Bad Dreams and Nightmares without CPAP

CareS · Post by **CareS** » Tue Feb 28, 2006 11:51 am

Just wondering if anyone else has experienced this. On the frequent occasions that I fall asleep on the sofa watching TV or whenever I fall asleep without the machine, I invariably have bad dreams. If for no other reason than this, I make it a point to sleep with the mask. It is now one year for me on Cpap. CareS

rested gal · Post by **rested gal** » Tue Feb 28, 2006 12:21 pm

Hi CareS,

So nice to see you posting again. One year...gosh, time flies.

Not surprising that you became aware of having had dreams (bad, or any kind) when you fell asleep without the machine.

Apneas/hypopneas are most apt to happen during REM sleep when we're dreaming. Without CPAP going, those events are likely to cause sleep disruptions - arousals. If the arousal happens in the midst of REM, it's happening in the midst of a dream. Waking up during a dream makes it possible to remember the dream.

A lot of people report having had bad dreams, including nightmares about drowning or suffocation before they were diagnosed with OSA.

With a CPAP machine going, we're less likely to have an apnea jolt us awake out of REM. Sleeping blissfully through REM without arousals means that even though we'll still be dreaming just like we should, we won't remember it or even be aware that we did dream.

You're smart to be making sure you have your mask on and machine going anytime you relax enough while on the sofa that there's a possibility you might drift off to sleep.

P.S. I worked and worked with the Comfort Curve, but never could conquer the leakiness. Thanks for your help!

Goofproof · Post by **Goofproof** » Tue Feb 28, 2006 10:10 pm

You are being punished for not using your machine every time you sleep.

You know better that to do that. Stay with the program and be well, Jim

CareS · Post by **CareS** » Wed Mar 01, 2006 6:22 am

Thanks RG for your reply and yours too GoofProof. I think I really was being punished last night because I kept waking up hourly with foot cramps and it felt like my toes were curling up. So between the dreams and the foot cramps I didn't sleep too well. Any remedies for this? CareS

Goofproof · Post by **Goofproof** » Wed Mar 01, 2006 2:24 pm

I'm supposed to take a 81 mg aspirin a day so I take it 10 minutes before bed, it's calming and helps lifes pains. I have found if you have joint pain, B-Vitamin helps in large doses B-100, I also take B-12 1000 mg, B-6 500 mg.

You would have to take off your shoes to count the pills I take each meal, their's nothing like growing old gracefully. Jim

needingu · Post by **needingu** » Mon Mar 06, 2006 5:50 pm

CareS wrote:Thanks RG for your reply and yours too GoofProof. I think I really was being punished last night because I kept waking up hourly with foot cramps and it felt like my toes were curling up. So between the dreams and the foot cramps I didn't sleep too well. Any remedies for this? CareS

Do you have a B12 deficiency???????

Goofproof · Post by **Goofproof** » Mon Mar 06, 2006 6:59 pm

I've never been diagnosed with a vitamin problem, but the way this old body feels it needs all the help it can get, It's been rode hard and put away wet too many times. You would shutter looking at me Vitamin list I take, each one to repair a different problem, But I'm not kidding about the B-100 for joint pain, it's cheap and works in a few months. The other B-'s are to promote nerve repair and burning fuel. (food) (Glucose)

CareS · Post by **CareS** » Wed Mar 08, 2006 5:30 pm

I probably would not discuss my bad dreams but this one was a doozy. Obviously I had fallen asleep without the machine or taken the mask off in my sleep which I do quite frequently. In this dream the Cpap hose had taken on a life of it's own and crawled snake-like around the floor of my bedroom. Then it crawled up on my bed and curled itself like a cobra ready to attack. It did not turn into a snake but remained in the form of the cpap hose. I guess at that point I woke up. I would love to hear about some weird dreams that others have had while sleeping without their machine and mask. CareS

RobertinTX · Post by **RobertinTX** » Thu Mar 09, 2006 8:43 am

Please, let's not discuss our dreams.....laffin
If I told mine I'd be banned from the forum..very erotic sometimes
And I'm leaving it at that........
And this is with my CPAP.......

Marzzz · Post by **Marzzz** » Sat Apr 01, 2006 3:30 pm

Dreaming of course, is really your subconscious trying to communicate to your conscious mind. Right now mine has not gotten used to the idea of me wearing a nasal interface. (I'm still trying to find a way to be totally compliant.)

So whenever I do wear it at night, I dream that I am wearing it in the daytime —going about my daily business with this hose on my nose. People in the dream look at me strangely, and sometimes they chuckle and ask me how I can sleep with "that thing on."

I suspect that once I do get used to it, I will stop having these kind of dreams. Already I can feel the difference when I use my BiPAP machine. Actually I never did have a problem with the machine — just the interface! And I think this seems to be the problem everyone has — trying to find the most comfortable one.

Marzzz

Mask

Bad Dreams and Nightmares without CPAP

Bad Dreams and Nightmares without CPAP

Bad Dreams and Nightmares without Cpap