AHI vs. Dreams and Oxygen Desaturation

rested gal · Post by **rested gal** » Tue Nov 21, 2006 3:09 pm

snufflepgs wrote:This thread gets me wondering...

I've been thinking of forking over the big bucks for the Encore software. I know in the lab they can monitor your sleep cycles and phases with the electrodes they glue to your scalp, but how does the software keep up with all that with nothing more than your breathing patterns? Is that enough to distinguish REM sleep from Phase 1 sleep?

Our xpap machines ("x" standing for any kind of "pap" machine) are not capable of identifying sleep stages. That kind of data is not provided during our nightly "treatments" at home, thus our software doesn't give any info about what stages of sleep we were in. Can't even tell us if we were awake or asleep, for that matter.

puskar49 · Post by **puskar49** » Tue Nov 21, 2006 3:51 pm

Rested Gal - I did notice that the aforementioned link claims that "all mammals" have REM sleep. Are they claiming that the mighty Echidna dreams? The plot thickens...

rested gal · Post by **rested gal** » Tue Nov 21, 2006 4:43 pm

puskar49 wrote:Rested Gal - I did notice that the aforementioned link claims that "all mammals" have REM sleep. Are they claiming that the mighty Echidna dreams? The plot thickens...

LOL!! Yeah, I saw their comment but was afraid to throw that back into the dreamy mix. Glad you did, though.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Wed Nov 22, 2006 11:30 am

there is an excellent book on it by stephen lebarge called "Lucid Dreaming"... check his site on the web. He markets material to help you become lucid in dreaming but I think we should stay away from it because it flashes lights in your eyes as you sleep when you enter rem... and yes, this is a bit like inducing a hypo apnea (or at least a mini awakening) and most of us don't need that... his books fascinating however.

Very fascinating. No need for flashy lights in your eyes, however. Their function is to make you aware you're dreaming, which is the awareness that's key to becoming lucid. In the dream, you'll perceive the flashing as something light-related (a flashing table lamp, a lightning bolt in the sky, etc.) and, knowing that such things can be a signal from the device, you'll suddenly realize you're dreaming and thus go lucid.

But you don't need hardware to achieve that goal. For example:

1. Switches and devices often don't work in dreams. If you flip a switch and the expected action doesn't happen (light switch for instance), you're probably dreaming. Once you know this simple fact, then the next time it happens (most likely in a dream), you'll realize it and instantly go lucid.

2. Perform "reality checks" at regular intervals during the day. For example, read something, look away, read it again. If it reads the same way twice, you're awake. If it reads differently, you're dreaming (something will almost never read the same twice in a dream). It'll seem silly doing this every 15 minutes all day, but it sets up the *habit* of doing it often. Eventually, out of habit you'll do it inside a dream... and it'll fail, and you'll thus detect the dream condition and instantly go lucid.

There are other ways too, but those are both free and require zero equipment or "training materials" beyond what I've just said above. #1 is entirely passive (it's just knowledge to be aware of), and #2 requires a bit more work (establishing the habit during the day). But both work nicely, if you do your part.

Have fun kids!

ozij · Post by **ozij** » Wed Nov 22, 2006 12:33 pm

rested gal wrote:
puskar49 wrote:Rested Gal - I did notice that the aforementioned link claims that "all mammals" have REM sleep. Are they claiming that the mighty Echidna dreams? The plot thickens...
LOL!! Yeah, I saw their comment but was afraid to throw that back into the dreamy mix. Glad you did, though.

REM happens to your eyes in conjuction with a specific kind of brain activity.- all mamals have that.

Dreams however, happens in your mind - and some humans can report them using words.

People can indeed teach themselves to remember their dreams, and get better at it if they decide to do so, try to remember them first thing in the morning (before getting up) and if they write them down.

I used to dream a lot, and write down my dreams, and think about them. I them more or less stopped dreaming for about 10 or more years - often wondered why - and now I'm dreaming (happily) again. Dreams are the meaning we give to what happens in our brains when we sleep - and the way we create those meanings can be informative for some us.

O.