Have you ever been terrified to go to bed because of continuing nightmares?

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It kind of sounds dumb, but for the people experiencing them it is HORRIBLE! I am having pain induced nightmares, and they are the most miserable things I have experienced and they are making me terrified to go to bed. As I have posted previously, I had a total knee replacement on June 11th. The past 3 weeks I started having pain induced nightmares that would have me waking up screaming. (fortunately I live alone except for my dogs and cats...and the neighbors aren't that close.) I spoke to the doctor yesterday, and again brought up the nightmares. He said that it could be from the inflammation in my knee and I should take Alieve. He got upset when I told him I couldn't take it because I am allergic to aspirin (I double checked the box at the pharmacy last night), so grudgingly he told me he would write a prescription for an anti inflammatory. Of course when I got to the pharmacy he hadn't called it in, and when I called his office I was told that the soonest that he would deal with the prescription would be on Wednesday because on Tuesdays he has surgery. Yeah, RIGHT!!! It's going to friggin help me out tonight when I crawl in bed and try to get to sleep. I go to bed and lay there unable to go to sleep for hours. I usually get up and do something else. But the worst part (no, I am not thinking about having nightmares. I concentrate on having a wonderful night's sleep with pleasant dreams.) is that I have the pain induced nightmares that have me up and screaming my lungs out and sweating like crazy. Last night I dreamed that someone was trying to kill me by cutting off my feet. I woke up kicking like a mule and screaming in pain and terror. (I kicked the cat off the bed and across the room. He landed in the laundry basket and then he ran like the hounds of hell were chasing him!) I have had screaming nightmares through the past three weeks, and fortunately I don't remember them...except for last night and one about my cats. I could sit and cry right now, I am getting a couple of hours sleep per night, and am extremely tired (of course), in pain, and pissed at the doctor for his lack of compassion for the situation. Is there anyone else out there that has gone through something like this? Did you have to work at convincing yourself that you need to go to bed? Did your doctor ignore your pleas and neglect to call in a prescription? I don't normally go for sleeping pills simply because I am the kind of person who doesn't like to take tons of meds. But at this point I really need something to knock me out and relax my brain and mask the pain that is causing the problems. I am sitting here about to cry because of not only the pain in my leg, but the fact that I need to get some sleep and am scared stiff about the possibilities. Thanks for reading my problem and than you in advance for any responses.