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Sleep, Dreams and REM Sleep Behavior Disorder
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Sleep, Dreams and REM Sleep Behavior Disorder
Mahalia Cohen
The discovery of rapid eye movement (REM) sleep suggested that sleep was not, as it was thought to be, a dormant state but rather a mentally dynamic one. Your brain is, in fact, very active in this state, almost to the level at which it is when a person is awake. Yet during this active stage in which most dreams occur, the movements of the rest of the body are completely stilled. To imagine this paralysis during dreams not occurring is a frightful image, since in many cases dreams are violent and active. When the neurotransmitters that control the movement of the body do not work properly the person develops REM sleep behavioral disorder (RBD).While we are sleeping the sensory world is essentially revolving around us without our knowledge. Our senses of hearing, touch, taste, sight, and smell no longer function as they do when we are awake. Except for the threshold for each of these senses that each of us has while we sleep, our inner systems are working essentially free of input from the outside world. And yet people are able to have vivid dreams. The cortex can only pass into sleep mode with the help of the are of the brain called the thalamus. The thalamus is one of the two structures that make up the diencephalon, the lower part of the fore brain. Its main function in mammals is as the relay station of sensory information its way to the cortical center. Specific regions of the thalamus, as well as different nuclei process different sensory information on its way to the cortex.
In normal sleeping patterns a person usually passes through five phases of sleep, the fifth being REM. The sleeping human passes cyclically through these five phases throughout a night's rest. These phases can be defined in electrical activity of the brain; much like the activity of the heart is often defined. The technique of measuring the electrical activity of the brain is call Electro-encephalogram, or EEG. When the electrical events of a person's brain are graphed on a electrical magnitude versus time axis the graph of a person who is in different stages of being asleep or awake appear to have different levels of electrical activity occurring in the brain. (See (14))
During the cycle of the phases each lasts for a different period of time during the time we are sleeping. The first stage is the lightest stage of sleep and is characterized by drifting in and out of sleep and slow muscle and eye activity. When people are awakened during this phase they usually have fragmented visual memory of what they were experiencing while asleep. The second stage is the one in which the most time is spent, close to fifty percent, during this stage three electrical activity, measured by electrodes, slows down except for infrequent bouts of rapid waves called sleep spindles. Stage three and four are considered stages of deep sleep, delta wave appear during phase three and are produced almost exclusively during phase four. Delta waves are extremely slow brain waves. Though there is no consistent eye movement or muscle activity during these two periods, they are the phases of sleep when some children experience bedwetting, night terrors, or sleepwalking ((12)).
The next phase is REM sleep, after reaching stage four the pattern of progressively slower, larger brain wave and deeper sleep, reverses and sleep becomes lighter until the REM sleep state is reached. REM is the most active part of sleep, in which the rain waves, when viewed using EEG have a pattern the most similar to those of person who is awake. REM sleep and dreaming, which occurs mainly during REM, are triggered by the pons, a bridge that connects the brainstem with the cerebellum, and neighboring structures of the brainstem (See illustration ((10))). A pathway originates in a group of acetylcholinergic neurons located in these rostral pons. These neurons project to the sensory areas of the thalamus and to the reticular nucleus. In the sensory areas of the thalamus control whether the gate that allows information from the outside world pass into the brain is open or closed. The acetylcholine produced by the pons' neurons sensitizes these neurons of the thalamus to sensory input by slightly depolarizing, and hence changing the level of potassium. By contrast the reticular nucleus is inhibited by the acetylcholine, as a result the thalamus lets sensory information through , and the cortex is highly active. This process is very similar to what occurs when a person is awake. In the other stage of sleep in which the brain is less active the system works in the opposite manner. The acetylcholine system is inactive, the reticular nucleus is uninhibited and can thus inhibit the thalamus, as a result the cortical neurons move in a slow rhythm , very different from the active state they are in while the creature is awake, or in REM sleep.
The majority of the Dreaming that occurs during a sleep cycle occurs during the REM or paradoxical sleep state. As described above the brain literally awakens internally during REM sleep. In a person with normal sleep behavior the REM sleep stage is one of near paralysis for the entire body other than the muscles of the eye and the middle ear. This occurs because of descending inhibition, in which a group of cells in the medulla that descend down the spinal cord and inhibit motor activity. RBD, rapid eye movement sleep behavior disorder, is characterized by the afflicted person acting out their dreams, which are usually violent in nature. The violent nature of these dream enactments is very distinct from the person's normal waking personality. This suggests that RBD is not only a motor control disorder, but a dream disorder as well. When the person awakens they can remember their dream vividly but cannot recall their physical actions during the dreams. Most of the incidents that occur within the dream are similar in affect to those that the individual was enacting, in one instance an adult male nearly strangled his wife while dreaming that he was saving her from drowning ((13)).
The majority of patients afflicted with RBD though there are cases of females and children having this disorder. About 25% of diagnosed patients tested reported limb twitching, talking, yelling, jerking and a progressive decline in motor control during sleep ((9)). These symptoms starkly contrast to the typical atonia, lack of normal muscle tension, which is associated with the REM phase of sleep. In very few isolated cases have any family history of RBD been found. In approximately half of the cases chronic RBD is associated with several different neuropathologies including: vascular insult, tumors, degenerative disorders, etc. In instances where RBD is not a consequence of some other affliction it may be a warning sign of Parkinson's disease.
RBD and other similar dissociative disorders bring up interesting questions about the self. In one respect an individual self is more active during these phases of sleep since there actions and functions are more similar to those that occur when that individual is awake, and supposedly has full use of the self. Yet during these sleep stages the individual loses awareness and control of there physical and mental self. The dreams that they experience, as seen in cases studies, are rarely attributed to what occur in their daily life, and thus are the vivid images are not provided for by their memory bank. Furthermore they have little control over their physical presence, which is controlled by the dream sequence and have no recollections of the actions that took place after they are awakened. These two opposing standpoints leave the question: is the self retained when awareness of the individuals own actions is lost?
WWW Sources
1) The Study of Neurophysiological Mechanisms of Dreaming. By M. Jouvet and D. Jouvet2) Paradoxical Sleep- A Study of its Nature and Mechanisms. By M. Jouvet
3) Paradoxical Sleep Mechanisms. By M. Jouvet.
4) Why Do We Dream? By Jarrett Carberry.
6) Why Don't We Act On Our Dreams. By Silvia Helena Cardoso, PhD.
7) The Science of Sleep and Dreams
8) States of Consciousness: Concepts and Definitions
9)REM Sleep Behavior Disorder: A Neurologic Dissociative Sleep Disorder. By Niels C. Rattenborg.
10) Brain Briefings: REM Sleep.
11) Cortical Arousal During REM Sleep, LDEs and OBEs.
12) Brain Basics: Understanding Sleep.
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Continuing conversation
I have a question that brought me to your Web site. Is it possible for vivid dreams to disrupt the normal functions during sleep? To rephrase, is there such a thing as the mind being too focused on the logical events of a dream that it fails to get enough rest? Sometimes I wake up in the morning after having a vivid dream and it's very difficult to get out of bed or I can't immediately focus on the world around me. This has occurred fairly often in the past two months, so I wanted to do some research. I'm not sure if you respond to individual e-mails, but I'd definitely appreciate it if you could reply. Greg Davidson
In response to the previous inquiry--sounds like you are having lucid dreams. Welcome to my world--I am experiencing a LOAD of problems due to this type of sleep.
AS THE ABOVE READER I TOO DREAM ALL NIGHT LONG. I WAKE UP SO EXHAUSTED I CAN HARDLY FUNCTION DURING THE DAY. EVEN WORSE THAN THAT I REMEMBER THE DREAM THE ENTIRE DAY AND IT I CLOSE MY EYES THE DREAM IS STILL GOING ON. WHEN I TELL PEOPLE MY DREAMS THEY THINK I'M CRAZY. MY HUSBAND HAS BEEN AWAKENED NUMEROUS TIMES TO FIND OUT WHO I AM TALKING WITH, ETC. MARY
I also have a very similar problem. Since I was a child I have always had very vivid dreams that feel like they last all night. Many times I talk (often panicked), sit up or stand up in the bed, get out of the bed, etc. The dreams in which I talk are typically nightmares like snakes in the bed, trapped somewhere, someone trying to "get" me, etc. The really frightening ones (devils, spirts, etc) often wake me. Not all of my dreams are bad, but many are. In the morning, I literally have to drag myself out of the bed. When I was an adolecent, my mom would try to wake me up in the morning to go to school and I would be so mean - just b/c I really did not want to get up b/c I was so tired. I can easily sleep 12 hours plus - dreaming the whole time - before I wake up on my own. I am really looking for a natural treatment so that I feel rested in the morning and get the restful sleep needed to be healthy.
After reading your article and the continued conversations at the end, I would also like to ask about "too much dreaming"...is my brain spending too much time in REM? I've read other articles that suggest diet has an affect (i.e. too much protein before bed). I'm a vegetarian and rarely get too much protein at any time of the day, so that can't be it. I'm considering finding a sleep research facility in my area and have an EEG run while I'm alseep to determine, in actuality, just how long my brain spends in REM and how long it spends in delta waves. Bring on the delta waves!
Hi, my husband is 28 years old and has had night terrors his whole life. We recently read in articles like yours that 40% of adults that suffer from night terrors go on to develop Parkinson's disease. Naturally, we are very worried about this. My husband wants to put off going to see a doctor or specialist for a year or so because this coming year will be a very busy and important one for him at work. But I keep trying to tell him that his health and emotional well-being is more important than work. Even if there is nothing the doctor can do to treat the night terrors, I feel that talking to a professional about it will help to ease his mind if he can get some answers about Parkinson's, etc. Ever since he found this information out, I can tell it is bothering him. How do I get him to go see a doctor? Thanks!
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I have a 3 year old who can run for about 4.5 hours with very brief rest periods aprox. 3mins. He can not be in school because he is too active for the structured environment. I had to quit my job. He sleeps between 8pm - 9pm each noght.
He wakes up between 6am - 7:30am. He twicthes a lot when he is almost asleep. Not violently but I notice toes , fist and occassional his head twitch. When he wakes up in the morning, till about 11:30am, he will complain that he is soo tired. I thought it was boredom so I kept taking him to the park after he had painted, and done other projects he wanted to do. (that causes him to run /play for hours). I try to let him rest his body or sleep if he can before we go out. In any case immediately after he wakes up, he asks me if I am as tired as he is. He is always complaining that he is too tired. He is only 3 years old and this worries me. I am going to make an appiontment for him to see his pediatrician because I am confident he knows the difference between being bored and being tired. Any ideas? ... Catherine, 16 February 2006
I've had vivid dreams my entire life. I am 32 years old, so at least as far as I can remember. I used to have horrific nightmares growing up, and loud sounds like trains, or racing cars, for long periods of time. I've had several obe experiences, and have woken up only to see what can be described as ectoplasma in the shape of a human,leaving my presence. I've seen things standing above me that have taken my breath away, literally like it was actually sucking the air from my lungs. I could spend all night writing about my experiences, but I'm hoping to get a good night's sleep tonite, since I have a little girl who needs to be tended to. My most recent experiences outside of the dream world, have been hearing loud conversations directly in my ears, between two or more people speaking to each other. I feel like I'm awake and it can be very annoying, because I want to write down what they are saying, but I am not physically able to move, although I dream to be awake and get up to see if I'm really sleeping. Something similiar happened within the last year, where I heard loud music, almost as if I was in a church. It sounded like a soft worship song of a woman singing. A song I had never heard before, but was a beautiful sound. At first it was pleasing, but played over and over until I woke up. I waited to long to address it, then forgot what I had heard or made of for the lyrics. I can't find any reason for these occurances, but I would really like to find out as much info as possible. I am becoming more and more concerned now. Last night, it was two men talking to one another, and it was very loud for an extended period of time. Please respond. I don't take any medications, nor use mind altering drugs that would affect my sleep like this. I'm wondering if I need to seek a sleep disorder specialist, or I'm just tuned in to the spirit world. I don't know at this point. Thank you for your time ... Keli, 6 April 2006
hello, i've been taking the antidepressant, Effexor XR for over 5-years and experiencing vivid dreams, but mostly when i wake in the morning it takes 45-minutes or more to convince myself to get out of bed, and sometimes when i get out of bed i have feelings in my head that i'm going to drop from still being extremely tired. everyday this happens. shall i chalk it up to NOT being a morning person OR Sleep Behavior Disorder caused by taking Effexor XR? this is effecting my daily routine and being able to get to work on time. i can not stop taking the Effexor XR because i seem to be totally dependant on it. your opinion is greatly appreciated. my email is cr5759@yahoo.com ... Carlos Tomas, 26 June 2006
I am having a difficulty usually about 3 am. I think I am waking up while I am still dreaming. Real world superimposing onto the dream world. The best example of this I can give is a nightmare I had (my Mother was in reality standing in my doorway having a actual conversation with me) which I was concious of while I was also vividly dreaming a nightmare about someone who was killing people was superimposed over my room and Mom. I even told her the name that I was dreaming as I dreamed it. My worry is that this seems to be happening more frequently as I am getting older. Am I missing a vitiam or something? ... Anne, 15 August 2006
I also have the problems with my sleep that affects me alot like the people described here. I think I spend too much time in REM mode and it is really affecting my life. I have been dealing with this for over a year now and no one seems to be able to help. I was wondering if anyone on here has figured out exactly what is causing it? ... Faith Mrzlock, 25 August 2006
I experienced an awareness of the REM phase of sleep and it was very strange. I was lying in bed half asleep where I could not move but was aware that I was in bed. I moved my eyes to the left and heard and felt the wind sweep across the back of my head to the right side. I the moved my eyes to the right and the opposite happened. I thought maybe I was hearing the wind outside so I stopped and nothing happened. I then repeated it. The sensation across the back of my head felt good. Shortly after my eyes started twitching in different directions, not moving to the fullest extent in any particular direction. Along with the movement I felt zapping in my eyes. I then started to breathe faster and started to try to whimper so maybe my wife could hear me, but didn't make a sound. I then woke up with a little whimper.
I wanted to see if this is a known experience ... William, 22 September 2006
i have nightmares all the time and every time i shut my eyes to sleep, and during my dreams something bad happens, and it always ends at one section and the next night when i go back to sleep it carrys on where it left off and worst things happens it's just like a non- ending nightmare it's been going on for about 6 months know but i haven't told anyone yet no even my parenrts, okay well canu please email me and tell me what i can do thank you very much ... Elisabeth Carter, 19 October 2006
Hi. My name is Kayla. I'm 17 years old. And I have horrible nightmares. I honestly can't remember when I last had a good dream. I have these dreams that keep reocurring. Sometimes they'll stay for long. And then just go away. But they come back. And i'm very confused 'cause some of the dreams I have are really strange. And have nothing that I can relate to in reality. All of the dreams that i've had have always had my family and friends in them. Mostly my family. And something bad is always happening. But my dreams arent the same everytime I fall asleep. I fall asleep the first time and have the dream. And sometimes am so scared I wake up. But then if I can fall back asleep the dream continues. And it's the same dream. But everything get's harder. And every time I fall asleep and go back into the dream more occurs. For instance, in one of my dreams that i've had recently I'm in my room and my brother is standing next to my bed and I wake up and he's just staring into the hallway. And this guy comes in.. But he's nor a normal guy he's like rubbery texture. Like a mask. but his whole body is like that. And it's as if he comes from tv or a video game. But I have the instinct that I have to protect my brother. So I get up and fight him. And then after I kill him theres another guy that I have to kill. But it's always easy the first couple of times. But the more I wake up and then go back to sleep the harder they get to fight. And it's just odd because my brother just stands there not saying a word. Just watching. No emotion. I think the dreaming comes from somewhere. 'Cause my little brother also has Night Terrors. Horrible ones. Where he's half asleep and half awake. And it's so hard to calm him down because he doesnt see us as us. Normally were people that he's afraid of. And one time while one of his Night Terrors was happening my sister kept asking him what was going on and that time he kept repeating himself "They won't let me tell you, they won't let me tell you" While rocking back in form screaming and him trying to breath. But when he wakes up. He can't remember a thing. He's never been able to. And they used to be quite frenquent. But i'm not sure what exactly this all means. If at all possible, please email me back and try to explain. 'Cause some of the research i've been reading is scaring me ... Kayla, 18 January 2007
I have a friend and he just told me that over the past 6 months he has had very vivid dreams in the middle of regular activity during the day and they only seem to last a few seconds. He was in a parked car in the middle of the day and he looked out the window and saw sticks on the windshield and the moon coming through and thought he was in the woods when he was really on a street and a few sec. later it was over. Then one day he was driving and it happened again but this time he had clear recollection of sitting at the dinner table with his parents for a few sec. and when he came back he was still driving. I am concerned. He doesn't do drugs and is on no medication but he is anorexic and experiences some insomnia. Please help ... TJ, 27 January 2007
I have the same problem. I go to bed and I feel as though I'm in a very deep sleep. If I wake up at night I feel drowsy and it feels as though I've been in a deep sleep. Yet, in the morning, I wake up and I just so tired and I feel like I am not getting enough sleep ... Marisa, 7 February 2007
I have a problem to which I have no answer. Since childhood I can never remember actually dreaming and also cannot visualise or have no imaginative thoughts when i'm asleep and am wondering if there is a diagnosis for this condition as it truly does bother me. Please help me out on this one. I am a 38 yr old man am would like this problem solved ... Michael Alderman, 12 April 2007
I was recently hospitalized and was taken off my ADD Meds(Adderal-an amphetamine). I had been on this medication for several years. I roommate told me I talked a lot in my sleep. I don't remember this. Because I am aware that when I have discontinued this medication in the past I am more sexually driven, I am concerned that I may have acted out inapproriately. What are the chances of this happening? And what are the chances that I said embarrassing things while I was sleeping at the hospital? Would I have acted out in ways I never would while awake? It feels like I may have done somthing(s) that I should be embarrassed about! ... B. Oldham, 25 June 2007
MY HUSBAND YELLS KICKS AND SCREAMS ALL NIGHT LONG. WE HAVE TO SLEEP IN DIFFERENT ROOMS. HE SCREAMS SO LOUD THAT EVEN THE NEIGHBORS CAN HEAR. HIS SNORING IS ALSO VERY BAD. BUT NOT AS BAD AS THE YELLING ALL NIGHT LONG. IT PREVENTS THE HOUSEHOLD FROM SLEEPING. HE STARTED THIS ABOUT A YEAR AGO AND ITS VERY HARD TO TOLERATE. WHAT CAN BE DONE? ... Yvonne, 27 November 2007
I'd highly appreciate it if you could help me with a problem i have. Every month or so I have a sort of episode when i sleep. When it happens its like I'm aware of everything around me, (people talking, noises, ect.), but I'm in a deep sleep. I feel pressure on my chest and head, as if someone was pushing down on me, and i can't breathe for at least ten seconds. I try and wake myself, but anytime i can seem to get my eyes open its only for a quick second and then they automatically close again, back into the deep sleep. When i can finally bring myself to completely wake up, I'm gasping and usually crying. I'm sixteen, and generally all around healthy and i don't know what causes these episodes, or even what they are. I hope you can help. Thanks ... Christy, 27 December 2007
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Comments
mental sleep
I started having bad sleep at the age of 16 a few month before I had a car accident in which someone wasa killed which obviously for a time made it worse. My problem is no matter what I do or what time I actually go to bed I can't sleep for a long time often into the morning I also dream the strangest dreams which quite often seem really real and I wake sometimes every hour only for a short time but when I fall asleep again the dream starts up almost like a film I have paused. i am always exhausted when i get up and most of the day until it gets to about 9 at night when i am wide awake all of a sudden. I am now 24 and it is doing my head in.Any advice?
Sleepless night filled with dreams
Hi... I am 34 yr. old female with dream almost all through my life. I used to get terrific dreams at times, but every night I go to bed and sleep (almost dead to the world !!) I live in Japan, never once I realised an earth quake happening during my sleep. Next morning, my husband used to ask me "Did you happen to feel the terrific earth quake last night?" My answer will alsways be "NO"
I do not think I have deep sleep, I was told that I talk a lot during my sleep; because, early morning when I wake up , I feel as though I am coming out of a theater watching irrelevant movie the whole night- this happens to me every single night. I am worried whether this will really cause any mental problem or depression as I do not sleep the whole night and my brain doesn't have enough rest.
Please kindly email me. - Shri,
paralized when asleep
when i sleep its like im paralized i cannot move anything but my eyes it feels like im gonna die im thinking i will never wake up when this happens i try to roll myself off my bed so i will wake up but cannot move then all of a sudden its like something lets me go and i set up quickly gaspping for air i dont ever wanna lay back down again because i know it will happen again and it does please help
sleep problems
just thought id reply im so glad im not the only one who feels like this its horrible i dont think i can put up with it much longer i also wanted to ask do you feel as though u carnt breathe when its happening to you then all of a sudden snap out of it
RBD or something different?
I have sleep problem all my life something like RBD but maybe not. I have had this my entire life first noted by parents as teen. What i do before bed doesn't matter at all, lots of activity or little activity doesnt make any difference. I go to bed and dream extremely vivid color dreams like a movie almost as soon as I am asleep and occiasionally with eyes partially open. Content varies sometimes is unresolved waking issues, if no issues extremely imaginative dream scenes. I thrash and turn and was told as kid i fell out of bed and climbed back in bed as teen. My bed is in total disaray waking. I once hurt my neck and ended up in neck brace for a week when i was 30. I once hit my ex wife thrashing in my sleep. My parents sleep separate beds because mother is restless sleeper too. My maternal grandfather had same problem. When i wake in mornings my muscles particularly shoulders are tighter then when i went to bed i get no muscle relaxation at all in upper body. I go instantly almost into REM sleep and I am not sure i get any deeper sleep. Since I wake tired i have gone back to sleep and have slept up to 14 hours with no change in physical feeling. I have taken trazadone for getting to sleep but no drug has helped me get deeper sleep or physically restful sleep. The older i get the worse it seems, the only real physical relaxation i get is waking relaxing doing nothing if i can manage to sit imobile. So in end, i seem to have a genetic related sleep prob, anyone else like out there?
I have had a problem my
I have had a problem my whole life where if I fall asleep facing up, I wake up with my eyes moving all over the place on their own. I normally can't make my eyes stop for a couple of minutes which of course makes me so dizzy that I end up sick all day. I thought that I might be waking up during REM sleep because it stands for rapid eye movement, but from the other comments here waking up during REM is where your half awake in a state of paralysis. But if i am waking up during REM does that mean I normally don't get REM? I have heard most dreams occur during REM, and I do dream like 3-6 dreams a night vividly. I can also normally remember most of them. Because of this i'd think that I get REM but the facing up thing is just really confusing.
So has anyone heard of this sort of problem or know anything about it?
Vivid Dreams & Sleep paralysis
I happened upon this site bc I have had exhausting, vivid dreams for as long as I can remember. I also recently figured out I suffer from sleep paralysis and have for about 10 years. The two instances are seperate and never over lap. I never thought much of these occurances as a child, but recently wanted to figure out why my brain never seemed to relax. The dreams vary from fun, to terrifying, but I always can recall every detail... From the colors of things, to smells, to times on clocks, and specific numbers or codes. It is like I live a seperate life in my sleep. For the last year or two I have been dreaming of people from my past, friends I haven't spoken to in ages. Lately I also have been frequently dreaming of the town I grew up in and my family. When I wake up I can remember usually 2-4 different adventures I had been on the night prior. I am utterly exhausted and it takes me a long time to fully get functioning. I try to give myself sometimes 20 minutes to get fully out of bed and then drink coffee to get my brain jump started.
The sleep paralysis also can ruin my evening. I get it before I get into the deep nights sleep. Usually somewhere between 30-60 minutes after falling asleep completely. I will drift off fine and then my brain will be completely alert but my body cant move. My eyes are shut and its a battle to try and get one part of me to twitch. If I can move a finger or a leg or something that will eventually pull me out of it. I have managed to be able to keep myself pretty calm during the episodes, since I know what they are now. But once I do get out of 'it' I cannot allow myself to fall right back asleep, because I will go right back into the paralysis again. I have had it happen up to 4 times in one night. When I come out of that state I my head is very foggy and I feel very tired. But I know I need to move around or it will continue to repeat the cycle. I usually have to get up, walk around, eat/drink something, anything to get my brain awake again, like restarting a computer. I get the sleep paralysis maybe 7-10 times a year and its been happening for close to 10 years. Can anyone please help me try and better understand what is going on with me?
for the past couple of
for the past couple of months i keep dreaming the same thing maybe once or twice a month. i think its more like a nightmare because i have the exact same dream where i feel like someone is pulling me from my bed and draggin me under in to the ground. i cant see whats pulling me i sense its a bad spirit and it doesnt hurt me though but it does try to scare me. it feels horrible when theyre pulling me becuase it doesnt let me get to my door or cry for help, its like im completely restless and cant speak. nevertheless it will leave me along and in the dream let me go back to sleep but than it goes back for me again and starts pulling me by my feet/legs. i want to know what it means though?.im completely lost and worried
i woke up from a pretty
i woke up from a pretty crazy dream about half an hour ago and in thinking about it it reminded me of the dreams i used to have at my old house, where as i was drifitng off to sleep and in the spot where my mind was alert but my body couldn't move i would begin to feel something pulling on my feet as if it were trying to slide me off my bed and it would scare the living daylights out of me. it always took all the strengthi had to pull myself awake but the next thing i knew as i was falling back asleep something had my feet. it hasnt happened in a year or so, so i thought i'd let you know that you're not totally alone. it could be a headspace thing or maybe it's a bad spirit thing, i wound up on this site because i was also looking for an answer to this strange phenomenon. if it's a bad spirit, the best you can do is, with absolutely no fear, firmly tell it to get out of your room and out of your house. hahaha i hope in remembering and discussing this it doesn't happen to me again tonight. oh well, good luck in your pursuit of sleep.
sleep without dreams
Can anyone explain why someone would never have dreams? My 17 yr old daughter does not dream at all and I am wondering why this is. She was on risperdal for many years and this caused her to have memory problems. She has no memories from the time she started taking this med (in third grade until she stopped in 2002)Now her memory is keen but she still can recall nothing for those childhood years. I have heard that dreams are linked to our memories and so I am wondering if this could be the reason she does not dream. Does anyone have a possible explaination?
I always felt like
I always felt like imagination was linked with dreams in a strong way, and being on medication could kill someone's imagination thus affecting their ability to dream. There is also a possibility of not being able to remember their dreams. I myself find it quite difficult to remember many of my dreams (varies depending on how vivid they are) unless i immediately think about them when i wake up. The medication could have affected her ability to remember in that fleeting moment.
Just a couple of possibilities to chew on, hope they are helpful.
DREAMS
Hi, i was in acoma for five days and I have hard time dreaming sometimes too. Something that sometimes helps me is to wait until im real tired until i fall asleep then I go to bed if I get to sleep long enough I usually dream
rem sleep
I havent heard of rem sleep untill one night when i was flipping throught the tv show channels and one show i like to watch was on called "House" the episode was mainly about a women having problems in her brain and it was making her not sleep, and the doctor house talked about rem sleep. When i saw that episode, i realized i am being awakened during rem sleep. If i am woken during that state of being i usually cant move my arms, or if i try it feels like its too heavy to move, i cant speak but i can open my mouth and also close it but i cant speak. But i can move my foot inch by inch until my body is able to be moved which usualy takes about 5 minutes atleast what seems like it to be able to move, it is as if my whole body is paralized, but my right foot, every time this happens my right foot is what makes be abled to be "unparalized" I dont know what to do, i want to know if this can damage my brain in any way, or if i can take a pill that will let me sleep during the duration of rem sleep.
Thanks,
Matt
Dreams
I am a 28yr. old female who has dreamed her whole life and remembers them vividly!!!! I can now go to sleep and dream what i want to dream about and I also know when I am in a dream and go do some pretty crazy stuff in mt dreams and my dreams are out of this world. I recently just had a sleep study and the doc stated that I go into REM way too early. The reason they did the sleep study is because I have had 3 diff. spells wher I feel sick, then like I could pass out any moment this lasts for about 10min and at the end of my last spell both of my hands went numb, but this has not happened since Feb. 2008. I hope it never happens again. I have seen a cardiologist and two diff. nureologists!!!! So I am stuck and I just hope that that spell never comes back. This is so frustrating I feel like I have gotton now where and my first episode happened after being diagnosed with vertigo in April of 2007 that lasted for about 2 and 1/2 months then all of a sudden these episodes statred coming on in aug. of last year then again in Nov then the last time in Feb 2008.
March 31. 2008
Iam so glad I am not the only one who has unusual and frightening dreams. Steven King would love to share my original dreams in his books. I only remember them about the first 15 minutes after I awaken. I also struggle to get out of bed. I started taking an anti-dispressent after my open heart surgery in 1999. I wish I could take something so I didn't dream all night long. I have brought it up to my doctors before, but unless you live it, I guess they don't get how frustrating it is.
what do you feel like when
what do you feel like when you wake up during REM sleep
I am being woken up alot in
I am being woken up alot in the past month during rem sleep, and it feels as if your whole body is paralized and you cant move except for me, my right foot is what wakes me up during this state, i can open my mouth but, cant talk and i can see the room around me usually its as if its 12noon as in light settings normal sunny room but when i am un paralized from this state i get like this huge repell feeling as if im being pushed into the bed then let go and back into sleep and quickly wake up and its night time or 12 am or any early time because i usually wake up early in the morning. and its very weird.
Sleep
I have had some on-going dreams and sleep problems now for one year...I have been diagnosed with sleep apnoea..and know a little about REM Sleep Behavior Disorder ,but still am not sure what it means and why it happens. I also have a gaze problem where my eyes do not work right either.
Wanted to ask about dreams that I know all the details when I wake up, and sometimes it is scary , because I want to move before I awake, but cannot make myself move or get up, and suddenly I work myself out of the dream world.
Can anyone tell me more about RSBD..thanks.