No Dreams? just a thought and a question

[need_some_sleep]

I had my sleep consultation a couple days ago, and now have a sleep study scheduled for Dec 2nd (sigh... ) and I am on a cancellation list just in case someone cant make it and I will take their place. and hopefully a cpap or bipap machine not too much farther in the future, hopefully not too much longer after the first of the year. Kinda scary to think that I have to tough this out for a couple more months.

My doctor asked me if I dream.... I haven't remembered any dreams in nearly 20 years, and the only dreams I ever remember having were dreams about being smothered, hung, drowned, choked, and many a manner of airway restriction. Having nearly been drowned by someone for fun once, I know the feeling of terror of not being able to breathe. I had a thought of maybe going back to breathing during the night and dreaming may not be a good thing... but I've had enough of not feeling rested. In addition, the risks of stroke, heart disease, and any of the other various potential possible downsides are too much to risk at this time.

Anyone go back to dreaming or have any bad dreams after going on CPAP?
Did you remember dreaming before then?

I wonder.. ( and this may be a thought that is way off), that apnea may be my body's way of getting my brain to not dream so I don't experience this stuff?

just a thought.


I am sooooo looking forward to getting this started again so maybe, just maybe, I can have some real rest. I may waiver if I can't keep the mask on my face again, but Im hoping that everyone here can offer some support in the area when I get it started back up again. I will post all the information when it gets all prescribed.

[jdr999]

In an older thread I commented on my dreams by saying:

"They don't have to be scary -- just high anxiety, stressful, busy, relentless, train wrecks of a dream.. It could be nothing more than trying to accomplish a simple task over and over again, failing each and every time, and each attempt feels more stressful and urgent than the previous.. Rinse and repeat until you're at the point of completely imploding!! Then you wake up and start a brand new day "

That was a nightly occurance before I started therapy. Now I still have occasional anxiety dreams but they're much less intense than before and usually doesn't last very long. Instead of a constant barrage of escalating episodes I may get an occasional one that's most likely coinciding with an event I'm having at that moment in time. But again the intensity is much less than before treatment.

I'm also dreaming more normal, vivid dreams now and can remember many -- not just the ugly ones!

[kteague]

Before CPAP my dreams were much as you described. Although I once had a near drowning scare too, I believe my bad dreams are due to apnea events, and the dreams are just the mind's way of sorting through physical sensations being experienced. Once my treatment became effective - it took a few months to dial it in - I quit having the really scary dreams. That was 2006 and though I'm a prolific dreamer, I could count on one hand the frightening ones since then.

[zoocrewphoto]

Before cpap, I did have a lot of dreams of being chased and out of breath. I don't have those anymore. Sometimes, if I take my mask off or fall asleep without my machine, I will have a dream of trying to get my cpap to work. In my dream, I may be carrying it around looking for an outlet to plug it in. Or recently, I dreamt that I was in a clinic, and they prescribed a cpap machine, only I was having trouble getting the mask to stay on (thus explaining why it still wasn't working in real life). My brain knows it wants me to use my machine, so it tries to get me to, even in my dreams.

[Rob108]

I can't remember dreaming, good or bad, for more years than I can remember

[Lazer1234]

In the past, when I was younger, I dreamed sometimes that I had sex with beautiful women. I do not anymore and I miss those dreams.

[chunkyfrog]

Before cpap, I had multiple stressful, often bizarre dreams, nightly.
I know I still dream, but I remember so little; and since I wake up so much more rested than before, I am content.

[Sir NoddinOff]

Before cpap, I had multiple stressful, often bizarre dreams, nightly.
I know I still dream, but I remember so little; and since I wake up so much more rested than before, I am content.

I tend to be of the school of thought that if you remember your dreams then you were abruptly awakened during REM by the stressful episodes and imagery. Not a good thing. I suspect that not remembering your dreams is the way we evolved, or at least that is the ideal.

Dr. Stasha Gominak says that being descended from tree dwelling small mammals who fear being eaten by larger predator causes our brains to constantly scan for one basic thing: AM I SAFE? This happens in both the waking world and the sleeping world. BTW, cats don't have much trouble sleeping... something to think about. Understanding that insight, it's easy to see how bad or even anxious dreams can wake us up. I do a little positive affirmation when I have trouble falling asleep: There are no sabre tooth tigers in my room, I am safe.

[fmj13]

If I remember a lot of dreams, I didn't get a lot of rest than night. I doesn't matter if it is a good dream or a bad dream. I knew this before my first sleep study where I found out I had apnea.

[Outlier]

It's strange to me that others equate remembering dreams to poor sleep. Before CPAP, I would occasionally dream for a short period of time, usually just before awaking in the morning, but I would rarely remember them. Now I have lots of vivid dreams, and I often remember some of them. As far as anxiety dreams go, my main one is a variation on being back in high school or college on test day, and I haven't shown up to class, haven't studied, don't even have paper or pencil, and I'm stressing. Sometimes I dream that my high school informs me of a mistake in course credit and if I don't go back and take some more credits, my diploma and college degree will be invalid. I sure wish I could make that go away! After all, I am 43 years old and have been out of high school and college for quite some time now...

[VikingGnome]

I didn't have any dreams (at least that I remembered) for several decades. My sleep study showed I had ZERO REM sleep (hence no dreams). I bought a ZEO to monitor whether I was having REM sleep. After my doctor switched a few of my depression medications, I finally started showing REM sleep. Over several weeks, the amount of time I spent in REM sleep went to "normal" and occasionally I remembered having dreams. I have dreams almost every night now. The only ones I remember are the ones I was having when the morning alarm clock rings.