I'm Dreaming!

[randyd501]

I have been on APAP now for 8 weeks and I am feeling so much better it is amazing! My AHI on the Resmed Autoset II is 3.2 my pressure is set at 9(I lowered from 12 because of severe abdominal pains in the morning-I still have it). I can't believe it took me all these years to listen to my doctor and go for a sleep test after complaining about falling asleep at 2pm daily
The one thing they I never thought about is I never had any dreams-at least that I remembered prior to Apap.
Since I have been on the APAP my dreams are extremely vivid and in fact too vivid as I punched my night stand last night and woke up to a bloody knuckle!
Has anyone been experiencing the same thing with vivid dreaming using Xpap and not having dreams prior to Xpap?

[DreamStalker]

I have I have!

Dreams are cool ... at least mine are since I haven't had any where I smash my knuckles

[sleepydoll]

This is called REM rebound.
Basically, if you've been deprived of REM sleep for awhile, your body tries to make it up by piling it all up when you start sleeping better.
It should straighten itself out after a few nights.

Stages of Sleep (Source: National Institutes of Health)
Stage 1:
Light sleep. We drift in and out and can be awakened easily. Our eyes move slowly and muscle activity slows.
Stage 2:
Our eye movements stop and our brain waves become slower with occasional bursts of rapid waves called sleep spindles.
Stage 3:
Deep sleep. Extremely slow brain waves called delta waves appear, interspersed with smaller, faster waves.
Stage 4:
Deep sleep. The brain produces mostly delta waves. There are no eye movements and no muscle activity.
Stage 5:
REM sleep. Breathing becomes more rapid, irregular, and shallow. Eyes jerk rapidly, limb muscles become temporarily paralyzed. Dreams almost always happen in this stage, but may occur in other sleep stages as well.

It takes about 2 hours to go through all five stages of sleep, and then they repeat. Rapid eye movement (REM) sleep usually occurs about 90 minutes after we fall asleep. Adults spend half of their sleep time in stage 2, 20 percent of the time in REM sleep, and 30 percent in the other stages. Infants start out spending about half of their sleep time in REM sleep. Older people spend relatively little time in stages 3 and 4.

Sleep apparently happens mostly during REM, the final stage of sleep. So that means you are reaching REM.
You recently started cpap, right? Many people report more than usual dreaming early on with cpap.

Pleasant dreams !
D.

[randyd501]

Absolutely amazing! I feel like I am in an action adventure that is how vivid the dreams are. But the most amazing thing to me is that I never processed that I never had dreams prior to Apap therapy-at least ones that I remember.
I told my wife this morning to sleep with one eye open now since I smashed my knuckle

[carbonman]

Has anyone been experiencing the same thing with vivid dreaming using Xpap and not having dreams prior to Xpap?

YES, dreaming, another fantastic result of cpap.

I couldn't remember dreaming before cpap.
It took about a month for the dreams to begin.
I would have a dream every 2-3 nights.
Then almost every night.
3wks ago, I quit taking Melatonin, and I have had dreams
everynight since. Sometimes multiple dream sessions.

Sat. night I had a second dream where I was literally
inside my mask. I was looking down into the hose
coming from the machine. I know it was the hose because
I could see the bright blue/stars hose cozy that I have,
from inside the hose. The images were coming up through
the hose. I still remember some of them....
a friend from HS that I haven't seen in years, my dog that
I had in Alaska, the night riders from the Hobit.
Some fun, some scary, I did not die.

Yes, cpap is a dream machine.

[DreamStalker]

I remember when I was a kid that I dreamed alot. Then sometime in my mid-twenties, I stopped having dreams. Not until I began PAP treatment 20 years later did I begin dreaming again. If it is called "REM rebound" .... then I have 20 years worth to make up for. I've been on the dream machine for over 2 and a half years and the dreams have not stopped or slowed since.

Actually, what I have heard about REM is that it is the brains way to sort of defrag the memory banks and mitigate information overload.

Some here have quoted medical references that state that the only reason we remember our dreams is because we wake in the middle of the dreams and that this indicates that we are not getting restful sleep. I think everyone is different ... I don't always remember everything I dreamt and sometimes only the fact that I did dream something. But I have noticed that the more I recall from my dreams, the more alert and aware I am the next day ... but I'm weird that way I guess.

[san_fran_gal]

Randy, when I saw the subject line of this thread, I wondered if I'd written it last night in my "sleep"! I have enjoyed three nights in a row of dreams now that CPAP is starting to click a little.

Like you, I had to lower my pressure from the prescribed setting (b/c of choking feeling and stomach issues), and I'm gradually working my way up. I'm at 6 as of last night, and the goal is supposed to be 8. My AHI was 3.4 last night, so it keeps getting better. And wow -- the dreams! It seemed that every time I awoke to adjust the mask, I had had a new dream. Some were nightmares, but that's OK. I'm just tickled to be finding REM!

During my sleep studies, I barely got into REM, and it was very short-lived. I don't remember dreaming for a very long time before this recent "spate," so I hope this continues for a while! (Oddly, most of my dreams have been related to recurring dreams I used to have. It's like there was an intermission, and now we're continuing with the story line!)
Sweet dreams!

Edit: I've just done some quick reading of other posts, and it seems that another opinion on remembering dreams so much is that REM sleep is actually being interrupted a lot, which of course, isn't good. My mask and I are still learning to live with each other, so that may be the reason I'm waking remembering the dreams. But still -- the fact that I had only 1 short REM session in both sleep studies, and now I'm diving into them a few times per night -- leads me to be grateful that even if I'm waking up during REM, at least I'm HAVING it! It seems that we newbies may decrease our REM memories after we have everything adjusted pretty well...

[OldLincoln]

Randy, You have an APAP and said you still have abdominal pain with it set to 9. APAP machines automatically adjust pressure as needed within a minimum and maximum range. You "can" use an APAP in CPAP (single steady pressure) mode by setting both high and low to the same number which is what your post looks like.

Since you were originally at 12 I can only assume that is the pressure needed to clear events, so at 9 you will likely have events that clear on their own (as before treatment began). I recommend that you try the Auto mode and set the high pressure back to 12 and experiment with the low to find a setting where you no longer have the abdominal pain - starting with 8. Auto machines are good at taking care of things within a range of 6 points or so.

The problem sounds like air is being forced past your "shutoff valve", into your stomach and into your intestines which then blow up like a balloon and hurt. The pressure at which you stop hurting is the most the "valve" can handle effectively.

When set to run all night at a higher pressure you can imagine the volume of air getting through. Since the APAP will sit at a low pressure then reach up to clear an event and return, the time at higher pressure is minimal. My range is 6-13 and I haven't hit 13, but occasionally hit 12 for 1-2 minutes about half the nights, and it sits a 6 for over 50% of the time. Some air gets through when reaching high but very little, and no pain.

You have a really neat machine so check it out.

[randyd501]

Randy, You have an APAP and said you still have abdominal pain with it set to 9. APAP machines automatically adjust pressure as needed within a minimum and maximum range. You "can" use an APAP in CPAP (single steady pressure) mode by setting both high and low to the same number which is what your post looks like.

Since you were originally at 12 I can only assume that is the pressure needed to clear events, so at 9 you will likely have events that clear on their own (as before treatment began). I recommend that you try the Auto mode and set the high pressure back to 12 and experiment with the low to find a setting where you no longer have the abdominal pain - starting with 8. Auto machines are good at taking care of things within a range of 6 points or so.

The problem sounds like air is being forced past your "shutoff valve", into your stomach and into your intestines which then blow up like a balloon and hurt. The pressure at which you stop hurting is the most the "valve" can handle effectively.

When set to run all night at a higher pressure you can imagine the volume of air getting through. Since the APAP will sit at a low pressure then reach up to clear an event and return, the time at higher pressure is minimal. My range is 6-13 and I haven't hit 13, but occasionally hit 12 for 1-2 minutes about half the nights, and it sits a 6 for over 50% of the time. Some air gets through when reaching high but very little, and no pain.

You have a really neat machine so check it out.

I had the min pressure as originally set at 12 as prescribed by my doctor on Autoset..the max is at 20.
As an avid lurker on the site I decided to lower the min to 9( the avg pressure is 12 according to the results data)...I still wake up with incredible pain in my abdomen and it takes hours for it to disappear...I will try lowering it to 8 and see what happens as long as my AHI doesn't rise. I will continue to lower it as needed and keep watch on my AHI.

My doctor said it could take 2-3 months for my muscle that blocks the air intake to the stomach to be able to handle the pressure and cease the bloating. I'd rather deal with the uncomfortable bloating then see a rise in my AHI

[OldLincoln]

I haven't heard of the LES (lower esophageal sphincter) gaining strength. My thinking (not a doctor!) is that busting that door down each night would make it worse not better. The bloating is well known and discussed here repeatedly. You can search for Aerophagia (swallowing of air) and Gastric Insufflation (air forced into stomach). This post can get you started understanding what is going on with it and why I'm a missionary for using the lowest effective pressure.

PS: Don't get caught up doing strange things to reach a number. I have nights with really great AHI and not so great AHI. I can't tell one from another. The important thing is that the machine remedies them all and I wake up alive.

[snoozeandlose]

Having lots of REM sleep is not the goal for most of us.Stage 3 and 4 sleep is where the body restores itself with the release of human growth hormone. I never got to those stages because I was in REM too much and as a result was sleep deprived although I slept all night and all day if I had the chance. You also might be experiencing lots of aches and pains upon awakening if you don't get back to a normal sleep cycle. Also aerophagia can be due to mouth breathing. That was how I discovered I needed a full face mask or use tape. I have done both but finally found a mask that doesn't leak. Good luck.