using dreams

[ginny]

I was curious about how others deal with this. I use to enjoy them, at least I could get high in my dreams, but I wonder if that didn't contribute to having to try it one more time. I've heard people say they would wake up before they got 'the buzz' and they would wake up angry. Lately, when I do have them, it's mostly the bad part of my using days. Not fun any more, which is probably a good thing.

[DianaMarie7968]

Hello Ginny,

I last week i went to a NA meeting and the person cheering the meeting got really "Graphic" while sharing his experience, strength & Hope, really go intense with it, that night I had drug dreams ALL night....I woke up so mad!
I called my sponcer, she told me you shouldnt be mad, you should be grateful it was only a dream...lol...after she told me that I felt alot better...But i often wake up angry!:11:

[admin]

I haven't had one in a while but when I have had them I was very thankful to wake up and realize it was just a dream. Thank you God. :195:

[kimmyk537]

I use to get em real bad and thank god i would always wake up before i got high ..at first i would wake up dissapointed but then the dream got old and it was like i knew it was a dream before i woke up..

[Crankie Yankee]

I have had a few of those dreams in the past and I hope they never come again. I can remember using and being high as a kite in my dream, thinking, oh my God what have I done? After waking up it scared the hell out of me and took me awhile to realize it was just a dream because it was so vivid. Have you ever heard the expression that when you are at a meeting your addiction is doing push up's outside in the parking lot waiting for you? I believe that this is the same situation. Even though we would be fast asleep our addictions, or disease if you will, are trying to undermine and take us out every chance it gets no matter what time of day, no matter where we are or what we are doing 24/7/365. As far as dealing with this kind of dream, what I have done is call somebody in my support group or my sponser and tell them about it ASAP, and for God's sake DON'T pick up a drink or a drug over it!

[DianaMarie7968]

aMEN I SOO AGREE WITH YOU ON THAT!

[DianaMarie7968]

:195:aMEN I SOO AGREE WITH YOU ON THAT!

[snugsnug]

You know I still have em every now and then, and it's kind of neat that I do not have to change my clean date any more. I use my using dreams to keep me focused on the prize, to Be Happy Joyous and Free. I have been able to play the tape ALL the way through. I know today I have no desire to pick up, so the dream is a dream.

[dalin]

mY DISEASE DOESN'T STAY OUT DOING PUSHUPS,
MINE COMES IN AND TAKES NOTES, MIXES UP MY WORDS,
AND HOLDS ME AS A MENTAL HOSTAGE...
SO I MAKE SOME MEETINGS.
I SHARE ABOUT IT.
I MAKE A LIST OF THINGS I CAN DO INSTEAD OF GETTING HIGH.
I GET THE JUST FOR TODAY MEDITATION BOOK AND READ ALL
THE MEDITATIONS ON IT.
I PRAY ABOUT IT ALOT.
HANG IN THERE
YOU WILL MAKE IT.

[dalin]

Using Our "Using Dreams"

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Using Our "Using Dreams"
"Do we fully accept the fact that our every attempt to stop using or to control our using failed?"

Basic Text, p. 18

The room is dark. Your forehead is bathed in cold sweat. Your heart is racing. You open your eyes, sure that you've just blown your clean time. You've had a "using dream", and it was just like being there-the people, the places, the routine, the sick feeling in your stomach, everything. It takes a few moments to realize it was just a nightmare, that it didn't actually happen. Slowly, you settle down and return to sleep.

The next morning is the time to examine what really happened the night before. You didn't use last night - but how close are you to using today? Do you have any illusions about your ability to control your using? Do you know, without a doubt, what would happen once you took the first drug? What stands between you and a real, live relapse? How strong is your program? Your relationships with your sponsor, your home group, and your Higher Power?

Using dreams don't necessarily indicate a hole in our program; for a drug addict, there's nothing more natural than to dream of using drugs. Some of us think of using dreams as gifts from our Higher Power, vividly reminding us of the insanity of active addiction and encouraging us to strengthen our recovery. Seen in that light, we can be grateful for using dreams. Frightening as they are, they can prove to be great blessings - if we use them to reinforce our recovery.

Just for today: I will examine my personal program. I will talk with my sponsor about what I find, and seek ways to strengthen my recovery.

[Chaz]

For me, the using dream always left me remembering the anxiety of relapsing. I never enjoyed them. They are far less frequent for me now after many months sober/clean.

I often experience people putting a lot of emphasis and meaning on them. I do not find a lot of importance in them myself. To me, it seems natural that the subconscious would re-play memories about something that affected us so profoundly.

My suggestion... just let em happen and dont make a big deal of it. I understand that in most cases they diminish in frequency.

Ciao.

Chaz