Wake up extremely tired whenever I dream-

*JASMINE* · June 26, 2008

Does anyone else have this problem? Whenever I don't dream, I wake up with so much energy. But when I DO have one, I wake up exhausted. I have a sleep number bed, so it can't be that. So what gives?:Angel_anim:

Pix · June 26, 2008

That is easier to answer then you think.

Sometimes when someone dreams it is what is called a "Physical dream" not in the sense you are flip flopping all over the bed but your body and muscles react just the same as if you had been running a marathon with out actually moving. Chances are you have more dreams then you remember and they aren't physical, but normal sedate dreams.

A suggestion I have is to keep a dream diary next to your bed and write down the dreams you do remember. Try to find out what you are dreaming and which ones wake you up tired. It wont actually help but you will be able to at least see in writing what you are dreaming.

You can get medication from your doctor that will drop you into a deep REM sleep and with the deeper REM's you don't actually dream, its when you are in a light REM that you dream. I wouldn't go the medication route unless it is truly causing you problems during the day. Even then you doctor might want you to go in for a sleep study to see if they can find a physical cause for the waking exhaustion.

*JASMINE* · June 26, 2008

Hi Pix,

Thanks for the advise. It should be an interesting journal for me. My dreams are SO RANDOM. Some of them are more like 4 minidreams in one night with really no point to them whatsoever. I never thought about sleeping pills doing the trick. I will look into that, and the sleep studies, too. Thanks again!

plain · June 27, 2008

Hey Jas. I'm a registered sleep therapist, and I think I can answer your question from a scientific point of view. Basically, the only time we remember a dream is if we wake up to full consciousness during one. So, when people in my sleep lab tell me "I dream all the time", or "I remember all my dreams", that just suggests to me that they're waking up much more than they should.

Pix, I don't want to get real technical, or even be the arsehole that has to "correct" every little detail, but....REM is REM (no light or deep). There are currently no medications on the market that will make you get more REM (although many of the SSRI anti-depressants can suppress REM). REM is actually the most fragile stage of sleep we have.....it's insanely easy to get bumped out of REM.

The deepest stage of sleep is now termed "N4".

Oh, and 1 last trivial tidbit....we now know that dreaming is possible in any stage of sleep (REM dreams tend to be the most vivid and follow a "theme", or "plot", even if the theme / plot makes little sense).

Ok, schools out. I think my inner geek is showing!! And just when everybody on LBT thought I was one of the cool kids!!

jrob281 · June 27, 2008

I'm completely opposite. If I do not remember my dreams, I'm dragging all day. If I wake up and remember my dreams, I feel very rejuventated.

Pix · June 27, 2008

Plain good info to have, I was going off of the information I had when I was going through massive sleep studies (it was "new) when I was younger and having massive nightmares and massive insomnia episodes.

They never did figure out my insomnia, been like that since I was a kid (hell my mom said even as an infant I would go days with out sleeping longer then 15 minutes at a time). sleeping pills work, and when I take them I sure as hell don't remember ever dreaming. I don't "drift off" I just *bam* pass out when I go to bed. I don't like taking them at all though. Hate the punch drunk hung over feeling they give me :blushing:

BUUUUT back to the dreams, I always remember my dreams. Some I wish I didn't cause right now with out the hubby to make them better *wiggles eyebrows* gets frustrating ...

well I shouldn't have said that ...

byeeeee

plain · June 27, 2008

Plain good info to have, I was going off of the information I had when I was going through massive sleep studies (it was "new) when I was younger and having massive nightmares and massive insomnia episodes.
They never did figure out my insomnia, been like that since I was a kid (hell my mom said even as an infant I would go days with out sleeping longer then 15 minutes at a time). sleeping pills work, and when I take them I sure as hell don't remember ever dreaming. I don't "drift off" I just *bam* pass out when I go to bed. I don't like taking them at all though. Hate the punch drunk hung over feeling they give me :thumbs_up:

BUUUUT back to the dreams, I always remember my dreams. Some I wish I didn't cause right now with out the hubby to make them better *wiggles eyebrows* gets frustrating ...

well I shouldn't have said that ...

byeeeee

Cracking me up, Pix. Hopes he gets here quick.

Nanook · June 27, 2008

Hey Jas. I'm a registered sleep therapist, and I think I can answer your question from a scientific point of view. Basically, the only time we remember a dream is if we wake up to full consciousness during one. So, when people in my sleep lab tell me "I dream all the time", or "I remember all my dreams", that just suggests to me that they're waking up much more than they should.
Pix, I don't want to get real technical, or even be the arsehole that has to "correct" every little detail, but....REM is REM (no light or deep). There are currently no medications on the market that will make you get more REM (although many of the SSRI anti-depressants can suppress REM). REM is actually the most fragile stage of sleep we have.....it's insanely easy to get bumped out of REM.

The deepest stage of sleep is now termed "N4".

Oh, and 1 last trivial tidbit....we now know that dreaming is possible in any stage of sleep (REM dreams tend to be the most vivid and follow a "theme", or "plot", even if the theme / plot makes little sense).

Ok, schools out. I think my inner geek is showing!! And just when everybody on LBT thought I was one of the cool kids!!

Hey "Cool Kid" would a sleep study do a person good if they had very random night terrors? My 23 yo has them and they are "much fun". They started in HS. Last night I went to the bathroom and it is next to her room and I think noise seems to set them off at times. But it's been over a month since she's had one. At least she doesn't charge out of her room anymore that was really scary. I don't know if a sleep study would help because you can't predict when the next one will come. Thanks Nanook.

Edited June 27, 2008 by Nanook
spell

plain · June 27, 2008

Depends. Night terrors, per se, basically come out of that "N4" stage of sleep (the very deepest stage) I mentioned before......same with sleepwalking. Strictly speaking, those behaviours aren't usually even treated, unless events are very frequent, or behaviours get dangerous (ie, sleepwalking into high traffic areas, getting in and starting up the car, etc.)

The trick is to determine whether it's really Night terrors she's having. Does she ever remember anything of them later on?

Nanook · June 27, 2008

Plain,

That's what they've been called by various professionals but she refuses to do a sleep study and I'm not sure why they really wanted to do one.

They are usually bug-mares or someone is in the room mares. She sits up in her bed and screams the highest pitched scream you've ever heard. As far as I know it's a sleep disorder and they tried putting her on some type of antidepressant once but that didn't help. I also took her to a neurologist and I think he gave her the script.

Patrick Star from Sponge Bob Square Pants has them too, and they're usually related to spiders!

She didn't mention it this morning and never came out of her room last night and this was shortly after she fell asleep that it occurred. I think it's more stressful for us than it is for her. My poor dog too!

When she was dorming in college one semester she lived in a "city" dorm so there were security guards in the dorm halls at night. Anyway she had a night terror and they busted into her room thinking she was being attacked and she was really embarrassed.

One night when she was first having them I walked to the bathroom, there is a connection here, and she charged out of her room during this night terror chased me down the hall and almost threw me down the stairs and I landed on the floor all scraped up! I know you probably think I deserved it but it was really scary! I needed my own security guard just to go to the bathroom at night. I think it was after that incident that we thought, hey night terrors are an issue!

Anyway I know there are others out there that have them and I was hoping she'd grow out of them. I don't think they're as common in adults as they are in children. I just worry for her future DH!!!!! Thanks :thumbs_up:

plain · June 27, 2008

Everything sounds like night terrors, except for the school incident (and even that, maybe.....night terror folks are usually extremely difficult to wake up during / after an incident...but it can happen). Only a sleep study / series of studies could differentiate between night terrors vs. REM behavior disorder.

You are correct that N4 disorders are much more rare in adults (pretty common in kids. Out of all children that sleepwalk, only 30% will continue by the time they're teenagers. Then only another 30% will continue into adulthood).

But if you're trying to make me look even geekier in front of my LBT buds...mission successful! Shhhhhh.....don't bring up my extreme myopia or comic book collection, K?

*JASMINE* · June 27, 2008

Thanks for the info Plain. I think I'm going to have a much harder time keeping that journal. A lot of times, I wake up in the middle of my dream. When I wake up, I remember I was dreaming, but when I have time to fully wake up and process what I remember, I draw a blank. I used to sleepwalk A LOT when I was a kid. It was very scary for my family members. I guess it runs in my family because my son does it, too. I still sometimes sleepwalk to the kitchen to have a midnight snack. The only thing that alerts me that I have done so, are crumbs and empty containers/wrappers left on the counters:).

Nanook · June 27, 2008

Jasmine,

What a pretty young lady you are and to think you've been hiding behind that one-eyed alien! Now I feel compelled to change my avatar, usually I wait a week or so but I may do it sooner now. Nanook.

*JASMINE* · June 27, 2008

Jasmine,
What a pretty young lady you are and to think you've been hiding behind that one-eyed alien! Now I feel compelled to change my avatar, usually I wait a week or so but I may do it sooner now. Nanook.

Why, thank you. I feel like that alien sometimes. But today, I am feeling better. You should change your avatar. Replace it with a smiling face:redface:.