Quote Originally Posted by JenJen View Post
I am looking forward to meeting like-minded people on this forum. I do need support, as many of my dreams are troubling. I have chronic back pain and take pain medicines in the evening, which I think may contribute to my nightmares. Also sometimes I have difficulty going to sleep or wake up in the night from the pain. If anyone else has chronic pain issues I'd be interested in hearing how you feel this affects your dreaming.
Hello JenJen. Sorry to read that you have chronic back pain. =/ I also have chronic back pain, but mine isn't as severe as yours. It's rare that I'm woken up or can't sleep from the pain, since usually laying down provides me with relief. I haven't noticed much, if any effect on my dreams. In fact, my back issues are almost never acknowledged in my dreams. I don't usually get nightmares either. You pose a good question though, I wish I remember what my dreams were like directly before and after my back surgery.

I read one lonely study about using lucid dreams to help manage pain. Scroll down to page 11 if you care to read the results. Maybe you could experiment with using lucid dreams to help manage your pain? Once I become a stronger LDer, that's one of my goals.