I don't dream - or at least remember any

[johnthomasmacdonald]

dreams - I maybe remember one dream every year or so - I thought that this would change with the cpap treatment but even though I'm sleeping MUCH better with my bipap machine and my z-scores are good ( although not as good as Cosmo's - shakes fist in Cosmo's general direction - ) showing that i spend a lot of time in REM sleep and about an hour each night in deep sleep ( always in the first couple of hours of sleep), i still never remember dreaming

anyone else have the same "problem?" and did it get better over time with cpap treatment?

[chunkyfrog]

I see no connection between my CoQ10 and dreaming (started taking it about a year ago)
Before CPAP, I had several dreams a night; now I remember maybe one a month;
My REM is well above my age levels during the week, and way above on the weekend.
Nothing changed with the CoQ10; not to mean it couldn't, but my money is not on dreaming.

[cosmo]

I don't remember any dreams lately either. Don't really mind as long as I'm not tired in the day time

[ems]

I doubt that anyone has come up with the real scoop on dreams. I've heard so many different explanations.

I have always had vivid dreams - before VPAP, on VPAP. And if I don't use the machine for a few days, exact same type of dreams.

Sleep doctor said that vivid dreams are a sign of depression. That was a surprise. Had no idea there was any correlation.

[BlackSpinner]

You won't remember your REM dreams if you don't wake up from them. They are not written to your longer term memory unless you wake.

This is the most understandable description of the kinds of dreams and the effect of dreaming or not dreaming;

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/body/what-are-dreams.html

[Sir NoddinOff]

From reading various posts on this forum, plus other sleep therapy websites, I've come to the conclusion it's better to NOT to remember your dreams. That simply means some problem or irregularity abruptly woke you up during REM stage sleep, ie. disrupting your natural sleep rhythms. Generally not a good thing. I tend to remember my dreams (which by my previously expressed logic), means I need to work on my deep sleep methodology. Oh well, that's what this forum is for. Anybody got any pros or cons on my theory???

[johnthomasmacdonald]

Sir NoddinOff wrote:
"From reading various posts on this forum, plus other sleep therapy websites, I've come to the conclusion it's better to NOT to remember your dreams. That simply means some problem or irregularity abruptly woke you up during REM stage sleep, ie. disrupting your natural sleep rhythms. Generally not a good thing. I tend to remember my dreams (which by my previously expressed logic), means I need to work on my deep sleep methodology. Oh well, that's what this forum is for. Anybody got any pros or cons on my theory??? "

My wife figures that my lack of any access to my dreams is the reason i have the depth of thimble when it come to insights about my real feelings and motivations ( her opinion given that she has a very active and vivid dreamlife that she claims provides terrific insight into her underlying concerns and problems -eg What she is REALLY worried about - I tend not to worry much about anything although i'm quite pessimistic in general - my life philosophy is sort of like: " we are all totally doomed so we might as well enjoy ourselves, have a really nice dinner, and then read some really good books)

[Sir NoddinOff]

I tend not to worry much about anything although i'm quite pessimistic in general - my life philosophy is sort of like: " we are all totally doomed so we might as well enjoy ourselves, have a really nice dinner, and then read some really good books)

Thanks for the candor John. Yeah, the Titanic is sinking so bring on the champagne! Anyway, I tend not to go that far into the bleak, but I do share a relative pessimistic coloring throughout parts of my life.

[BlackSpinner]

My wife figures that my lack of any access to my dreams is the reason i have the depth of thimble when it come to insights about my real feelings and motivations ( her opinion given that she has a very active and vivid dreamlife that she claims provides terrific insight into her underlying concerns and problems -eg What she is REALLY worried about - I tend not to worry much about anything although i'm quite pessimistic in general - my life philosophy is sort of like: " we are all totally doomed so we might as well enjoy ourselves, have a really nice dinner, and then read some really good books)

If you watch the PBS video it will show you there are several kinds of dream states besides REM. One can harness the "drifting off" and the "almost awake" state for what is called "Lucid dreaming" some people do this naturally and it does often help them figure out what is happening down in the operating system. Personally I prefer to sleep at night and not work. I can access the same stuff through meditation and my art work.

[johnthomasmacdonald]

blackspinner wrote: "If you watch the PBS video it will show you there are several kinds of dream states besides REM. One can harness the "drifting off" and the "almost awake" state for what is called "Lucid dreaming" some people do this naturally and it does often help them figure out what is happening down in the operating system. Personally I prefer to sleep at night and not work. I can access the same stuff through meditation and my art work.

I actually got something about 10 -15 years ago that was like a zeo but when it detected that you were dreaming it flashed lights at you and this was supposed to signal you IN THE DREAM that you were dreaming and thus facilitate lucid dreaming - I wore it maybe for 2 weeks but i never noticed anything

[newhosehead]

I don't remember dreaming anymore either and I am extremely grateful that I do not. Why should it be a problem??

[pwaterman]

Hopefully this isn't too off topic, but lucid dreaming is a fascination of mine and I've managed to do it once or twice by accident. Learning to recognize you are dreaming (the first step towards a lucid dream) requires a great deal of effort and the ability to change your sleep times, interrupt sleep for journaling, etc. which is probably a low priority for anyone here, but the feeling of controlling one of your dreams is unbelievably freeing.

If you are interested, this book is one of the definitive works on the subject by one of the definitive researchers: http://www.amazon.com/Exploring-World-D ... 034537410X

If you click on the Author you'll see he has a couple of more recent books out as well.

-Paul

[zoocrewphoto]

Hopefully this isn't too off topic, but lucid dreaming is a fascination of mine and I've managed to do it once or twice by accident. Learning to recognize you are dreaming (the first step towards a lucid dream) requires a great deal of effort and the ability to change your sleep times, interrupt sleep for journaling, etc. which is probably a low priority for anyone here, but the feeling of controlling one of your dreams is unbelievably freeing.

I had a lucid dream a few nights ago. It was really strange, as I was outside in the driveway with at least a foot of snow (we rarely get snow like that here). And I remember several times thinking that I was dreaming. At one point, my cat was outside, and I remember thinking it didn't matter if I caught him or not since it was just a dream anyway. And by the time I put him back in the house, he went from being an 18 pound fluffy bluepoint to a black kitten. I also remember that I was wondering if I would remember the dream. I have no idea how I knew it was a dream.

[RogerSC]

I used to be able to wake myself up from dreams when they got too scary...I had a lot of nightmares as a kid, and that was how I dealt with them. These days, I don't remember my dreams, except that I know that I'm dreaming since I remember that I dreamed when I wake up. But the content of the dreams kind of floats away pretty quickly, which is just fine with me. I'd rather focus on my waking life *smile*.

[Bons]

I have lucid dreams every night, and despise it. I note every detail and texture, and often analyze the dream while dreaming it. The last dream this morning was about helping my grandmother getting dressed and ready for a trip to Italy. She was not in the home that she lived in while alive, and at the times we were in "her" back yard I noted every specie of plant. For some reason there was a muumuu that was hanging on a tall laurel tree. I had to scrub her dentures (which she never wore in life) and had to go back to rescrub because there was remnants of denture adhesive in the top denture, right side.

In another dream, I was driving along the shores of Lake Michigan, and noted the waves along the shore, the texture of the asphalt and missing stones in the yellow lines on the road...

All kinds of details - it exhausts me.

I can have flashbacks of dreams during the day, and often drift back into one of the night before's dream as I fall asleep.

I can change dreams midcourse and wake from them if I don't like the direction in which they are going.

My sleep doc started out life as a psychiatrist and figures this is due to my PTSD. The only thing that prevents it is seroquel, which I stopped taking a number of years ago but may need to go back to if the problems triggering the PTSD symptoms don't get resolved soon.

No wonder I'm always tired, since it's almost like I'm awake reading all night rather than sleeping!