nightmares

How do you manage the nightmares?

Mine are currently so intrusive just now. They're always worse this time of year. Some are very graphic and afterwards it feels as though I have relived the r all over again.... There are so many bad memories and the nightmares often overlap. It feels too real.

Any suggestions would be appreciated please

Honestly I'm not sure what to tell you, but I wanted to say you're not alone.
I know how that is. I had a period where I had a lot of nightmares, to a point where for weeks at a time I would wake up crying and even went onto throwing up sometimes.
I don't remember anything specific that helped, other than getting better. For me that was the moment when after long denial I started really accepting that I had gone through something horrible. And that's when I started having more nightmares and flashbacks and the black holes in my memory from that night started getting filled. Until that moment I remembered the begining, the end, and a a memory from the "between" here and there, but with lots of black holes in it. I read that finally remembering those means that your brain is finally ready to remember, so although it seems you feel worse, it's actually a good thing. That you're ready to process things.
I spend few months working on recovering from my depression, trying to take care of myself(as best as I could) and venting out all that I was remembering and thinking about(I wrote in forums, I wrote an anonymus blog, I journaled daily. Every memory that was killing me I put on paper, in detail). Eventually the nightmares started to decrease and become more and more rare. Now I get one or two of them very rarely and I am much happier and grounded so it's easier to realize it's just a nightmare and being happy that I've woken up.

Are you currently seeing a therapist to process this trauma and try to heal? I recommend EDMR and/or CBT.

I still get nightmares from time to time, but I'm at a point where they don't affect me nearly as bad as they used to. (It used to be so bad that I would be so stressed about sleeping that I would end up staying awake and get stuck in a vicious cycle of sleep avoidance and deprivation/exhaustion.)

I strongly suggest you speak to a therapist about this. I'm at a point where when I do have a nightmare, I will journal about what I dreamt and try to process what my brain is telling me. Fears, feelings, images. Sometimes things just stay with you, but you don't have to let them define you.

I have a list of positive activities, meditation grounding or mindfulness techniques, soothing relaxation music that I turn to whenever a nightmare occurs. Journaling also really helps.

When the nightmare happens and I wake up - I remind myself of the following:
Feel parts of your own body to put yourself in the moment in the place where you currently are.
Remind yourself that although your brain is reprocessing/reliving a past trauma, you are in the present and in a safe place.
Speak to someone you trust.
Engage in self care and/or positive activities to redirect your mind.

Not sure if any of this helps, but that's what keeps me going from day to day. It's a struggle. I think it always will be on some level.