No Rem Sleep, But They're Fixing It, Now Worried

[Cavegirl]

I was just diagnosed with sleep apnea today. I had it 7 years ago, lost a bunch of weight no longer had the problem but I've gained back most of my weight.

I don't often dream anymore. Which means my nightmares have been greatly diminished. I found out that my sleep is all messed up. I didn't enter REM sleep at all the entire night. No REM = no dreams

They're setting me up with a CPAP since I "wake up" due to respiratory distress 47 times an hour. The goal is to get me back having REM sleep.

But what if my nightmares come back too????

 

[joeylittle]

You might - but it would be better to be getting quality sleep, and then work on handling nightmares.

I'm not sure that's the most encouraging advice, but I guess what I'm trying to say is just take one thing at a time.

As far as they know, everyone dreams in REM - but not everyone remembers their dreams. Whether or not you remember them is related to (again, as far as science knows) a number of factors, including how well-maintained your REM sleep is, when in the sleep cycle you wake...in short, it's a bit of a crapshoot.

But sleep aversion - the habit of avoiding sleep due to fear of nightmares, or even just fear of poor sleep - that's something that you can proactively manage, and it will probably make a positive impact.

Can you carve out a little more time in your evening ritual to do some calming visualization? That made a difference for me, when I was developing anxiety about nightmares.

 

[Candleflames]

Oh sleep apnea is rough. I have it too and went years without REM sleep. I also have horrific nightmares, always have. I also take prazosin for them. It helps but doesn't take the dreams completely away.

Dreams are an interesting thing as you can have them in any stage of sleep. It's the dreams in REM sleep that are the story like dreams whereas the dreams we have in the lighter stages are more disjointed. They can also incorporate sounds and smells from what is happening in real life into them. So it is entirely possible that the sleep apnea and the not dreaming are totally unrelated. It's also possible that better sleep could see a return of dreaming.

I got the cpap machine and use it on most nights. Here are some things that happened and what I learned:
My dreams got more vibrant and story like after using the cpap but I remember less. I think this is because I am waking less.
I need less sleep because the quality is better but the machine is awkward so my sleep still isn't at it's best.
What I do remember of my dreams I can use in therapy as a catalyst for exposure work.
If my nightmares ever become unbearable again I can talk to my T and adjust my medication as necessary.
My dreaming is important. I find I am better able to cope and function after a good night's rest regardless (or maybe because) of my dream content.