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Ron Obvious

(6,261 posts)
Wed Aug 1, 2012, 04:19 PM Aug 2012

So Weird: I had a dream within a dream last night

I thought this sort of thing only happened on TV or in the movies.

I was experiencing a terrifying, intense nightmare. I won't satisfy the now salivating Freudians by describing it, but Steven King could have written the script.

Then I woke up, startled, and relieved to find it was just a dream. I looked at the alarm clock. It was 2:30. I sighed and said to my wife: "I was having a nightmare". "I know", she replied, "I heard you screaming." There was a strange woman wearing a bathrobe in the corner of the room, but that fact didn't strike me as odd at the time. Suddenly, I smelled cigarette smoke. "There's someone in this room", I said, and then the same horrors from my nightmare starting happening for real.

Then I woke up, startled, and relieved to find it was just a dream. I looked at the alarm clock. It was 3:40. I sighed and said to my wife: "I was having a nightmare". "I know", she replied, "I heard you screaming."

As far as I know I'm operating in the outer layer of reality still.

I can't begin to describe how absolutely weird that was. All the details of our bedroom and furniture were absolutely correct in the middle dream.

Anyone ever experience anything similar?

34 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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So Weird: I had a dream within a dream last night (Original Post) Ron Obvious Aug 2012 OP
Been there, done that, but I've had them nested four levels deep. HopeHoops Aug 2012 #1
Four levels deep! Ron Obvious Aug 2012 #4
I have been taking benadryll. texanwitch Aug 2012 #5
I'm rather enjoying the dreams... Ron Obvious Aug 2012 #9
I think it is the pink dye. texanwitch Aug 2012 #10
They get really vivid when I take oxycodone before bed. Bizarre shit. HopeHoops Aug 2012 #19
I had a dream that I was awake and I woke up to find myself asleep - Stan Laurel Brother Buzz Aug 2012 #2
Not only did that happen the other night. My first dream was lucid. EastTennesseeDem Aug 2012 #3
Lucid dreams... Ron Obvious Aug 2012 #11
It only happens to me rarely EastTennesseeDem Aug 2012 #15
I'd go for something simpler. GaYellowDawg Aug 2012 #21
That's an interesting technique TuxedoKat Aug 2012 #26
I think dreams can tell us a lot. Our culture doesn't value them much. I like to write down my raccoon Aug 2012 #27
Wow! I wondered if that ever happened to anyone. I've never had that happen. Honeycombe8 Aug 2012 #6
Woman in a robe... Ron Obvious Aug 2012 #12
see my other post pitohui Aug 2012 #18
I have too and find it terrifying Nikia Aug 2012 #7
Interesting... Ron Obvious Aug 2012 #13
Had one like that: malthaussen Aug 2012 #8
That's weird sakabatou Aug 2012 #14
Dreams are interesting things. Behind the Aegis Aug 2012 #16
yes don't worry you're not bonkers pitohui Aug 2012 #17
Something I found weird about your OP. I don't recall EVER smelling anything in a dream. HopeHoops Aug 2012 #20
I felt violent motion and intense heat once when i dreamed I got in a head on collision. Kaleva Aug 2012 #24
I've had similar dreams, but I don't remember temperature being a factor. HopeHoops Aug 2012 #29
That was the only dream I've had where I recall being aware of temperature. Kaleva Aug 2012 #32
I've had ones where I was in shorts in the snow and didn't feel cold. Everyone is different. HopeHoops Aug 2012 #34
I remember one dream where I smelled something. I was dreaming about Dracula and I smelled raccoon Aug 2012 #28
You weren't passed out on the bathroom floor next to the litter box now were you? HopeHoops Aug 2012 #30
Nope, didn't have a litter box at that time. nt raccoon Aug 2012 #31
Oh, that's just SO wrong. HopeHoops Aug 2012 #33
Have had times where I know I'm dreaming and try to wake up.... Kaleva Aug 2012 #22
For me, the worst was this: GaYellowDawg Aug 2012 #23
Once or twice I think TuxedoKat Aug 2012 #25
 

HopeHoops

(47,675 posts)
1. Been there, done that, but I've had them nested four levels deep.
Wed Aug 1, 2012, 06:32 PM
Aug 2012

It's really freaky when you realize you're dreaming, wake up from that level and still be in a dream and then realize it and then wake up from that dream and then the dog farts and, well, that brings a halt to everything.

 

Ron Obvious

(6,261 posts)
4. Four levels deep!
Wed Aug 1, 2012, 10:36 PM
Aug 2012

Four levels deep, wow! I've been taking Benadryll lately which has been giving me intense dreams. Maybe I can achieve multiple levels yet. It was rather fascinating. all in all.

It's all over when the fat lady sings and the dog farts.

 

Ron Obvious

(6,261 posts)
9. I'm rather enjoying the dreams...
Wed Aug 1, 2012, 11:30 PM
Aug 2012

But I'll try the capsules and see if it makes a difference. Thanks for the tip!

EastTennesseeDem

(2,675 posts)
3. Not only did that happen the other night. My first dream was lucid.
Wed Aug 1, 2012, 06:54 PM
Aug 2012

It was so bizarre. I was dreaming and AWARE I was dreaming, and then woke up from that dream into another dream where I was no longer aware I was dreaming.

You would think I'd be in the same state of mind, but no. I completely lost my lucidity, and even though I was aware of what was happening in the first dream couldn't be real, the exact same surreality of the next dream was lost on me.

Dreams are fucked up.

 

Ron Obvious

(6,261 posts)
11. Lucid dreams...
Wed Aug 1, 2012, 11:35 PM
Aug 2012

Last edited Thu Aug 2, 2012, 12:06 AM - Edit history (1)

Now, lucid dreams I've had many times, and I can even bring them on. If I don't fall asleep immediately, I imagine myself in a scene that looks interesting and try for full immersion. I'll try to 'hear' the sounds of the city, to 'smell' the grass, and to 'feel' the bricks in the wall I'm touching. Then I sort of 'release' the picture and things start happening that I didn't script which eventually turns into a lucid dream where I can affect what's happening. I'm particularly fond of historical scenarios, like ancient Rome.

Life's more interesting when I dream. Whether dreams means anything or not, I have no idea, but I often refer to going to bed as 'boarding the dreamland express'..

EastTennesseeDem

(2,675 posts)
15. It only happens to me rarely
Wed Aug 1, 2012, 11:59 PM
Aug 2012

And, for whatever reason, I can't often control anything when I lucid dream. Which is frustrating. I'm going along, doing my thing, then I realize something's wrong, then I try to fly or something. And I can't.

The other night was just strange in that I was fully aware I was in a dream, and then I wasn't, because I thought I had awoken from it.

GaYellowDawg

(4,443 posts)
21. I'd go for something simpler.
Thu Aug 2, 2012, 08:28 AM
Aug 2012

If I could bring on lucid dreams where I could control the action, I'd fly like Superman and have a hell of a lot of sex. Maybe both at the same time.

TuxedoKat

(3,818 posts)
26. That's an interesting technique
Thu Aug 2, 2012, 01:32 PM
Aug 2012

for lucid dreaming. I used to have them fairly regularly when I was paying more attention to dreaming (2-4 times a week). I'll have to try your method as it sounds like more fun than waiting for a random lucid dream to happen or for one of my dream signals to alert me that I'm having a lucid dream. When I do have them, I experience all the senses more acutely. The only one I don't remember as strongly is smell, so I'll have to pay more attention to that one next time.

raccoon

(31,089 posts)
27. I think dreams can tell us a lot. Our culture doesn't value them much. I like to write down my
Thu Aug 2, 2012, 02:32 PM
Aug 2012

dreams in the morning.

Sometimes as I'm writing, the meaning comes to me.


Honeycombe8

(37,648 posts)
6. Wow! I wondered if that ever happened to anyone. I've never had that happen.
Wed Aug 1, 2012, 11:09 PM
Aug 2012

That is soooo scary.

And what's the Freudian meaning of that woman in a robe in the corner?

 

Ron Obvious

(6,261 posts)
12. Woman in a robe...
Wed Aug 1, 2012, 11:37 PM
Aug 2012

I don't know what the woman signified. She didn't look like anyone I know, but she looked really angry when I said that about smelling cigarette smoke...

pitohui

(20,564 posts)
18. see my other post
Thu Aug 2, 2012, 03:15 AM
Aug 2012

i don't think this is freud, i think it's structural

everybody reporting that dream in this thread practices lucid dreaming...

Nikia

(11,411 posts)
7. I have too and find it terrifying
Wed Aug 1, 2012, 11:24 PM
Aug 2012

It usually happens when I am having frequently interrupted sleep.
I now usually get out of.
bed, get some water, and talk to my husband if he is up. I feel the need to take enough time to make sure I am back in reality because I feel crazy if I'm not sure.

 

Ron Obvious

(6,261 posts)
13. Interesting...
Wed Aug 1, 2012, 11:49 PM
Aug 2012

Now that's interesting. I did in fact wake up several times. I often do when I need to get up earlier than usual, and I check the alarm each time so as to catch it before it goes off. I suspect it's because I grew up with one of those old-fashioned wind-up alarm clocks that went off like a fire alarm and caused me to jump 6 feet in the air when it went off.

I wonder just exactly how much reality and dream I was blending, especially because of the two different times on the alarm clock. Still, my wife confirmed I had only the one nightmare and said that to me just once.

malthaussen

(17,065 posts)
8. Had one like that:
Wed Aug 1, 2012, 11:27 PM
Aug 2012

Once I dreamed that I was in a dream. So I said to myself, "Wake up, buddy, you're only dreaming." And so I woke up.
But I was still dreaming.

-- Mal

Behind the Aegis

(53,823 posts)
16. Dreams are interesting things.
Thu Aug 2, 2012, 12:40 AM
Aug 2012

I have had dreams with "theme music," watched dreams from a 3rd person perspective, had subtitles, in foreign languages (at one point in my life I spoke 6 languages fluently (can't spell in any of them very well)), lucid dreams, black and white dreams, sepia dreams, and, like you, dreams within dreams. What I have found, in various readings and personal research, is that 'dreams with dreams' are usually nightmarish. Some psychologists (?) think this may be an expression of the supra-subconscious and therefore, takes the dreamer's most fearful situations and creates various scenarios. The most common version being the death of a loved one. These can be so intense the body physically reacts, and some find themselves been awakened by their own sobbing. This has happened to me a few times. Another version is it can be something which one has buried deeply or is hiding from others. Before I came out, I used to have horrific nightmares about someone/something trying to kill me. It always came from the closet, and ended up in the bed or under it. Once I came out to my mother and my immediate family, I never had that dream again.

There are a number of "theories" on dreams, their meanings, their purpose, and the like. I have read a number of things ranging from mytho-religious interpretations, to cultural interpretations, to classics such as Freud, Jung, and the like.

pitohui

(20,564 posts)
17. yes don't worry you're not bonkers
Thu Aug 2, 2012, 03:11 AM
Aug 2012

i have meta dreams all the time

and the cigarette smoking woman, that's interesting, she's visited me too exactly as you described

it makes you wonder about the architecture of the brain, because the universe is infinite, yet we have these shared images

on edit-- now that i've read the other replies, it's interesting to see this particular dream happens to LUCID dreamers because i've practiced lucid dreaming since the single digit ages! wow! we are totally onto some key clue about the brain if we only knew what it was

 

HopeHoops

(47,675 posts)
20. Something I found weird about your OP. I don't recall EVER smelling anything in a dream.
Thu Aug 2, 2012, 08:19 AM
Aug 2012

I see, hear, and have even used physical motions related to the dream (according to my wife) such as typing, sweeping something out of the way, running (think dog dreams here), and even having wild monkey sex, but I never recall smelling anything.

Kaleva

(36,146 posts)
24. I felt violent motion and intense heat once when i dreamed I got in a head on collision.
Thu Aug 2, 2012, 08:36 AM
Aug 2012

A friend was driving and we hit head on a semi-truck. I felt myself being thrust forward very hard and then thrust back very hard followed by a very brief but intense feeling of heat. All became black and I couldn't hear, feel, or see anything. I thought I was dead. But then I could hear a faint sound and I concentrated on it until I realized it was my heartbeat. I woke up feeling quite relieved that I was still alive.

raccoon

(31,089 posts)
28. I remember one dream where I smelled something. I was dreaming about Dracula and I smelled
Thu Aug 2, 2012, 02:35 PM
Aug 2012

freshly dug earth.


Kaleva

(36,146 posts)
22. Have had times where I know I'm dreaming and try to wake up....
Thu Aug 2, 2012, 08:28 AM
Aug 2012

and when I do wake up, I'm confused for a bit as the place I thought I was where I knew I was having a nightmare is not the place I actually was.

GaYellowDawg

(4,443 posts)
23. For me, the worst was this:
Thu Aug 2, 2012, 08:31 AM
Aug 2012

I used to teach marine biology labs and it took a huge chunk out of my schedule as a grad student. One semester I had a schedule where I taught the 2 late labs lasting from 3:00 to almost 9PM and the early lab the next morning at 8AM. About 4 or 5 times that semester, I taught the two labs, went home, went to bed, dreamed about teaching the lab, got up, and taught the lab. It felt like I'd never left the room. Awful.

On edit: In most of my nightmares, I'm able to recognize that it's a nightmare and wake up to get away from it. Unpleasant, but better than continuing the nightmare - and it's always a dreamless sleep afterwards.

TuxedoKat

(3,818 posts)
25. Once or twice I think
Thu Aug 2, 2012, 01:15 PM
Aug 2012

Isn't that sort of a night terror? Where you think you are awake but you are not and trying to wake-up? Either that or you went from a nightmare to a night terror, where you knew you had a nightmare, thought you woke up, then realized it was still a bad dream/nightmare and then forced yourself to wake up?

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