A sudden recall of very old dreams

[Mr Walker]

On 19/07/2017 at 7:28 AM, Aizuraa said:

It is July 18th, 2017. I'm 30 years old. Something very bizarre started happening to me last night. I started to become aware of very old dreams. Short episodes of a few seconds occur with a very strong sense of emotion. I was very worried that I was going insane. It felt like I was remembering memories of memories that were not from this reality, so I was terrified that I had somehow damaged my brain in some way. Since I found this thread with other people having this experience, I started to feel a bit relieved. But until now I have been upset and anxious. At first, I wasn't sure exactly what was coming into my mind because immediately after each short episode, I was completely unable to recall even the slightest detail. If someone had been with me when it happened, I might have been able to say a few words or something to try to jog my memory later, but even when I was able to remember one thing, I am unable to remember the context for it. I tried having a pen and paper by me when it happens, but the memories fade too quickly for me to even write them down. It felt unpleasant, but that was mostly because I felt afraid of what was happening to me. I told two people, but I don't want to tell anyone else because I don't want them to think I'm crazy. At first I thought I was having a mental breakdown, a stroke, or heatstroke. I am in the middle of buying a house, fixing it up, and moving. So I thought that, although I don't feel particularly stressed, perhaps my subconscious mind is suffering from the uncertainty of the future. I had been spending a lot of time in the sun the past couple days, so I was worried about that too. I had not been sleeping well or enough, so I thought that might have had something to do with it.

Anyway, I'm relieved to know that this is something that happens to other people.

It is reasonably common Our minds process not only external events but also our thoughts and previous dreams  and then integrate these thoughts into our dreams  I am 66 years old and  have had very similar dreams (themes locations and people) over my entire life  Some are of real things like my old family home or a farm where we lived for 20 years Both non longer exist yet i dream of them many times a year.  Others are imaginary places like a short cut through a dwarven tunnel  from our capital city to our home town making a 400 mile journey walkable in a day.  or a beautiful valley which, in my dreams, stretches from one side of our town down to the sea and has many beauties and mysteries.  Often when something in our life takes us back in time to an older time in our life  this is reflected in our dreams  Ps moving house, marriage, graduation, starting high school,   or death in a family, often evokes memories of older times and these memories also appear in our dreams in symbolised forms. .

Edited July 24, 2017 by Mr Walker

[JamieFraser]

I'm having this odd everything-is- connected feeling right now. I am a 31 y/o female (anyone noticing that the similar stories are ppl of this age range?!) having one single flash of an old dream while my mind is NOT idle nor thinking of a trigger that I can relate. It has happened 4 times over the last week. Once I acknowledged it, now it seems to have stopped. It's more than deja vu in my opinion, it feels invasive... and intriguing. 

[girlmtnbiker]

Happens to me quite often.  I recall vividly certain parts of dreams, even from many years ago.  Especially one from my childhood, when I was about 10 yrs old ( I am now 63).   I don’t  think  anything of it, it’s actually nice to remember some of the dreams! 

Edited November 8, 2017 by girlmtnbiker
Spelling errors

[RaNae]

I have experienced dreams from when I was young but it turns out that these dreams are actually memories of things that happened when I was young. But it was like I was watching not their so I just always thought they were dreams. I don't understand why any one have any ideas?

[Mirrors_club]

I've been experiencing these same premonitions, daja-vu and dream recalls. It only started about a week ago and at first I thought nothing of it. However I got curious what lead me to finding this thread of similar happenings with others. I've mostly been recalling old random dreams from my past.  I'm kind of confused on how I actually know they are dreams but I just do, I just feel it. I sometimes receive it at any time, such as right when I'm about to go to bed. I'm still conscious when these dreams occur. I usually only notice it's happening afterwards. They can sometimes happen in rows or one at a time. I'm only 13. I noticed that some say it happened during January or it started during this time. Could this mean something?

its just a little strange. And I feel likes there's more to it x  

[MMmmM]

I have had the same thing starting maybe ten years back? Funny thing though - the dreams I remember are mostly from only 5 or less years prior to remembering them?

They aren't from early childhood or a time when something may have happened that I'm trying to subconsciously recall. The other funny part is they are not nightmares as the poster states. The third part is they are NOT dreams I had remembered the morning of waking and am re-remembering..

They flash into my mind during the day. I also have streams of them, often unconnected, come back before I'm going to sleep.

I am pretty sure I had them in the first place but have thought it might be similar to the trick the brain plays with having Deja Vu - you are sure you've been to a place or had an experience before.

Also my brain mostly recalls a feeling of "place" or the surroundings I was in in a dream first.

 

Most google searches are only concerned with remembering your dreams on awakening the next morning. This is a very different thing we are talking about here.

 

[E is here]

I have been having this happen for about 10 years now. The first time it happened, it freaked me out. It was like parts of 30+dreams all streaming back to my mind all at once. Each time it got easier to handle. I call them Day mares and I can stop them which I usually do by simply willing it so. I mentioned it to the rather brutal group of gals at work and they mocked me pretty good. So glad I am not the only one who has these. I just had one, which I shut down, then found this site.

[Needtoknow]

Happening to me now for around a year. Happens daily and I can get to start like opening a dream file. Other times new ones pop in. Often happens when I am reading at night. Couldn't believe it when I googled it and found others having the same experience as when I have asked friends etc they have never heard of it. My current dreams are very vivid especially now I do not drink. They are just so real and am quite excited to go to sleep to see what will happen. Shall start writing them down. 

[NightScreams]

I have had dreams quite similar or based on dreams from years ago. Likely because I happened to remember those particular dreams and eventually my sleeping mind finds them like an old toy chest and pulls them out for play.

[Poetic Genesis]

I too, am 30 years old. And this began happening to me exactly as you have described from no longer than 3 years now. 

I have been wondering the same thing and then stumbled upon your thread by chance!

Serendipitous?

S.

[Tvaughn]

• I know this is an older thread, but has anyone started feeling nausea when you try to focus on the flashes of dreams? 

[Mirrors_club]

Yeah a little bit like my eyes kind of ache. It's just so strange! 

[marcio borge]

At Last, I have found a thread on a site that completely mirrors my own experience.

At school i was constantly chastised as being a day dreamer, I would be about ten years old and be bored in class. I also found that I could dream, wake up, and then fall back to sleep and continue the dream if i wanted and these would be vivid. I also had terrible migranes that meant visits to the hospital.

As i grew older the migranes went completely, but from a young age I started to have dreams that felt profound. they would happen rarely but when i woke up I would feel really like i had been in that dream and they were quite beautiful in a dark kind of way. bare with me...

Growing older they disaperared almost completely and as of today i can never remember dreams when i awake so have no dreams if you like. So through my life ( i am now 46) i have maybe a dozen or so of these dream experiences that have made me feel elated and knocked side ways.

I started having flashbacks from as far back as i remember, and i try and chase the "image" in my mind and more comes back like i have just woke up, more dreams come and in that state if i focus more detail comes which makes me gasp and tears come to my eyes litterally. they include the child dreams and dreams that included friends and partners. I am not a spiritual person in any other way but this has been life affirming to me and beautiful.

I have had consecutive dreams that i do not flashback, they include my best friend who passed some years ago. in these dreams he never speaks to me but ignores me. when i wake up these really hurt. but on the whole these dreamscapes have been amazing. 

I have taken lsd at the age of 18 to 20 but this all started way before that.

they have gave me a lot of comfort and happiness x

[satansnovice]

This same thing happens to me, I will randomly recall old dreams that I have forgotten about. If I keep my mind on the dream I can remember one dream after the other. 

I was prescribed Abilify for my OCD and noticed that while on the medication I stopped recalling dreams like I was. I’m also a daily medical marijuana smoker which sometimes vamps up the amount of dreams I recall in a day. 

Just thought the change in medication added an interesting aspect to this phenomenon.

[Tremoscream]

So this started to my knowledge by the way, about 6 years ago. I was taking my daughter to a doctor's appointment I was in the car with my brother and his fiance and we were talking, all of a sudden I got hot and confused and dizzy. I had dream after dream after dream show up like an Imax in my head. It lasted for maybe 10 to 20 minutes and than I was sleepy and drained. I didn't want to do anything I tried to talk but words wouldn't come out the right way. Nothing made sense and it all just jumbled together. I started to get nausea and vomiting soon after. I felt like my body was on fire. I didn't even want to go the doctor appointment I had waited for a year to get her in. I tried to calm myself down but I was scared it was like my mind wanted to say what happened but my mouth wouldn't let me. I didn't have another episode till the next day and it continued on and off for the next year. I have had them here and there. Less often but I just had one after a year or two of no episodes. Nothing to stress me or anything but I went to stand up and hit me like a ton of bricks. I still kind of playing them in my mind but not to the point of can't function. I seen on the thread here about someone saying seizures, I have honestly never been to a doctor about it. I had a migraine when I was going through my divorce but it was strange it was like I went blind for 20 minutes just out of no where I got a pain in my head and than lost all sight I could talk but I couldn't see anything it was like someone took my eyes because it was black as night no blur or anything just like turned off. I seen a doctor but he wanted to put me on pain killers and I told him no. But I really want to know what is going on I'm confused.

[satansnovice]

2 hours ago, Tremoscream said:

So this started to my knowledge by the way, about 6 years ago. I was taking my daughter to a doctor's appointment I was in the car with my brother and his fiance and we were talking, all of a sudden I got hot and confused and dizzy. I had dream after dream after dream show up like an Imax in my head. It lasted for maybe 10 to 20 minutes and than I was sleepy and drained. I didn't want to do anything I tried to talk but words wouldn't come out the right way. Nothing made sense and it all just jumbled together. I started to get nausea and vomiting soon after. I felt like my body was on fire. I didn't even want to go the doctor appointment I had waited for a year to get her in. I tried to calm myself down but I was scared it was like my mind wanted to say what happened but my mouth wouldn't let me. I didn't have another episode till the next day and it continued on and off for the next year. I have had them here and there. Less often but I just had one after a year or two of no episodes. Nothing to stress me or anything but I went to stand up and hit me like a ton of bricks. I still kind of playing them in my mind but not to the point of can't function. I seen on the thread here about someone saying seizures, I have honestly never been to a doctor about it. I had a migraine when I was going through my divorce but it was strange it was like I went blind for 20 minutes just out of no where I got a pain in my head and than lost all sight I could talk but I couldn't see anything it was like someone took my eyes because it was black as night no blur or anything just like turned off. I seen a doctor but he wanted to put me on pain killers and I told him no. But I really want to know what is going on I'm confused.

I’ve never thought of the dreams as possible seizures.. I also experience headaches though. I get daily headaches and have had them for about 8 years now. Maybe headaches/seizures are a possible reason for experiences the recall of dreams. Would be interesting to see if others in the thread also have headaches. 

[satansnovice]

I brought this subject up to my psychiatrist and she says that too much serotonin is most likely the cause of remembering dreams. However, it still seems like a mystery as to why such old dreams can be recalled. 

[Emme T]

Not sure if anyone is around? But for the past few months, out of nowhere, old dreams from many years ago have been surfacing. just pop up out of nowhere. It happens few times a day ... I find it strange. I live a normal life and I don’t see any reason why This would occur?I was glad to see , I wasn’t the only one this happened to. Hope someone is around to reply to my message. 

Thank you.

Edited June 22, 2018 by Emme T

[satansnovice]

Quote

22 hours ago, Emme T said:

Not sure if anyone is around? But for the past few months, out of nowhere, old dreams from many years ago have been surfacing. just pop up out of nowhere. It happens few times a day ... I find it strange. I live a normal life and I don’t see any reason why This would occur?I was glad to see , I wasn’t the only one this happened to. Hope someone is around to reply to my message. 

Thank you.

Hello Emme,

I have come to believe that serotonin is to blame for the rememberance of old dreams; the neurotransmitter serotonin regulates memory and dreams. Too much serotonin can lead to serotonin syndrome and can interfere with the normal functionings of memory and dreams. So having the hippocampus being exposed to too much serotonin could trigger a response that brings up old dreams. This is just a theory : )

 

[Silentbob900]

This happens to me all the time. Super vivid memories of places that i know i dreamed years ago. Nothing foreboding or scary just things like travellinfg down a certain street that doesnt exist. The only thing that is odd is that every place i remember from a dream i can pinpoint on a map where it should be. E.g a road near my house. I can see it in real life and see my dream version of it at the same time (sort of like the way you remember places from your childhood and can easily compare the memories to that same place in the present. ) any of that make sense??

[Emme T]

It makes sense. I have dreams like that too. Feels like you are actually there. Kinda like you enter another dimension? 

[Etwice]

Hi! I recently started experiencing exactly what everyone here is describing. 

Flashes are less than half a second. 

I found this answer on quora, but I feel like there is more to it. Why does it start now? 

is there something that could have triggered it for you guys? Shot in the dark: spiritual development or diet awareness?

[Samurailoo]

I am so relieved to see that this happens to others. I have only recently become curious about this phenomena. 

I’ve noticed, for myself, that it really only happens when I’m in, for lack of better words,  a meditative state? I am a 25 year old massage therapist and find that when working on my clients, I get into a rhythm and start to get sleepy and THIS is when they start flashing into my head. It’s the most random thing. It’s also occurred while driving - which will startle me - or lying awake in bed. That’s when I mostly see the flashes of memory, only lasting a second or two. I’ve tried to piece together why certain specific dreams are recalled, and I believe the lighting, music or just my general feelings or my current state really influence what’s unlocked. So odd. I plan on painting some of these flashes

Edited October 17, 2018 by Samurailoo

[Maz1919]

Hi I've had this experience where I recall random dreams clearly from random times dating back to childhood.  They can just recall when doing something passive or routine. It shows that everything we experience,  regardless of whether it seems important or not is stored somewhere in our brain/psyche/soul etc. It must do or else it wouldn't recall! It is fascinating! Maybe it is an awakening of some sort and maybe we have got something in common, like meditation or some other practice we do that unlocks it? This is like tapping into.our ability to recall photographic memory, just very randomised! 

[LilacLiz]

On 4/12/2011 at 12:26 PM, nisheeth said:

Hi,

I am 30 years old. A few months ago I experienced something that really surprised me a lot. I have tried a lot how to explain it but I fail. I am wondering if someone has experienced the same.

The thing is, a few months back, all of a sudden I started recalling some very old dreams (while awake), including dreams from my childhood when I used to live in a hilly village. Without any feedback from my current surroundings, without any apparent reason and at any point of time during the day all of a sudden I would start remembering some dream I had years ago. This happened with so frequently and so automatically that I was really shocked. Practically all of those dreams I had completely forgotten years ago, none of them haunted me nor appeared in conscious memory because of being interesting, until this process started around January this year. Practically none of was a nightmare either. And I am in good health, had no injury nor do I take any drugs. A I can say that I must have recalled automatically at least several hundred dreams most of which were at least 15 to 20 years old.

Has it happened with any of you guys? Did you find any reasonable explanation?