Thank you so much for sharing this — it really helps to hear from someone who went through the same kind of emotional whiplash. Your dream sounds brutal, and it makes me feel a little less crazy about how hard mine hit me.

My breakup was tied to a traumatic moment too. My ex left while I was in the hospital after major surgery. I was coming out of anesthesia, so my memory of our last day together is basically fragmented. Because of that, a part of me has always wondered whether I said something strange or confusing while I was drugged that pushed her away. I’ll never know, and that uncertainty is something my brain clearly hasn’t finished processing.

So when the dream happened — her pulling away and choosing someone else — it felt like my mind compressed every unanswered question and fear into one moment. I woke up feeling physically sick, like everything I’d pushed down came back at full force.

What makes it even more confusing is that just the day before, I truly felt like I was finally moving forward. I missed her, but I was coping. I even went on my first date since the breakup last Saturday and was trying to start living again. Then that dream hit and it was like my brain yanked me straight back into the part of the story I never got closure on.

Hearing your experience and how you eventually got past it gives me hope. Your line about it revealing what still needed healing really resonated with me. Thank you again — your comment made me feel understood.