wierd dreams - anesthesia related?

lovecats85 · October 7, 2005

Sometimes when I take nyquil I have wierd dreams. Well, since I've been banded one week ago I have had the CRAZIEST dreams and I don't know if it's from the wierd sleep schedule and/or anesthesia. Maybe I'm just crazy?!?!?! All I know is I can tolerate wierd disturbing dreams up until last night when I had one that my husband I and were abusing one of my dogs, Godiva, because apparently she belonged to someone else in the dream and we wanted to be mean. I have seriously been crying that that thought could even go thru my head even if it was dream - I am such a big time animal lover and I love my dogs and I just found this seriously disturbing!!!! I had to stay home from school b/c I was so upset - been holding my doggies all morning. I wasn't gonna mention the wierd dreams on LBT but it's out of control! I really hope my minds clears up soon b/c I feel fine during the day but these dreams are SCARING me! I love my dogs SO SO much - If I ever have another dream like that I won't be able to take it!

thinkthin · October 7, 2005

Hello Laura - your dream sounds so distressing! I am no authority on this, however, I am a clinical psychologist, and I think the unconscious is a very tricky thing. Certainly, even though there are distressing things that emerge in dreams (aggressive, sexual, conflictual, etc.), that does not mean that you are "crazy", nor that you unconsciously want to or have the capacity to abuse one of your dogs! The brain is so complex, and our neurophysiology is effected by so many things that I would definitely not assume that these dreams mean something about you or your mental health.

While these dreams may be influenced by the many stressors of your surgery, I (personally) doubt that the dreams are due to the anethesia you underwent. Since it has been a week since your surgery, the anesthesia is probably well worn-off. It is far more likely that you are having these dreams due to other medications that you may be taking - like pain medications or antidepressants. I have worked with many patients on antidepressants whom had very distressing, wild, or bizarre dreams that disrupted their sleep, like Nyquil has done to you in the past. You may want to consider if there is any substance that you've introduced into your system that could be the culprit.

I hope you'll be sleeping soundly soon . . . good luck with your continued recovery and progress with the band!!