Anybody else get nightmares?

General Discussion on any topic relating to CPAP and/or Sleep Apnea.
ontariomama
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Anybody else get nightmares?

Post by ontariomama » Fri Oct 17, 2014 6:55 pm

I was one of the lucky CPAP users who got used to my machine from the first night, just over a year ago. Love it. BUT I dream a LOT and some are unnerving nightmares. I don't remember dreaming so much before I got my machine. I suppose it's a good thing to dream, but anybody else get nightmares since starting therapy? And, nothing else is going on in my life that has changed.

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palerider
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Re: Anybody else get nightmares?

Post by palerider » Fri Oct 17, 2014 7:14 pm

ontariomama wrote:I was one of the lucky CPAP users who got used to my machine from the first night, just over a year ago. Love it. BUT I dream a LOT and some are unnerving nightmares. I don't remember dreaming so much before I got my machine. I suppose it's a good thing to dream, but anybody else get nightmares since starting therapy? And, nothing else is going on in my life that has changed.
I had nightmares *before* cpap. since then, just my normal weird dreams. they make perfect sense while I'm having them, but when I try to follow them after waking up... it's "why didn't I notice this was changing into that when I turned around?" and other even odderities

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webbie73
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Re: Anybody else get nightmares?

Post by webbie73 » Fri Oct 17, 2014 8:00 pm

ontariomama wrote:I was one of the lucky CPAP users who got used to my machine from the first night, just over a year ago. Love it. BUT I dream a LOT and some are unnerving nightmares. I don't remember dreaming so much before I got my machine. I suppose it's a good thing to dream, but anybody else get nightmares since starting therapy? And, nothing else is going on in my life that has changed.
Just the opposite. Nightmares and night terrors before cpap.

borgready
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Re: Anybody else get nightmares?

Post by borgready » Fri Oct 17, 2014 10:30 pm

Could you tell me about your nightmares? Are they vivid? What do you see and how does it make you feel?
Is your heart rate up and are you really warm or sweating?



I will assume even though your on cpap and using it that your having problems. The bad dreams your having are there to wake you up as your breathing is not adequate. You need to monitor your O2 levels with a pulse oximeter. Most likely they will be dropping lower than they should for longer than they should. If your nose swells shut, the cpap will become almost useless. Is your nose stuffy?

If your nose airways are open, and breathing through the nose is easy then you have to look to see if your having long apneas or shallow breathing during the dreaming. Start with a vitamin d check or just take vitamin d. Get some sun and tan up. Take calcium and magnesium before bed.

You may also try going to a bipap as it makes breathing seem easier.

mgaggie
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Re: Anybody else get nightmares?

Post by mgaggie » Sat Oct 18, 2014 12:26 am

I remember my dreams more since being on CPAP.

Although I've been naughty lately slipping back into bad habits and not using my machine as much as I should

borgready
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Re: Anybody else get nightmares?

Post by borgready » Sat Oct 18, 2014 2:40 pm

Hey mgaggie,
What kind of dreams do you have? Good dreams(sex), scary bad dreams with death themes, dreams about dead relatives, or dreams about being chased? The last three deal with not getting enough air.

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Re: Anybody else get nightmares?

Post by ems » Sat Oct 18, 2014 3:20 pm

My dreams haven't changed at all. I had vivid, fun, pretty crazy, silly dreams with occasional nightmares before BiPap, and it's the same now.

I've mentioned this before, but have no idea if it's actually true... that vivid dreaming/nightmares are a sign of depression if most of your dreaming falls into that category. Was told that by pulmonary sleep specialist and PCP agreed. It would be interesting if anyone knows more about this. I haven't been able to find anything related to it.
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cathyf
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Re: Anybody else get nightmares?

Post by cathyf » Sat Oct 18, 2014 4:37 pm

After I started taking thyroid medication and then cholesterol meds I started having this nightmare almost every night where there was some prescription that I had completely forgotten some pill I was supposed to be taking, and now I couldn't breathe or my chest hurt, etc. Kind of like that nightmare that it's finals and there is a class that you forgot you signed up for and now you have to take the final even though you have no idea what is going on. I chalked this up to the stress of having to remember to take drugs at particular times, and this was after a whole life of being one of those "no, no meds" people on medical forms.

Now that I have been diagnosed with apnea I think that this was instead an apnea/hypopnea arousal, with my brain trying to impose some order and meaning to what my body was feeling.

I dream virtually all of the time that I am asleep -- even a 10-second doze. When I first realized that narcolepsy is when a person only has rem sleep, and rem sleep is associated with dreaming, I was sure that YIKES! I had narcolepsy. Instead my sleep study showed mostly normal sleep architecture, and I learned that there are lots of people who dream in non-rem sleep.

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chunkyfrog
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Re: Anybody else get nightmares?

Post by chunkyfrog » Sat Oct 18, 2014 6:16 pm

My apnea dreams were strenuous, frightening, and very disturbing.
I was always being pursued or had impossible tasks to complete in not quite enough time.
As a child, a repetitive dream had 100 tangled threads in front of an orange background.
I had to untangle them, and worked feverishly until it was almost done;
but then the threads dissolved into chicken tracks, which I had to follow
and get all the hens back into the coop before dark or they would be killed by weasels.
I think I had apnea even then.

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mgaggie
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Re: Anybody else get nightmares?

Post by mgaggie » Sat Oct 18, 2014 6:45 pm

borgready wrote:Hey mgaggie,
What kind of dreams do you have? Good dreams(sex), scary bad dreams with death themes, dreams about dead relatives, or dreams about being chased? The last three deal with not getting enough air.
Sometimes good dreams, mostly the last three in your list. I also dream about kicking something bad and one time I kicked my dog out of the bed. I know I kick out often when I dream.

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jencat824
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Re: Anybody else get nightmares?

Post by jencat824 » Sat Oct 18, 2014 10:34 pm

mgaggie,

The kicking sounds like it could be PLMD. Did your sleep test show any evidence of PLMD/RLS? Has anyone told you that you kick in your sleep? Sounds like the dog knows the answer to that. But seriously, this could be disturbing your sleep enough that you are still not getting enough 'good sleep' to be well rested.

Hopefully KTeague will be along soon to give you some advice on ways of dealing with PLMD. Until then, my advice would be to look at your sleep study for evidence that limb movement was noted. Even if not noted there some other evidence would be noting if your bed clothes are twisted & messed up in the morning and/or reports from a bed partner that you kick or that your legs move a lot during sleep.

If you indeed have PLMD & it sounds like you probably do, then you will need to treat it. I take Mirapex, which works well for me. There are other prescription drugs & some nonprescription methods that can help in treating this sleep disorder. I know KTeague uses a tens unit & I think that is successful for her. How you treat it will be up to you & your Dr, but if you have it, treatment is necessary. You can treat one sleep disorder (OSA) , but you won't get good, restorative sleep unless you treat your 'other'' sleep disorder, PLMD.

Now I could be wrong & the dog kicking was just a one-time thing. I hope I'm wrong & the little booger just needed a solid kick off the bed. I sincerely hope that is the case, but you need to investigate to know for sure.

Jen

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Re: Anybody else get nightmares?

Post by mgaggie » Sun Oct 19, 2014 12:15 am

thanks for your reply jencat. My sleep studies showed no limb movement, BUT I never went into REM sleep in any of the studies. So I'm not sure if that makes a difference.

I would like to say kicking the dog was a once off, but I now remember dreaming once that I was squishing a spider with my knee and I was actually squishing the dog, she yelped and I woke up. I've always called myself a restless sleeper, toss and turn, waking up to find half the bedclothes on the floor.

I really need to go back and see the sleep specialist, its just so hard when he will see private patients only one morning a week and its a 2.5 hr drive.

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jencat824
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Re: Anybody else get nightmares?

Post by jencat824 » Sun Oct 19, 2014 3:34 pm

Sounds like you could have a sleep movement disorder. If that is the only sleep specialist available, I guess I would go. Another approach might be to discuss this with your primary care Dr first, you might get help that way & avoid the 2.5hr trip. It all depends on how knowledgeable your primary is about PLMD & related disorders.

Post again & let us know how things go. Also, the dog will thank you for getting help.

Jen

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mgaggie
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Re: Anybody else get nightmares?

Post by mgaggie » Sun Oct 19, 2014 5:36 pm

jencat824 wrote:

Post again & let us know how things go. Also, the dog will thank you for getting help.

Jen
Poor thing sleeps in the bathroom now.

mgaggie
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Re: Anybody else get nightmares?

Post by mgaggie » Sun Oct 19, 2014 5:46 pm

jencat it wouldn't suprise me if I did have PLMD. I just looked up Wikipedia. I take an antidepressant (SSRI), get stressed easily and always feel tired which can exacerbate PLMD.

Anyway I will talk to my primary physician and see if I can get anywhere with her. I do remember the sleep specialist saying that he thinks some of my problems were associated with the anti-depressant, yet my psychiatrist doesn't think so.