I wanted to ask, just of curiosity, if there can be any link between overtraining and nightmares.
For the past four months I have had a too big training load - I increased it too rapidly and my body could not cope. I suffered from permanent exhaustion and realised at a certain point that it is likely I am a bit overtrained. So I took some rest and made my workouts milder and the chronic fatigue disappeared (though, unfortunatelly, my times are at the moment still quite poor :( - it will take probably some more time to get back to some better results)
A couple of weeks ago, while still quite exhausted, I experienced several nightmares within very short span of time. I was probably on good way to develop a neurotic fear of Freddie Kruger :D
Now, is it possible that this episode of nightmares had something to do with the overtraining?
Lindsay:
Now, I am not a doctor, but I have had sleep issues periodically. My understanding is that overtraining can definitely cause sleep disturbances, including inabililty to fall asleep, nightmares and waking during the night. I'm not sure what the cause is, altered cortisol or hormonal levels. Backing off a bit was a good idea. If you feel a compulsion to overtrain in a particular sport, you might try a bit of cross-training. Good luck.
Former Member
I wanted to ask, just of curiosity, if there can be any link between overtraining and nightmares.
As Fortress pointed out, overtraining can bring its share of sleep disturbance. I think that many of us do experiment nightmares, but as for any other dreams, we tend not to rembember them, unless we wakeup immediately after the dream (good or bad).
By having a "lighter" sleep, you're subject to wake up many times during the night. And of course, nightmares are more likely to wake you up.
Former Member
Thanks for the comments. I wanted to know how it is with those bad dreams because I am not a person who is prone to suffer from nightmares (at least I seldom used to remember having any). But at that very time when I experienced terrible fatigue due to overtraining I had so many such dreams. It's very likely that this frequent occurence of nightmares at that time was not accidental. Perhaps the nervous system is so much disturbed when you are exhausted.
Apart from those dreams I also had several episodes of panic attack. I used to suffer from anxiety disorder in the past. And it came back recently for a while when my workout was too heavy
I had a restless night again after swimming at 7ish...I think it's lack of hydration....
My problem is usually the opposite since I drink before, during and after my workout. Swam from 5:30-6:30 last night and had a very restless night. Even when sleeping, I was dreaming about not being able to get to sleep.
Former Member
My problem is usually the opposite since I drink before, during and after my workout. Swam from 5:30-6:30 last night and had a very restless night. Even when sleeping, I was dreaming about not being able to get to sleep.
I normally have a bottle water on way to swimand another right after. I did neither I then came home, ate, drank a soda, a cup of tea and a big glass of port :D I had no water...so I did it to myself. The previous before that when I swam I had water and was fine, albeit just a tad achey in bed.
Former Member
Pepperoni pizza gives me nightmares.
Also, I used to have some nice flannel sheets with a loud black/white/red plaid and also some plain red flannel sheets. They also gave me nightmares and now I stick with pastels. No fooling !
Former Member
I had a restless night again after swimming at 7ish...I think it's lack of hydration....
