problem with sleep paralysis. Sleep paralysis is when your brain paralyzes your body during sleep. Certain individuals lack or do not have sleep paralysis, which makes dreams violent. I am pretty sure you can ask your doctor about that.

Overall, I would suggest lucid dreaming, minimizing stress, or fixing problems that you encounter in your daily day-to-day life, however you do not have to follow anything I said.

 

[Johnnz]

Nightmares are very upsetting. There are two major sources. One is some trauma earlier in your life. Sexual abuse, severe bullying or real insecurity are common causes.

The other is a spiritual event, which can be trigged from a some occult experience, or family history - some relative is known to be psychic, have premonitions or something similar. Some 'games' can open up into the spiritual world too - ouija boards or moving glasses for example

John
NZ

 

[Eagle Of Oz]

Thanks for the replies everyone. Johnnz, I messed with seances and ouija boards when I was a teen. I know now how dangerous and stupid that was. It started as a "fun" thing to do, and quickly became an obsession. One day I even remember asking if the "spirit" we were talkin to was really the devil pretending to be the spirit of a dead person, and it said yes. Unfortunatly, we still didnt stop. Im horrified to say we even had seances at cemetries. This went on for I cant remember how long.

I have since repented for all that, and had a lot of prayer.

I also have anxiety/depression, and have had a lot of problems with self esteem, which you mentioned. Also, I have very little memories of my childhood. Have felt for a long time that was I abused, and even my counselor, after many many months, said I have the classic signs of being sexually abused. I have been praying that if its Gods will to reveal it, He will, and if not, help me to deal with it and move on.

Since I first posted, a lot has happened. I almost ended up in a psych hospital, and without goin into too many details, I have split with my husband, and moved into another house with my 2 boys. The night terrors actually stopped just before I moved, and I havnt had them since. Another interesting thing is, now that Im "processing" stuff, that for many reasons I just couldnt before, I am dreaming again, not night terrors, which are totally different, but good and bad dreams. And my anxiety has slowly been decreasing.

 

[andreha]

Thanks for the replies everyone. Johnnz, I messed with seances and ouija boards when I was a teen. I know now how dangerous and stupid that was. It started as a "fun" thing to do, and quickly became an obsession. One day I even remember asking if the "spirit" we were talkin to was really the devil pretending to be the spirit of a dead person, and it said yes. Unfortunatly, we still didnt stop. Im horrified to say we even had seances at cemetries. This went on for I cant remember how long.

I have since repented for all that, and had a lot of prayer.

I also have anxiety/depression, and have had a lot of problems with self esteem, which you mentioned. Also, I have very little memories of my childhood. Have felt for a long time that was I abused, and even my counselor, after many many months, said I have the classic signs of being sexually abused. I have been praying that if its Gods will to reveal it, He will, and if not, help me to deal with it and move on.

Since I first posted, a lot has happened. I almost ended up in a psych hospital, and without goin into too many details, I have split with my husband, and moved into another house with my 2 boys. The night terrors actually stopped just before I moved, and I havnt had them since. Another interesting thing is, now that Im "processing" stuff, that for many reasons I just couldnt before, I am dreaming again, not night terrors, which are totally different, but good and bad dreams. And my anxiety has slowly been decreasing.

I'm glad things are getting better. I used to have issues getting peaceful sleep, but prayer was certainly the answer for me. I asked the Holy Spirit to take charge of my dreams, and He did. What an awesome God we serve.

 

[Johnnz]

Thanks for the replies everyone. Johnnz, I messed with seances and ouija boards when I was a teen. I know now how dangerous and stupid that was. It started as a "fun" thing to do, and quickly became an obsession. One day I even remember asking if the "spirit" we were talkin to was really the devil pretending to be the spirit of a dead person, and it said yes. Unfortunatly, we still didnt stop. Im horrified to say we even had seances at cemetries. This went on for I cant remember how long.

I have since repented for all that, and had a lot of prayer.

I also have anxiety/depression, and have had a lot of problems with self esteem, which you mentioned. Also, I have very little memories of my childhood. Have felt for a long time that was I abused, and even my counselor, after many many months, said I have the classic signs of being sexually abused. I have been praying that if its Gods will to reveal it, He will, and if not, help me to deal with it and move on.

Since I first posted, a lot has happened. I almost ended up in a psych hospital, and without goin into too many details, I have split with my husband, and moved into another house with my 2 boys. The night terrors actually stopped just before I moved, and I havnt had them since. Another interesting thing is, now that Im "processing" stuff, that for many reasons I just couldnt before, I am dreaming again, not night terrors, which are totally different, but good and bad dreams. And my anxiety has slowly been decreasing.

We can consider your occult times as belonging to the past. Well done.

Don't go looking for abuse. Whatever did happen may or may not become clear. Work with what you are experiencing now, and whatever you may remember as it comes.

Seems some of your night terrors at least were related to your husband. That's interesting.

Your newer dreams will reflect the inner changes that are happening due to the processing you are doing. That is very encouraging, especially is the terrors have gone for now. And that our anxiety is reducing too.

Why did you leave your husband? - Don't feel obliged to tell us this on an open forum though if you don't feel happy about that issue at present.

John
NZ

 

[Eagle Of Oz]

Thanks once again for your replies. Im not really up to discussing about the reasons I left my husband. Too painful at the moment.

 

[Witchy Bee]

If I'm not mistaken, I believe amethyst is said to help with night terrors, or nightmares anyway. It's just a little something I heard, could be worth a try.

 

[UnitynLove]

Thanks for the replies everyone. Johnnz, I messed with seances and ouija boards when I was a teen. I know now how dangerous and stupid that was. It started as a "fun" thing to do, and quickly became an obsession. One day I even remember asking if the "spirit" we were talkin to was really the devil pretending to be the spirit of a dead person, and it said yes. Unfortunatly, we still didnt stop. Im horrified to say we even had seances at cemetries. This went on for I cant remember how long.

I have since repented for all that, and had a lot of prayer.

I also have anxiety/depression, and have had a lot of problems with self esteem, which you mentioned. Also, I have very little memories of my childhood. Have felt for a long time that was I abused, and even my counselor, after many many months, said I have the classic signs of being sexually abused. I have been praying that if its Gods will to reveal it, He will, and if not, help me to deal with it and move on.

Since I first posted, a lot has happened. I almost ended up in a psych hospital, and without goin into too many details, I have split with my husband, and moved into another house with my 2 boys. The night terrors actually stopped just before I moved, and I havnt had them since. Another interesting thing is, now that Im "processing" stuff, that for many reasons I just couldnt before, I am dreaming again, not night terrors, which are totally different, but good and bad dreams. And my anxiety has slowly been decreasing.

Amen, 100% healing is on the way!