Terrifying Dreams!!

General Discussion on any topic relating to CPAP and/or Sleep Apnea.
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Rubyslipperss
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Terrifying Dreams!!

Post by Rubyslipperss » Mon Apr 16, 2018 9:01 am

Thank goodness I get my new CPAP today! The first few weeks after my machine died, I “just “ was not able to get into a sound sleep 😴 and had to nap half the day to make it to bedtime where the same thing was repeated. Then, about 3 weeks ago, I started having some really terrifying dreams.

I dreamed I could not breathe. Whatever I was doing in my dream, I could not breathe. Not only did I dream it but the dream felt all to real. At first I woke up pretty quick and discovered that I actually was having trouble breathing. I had to sit a couple of minutes till my breathing returned to normal. But the past 2 weeks or so, I have not woken up as quickly and when I DO wake up, it takes much longer for my breathing to return to normal.

Has anyone else experienced anything like this? In the 11 years I have used a CPAP, nothing like this has ever happened. Of course I will see the doctor if it continues to happen once I am back on therapy.

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Okie bipap
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Re: Terrifying Dreams!!

Post by Okie bipap » Mon Apr 16, 2018 9:23 am

I have never had such dreams, but my wife kept having dreams about drowning before she started treatment. One she started treatment, the dreams stopped.

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jnk...
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Re: Terrifying Dreams!!

Post by jnk... » Mon Apr 16, 2018 9:51 am

The purpose of the machine is to allow a person to breathe when asleep. For some of us, attempting to sleep without CPAP is very dangerous--life-threatening, even.
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kteague
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Re: Terrifying Dreams!!

Post by kteague » Mon Apr 16, 2018 9:56 am

Bad dreams with sleep apnea seem to be a common theme around here. I shudder at the thought of going weeks without treatment. Never want to return to those awful and scary nights. I'm guessing your dreams will settle down with resuming treatment. Let us know if that's how things work out.

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Pugsy
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Re: Terrifying Dreams!!

Post by Pugsy » Mon Apr 16, 2018 10:14 am

I don't know if I ever had bad dreams or not pre cpap because my OSA is primarily REM dependent and when I would hit REM the OSA kicked in fast and furious and I would wake up and I just never remembered dreaming. Didn't have a chance I guess to formulate a memory of any dream of any sort.....if I even had one.

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Re: Terrifying Dreams!!

Post by Lucyhere » Mon Apr 16, 2018 10:17 am

I occasionally had nightmares before I was diagnosed with sleep apnea, and I have occasional nightmares now. Not much difference before or after for me. I remember most of my 'dreams' ... never have been sure what that really means.
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jnk...
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Re: Terrifying Dreams!!

Post by jnk... » Mon Apr 16, 2018 12:10 pm

Krakow is a big believer in a technique of imagery rehearsal therapy (sleep dynamic therapy) for changing recurring nightmares.
"Select a bad dream, change the bad dream any way you wish, . . . and then [rehearse] that new dream. Could be a few minutes a day. In research we've noted that successful users practice between 5 and 20 minutes every other day. . . . You're taking it from one set of very, very negative and difficult or traumatic or troublesome images, and you're changing it - and notice I'm going to say here you're changing it to something else. I'm not saying that you're changing it to something better; I'm not saying you're changing it to something triumphant; I'm saying you're changing it to something else. . . . The individual is empowered to take the old dream and, for whatever reasons, change it to something, not necessarily out of some fantasy, but rather something [that] comes to them. Something comes into their consciousness that tells them this is how they want to change it." -- https://www.wamhc.org/poc/view_doc.php? ... c&id=39747
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Re: Terrifying Dreams!!

Post by Lucyhere » Mon Apr 16, 2018 1:18 pm

If I have a dream that makes me happy, I can fall back to sleep and continue on with the dream. If it's a nightmare which often gives me a bad headache, I have to make sure I wake up fully before I go back to sleep or I'll continue on with the same awful dream. Such talent. :roll:
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chunkyfrog
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Re: Terrifying Dreams!!

Post by chunkyfrog » Mon Apr 16, 2018 3:14 pm

Before cpap, I was awakened with frequent nightmares.
I would consciously continue with the dream, but with me in control.
This usually worked; but sometimes not.
It is good to be the producer/director/author.

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Rubyslipperss
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Re: Terrifying Dreams!!

Post by Rubyslipperss » Mon Apr 16, 2018 3:47 pm

chunkyfrog wrote:
Mon Apr 16, 2018 3:14 pm
Before cpap, I was awakened with frequent nightmares.
I would consciously continue with the dream, but with me in control.
This usually worked; but sometimes not.
It is good to be the producer/director/author.
ROFL!

herefishy
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Re: Terrifying Dreams!!

Post by herefishy » Mon Apr 16, 2018 5:43 pm

Are the times I wake up after dreaming of falling, from apnea, or does everybody have them?

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Lucyhere
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Re: Terrifying Dreams!!

Post by Lucyhere » Mon Apr 16, 2018 6:34 pm

herefishy wrote:
Mon Apr 16, 2018 5:43 pm
Are the times I wake up after dreaming of falling, from apnea, or does everybody have them?
Don't think I've ever had a dream about falling, before or after I was diagnosed (that I remember anyway). Now, leaping through fire, people chasing me... yeah, I've had lots of those. I've read many books on dreaming; hasn't helped in the 'why' of the dream though. People have different interpretations.
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D.H.
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Re: Terrifying Dreams!!

Post by D.H. » Tue Apr 17, 2018 9:30 am

That's why I have a spare machine on hand at home. It's not feasible to travel with a spare, so I dread the prospect of it happening far from home.

This actually happened to somebody who posted about it recently.

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chunkyfrog
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Re: Terrifying Dreams!!

Post by chunkyfrog » Tue Apr 17, 2018 9:32 am

Dreams about falling are not uncommon, and they can be googled,
to give you some insight about the variety of reasons imagined for them.
If anything jumps out at you, it might help to address that issue.
I had these dreams in my teens, when I was experiencing angst for several reasons.

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Re: Terrifying Dreams!!

Post by chunkyfrog » Tue Apr 17, 2018 9:33 am

.

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