Not Dreaming

snowdog · Post by **snowdog** » Wed Jul 27, 2005 9:08 am

Nah, even in my dreams I never seem to get what I want.

I think I've pretty much run the gammet of sleep issues now. I used to sleepwalk as a kid, I've fought insommnia off and on most of my life, and I've always been plagued by nightmares. The sleepwalking went away during my teens. I still have the occasional bad dream that will wake me and keep me up for several hours afterward. At least I don't have night terrors like a friend of mine. When I have a nightmare that wakes me up I instantly know it was a dream. He kind of needs to work out it was a dream. Let's just say you never want to sleep in an enclosed space with this guy. Sleep issues seem to run in the family, his older brother is the only person I've ever met that dies in his dreams on a regular basis. The funny thing about these guys is that the entire family can drop off into sleep at the drop of a hat, literally. Once when the younger brother was finishing his M.S. the older brother and I went to visit him in the dorm. He got his bed, his brother got the other bed, I got the floor. The two of them were snoring away before my head even hit the pillow. Couple that with my insommnia and it was a pretty long night.

Anonymous wrote:Snowdog - you should have keep dreaming because you could have won the millon dollars from Survivor.
Thanks for all the answers. I appreciate it and am happy to know that you think it is a good thing that I don't remember my dreams. I am really happy to be rid of the scary ones. I used to wake up crying I was so scared. Anyway, like I said I haven't had any since starting this treatment. Thanks again.

ozij · Post by **ozij** » Wed Jul 27, 2005 9:31 am

REM sleep is something else, on a scale of its own. It does't "fit between" any of the stages.

REM sleep is also called pradoxical sleep since the EEG for looks like the EEG for wakefulness, but the person is in deep sleep - very difficult to wake from. When you're in REM sleep your voluntary muscles are paralyzed, muscle relaxation is very deep - and for some of us who achieve that state, apneas are worse - longer.

O.

tater pie · Post by **tater pie** » Wed Jul 27, 2005 10:02 am

I'm certainly have no medical background but the doctor told me that before cpap, I only had stages one and twoof sleep, none at all in three or four. He said some doctors used 5 stages of sleep and other combined the last two and used 4 stages. He said as long as as you get into 4, you'll feel better when you wake up. When first starting cpap, I dreamed all of the time and would remember a lot of details about my dreams. All of my dreams are a little screwy but were pleasant. Now, I don't remember dreams very much, maybe a detail or two or nothing at all. I guess that means I'm getting better. That's just my experience.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Wed Jul 27, 2005 10:11 am

<<REM sleep is also called pradoxical sleep since the EEG for looks like the EEG for wakefulness, but the person is in deep sleep>>>

I knewe someone would be able to explain it. Thank's makes sense now.

Sleepless on LI · Post by **Sleepless on LI** » Wed Jul 27, 2005 6:22 pm

Okay. Now I am totally confused. Before CPAP, I used to have bizarre dreams. Then once I started, it seemed like I stopped dreaming for awhile. Now I usually remember maybe a dream a night or none at all. I don't know if this is good or bad, but I know how much better I feel having been on therapy now for almost two months.
Does anyone really have the answer to dreaming being either a good sign or a bad sign? I am still totally confused!!!

rested gal · Post by **rested gal** » Wed Jul 27, 2005 6:32 pm

I don't know if this answer is "right", but I'm sticking with it! LOL!!

From page 1 of this topic:

not remembering our dreams seems to me to be a better sign of good, peaceful sleep. Not remembering them doesn't mean you weren't dreaming a lot! Perhaps you're sleeping well straight through them, just like you should.

Sleepless on LI · Post by **Sleepless on LI** » Wed Jul 27, 2005 6:34 pm

Okay, RG. Sounds like a reasonable deduction. So I guess since there aren't that many bizarre dreams that I can remember, I must be sleeping more soundly; hence, the energy and feeling so much better. If that's your story, I'm sticking to it, too!!!

IWannaSleep · Post by **IWannaSleep** » Thu Jul 28, 2005 1:32 am

Yayyy! I'm so glad others are now seeing the logic that effective xpap therapy should result in fewer remembered dreams, and that it's a good thing since we need to wake in the middle of a dream to remember it. Waking in the middle of REM sleep is definitely a bad thing.

The truth is, if you weren't dreaming you would become psychotic. Dreams result at least partly from the process your brain uses to sort out what memories to move from short term storage into long term storage and which to dump. In anything I've read they have yet to make any scientific connection between the topic of a dream and it's meaning. Personally I believe if there is any meaning to specific dreams it's unknowable.

Ron

IWannaSleep · Post by **IWannaSleep** » Thu Jul 28, 2005 1:46 am

A definitive resource for Sleep Stage definitions:

http://www.sleepdisorderchannel.net/stages/

Ron

rested gal · Post by **rested gal** » Thu Jul 28, 2005 10:11 am

Excellent link, IWannaSleep!

Here's a sample from Ron's find:

The stage-respective dimensions of sleep change relative to age. Stages 3 and 4 in the first sleep cycle shorten even more dramatically in older people than they do during a typical night for everyone else, so older people get less total deep sleep than younger people do. Also with age comes the lengthening of the first REM stage. Older people commonly enter REM sleep quicker and stay there longer.

Here's a link to some interesting old discussion topics on message boards:

Jul 02, 2005 subject: LINKS to dreaming - dreams - REM rebound

droopyrpsgt · Post by **droopyrpsgt** » Tue Jun 20, 2006 12:56 pm

I am a registered sleep technologist and have "scored" many sleep reports. The stages listed are not meant to be in order-just a list of the stages. Sleep stages come in many different orders or arrangements. Some people after falling asleep go right into dreaming or delta (deep stage sleep) or in stage 2. The sleep study guide us sleep techs go by is for normal sleep and most of the sleep we see is clearly not normal. the graph issues can also just be a way to arrange the information.
REM stage is dreaming stage
Delta or 3 and 4 is deep sleep
Stage 2 is what were in most of the night and is the largest amount of time in sleep
Stage 1 is transitional sleep- light sleep and typically very little time is spent here and occurs when we first fall asleep or back to sleep (in normal sleep)

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Wed Jun 21, 2006 2:43 am

It has been long known that when you are fully asleep you will not remember your dreams. So likely you are sleeping soundly.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Fri Jun 29, 2007 12:32 am

Dreaming is good because that means you are in REM and it's also your minds way of working things out and resetting persay. It's fine of you don't remember your dreams. If you remember you dreams vividly when you wake up that means you were in stage REM when you were awaken.

[quote="Sleepless on LI"]Okay. Now I am totally confused. Before CPAP, I used to have bizarre dreams. Then once I started, it seemed like I stopped dreaming for awhile. Now I usually remember maybe a dream a night or none at all. I don't know if this is good or bad, but I know how much better I feel having been on therapy now for almost two months.
Does anyone really have the answer to dreaming being either a good sign or a bad sign? I am still totally confused!!!

_________________

jskinner · Post by **jskinner** » Fri Jun 29, 2007 1:22 am

snork1 wrote:Then I started remembering tons of dreams when I started CPAP, BUT I was having all sorts of problems with a bad nose and equipment issues. My theory is that I was finally getting into REM, but was getting woken up a lot BY CPAP.

Many people experience what is known as REM rebound when they first start CPAP therapy. This is a period of a few weeks where you have way more REM than normal. It seems to be a way for the body to make up for missed REM.

denise1768 · Post by **denise1768** » Fri Jun 29, 2007 9:23 am

This subject got me thinking. I'm usually a vivid dreamer and can remember most dreams. Since starting cpap a few weeks ago, I can't remember one dream.

Not Dreaming

Sleep study reports