"Don't go to sleep!"
That's the phrase that traumatized any of us who watched any of those Nightmare on Elm Street films growing up, but truth is always stranger––and scarier––than fiction.
Today's burning question came from Redditor elizezu, who asked: "Dear Reddit, what is your weirdest dream/nightmare you've ever had?"
Yikes.
"I dreamt I was a reporter..."
I dreamt I was a reporter chasing a story on the AIDS virus. I was alone on some deserted boardwalk, when a woman suddenly approached me and said "here's your story!" and tried stabbing me with a syringe. We fought and struggled and I woke up punching my wall in a cold sweat.
"Being chased through an abandoned hospital..."
Being chased through an abandoned hospital Scooby-Doo style by the 1940s wolfman, while everything was black and white.
"I had this reoccurring dream."
I had this reoccurring dream. I'm in my town centre and i see a huge mushroom cloud exploding in the distance. It's fast approaching and i jump in to the fountain in the last second since i'm extremely slow. As i go in i can see the flames and destruction from under water and i emerge to see everything destroyed. I've been having this dream since i was 5-6 years old and it gets me every time. I'm 24.
"The first night we got my pet cat..."
The first night we got my pet cat when I was a little girl I dreamt for two nights she would stop at nothing to kill me. She even killed my mother in one of my dreams. There were no gory details thank goodness. But I vividly remember the cat sitting on my mother's corpse saying, "your mother is no help to you now." I really loved the cat at the time, so I'm not sure where this came from.
"Every time he looked at me..."
My first memory was a nightmare I had when I was around 5. I remember it vividly, and I have no idea why it scared me so much. I look back and laugh at it, because it is so weird. Anyways, my friends and I we're all playing in my childhood home. Then there was a knock at the door. My friend went to open it, and there was Barney at the door. My friend invited him in but Every time he looked at me he had evil red eyes. No one else noticed this. Eventually, Barney tried to get everyone outside. I followed hesitantly, and as soon as I stepped outside I saw that triceratops character charging everyone with her "horns" and had glowing red eyes. That was when I realized they were out for blood. I tried to get everyone to run, but they wouldn't listen. I watched Barney and the Triceratops take down my younger brother, and that's when I woke up.
"I was a child..."
GiphyI was a child, and had just watched the Predator (with Schwarzenegger). In my dream, the Predator was hunting me. He finally caught me, wedged the spear where my arm was joined to my body, and pushed on it so as to dislodge my arm. I woke up with my arm completely flabby and non-functional for the next 30 minutes.
"I saw a man die..."
I saw a man die in my dream when I was about 10. It was the way he died that was weird. I remember him laying on his side and puking like he had been poisoned. The puke changed color, texture and consistency every time he puked. Eventually, he was eaten by parasites from the inside.
When I woke up I asked myself why I would ever dream of something like this and if something was wrong with me. Just happened that one time, though.
"After my grandmother died..."
After my grandmother died, she would appear to me at night, sitting alongside my bed in the rocking chair that she had willed me.
It didn't "feel" like a dream - it seemed vividly real. She and I would talk about many things, some of which we'd never discussed when she had been alive. I would ask questions, and she'd give clear answers.
These nightly episodes went on for weeks after her death. When they finally stopped, I was sad that she no longer appeared.
My alarm rang."
Once I dreamt I was chopping meat off of meat hooks with butter knifes and feeding it to robotic heads, there were no bodies, just the heads chomping down on the meat I threw to them. And while doing that I was also talking to an aristocratic cockroach called Mr. Johnson, who I knew was an aristocrat because he was wearing a tuxedo, a monocle, and was fat. He had a deep, raspy kind of voice, and I don't recall our conversation, however at one point he said he had to go, and I asked: "But Mr. Johnson, won't you stay for dinner?" - To which he replied: "No, and you won't either." - And then I woke up, one or two minutes before My alarm rang. Mr. Johnson became a joke among my group of friends, and a super villain alongside Malpig, the Evil Swine.
"I work at a zoo..."
I work at a zoo and we had crazy tigers. They have since been sent to a big cat sanctuary because they never really adjusted well to our location. But they used to sneak and ambush you when walking by their enclosure. No joke you are minding your business and they would rush and pounce at the fence in full kill mode and scare the ever living sh!t out of you.
The tigers are gone and in their new home, but there's a number of us that still have tiger nightmares..
"One of his sisters passed away."
I had a dream a couple of hours ago about a man named Lewis that moved to Australia from America after years of abuse from his father towards him and his sisters. One of his sisters passed away. It felt so real and I felt such a strong connection. I tried looking it all up but alas couldn't find anything (because it wasn't real). It's got me REALLY fucked up to be honest. I contacted this person and we connected and I loved him. But it was just a dream. Then I woke up back to this depressing lonely reality.
"I was in a coma when I was 16."
I was in a coma when I was 16. Over 4 days of real life I spent years living in various dream worlds. I relive them all the time when I sleep.
Weirdest is the island. I wake up on a beach on a good sized deserted jungle island. It's a normal island at first glance aside from it being split down the middle. Half is normal "real life" textures and half is like somebody made a Dr. Suess filter and painted that half of the island. A coconut tree looks like a coconut tree, but wildly vibrant colors. All randomized.
There's a tiger on the island that always hunts me. I usually just kill her early on though. At this point the dream is kinda a game to me. I know how to do everything. I've found all the Easter eggs. I love playing that dream though.
"I have no idea why."
Being in a completely white room with no perceivable door or windows. Around the entire room about 3 inches from the ceiling is a model train track that comes into the room through a small tunnel from one wall, wraps the whole room and then returns into a tunnel at the opposite side of the first wall, it is also completely white.. on this track comes a small white model tank, smoking from it's barrel the entire time it travels round the room.. I get an anxious feeling of displacement, like the odd sensation you get if you take your thumb and push it as far as it will reach between your pointer and middle finger (I don't know why that specific action makes me get the same feeling of displacement, but it's the closest thing to it that I've been able to find out in the waking world) I have this dream around 5-6 times a year, and thus has been happening for more than 10 years now.. I have no idea why.
He dropped it on the center console..."
I once dreamt that my mild-mannered husband casually reaches out of our car window at a grocery store, grabbed a passing woman by the hair and sliced her face off with a sharp knife.
He dropped it on the center console and sped off, never looking at the road, but making eye contact with me while he silently bit off each of his fingers.
"This one time at a sleepover..."
This one time at a sleepover when I was like 8, I woke up from a dream where my and my friend were running through a white tunnel and right as I got to the end, I woke up. I saw the same friend sitting up, and I asked him if he was able to sleep (because I thought he was awake all night) he said he just woke up from a dream that he described as the same as mine.
Experiencing death is a fascinating and frightening idea.
Who doesn't want to know what is waiting for us on the other side?
But so many of us want to know and then come back and live a little longer.
It would be so great to be sure there is something else.
But the whole dying part is not that great, so we'll have to rely on other people's accounts.
Redditor AlaskaStiletto wanted to hear from everyone who has returned to life, so they asked:
"Redditors who have 'died' and come back to life, what did you see?"
Sensations
Happy Good Vibes GIF by Major League SoccerGiphy"My dad's heart stopped when he had a heart attack and he had to be brought back to life. He kept the paper copy of the heart monitor which shows he flatlined. He said he felt an overwhelming sensation of peace, like nothing he had felt before."
PeachesnPain
Recovery
"I had surgical complications in 2010 that caused a great deal of blood loss. As a result, I had extremely low blood pressure and could barely stay awake. I remember feeling like I was surrounded by loved ones who had passed. They were in a circle around me and I knew they were there to guide me onwards. I told them I was not ready to go because my kids needed me and I came back."
"My nurse later said she was afraid she’d find me dead every time she came into the room."
"It took months, and blood transfusions, but I recovered."
good_golly99
Take Me Back
"Overwhelming peace and happiness. A bright airy and floating feeling. I live a very stressful life. Imagine finding out the person you have had a crush on reveals they have the same feelings for you and then you win the lotto later that day - that was the feeling I had."
"I never feared death afterward and am relieved when I hear of people dying after suffering from an illness."
rayrayrayray
Free
The Light Minnie GIF by (G)I-DLEGiphy"I had a heart surgery with near-death experience, for me at least (well the possibility that those effects are caused by morphine is also there) I just saw black and nothing else but it was warm and I had such inner peace, its weird as I sometimes still think about it and wish this feeling of being so light and free again."
TooReDTooHigh
This is why I hate surgery.
You just never know.
Shocked
Giphy"More of a near-death experience. I was electrocuted. I felt like I was in a deep hole looking straight up in the sky. My life flashed before me. Felt sad for my family, but I had a deep sense of peace."
Admirable_Buyer6528
The SOB
"Nursing in the ICU, we’ve had people try to die on us many times during the years, some successfully. One guy stood out to me. His heart stopped. We called a code, are working on him, and suddenly he comes to. We hadn’t vented him yet, so he was able to talk, and he started screaming, 'Don’t let them take me, don’t let them take me, they are coming,' he was scared and yelling."
"Then he yelled a little more, as we tried to calm him down, he screamed, 'No, No,' and gestured towards the end of the bed, and died again. We didn’t get him back. It was seriously creepy. We called his son to tell him the news, and the son said basically, 'Good, he was an SOB.'”
1-cupcake-at-a-time
Colors
"My sister died and said it was extremely peaceful. She said it was very loud like a train station and lots of talking and she was stuck in this area that was like a curtain with lots of beautiful colors (colors that you don’t see in real life according to her) a man told her 'He was sorry, but she had to go back as it wasn’t her time.'"
Hannah_LL7
"I had a really similar experience except I was in an endless garden with flowers that were colors I had never seen before. It was quiet and peaceful and a woman in a dress looked at me, shook her head, and just said 'Not yet.' As I was coming back, it was extremely loud, like everyone in the world was trying to talk all at once. It was all very disorienting but it changed my perspective on life!"
huntokarrr
The Fog
"I was in a gray fog with a girl who looked a lot like a young version of my grandmother (who was still alive) but dressed like a pioneer in the 1800s she didn't say anything but kept pulling me towards an opening in the wall. I kept refusing to go because I was so tired."
"I finally got tired of her nagging and went and that's when I came to. I had bled out during a c-section and my heart could not beat without blood. They had to deliver the baby and sew up the bleeders. refill me with blood before they could restart my heart so, like, at least 12 minutes gone."
Fluffy-Hotel-5184
Through the Walls
"My spouse was dead for a couple of minutes one miserable night. She maintains that she saw nothing, but only heard people talking about her like through a wall. The only thing she remembers for absolute certain was begging an ER nurse that she didn't want to die."
"She's quite alive and well today."
Hot-Refrigerator6583
Well let's all be happy to be alive.
It seems to be all we have.
Trying to lose weight is a struggle understood by many people regardless of size.
The goal of reaching a healthy weight may seem unattainable, but with diet and exercise, it can pay off through persistence and discipline.
Seeing the pounds gradually drop off can also be a great motivator and incentivize people to stay the course.
Those who've achieved their respective weight goals shared their experiences when Redditor apprenti8455 asked:
"People who lost a lot of weight, what surprises you the most now?"
Redditors didn't see these coming.
Shiver Me Timbers
"I’m always cold now!"
– Telrom_1
"I had a coworker lose over 130 pounds five or six years ago. I’ve never seen him without a jacket on since."
– r7ndom
"140 lbs lost here starting just before COVID, I feel like that little old lady that's always cold, damn this top comment was on point lmao."
– mr_remy
Drawing Concern
"I lost 100 pounds over a year and a half but since I’m old(70’s) it seems few people comment on it because (I think) they think I’m wasting away from some terminal illness."
– dee-fondy
"Congrats on the weight loss! It’s honestly a real accomplishment 🙂"
"Working in oncology, I can never comment on someone’s weight loss unless I specifically know it was on purpose, regardless of their age. I think it kind of ruffles feathers at times, but like I don’t want to congratulate someone for having cancer or something. It’s a weird place to be in."
– LizardofDeath
Unleashing Insults
"I remember when I lost the first big chunk of weight (around 50 lbs) it was like it gave some people license to talk sh*t about the 'old' me. Old coworkers, friends, made a lot of not just negative, but harsh comments about what I used to look like. One person I met after the big loss saw a picture of me prior and said, 'Wow, we wouldn’t even be friends!'”
"It wasn’t extremely common, but I was a little alarmed by some of the attention. My weight has been up and down since then, but every time I gain a little it gets me a little down thinking about those things people said."
– alanamablamaspama
Not Everything Goes After Losing Weight
"The loose skin is a bit unexpected."
– KeltarCentauri
"I haven’t experienced it myself, but surgery to remove skin takes a long time to recover. Longer than bariatric surgery and usually isn’t covered by insurance unless you have both."
– KatMagic1977
"It definitely does take a long time to recover. My Dad dropped a little over 200 pounds a few years back and decided to go through with skin removal surgery to deal with the excess. His procedure was extensive, as in he had skin taken from just about every part of his body excluding his head, and he went through hell for weeks in recovery, and he was bedridden for a lot of it."
– Jaew96
These Redditors shared their pleasantly surprising experiences.
Shopping
"I can buy clothes in any store I want."
– WaySavvyD
"When I lost weight I was dying to go find cute, smaller clothes and I really struggled. As someone who had always been restricted to one or two stores that catered to plus-sized clothing, a full mall of shops with items in my size was daunting. Too many options and not enough knowledge of brands that were good vs cheap. I usually went home pretty frustrated."
– ganache98012
No More Symptoms
"Lost about 80 pounds in the past year and a half, biggest thing that I’ve noticed that I haven’t seen mentioned on here yet is my acid reflux and heartburn are basically gone. I used to be popping tums every couple hours and now they just sit in the medicine cabinet collecting dust."
– colleennicole93
Expanding Capabilities
"I'm all for not judging people by their appearance and I recognise that there are unhealthy, unachievable beauty standards, but one thing that is undeniable is that I can just do stuff now. Just stamina and flexibility alone are worth it, appearance is tertiary at best."
– Ramblonius
People Change Their Tune
"How much nicer people are to you."
"My feet weren't 'wide' they were 'fat.'"
– LiZZygsu
"Have to agree. Lost 220 lbs, people make eye contact and hold open doors and stuff"
"And on the foot thing, I also lost a full shoe size numerically and also wear regular width now 😅"
– awholedamngarden
It's gonna take some getting used to.
Bones Everywhere
"Having bones. Collarbones, wrist bones, knee bones, hip bones, ribs. I have so many bones sticking out everywhere and it’s weird as hell."
– Princess-Pancake-97
"I noticed the shadow of my ribs the other day and it threw me, there’s a whole skeleton in here."
– bekastrange
Knee Pillow
"Right?! And they’re so … pointy! Now I get why people sleep with pillows between their legs - the knee bones laying on top of each other (side sleeper here) is weird and jarring."
– snic2030
"I lost only 40 pounds within the last year or so. I’m struggling to relate to most of these comments as I feel like I just 'slimmed down' rather than dropped a ton. But wow, the pillow between the knees at night. YES! I can relate to this. I think a lot of my weight was in my thighs. I never needed to do this up until recently."
– Strongbad23
More Mobility
"I’ve lost 100 lbs since 2020. It’s a collection of little things that surprise me. For at least 10 years I couldn’t put on socks, or tie my shoes. I couldn’t bend over and pick something up. I couldn’t climb a ladder to fix something. Simple things like that I can do now that fascinate me."
"Edit: Some additional little things are sitting in a chair with arms, sitting in a booth in a restaurant, being able to shop in a normal store AND not needing to buy the biggest size there, being able to easily wipe my butt, and looking down and being able to see my penis."
– dma1965
People making significant changes, whether for mental or physical health, can surely find a newfound perspective on life.
But they can also discover different issues they never saw coming.
That being said, overcoming any challenge in life is laudable, especially if it leads to gaining confidence and ditching insecurities.