Is there any relation between dreams and quality of sleep?

[old dude]

I ask this because before starting therapy some 7 months ago, I almost never dreamed. As in really never. Of course I was probably only averaging 2-4 hours per night, and often that was in bits and pieces.

Now that I'm on therapy I have very vivid dreams almost every night. It's like they're in full color and high definition! I'm getting close to averaging six hours a night now with usually only one bathroom break, so maybe that's my answer…maybe before I just wasn't sleeping enough to dream.

[Sir NoddinOff]

I once asked a very similar question on a forum. About half the folks said if you remember your dreams upon awaking it's not a very good thing because your didn't come up thru Stage one and two sleep correctly - what happened was you were abruptly bumped up to the awake/arousal state directly from REM. The other half got all poetic about how remembering your dreams can be a wonderful tool for self understanding and sublime fulfillment ...blah, blah, blah. Some went on to send me URLs about controlling lucid dreaming. Take your pick.

[kaiasgram]

I once asked a very similar question on a forum. About half the folks said if you remember your dreams upon awaking it's not a very good thing because your didn't come up thru Stage one and two sleep correctly - what happened was you were abruptly bumped up to the awake/arousal state directly from REM. The other half got all poetic about how remembering your dreams can be a wonderful tool for self understanding and sublime fulfillment ...blah, blah, blah. Some went on to send me URLs about controlling lucid dreaming. Take your pick.

Loved this, thanks Sir!
So how's that lucid dream work coming along?

[VikingGnome]

I didn't dream for years and thought that was my "normal". My sleep study found ZERO REM sleep in both pre and post (titration) phases. My AHI was 61 but RERA was 92. I was constantly arousing so never even got to stage 2 sleep.

After months of recuperative sleep on CPAP, I started having dreams. I check my sleep stages with ZEO and was finally getting about 2 hours REM out of a 9 hour night (AHI <2). At first my dreams were vivid and some bordered on night terrors. Gradually, my dreams became more subdued. Now, I remember that I had a dream but cannot remember the content. On a rare night, I may awaken during my dream and then I do remember the content.

I don't put much weight into dream content. The important thing is that dreaming indicates you are getting REM sleep, the kind of sleep you need for health and sanity. I wouldn't be too concerned about whether dreams are vivid, horrific nightmares, or just plain silly. Many of my current dreams that I remember are the most implausible, ridiculous scenarios. I don't care. I'm having REM sleep.

[bwexler]

Very interesting thread.
After three years on therapy with AHI generally bellow 3 and now with my new ASV no OA or CA only H I still am not aware of any dreams. My AHI at first sleep study was 83.

Any tips on how to start dreaming or what to ask sleep doctor?

[jweeks]

Now that I'm on therapy I have very vivid dreams almost every night. It's like they're in full color and high definition!

Old Dude,

Yes, that is an excellent sign. That means that you are getting a lot of quality REM sleep. You were probably dreaming before, but probably far less than normal, and you were not remembering it. Now that you are suddenly sleeping much better, your brain is in overdrive trying to catch up and learn to use all of this new quality time when you are asleep. Over time, you will get used to this, and the vividness of the dreams will probably tone down a bit, so you will not remember as many dreams. It is really cool when this happens. Mine were intense enough that it was almost distracting. It was an interesting view into my subconscious. I think it faded away after 3 or 4 months.

Another effect that I noticed after starting CPAP is that I became very aware of my subconscious working on problems during the night. For example, if I would get stuck on a problem at work, my subconscious would spend a few hours at night trying to work through it. This is normal for your brain to do this, but you normally don't notice it happening. Rather, you simply wake up with a solution (or it dawns on you in the shower a few minutes later). I found it kind of irritating to be aware of it to the point that it felt like it was impacting the quality of my sleep. One example is if I would play a video game in the evening, my subconscious would replay it over and over all night long trying to find a better solution. This also faded after about 6 months. It still goes on, I just don't notice it happening.

-john-

[Sir NoddinOff]

I read an interesting study about six months ago from a prominent sleep doctor, sorry don't remember the name (I'll try to find the study or maybe somebody can help me out here). Anyway, he said that there is a rare brain abnormality/disorder that occurs in about 1:10,000 people where they just don't dream. No dreams in sleep studies nor at home. None, zip.

They are otherwise healthy but that part of the brain just doesn't produce REM sleep and dreams. You'd think they would be instant basket cases but surprise, surprise... they don't behave or feel any different than anybody else during daytime hours. Their disease rates and psychological evaluations generally fall in the norm of society. Maybe dreams are just as vestigial as our tailbones... something left over from our ancestry while living in the trees and plotting ways to avoid sabertooths

[Sir NoddinOff]

Another effect that I noticed after starting CPAP is that I became very aware of my subconscious working on problems during the night. For example, if I would get stuck on a problem at work, my subconscious would spend a few hours at night trying to work through it.
-john-

Yeah, I tried to bill overtime to my old company Harmony Foods for my subconscious work while dreaming, however they didn't seem to agree that I was really 'at work' in the middle of the night, so they never paid out. Corporate American - I'm still pissed about that

[chunkyfrog]

I had many dreams before cpap; mostly stressful, breathless, and some bizarre.
Sometimes I would wake so wound up, I had to use lucid dreaming to resolve the problems in the dream and calm myself down.
Then I would start to apnea, and it would start all over again.

[hueyville]

Dreams same for me before and after xpap. I often start dreaming before even fully asleep. Been a vivid dreamer since early childhood.

[BlackSpinner]

There is more then one dream state. There is REM which you need in order to process stuff learned during the day and then there is random dreaming. The REM stuff tends to be heavy duty drama while the other dreams are more fun and tralala, dance in meadows, stuff that can be used for lucid dreaming.

[ems]

I had very vivid dreams before BiPap and I have very vivid dreams now. No difference at all.

[old dude]

Thanks for your thoughts everyone.

Looks like I am going to need to bone up a little on the various stages of sleep. I checked my numbers this morning and my 30-day average is up to 5:48, not far from my short-term goal of 6:00. Certainly not ideal but a far cry better than pre-therapy. After that, who knows? The good news is that it doesn't seem to take me long to fall asleep after masking up most nights, and I usually only have one pit stop.

[BlackSpinner]

Thanks for your thoughts everyone.

Looks like I am going to need to bone up a little on the various stages of sleep. I checked my numbers this morning and my 30-day average is up to 5:48, not far from my short-term goal of 6:00. Certainly not ideal but a far cry better than pre-therapy. After that, who knows? The good news is that it doesn't seem to take me long to fall asleep after masking up most nights, and I usually only have one pit stop.

Check out PBS Nova dreams
They made a really good documentary on it a couple of years ago.

[old dude]

Thanks for your thoughts everyone.

Looks like I am going to need to bone up a little on the various stages of sleep. I checked my numbers this morning and my 30-day average is up to 5:48, not far from my short-term goal of 6:00. Certainly not ideal but a far cry better than pre-therapy. After that, who knows? The good news is that it doesn't seem to take me long to fall asleep after masking up most nights, and I usually only have one pit stop.

Check out PBS Nova dreams
They made a really good documentary on it a couple of years ago.

Hey, thanks BS, I'll do just that!