Dreaming

[animallover13]

I'm on my 5th week of CPap, and slowly but surely I'm getting used to it. Sometimes I wake up and have to check the machine to see if it's even on because I cannot feel the pressure.

When I woke up this morning, I realized that something different had happened last night. I actually had a dream last night and it's the first time I've had a dream while on the Cpap machine. Does this mean anything other than being in a deep sleep or REM sleep? Or am I getting excited over nothing ?

Any comments?

[jweeks]

Hi,

Dreaming is good. That shows that you are getting some good quality deep sleep. You probably have many more dreams than what you remember, so this may have been a particularly vivid dream. After I started on the machine, I had a series of very intense and memorable dreams. It was kind of interesting getting back in touch with my subconscious again. I have no idea how or why it made some of the connections that it did. For a short period of time, the dreams were so intense that it actually disrupted my sleep. I couldn't turn them off. That phase eventually passed.

-john-

[animallover13]

It is good and reassuring to know that I am getting some good quality deep sleep, and I really hadn't thought about the fact that we don't necessarily remember all the dreams we have. This one was vivid because I have wanted to start walking again (for general good health) and in my dream I was doing a "speed walk" around this track and it felt really good. I was tapping into my subconcious for sure. Sometimes dreams do not seem to make any sense at all either., it is all rather interesting.

[rested gal]

Here are some interesting discussions in old topics on this board about...

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

[dave21]

Dreaming is always very good, prior to CPAP most people stop dreaming due to not getting into the right sleep zone, but dreaming certainly comes back it's something you never really know you've missed until it comes back

Thanks
Dave

[Vladesch]

In my case, I was dreaming a lot, both before and after I started with CPAP.
The difference was though that in general the dreams now are pleasant, where the dreams before were extremely unpleasant, often waking me up shaking nervously, and needing to sit quiet or listen to soft music for half an hour to return to "normal". The dreams back then I tended to remember because they were so vivid and intense, but nowadays I might remember the dream just after I wake up, but soon after it is forgotten.

[sleepymama]

thats great your back to dreaming. i too have noticed this after starting cpap. i notice that if i remember the dream in the morning i'm more tired then if i didn't think i had dreamt that night. did u find the same thing? anyone know why this is?

[Beachmeezer]

Why is it I only dream when I'm not on CPAP? I usually get up about 6:00 each morning. If I wake up at 5:00, I'll sometimes take the mask off so I can sleep on my stomach for a little bit (can't do that in my mask and I MISS it), gives the strap indentions time to go away and that's when I dream - during that little window of time I'm not on the mask. - Kim

[animallover13]

thats great your back to dreaming. i too have noticed this after starting cpap. i notice that if i remember the dream in the morning i'm more tired then if i didn't think i had dreamt that night. did u find the same thing? anyone know why this is?

Sleepymama,
For me it's the opposite-if I remember the dream in the morning I usually feel much more rested...and why this is I don't know. Maybe others have some input.

Why is it I only dream when I'm not on CPAP? I usually get up about 6:00 each morning. If I wake up at 5:00, I'll sometimes take the mask off so I can sleep on my stomach for a little bit (can't do that in my mask and I MISS it), gives the strap indentions time to go away and that's when I dream - during that little window of time I'm not on the mask. - Kim

Kim-I'm not sure why you dream only when NOT using your machine., maybe you are most comfortable on your stomach during that little bit of time and you drift off into a deeper sleep? I have read on these boards that a few people have come up with some creative ways to sleep on their stomachs....maybe you could take some of their ideas, it would be hard not be able to sleep the way you are most comfortable. I am a side sleeper so the nose pillows really work well for side sleeping for me so far.

[animallover13]

Here are some interesting discussions in old topics on this board about...

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

rested gal-
thank you for the links, I have lots of interesting reading and learning to do !

[elena88]

No, you should be excited that you are dreaming on cpap..

you are going thru the stages of sleep cycles now.. and you woke up during a dream cycle, so you remembered it.. good for you!

I hope it was a nice dream..

I did not dream when I was NOT on cpap.. maybe twice a year..


then when I started, I had just nightmares, very vivid nightmares, but they say that is not unusual...
Now, those are mostly gone..

The last dream I had, I dreamed I was in a huge ancient redwood forest.. and I could hear the buzzing of huge, gigantic chain saws..
I was forlorn, and intensely upset that these beautiful magestic trees were being cut down! I ran thru the forest trying to find the chainsaw
noise so I could stop them! Then, I woke up, to hear my husband snoring.. ....

[animallover13]

I was excited when I realized I had a dream and actually remembered it and yes it was a good dream ! I am happy that Cpap is working and I am going thru the phases of sleep cycles, it is exactly the encouragement I needed.

You said you did not dream either while NOT on Cpap, and thinking about it- I didn't have many dreams either that I would remember prior to Cpap!

I am glad for you that your nightmares are mostly gone.... that is a good thing..

[rested gal]

Waking up in the morning and thinking you didn't dream doesn't mean a person truly had no dreams that night. You could have been dreaming a lot, but didn't wake up long enough during the dream to be aware (and commit to memory) that you were dreaming.

Not being aware of having dreamed doesn't mean no dreams occurred.

Not being aware of having dreamed could mean you slept peacefully through normal REM cycles without having your sleep disturbed. Sleeping peacefully through REM ("rapid eye movement" sleep) could make you think, "Gee, I didn't dream at all last night" when you actually did dream many times during the night.

For people who have sleep apnea and are not using CPAP, apneas usually occur most frequently during REM and/or when the person is sleeping on their back.

A good titration in a sleep lab will arrive at a CPAP pressure that can prevent apneas (and hypopneas and snoring) when the person being studied is in worst case scenario -- in REM and on his/her back.