Dreams and Sleep issues?

[Dyess]

I seldom remember dreams. I have major sleep issues Sleep Apnea, and maybe even narcolepsy, sleep doctor wanted to test me for narcolepsy but since there is no cure, I said what's the point? Anyway, one sleep study I didn't go into REM sleep at all. which explains a lot about why I don't remember dreams and being so tired after sleeping for 8-12 hrs. While on vacation my friend said she noticed that I was so tensed up while sleeping and didn't move hardly at all, except for the occasional gasp for air. I have a CPAP but sometimes I take it off during the night unknowingly.
Do you ever wake up from a dream crying? Just remembering a small part of it? That's what happened last night and it was frightening enough I got up and stayed awake for a while. Seems like it had something to do with someone breaking into Dad's house, that's about all I remember. Maybe since Dad's death anniversary is coming up this month he is more so on my mind.
I sleep walk to. Anyone else have sleep issues?

[Dutch Uncle]

I aslo seldom remember dreams.
I even seem to remember that science is pretty much certain that everybody doesn't remember the vast majority of dreams that we have.

Yes, I have vague memories of waking up crying, or then noticing I had cried. I can wake up terrified, not remembering why. I can wake up disturbed in other ways.
Over the course of the last years I have developed a very regular sleep pattern that involves waking up at 4 AM. Do something, drink something, go back to bed at 5, 6, 7 even. Sleep a few hours more.
I always wake up with my mind already in highest gear.
I used to wake up an our before I had to leave house, because I couldn't get started, lol.

doctor wanted to test me for narcolepsy but since there is no cure, I said what's the point?

Ehrmm... The result might be: "No, definitely no narcolepsy."?

Hang in there, dear Trace. 
You must be in such a tough spot. I feel for you.

Dutch Uncle.

[Dyess]

I'm pretty sure the doctor was thinking narcolepsy as a possibility. My thoughts were what was the point of going through the testing, not having a cure, having it on a medical record and possibly having my drivers license revoked and/or insurance skyrocket. Being in a vehicle or sitting still for very long is not good for me......ZZzzzzzzzzz. But I know when to pull over and sleep when driving.
I'm wondering if the CPTSD is a problem for people sleeping, interfering with REM sleep. Even when I do get to sleep it's a few hours, then up to pee, get something to drink and maybe going back to sleep. I seem to sleep better when it's daylight for some reason. Yes, I know, I'm not normal.

[Dutch Uncle]

I'm pretty sure the doctor was thinking narcolepsy as a possibility. My thoughts were what was the point of going through the testing, not having a cure, having it on a medical record and possibly having my drivers license revoked and/or insurance skyrocket. Being in a vehicle or sitting still for very long is not good for me......ZZzzzzzzzzz. But I know when to pull over and sleep when driving.
I'm wondering if the CPTSD is a problem for people sleeping, interfering with REM sleep. Even when I do get to sleep it's a few hours, then up to pee, get something to drink and maybe going back to sleep. I seem to sleep better when it's daylight for some reason. Yes, I know, I'm not normal.

Yes, a possibility. If he was sure he wouldn't send you of for a test. It may well turn out negative.

And by all means, sleep at daytime if that's better for you. There's plenty of people who do that, and there are  plenty of people who prefer to have night jobs for that very reason.
It's quite normal.
True, day sleepers are a minority, but that doesn't make them, or you, "not normal".
Are gays "not normal", Trace?
Or astronauts?

[Dutch Uncle]

This article has helped me accepting I have a 'disturbed' sleeping pattern at the moment.
Perhaps there will bits in it that may be of help to you too:

http://www.traumahealed.com/articles/rest-at-sleeps-threshold.html

[arpy1]

feel for you dear Trace, disturbed sleep is really tough to cope with 

waking up crying i definitely do sometimes; waking up in an EF, yup; sleeping very light and tense, waking up several times in the night and laying there mind whirring, yup. ( waking up for a pee at 3 a.m.? dammit, yes! the fruit of age, sadly) i think it's common for people like us to have problems with sleep.
i guess sleep is when the body and mind are working to sort, file and heal the stuff we experience in the days. we just have a huge amount of stuff still unprocessed from our past. maybe that's got something to do with it.

as D/U says, maybe try sleeping in daylight; it might be that you relax better becos you feel safer when it's not dark? worth a try, maybe?

[Dyess]

Okay another dream thought/concern. I have been reading on my coping skills and trying to figure out how to apply them, so there's no surprise that it would pop up in a dream. I was dreaming about something bad, a flashback , I think and I kept telling myself this is just a flashback, I'm safe, over and over again but the more I said it the more stressed I got, until I finally woke up. I don't have a clue what the flashback was, or about. So I wonder if we have these flashbacks during our sleep and are not aware of them because we don't remember. Any thoughts or comments on this?

[Dutch Uncle]

As far as I know everybody dreams a lot more than they remember. Often I don't remember dreams as all, yet it is certain that everybody dreams at night (REM-sleep).
And I think it's safe to assume that yes, flashbacks also occur when we dream. Or that flashbacks are re'lived' in dreams.

For what its worth, and this is pure speculation on my part, it's probably a good 'sign': this dream you had. I think the training on EF-Flashback-management is entering your subconsciousness now. It is my belief (and it's nothing more than that: a belief) that dreams are a mechanism that's part of making conscious experiences an integral part of the rest of your neurological network.

[tired]

a lot has to do with sleep cycles and how you sleep, as in what time to go to bed and when your alarm goes off and whether you nap, and how this pattern affects your sleep cycles. this is according to my daughter who reads a lot about it when she stays up too late at night.

i dream more when i sleep in and remember more when i wake up naturally and later than usual. i don't remember much if i wake up at 4 which is my norm.

meds affect dreams too.

sometimes when i have a bad dream i tell myself a dream is just a bunch of stuff that didn't happen (I heard that somewhere on tv) and that feels pretty good. i wake up and think, yay, it was just a dream, and here i am safe in my own bed, with my cat!

another funny quote-
"what does this dream mean?"  "it means you were sleepin"

[Indigochild]

Hey people,
Question u might be able to answer, or might now...

When we are hypervigelant at night...stressed...we apparently dont sleep well - we are not resting as we should.
Do you know how we manage to stay asleep, although only lightly?
Do you know what bit of the brain is on alert and how so?
Just interested in how things work of late.

[Dutch Uncle]

Sorry, don't know much about it.
One thing I do know (since I stumbled on it once) is that different parts of the brain get switched 'off'* at different times.
F.e. first your 'consciousness' switches off, then your "sensory input" switches off. This is why when the two get mixed up (which happens now and then) you suddenly wake up from the experience of 'falling down'.
Your "sensory input" got shut off first, and thus was your consciousness still able to feel there was no 'pressure' exerted on your body. Which is the same (non)sensation as when you fall. So you wake up with a shock: Alert!
(which btw, I realize now, is another word for 'conscious'/awake  )

I hope you'll do some research on what you want to know and share it with us. 

*) "Off" is actually "sleep mode"/"standby mode", just as in many electrical appliances nowadays. One "keystroke" and it's "on" again.

[Dyess]

Seems like I have a lot of questions about sleep at this point Thanks for the responses. I will look into it further.

[Dyess]

Here's an interesting site for me. Seems like EF's while sleeping are going to fall under the nightmare umbrella. But there may be some explanation as to why you feel so dazed from sleeping sometimes, also why you may fight sleep as I do.
http://www.complexptsd.info/Insomnia-and-PTSD.html

[tired]

Oh... That article mentions a bed and nighttime as a trigger. Never considered that but wow so obvious now that I've thought of it. 

I've never been able to sleep more than 4 hours at a time . Rarely anyway.  The idea of being out of it for that long sounds dangerous and very odd to even consider. I tend to take cat naps and set an alarm for a half hour so I don't sleep too long. Who knows what might happen when one is unconscious.

[Dyess]

Yes, that caught my eye as well. I can see where the bed and night time would be a trigger for me to. When I talked to my counselor about having flashbacks during sleep and not remembering them, but waking up feeling re traumatized she seemed to think it would fall under nightmares. But nightmares can be about anything, EF's are related to a trauma. Anyway.....just food for thought and wondered if anyone else had experienced these things.