Page 1 of 2

dreaming more a good sign ?

Posted: Mon Jan 07, 2008 8:05 pm
by deerslayer
have noticed since i started cpap the beginning of last month that i am dreaming more. more in frequency & detail . reckon this is a good sign sleep quality is improving ?


Posted: Mon Jan 07, 2008 8:45 pm
by RosemaryB
Yep! A good sign. I loved it when this happened, even some of the bad dreams were better than none. I loved dreaming in color, too. For years I had few, if any dreams.

There's something called REM rebound, where you do a lot of dreaming at first while your brain is getting caught up on the extra REM.

Enjoy!

Posted: Mon Jan 07, 2008 9:14 pm
by darthlucy
I've seen quite a few people post here that they dream more once their xpap treatment is successful. My experience has been just the opposite, and I'm curious if anyone has experienced this effect.

All my life I've had very vivid nightmares on a regular basis (several times a week). We're talking bolt up in bed screaming and crying. I typically don't remember them, except that it's either someone I trust who's hurting me (physically or emotionally) or something bad happening to someone I care about, and I can't do anything to stop it. Well, ever since I started on cpap, almost immediately, they virtually stopped. On the rare occasion I do have one, I can almost guarantee that when I check my stats in the morning, it will not have been a good numbers night.

Anyone else have this type of experience?


Posted: Mon Jan 07, 2008 10:35 pm
by alnhwrd
Pre-cpap I had few dreams that I remember, and those were disjointed and bizarre. I did have occasional dreams I ws drowning! Since startin CPAP I, too have had increased and more lucid dreams. Except for this past week, when they have for some reason moved into the bad dream stage. I hope it is just transitory.


Posted: Mon Jan 07, 2008 10:38 pm
by tinaw
I'm rather new to cpap- only two weeks in- but I seem to have stopped dreaming so far. I used to have dreams of frustration and fear almost nightly, often dreaming that I was trapped somehow. Since I've been on cpap I haven't had any dreams like that. I hope that I'll have pleasant dreams one of these days, but I'd rather have none at all than bad dreams.


Posted: Mon Jan 07, 2008 10:44 pm
by Guest
When undiagnosed I dreamt all night even getting up for a pee and resuming the dream where I left it but was always exhausted anyway. Can only assume I was stuck in permanent REM. No dreams now = good sleep for me

not as much dreaming?

Posted: Tue Jan 08, 2008 8:25 am
by canyongirl
I find that I am not dreaming as much, although I know this isn't true. I just don't remember the dreams. When I titrated I had lots of dreams, and when i first started cpap therapy, i would sleep through alarm clocks and fire alarms. what i considered dreaming before cpap, was not dreaming. my doc said my mind kept itself in a semi awake state so as to not have apnea. so i "dreamt" alot and very vivid, and remmbered all of it. Now it seems like i don't dream, but i know i must. i get the best sound sleep ever now.


Posted: Tue Jan 08, 2008 9:01 am
by deerslayer
dreamt last night i was explaining to the rt about becoming pro active acquiring the encore software & reader. he was surprised,also told him how great this support group was-freaky eh ? this thing is taking over my life !....seeing my new primary care doc fri.,going to see if i can get off the stroke prevention meds. afterall as of jan 4 i drug #4 whitetail off the mountain

Posted: Tue Jan 08, 2008 9:31 am
by Pilot_Ron
darthlucy wrote:I've seen quite a few people post here that they dream more once their xpap treatment is successful. My experience has been just the opposite, and I'm curious if anyone has experienced this effect.

All my life I've had very vivid nightmares on a regular basis (several times a week). We're talking bolt up in bed screaming and crying. I typically don't remember them, except that it's either someone I trust who's hurting me (physically or emotionally) or something bad happening to someone I care about, and I can't do anything to stop it. Well, ever since I started on cpap, almost immediately, they virtually stopped. On the rare occasion I do have one, I can almost guarantee that when I check my stats in the morning, it will not have been a good numbers night.

Anyone else have this type of experience?

_________________

I have the same experience. I would dream constantly about being in some type of fluid trying to get to the top for air, and wake up gasping. The nightmares where getting so bad, that I would wake up 4 or 5 times night from the same thing. It is what eventually sent me to get a sleep study in the first place. Now since CPAP I don't really dream.


Posted: Tue Jan 08, 2008 1:40 pm
by Wulfman
deerslayer wrote::shock: dreamt last night i was explaining to the rt about becoming pro active acquiring the encore software & reader. he was surprised,also told him how great this support group was-freaky eh ? this thing is taking over my life !....seeing my new primary care doc fri.,going to see if i can get off the stroke prevention meds. afterall as of jan 4 i drug #4 whitetail off the mountain
That was TOTALLY unnecessary!!!!!

Heck, I can't even DREAM about that, anymore. Then, I just saw what the new 2008 hunting and fishing license prices are......and THAT was a "nightmare". Man, I can buy a lot of meat at the grocery stores for what licenses and gas would cost. This is gettin' depressing. And then they have the nerve to complain that fewer people are hunting and fishing......DUH!

As far as "dreaming" goes......I have mixed feelings about it. I think I may have deeper stages of sleep when I DON'T remember my dreams.....but I've always found dreams interesting. I've always felt more well-rested when the night seems to have zipped by.....you close your eyes and the next moment you open them and it's morning......


Den

Posted: Tue Jan 08, 2008 4:06 pm
by deerslayer
Wulfman wrote:
deerslayer wrote::shock: dreamt last night i was explaining to the rt about becoming pro active acquiring the encore software & reader. he was surprised,also told him how great this support group was-freaky eh ? this thing is taking over my life !....seeing my new primary care doc fri.,going to see if i can get off the stroke prevention meds. afterall as of jan 4 i drug #4 whitetail off the mountain
That was TOTALLY unnecessary!!!!! :(

Heck, I can't even DREAM about that, anymore. Then, I just saw what the new 2008 hunting and fishing license prices are......and THAT was a "nightmare". Man, I can buy a lot of meat at the grocery stores for what licenses and gas would cost. This is gettin' depressing. And then they have the nerve to complain that fewer people are hunting and fishing......DUH!

As far as "dreaming" goes......I have mixed feelings about it. I think I may have deeper stages of sleep when I DON'T remember my dreams.....but I've always found dreams interesting. I've always felt more well-rested when the night seems to have zipped by.....you close your eyes and the next moment you open them and it's morning......


Den
sorry Den i couldn't resist,lol....gave the last 2 deer to: http://www.fhfh.org Rick Wilson was a childhood friend. the depressing part was gas on this trip to MD. was $428 + out of state tags + club fees ...guess now i need to sell the yamaha griz to pay for next year

Re: not as much dreaming?

Posted: Tue Jan 08, 2008 4:25 pm
by rested gal
canyongirl wrote:I find that I am not dreaming as much, although I know this isn't true. I just don't remember the dreams

That's it. You nailed it, canyongirl.

It's the difference between actually dreaming without being aware of it (sleeping peacefully through it) as opposed to being awakened (possibly by an apnea) DURING a dream for long enough to be aware.. "I was dreaming."

We can have plenty of dreams every night and never have even the a vague feeling of "having dreamed" when we wake up. I think not remembering dreams and not having even the most wispy feeling of "hmm, I had a dream but I can't remember any of it" is the way it should be if we are getting effective cpap treatment.

Not remembering dreams means, to me, that we're sleeping THROUGH the normal sleep cycles without having an apnea jolt us up out of sleep. We're having nice, uninterrupted REM when most dreaming occurs and when most apneas hit most people with OSA. We can dream in the NREM (non-REM) stages of sleep too, but REM is the most apnea-prone time for most people.

Not remembering dreams and not being aware of "I had a dream last night" is often a good sign, imho, of effective cpap treatment. It's can be an indication of smooth, peaceful sleep the way it should be. Just my opinion.

LINKS to dreaming - dreams - REM rebound
viewtopic.php?t=3524

Posted: Tue Jan 08, 2008 5:04 pm
by rested gal
At least one doctor's very different take on this (that there's a distinction between waking up enough to "remember" having a dream vs actually "having" dreams) is on page 3 of this thread:

viewtopic.php?t=3836 (Dr. Kracow's comments on page 3)

Posted: Tue Jan 08, 2008 5:36 pm
by deerslayer
thankyou so much rested gal very informative material !!!

Chewing gum.

Posted: Tue Jan 08, 2008 8:40 pm
by Parf
I would dream of pulling handfull after handfull of super sticky chewing gum out of my mouth...pulling it back up out of my throat...never seeming to be able to get it all out while I slowly choked.

I hate chewing gum.