Thanks for the help!

[dalemeyer]

To All,

Thank you for all your questions and answers being posted for all to read and relate to and or derive experience from. I have been using cpap for 5 months now and have used many tips and trials from this forum. I have gone from, gross leaks and taking masks off during the night to enjoying a higher quality of sleep than I can remember for a long time. But alas if find I still need more info. My questions are, What relevance are dreams to the quality of sleep? I haven't had any dreams since beginning cpap. Yawning? I wake feeling well rested but yawn all night (I work Graveyard shift). Sleep cycle vs. pulse. I utilize a fingertip Spo2 device that records, my pulse starts off at eg. 75 bpm and gradually declines over the sleep period to 45-50 bpm the only differences is when Spo2 levels decline there is a corresponding increase in pulse rate. Does pulse rate increase and decrease with the various stages of sleep cycle. Again Thank You.

[Rustyolddude]

To All,
What relevance are dreams to the quality of sleep? I haven't had any dreams since beginning cpap.

When I did my titration study, the lab tech mentioned that I did dream even though I had a rough night. I said I didn't remember dreaming. His reply was good, you're not supposed to. Never gave the reasoning behind the statement though.

[rested gal]

To All,
What relevance are dreams to the quality of sleep? I haven't had any dreams since beginning cpap.

When I did my titration study, the lab tech mentioned that I did dream even though I had a rough night. I said I didn't remember dreaming. His reply was good, you're not supposed to. Never gave the reasoning behind the statement though.

There's a big difference between "not dreaming at all" and "dreaming, but not remembering having dreamed."

As I understand it, if you're not awakened during a dream, you won't remember the dream, nor even have a vague feeling in the morning of having dreamed.

For most people who have Obstructive Sleep Apnea, most apneas happen during REM (Rapid Eye Movement sleep.) REM is when most dreaming occurs.

If your CPAP treatment is effective, the pressure will keep your airway open nicely during REM. Since you're not being awakened by apneas, you can sleep blissfully through REM, dreaming just fine, yet not being aware of dreaming or remembering that you "dreamed" anything. That's, as the sleep lab tech said, "Good."

This is just my opinion, but I think it's GREAT when you don't remember dreaming. To me, that means CPAP was keeping you breathing so well during REM (when most dreaming occurs) that you were not jolted awake during the dream by an apnea.

Of course there can be other reasons why a person might wake up during a dream -- alarm clock, household noises, dog barking, pain (like arthritis), etc.

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

[Julie]

Hi you... where did you get the idea that unless you awake, you aren't dreaming? Or have I not understood what you meant? I have never awoken during dreaming (except maybe when I was 5 but certainly remember dreams, or parts of them, when I'm awake.

[dalemeyer]

by Julie on Fri Jul 31, 2009 4:05 pm

Hi you... where did you get the idea that unless you awake, you aren't dreaming? Or have I not understood what you meant? I have never awoken during dreaming (except maybe when I was 5 but certainly remember dreams, or parts of them, when I'm awake.


Julie,

Prior to cpap I could vividly remember dreams when I woke in the AM. After cpap I have yet to remember any dreams.

Thanks, D.Meyer

[SleepyT]

odd, the onset of OSA kept me from dreaming...and as soon as i started CPAP therapy, I started having dreams again. never heard anyone say CPAP took away their dreams before. curiouser and curiouser...

[DoriC]

Rested Gal's explanation makes sense to me. One of the problems my husband had pre-cpap was that he'd wake up many mornings agitated, not only from the many apnea events and arousals during the night, but because he had had a horrible dream that he remembered vividly and he couldn't shake off for quite awhile after awakening. Now he rarely mentions dreaming and if he does remember, it's usually a pleasant or silly one. As a non-cpapper, I never remember my dreams unless I'm having one very close to my awakening but that's rare. Interesting topic.

[rested gal]

[ivory]

When I started CPAP I noticed the same thing - I didn't remember any dreams at all, except when I took a trip and slept in a hotel (with my CPAP) I had exceptionally vivid dreams. No dreams when I went back home, though. I mentioned it to my sleep doc who told me the same thing rested gal says - if you aren't waking up during your dreams (which is a good thing) you don't remember them. It's kind of a bummer because I did like remembering dreams, but it's a small price to pay, imo.

[DoriC]

RG, I guess they're kind of saying the same thing I said, only "fancier".

[rested gal]

RG, I guess they're kind of saying the same thing I said, only "fancier".

Yup.

[jnk]

If I DO remember one of those high-emotional-content-REM-type dreams, I choose to consider that a good thing--I view it as proof I'm making it into REM. On the other hand, if I DON'T remember having any of those kinds of dreams, I choose to consider that a good thing, too--I view it as proof my REM wasn't disturbed. I guess I'm just one of those glass-half-full-instead-of-glass-half-empty kind of guys.

[Julie]

I must be strange - I had dreams before starting Cpap and now dream all the time, but never awake overnight for any reason - and for what it's worth, I still have never heard that business about being wakened and therefore not remembering dreams.

[jnk]

. . . I must be strange . . .

Let's just call it "exceptional." I am sure that the nature of dreaming and of remembering dreams must be a very individual thing, and there are sure to be exceptions to every useful generalization.

. . . never awake overnight for any reason . . .

I don't think that arousals are generally remembered, even though they are really little awakenings of a sort. They are just too brief for us to recall, as I understand it.

[Wulfman]

To All,

Thank you for all your questions and answers being posted for all to read and relate to and or derive experience from. I have been using cpap for 5 months now and have used many tips and trials from this forum. I have gone from, gross leaks and taking masks off during the night to enjoying a higher quality of sleep than I can remember for a long time. But alas if find I still need more info. My questions are, What relevance are dreams to the quality of sleep? I haven't had any dreams since beginning cpap. Yawning? I wake feeling well rested but yawn all night (I work Graveyard shift). Sleep cycle vs. pulse. I utilize a fingertip Spo2 device that records, my pulse starts off at eg. 75 bpm and gradually declines over the sleep period to 45-50 bpm the only differences is when Spo2 levels decline there is a corresponding increase in pulse rate. Does pulse rate increase and decrease with the various stages of sleep cycle. Again Thank You.

I think that you answered that question in the preceding sentence(s). Pulse rate and breathing rate vary during the night as we pass through different sleep stages. Ever wake up from a (vivid) dream that may have had some stress in it? Carbon dioxide levels also drive a person's breathing.

And, yawning can also be common when starting therapy, too. At least I can remember doing that at various times of the day and have read that from others' posts here, too.


Den