vivid dreams

[fredboy]

If you are having vivid dreams, does that mean you are getting to the REM levels we need from cpap??

I mean vivid and weird !?

[Julie]

Actually I had those just before I finally got my machine... but others have said they started remembering dreams after starting Cpap, but whether they were weird and vivid like yours and mine I'm not sure.-

[Heavylids]

If you are having vivid dreams, does that mean you are getting to the REM levels we need from cpap??

I mean vivid and weird !?

I tink it just means that you're having weird and vivid dreams

[jweeks]

Hi,

Yes, dreaming typically happens during REM sleep. You typically should have about 2 hours of REM at night, typically in three different sessions of about 40 minutes each. If you are suddenly having vivid dreams after starting CPAP, that is a really good sign. These dreams will be coming directly from your sub-conscious without any filtering in place, so odd dreams and weird connections are par for the course.

-john-

[fredboy]

yea but going out partying in NYC with my sleep doc???

Now THATS weird !

[macewa]

Prior to BiPap I dreamt a lot and remembered my dreams. Actually my dreams were better than my real life. LOL Once on BiPap, I stopped remembering my dreams and just started up again this past week and these dreams are very vivid and weird. Wondering where my good dreams went to.

[xzombie]

That's how I knew it was working. I couldn't remember the last time I dreamt. It was kind of shocking when I started CPAP and began having dreams again!

[jnk]

Remembering high-emotinal-content dreams can mean different things for different people, since many experts (as I understand it, anyway) are of the opinion that a sleep arousal or awakening during, or soon after, REM stage is generally required for REM-dream recall. That is why remembering and not remembering can both be good or bad signs or may mean little of anything at all.

For example, some people without OSA normally sleep right through their REM without any sleep arousals or awakenings and thus rarely remember any of those kinds of dreams, even though they are having plenty of REM. For one of those people, a sudden pattern of remembering a lot of those dreams each morning may mean that their REM in now being regularly interrupted by something, which is what is causing them to start recalling the REM dreams. That may be a sign of a sleep problem starting up, such as loud neighbors making sudden noises in the night. Or if someone stops remembering REM-type dreams, that could be a sign he is sleeping better.

Looked at another way, for a person who has dealt with OSA so severe that he rarely made it into sustained REM, his remembering the REM-type dreams after starting PAP therapy can assure him that he is making it into at least some REM. But not remembering REM dreams may be just as good a thing, in that it may mean he too is sleeping better through the night.

So, for someone with mild OSA who has recently started CPAP, remembering REM dreams may mean he needs more time to get used to PAP therapy before his sleep settles down. For someone with moderate-to-severe OSA, the recall of REM dreams may indicate that the PAP therapy is having some success already. But those of us who once used to remember more REM-type dreams who now do not remember them, that does NOT necessarily indicate that we aren't having REM. We may be having plenty of it but just not be remembering it because of our sleeping so well.

And that is why, in my opinion, the recall of emotional dreams may, or may not, mean something, depending on many factors.

[macewa]

For myself, when I don't remember my dreams, I miss them as I do believe our dreams can bring us messages that help us in daily life. I believe that because I have experienced that. I also have to wonder why we have dreams if there isn't a purpose for them?

Remembering high-emotinal-content dreams can mean different things for different people, since many experts (as I understand it, anyway) are of the opinion that a sleep arousal or awakening during, or soon after, REM stage is generally required for REM-dream recall. That is why remembering and not remembering can both be good or bad signs or may mean little of anything at all.

For example, some people without OSA normally sleep right through their REM without any sleep arousals or awakenings and thus rarely remember any of those kinds of dreams, even though they are having plenty of REM. For one of those people, a sudden pattern of remembering a lot of those dreams each morning may mean that their REM in now being regularly interrupted by something, which is what is causing them to start recalling the REM dreams. That may be a sign of a sleep problem starting up, such as loud neighbors making sudden noises in the night. Or if someone stops remembering REM-type dreams, that could be a sign he is sleeping better.

Looked at another way, for a person who has dealt with OSA so severe that he rarely made it into sustained REM, his remembering the REM-type dreams after starting PAP therapy can assure him that he is making it into at least some REM. But not remembering REM dreams may be just as good a thing, in that it may mean he too is sleeping better through the night.

So, for someone with mild OSA who has recently started CPAP, remembering REM dreams may mean he needs more time to get used to PAP therapy before his sleep settles down. For someone with moderate-to-severe OSA, the recall of REM dreams may indicate that the PAP therapy is having some success already. But those of us who once used to remember more REM-type dreams who now do not remember them, that does NOT necessarily indicate that we aren't having REM. We may be having plenty of it but just not be remembering it because of our sleeping so well.

And that is why, in my opinion, the recall of emotional dreams may, or may not, mean something, depending on many factors.

[jnk]

Many of the most valuable functions of our brain occur outside our awareness. It is still possible for our dreams to be especially helpful to us even when the specific contents of the dream are not shared with our conscious mind.

In popular culture, dreaming only occurs when we recall the dream. Medically speaking, however, the dream occurs whether we recall it or not. The special nature of dream contents is apparent, in my opinion, with the slippery nature of our dreams, as far as it often being easier to recall details immediately after having the dream but more difficult later in the day.

It has been said that the key to remembering the dreams had just before waking up, at least for some people, is to remember not to move immediately upon awakening. Keeping the same body position and taking a few moments to bring to mind any dream content lingering "near" the conscious area in our head can be fun and possibly, in the view of some anyway, self-educational.

It is not my purpose to question the importance, validity, or usefulness of dreams. Not understanding the nature of dreaming adds to the mysery, but learning more about them as a biological function will never, in my opinion, take away the mystery and substance of them socially or psychologically. My thoughts in my post above were expressed mostly to assure those who may worry that their failure to remember emotionally charged dreams may be an indication that their OSA is not being sufficiently treated.

If the OP doesn't mind the hijack, what have been some of your favorite and most useful dreams, macewa?