# Sleep and Dreams > General Dream Discussion > Nightmares and Recurring Dreams >  >  Stuck inside a nightmare lucid dream.

## MorningDreamS

Hello, Im a first time poster but a long time explorer of dreams and lucid dreams. I've been experiencing a problem for a few years so I wanted to join and ask if anyone has experienced a similiar thing or can offer solutions.  

So... in an over-simplified explanation, I often get stuck inside dreams.


Today was the first time this happened in a long time, but It has happened numerous times before and its therefore recurring in nature. 

I false awakened in my bed and everything felt kind of dark (visually) and there was an anxious atmosphere so the first thing I did was check my hands. (Thats my way of distinguishing dreams/real life) My fingers were wavy so I knew I was inside a dream, I tried to wake up but couldnt. The dream keeps repeating from here. I keep waking up in my bed, tens of times. Immediatly realizing to check my hands and theyre always wavy. Sometimes theres an "evil presence" that is typical to sleep paralysis experiences and sometimes its just an anxious atmosphere.

Im very anxious to wake up for real and I feel locked inside the dream and not being able to escape. This feels like its going on for hours.

At this point someone might say congratulations, now you can start fulfilling your wildest dreams since youre in a dream and not waking up even If youre trying to!

But no... Any thoughts of having fun, 
relaxing or experiencing fun lucid dream things (which I have done during intentional lucid dreaming) are out the window and Its impossible for me to recall advice from waking life like "try to relax" etc.

 It feels like I have to try and wake up or something bad is going to happen. Its 100% impossible for me to try and relax. Its pure and raw panic and struggle to try and wake up. Ive even managed to open my eyes, but the dream keeps going and the real life images just mix in with the dream environment. 

Its absolutely terrifying and its affecting my waking life. Ive had this happen to me the first time I was 10, then It went away for years and began again when I started to do Lucid dreaming stuff. 
Its honestly traumatizing to me.

Any opinions, questions or anything else will be appreciated!

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## AnotherDreamer

I hate that!! It's only happened to me twice but each time was completely terrifying. I remember wondering if I would ever wake up or maybe I had died. I don't have any advice or anything because I don't know how to stop it myself. The only thing that comforts me is I keep telling myself that nothing lasts forever not even dreams. But I think this might be something that you have work through by yourself, whether it's painful or glorious.

I do hope you feel better about it and know that you're not alone in going through this terrifying experience.

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## ~Dreamer~

I have been haunted by repeating lucid nightmare FA cycles at various times in my life, so I know exactly what you're talking about and how terrifying they can be.

There is some great advice from other members in this thread:
http://www.dreamviews.com/dream-cont...ightmares.html

A couple of other things to add:

I was rarely able to wake myself up as long as I was focused on that being the solution. It was usually when I finally surrendered and accepted that I would be trapped in the dream for however long (sometimes I believed forever) that I would finally wake up for real. I know it's hard to convince yourself to do that in-dream, but maybe you could work on incubating that feeling of acceptance through MILD meditation. I can give you some more specific advice if you're interested in incorporating some meditation into your day work.

One time when these lucid nightmares were happening frequently, I discovered that they were actually a medication side effect, because they stopped immediately when I came off the medication. Perhaps there is a chemical/lifestyle factor that you could try changing in waking life to see if it changes your dream themes as well.

Good luck, I hope your dreams become more pleasant soon!  ::hug::

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## Avian

I've actually never had a lucid dream (been trying for about 3 months now but no luck) but I have had some wild dreams. I remember when I was a kid I woke up and I realized I wasn't in my room so I looked around and it was a girls room with barbies and stuff. I was like "I'm not a girl, this room is stupid, I want to leave" but there was no door or windows. Suddenly this guy is sitting on a stool and he told me that he knew how I could get out of the dream. He told me to close my eyes and count to 5. I did it, and sure enough, when I opened my eyes I was laying in bed completely awake. I believe I was actually focusing on leaving at the dream at the same time but it was less of a focus thing and more just setting my intention. I was too young to really understand that kind of stuff. Anyways, after that I would always leave my nightmares using the same method.

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## MorningDreamS

> I have been haunted by repeating lucid nightmare FA cycles at various times in my life, so I know exactly what you're talking about and how terrifying they can be.
> 
> There is some great advice from other members in this thread:
> http://www.dreamviews.com/dream-cont...ightmares.html
> 
> A couple of other things to add:
> 
> I was rarely able to wake myself up as long as I was focused on that being the solution. It was usually when I finally surrendered and accepted that I would be trapped in the dream for however long (sometimes I believed forever) that I would finally wake up for real. I know it's hard to convince yourself to do that in-dream, but maybe you could work on incubating that feeling of acceptance through MILD meditation. I can give you some more specific advice if you're interested in incorporating some meditation into your day work.
> 
> ...



Hey! Ty for replying. Did this medication happen to be valium or some other sedative/benzodiazepine? Ive been experiencing these FA cycles mostly when taking a valium to get to sleep. (Im not a daily user, just 1 pill every few months but valium stays in your system for 200 hours) 

Its truly horrifying, luckily I havent had any for a while now. I havent taken valium either. Hmm...

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