Sleep problem: Vivid dreams & waking up exhausted
Posted , 98 users are following.
Dear all,
Im experiencing the following situation which perhaps some of you can advise me better.
History
Back in 2005, I experienced a sleep disorder condition that lasted everyday for almost a year. I would sleep with ease, but would remember my dreams very clearly and wake up feeling not rested and tired through the day. Prescribed medication did not help. I tried all means i.e. exercising, meditation, melatonin etc, all did not work. But after a year of torment, the condition just randomly left me after a year when I started full time work & undergrad studies.
Over the years
I do still get this problem especially when Im overseas for short / long trips. It seems quite random as sometimes it happens, sometimes it don't.
Present
The same issue revisited me and its Day 6 already. Same thing, I would go to sleep but having very vivid dreams (not nightmares) and wake up feeling tired / unrested. Sometimes halfway through the dream, the ringing of telephone etc (in reality) would suddenly wake me up and it feels as if someone had just pulled you out of the dream. Can anyone advise? Im out of ideas
7 likes, 172 replies
daniel06637 zeroX14
Edited
It does make me feel better that others are struggling with the same issue, as I thought I was alone on this one. Please read on!
I started with this condition a long time ago, and it really affects my mood too, and has definitely developed depression at certain points. I used to have no problem getting to sleep and staying asleep, but the dreams are always so vivid. I've since been on Clonazapem - which reduced the dreaming but did not actually solve the problem, which was sleepiness, lethargy and fatigue. Also tried mirtazapine for depression, which helped a bit but again didn't solve the problem.
I decided to come off all medication, because my belief is that long term use of these drugs will only create more problems down the road, but I do tend to get terrible withdrawal symptoms with horrific nightmares/terrors etc... However I do understand that people feel that it is necessary to use these pharmaceuticals to control their anxiety/depression symptoms, and that is fine. But I think it's also important to realise that these drugs will only supress the problem and never actually solve the underlying issue. In fact in my experience these drugs have made my sleep quality much worse after coming off them, now I struggle with insomnia and I wake up probably around 5-10 times each night, with my duvet all spun around, I didn't have this problem before taking these drugs.
Like another poster suggesting, the theme here tends to be anxiety - I suffer with racing thoughts and worry, which I believe probably carry on into dream state and therefore create the experience for these vivid complex dreams. My racing thoughts aren't necessarily negative, though they can be (basically just like normal thoughts, good and bad, that happen in rapid succession) - I don't know if this is symptomatic of OCD, ADD, Bi-Polar or a similar condition.
So at the moment I'm not taking any drugs, although I am taking a magnesium glycinate supplement, which does tend to help a little bit. I'm also taking melatonin, which doesn't seem to do much at the moment, though I have just started it. I'm on a waiting list for Cognitive Behavoural Therapy, which is apparently the gold standard for anxiety, so I'll update everyone on this thread to see if there is an improvement with that treatment.
I too had trouble with GP's trying to diagnose this issue, again it was just diagnosed at Chronic Fatigue. In the end I near enough demanded that I see a Sleep Specialist. I had a sleep study and the Specialist was very vague, he said that I have REM Parasomnia, which isn't actually a thing. There is parasomnia and also REM Sleep Behaviour Disorder, which I'm sure is not the correct diagnosis for the subject in this thread. Personally I believe that he did not know what was up, so he prescribed me Clonazapem in the hope it would just go away.
I just can't wait for that day when I wake in the morning, stretch and feel like I had a magnificent nights rest, as I don't think I really have in many many years.
Sorry about the long post, but when you've had this condition for years, and have thought and googled and come up with your own theories and experiences, it's hard to keep it in a short concise post. Details are important.
Finally I just want to end on a little anecdote, which sums up my anxiety. So I've heard of a mindfulness exercise where you think of an object, and imagine it's texture, if it's a food item what it tastes like etc... So I was in bed thinking of an avocado, trying hard to think of it's leathery skin like texture and so on, but my mind quickly changed to olive oil (as it's associated with avocado) and before I knew it I had imagined that I was in someones house and that I had knocked olive oil on the floor and spilt it all on their carpet and I started to worry and think of these negative outcomes - the time of thinking of the avocado to the worrying thought was literally about 60 seconds, even though the the whole objective was to focus my mind on an object. The reason I've wrote this is because I truly believe the solution to this problem is dealing with anxiety, and more specifically our sub-concious anxiety - which is the difficult bit.
esther13095 daniel06637
Posted
I enjoyed reading your post. I also wrote a long one. Clonazapem is some heavy duty medication. I wonder why the doctor didn't start you off on basic anxiety medication? I take Celexa and that works for me. My son takes Lexapro and that helps him.
daniel06637 esther13095
Edited
Thanks Esther, I've just read your recent post - sorry to hear that you feel like you're back to square one. Unfortunately, it's difficult for people that don't have this problem to realise that it affects us every day - I do notice that I wake up quite considerably in the evening, but that doesn't make sense biologically, and is not particularly helpful.
You're right, Clonazepam was hard-hitting, I liked the effects of it, however the withdrawal was terrifying for me, which has put me off these medications - I feel like my anxiety is manageable without pills, but like I said I'm trying out CBT, hopefully the first appointment comes sooner rather than later. I think the lack of sleep contributes to the anxiety, so it's a bit of a vicious circle. Also the Clonazepam was effective with reducing vivid dreams but the actual problem (tiredness) still persisted, which makes me think that we may not find the answer with pharmaceuticals.
I also wonder if the vivid dreams are a result of poor quality sleep, rather than vivid dreams causing the sleeping problems, if that makes sense.
apu91247 daniel06637
Edited
nicholas46938 daniel06637
Posted
Hello daniel06637,
how are you doing?
I'm Nicholas from Italy.
I'm writing you about a common sleep problems: I also dream vividly everyday and can't sleep properly from about 10 year (I'm 26, how old are you? If I can ask). It has profoundly impacted my life.
Like most in the thread I have no diagnosis but I was reading your post and didn't understand what you wrote. Did you do a polysomnography and was diagnosed with REM sleep behavior disorder?
So do you also act out your dream? I can't say because I sleep alone so maybe I should be checked for that.
Thank you,
Best regards.
taya92159 zeroX14
Posted
Ive been expierencing this since a young age..infact i can still remember some dreams from the age of 6 and up its literally like another life and im always soo tired and never rested..i dont take any type of medication. So hard to explain to people too. I can relate soo much to a lot of peoples responses its crazy!...Sometimes i like it because its kind of cool but most times i feel its a pain..due to always wanting to sleep when i can because i never truly feel rested. (Its 10:30pm here). So I couldnt stay awake any longer around 5:00pm, i went to lay down and after about 10 minutes could feel myself going pretty much straight to dreaming because id
see things for a second then was kinda awake just dosing off. Was bizzare tonight though because as i drifted a little depper then i stopped and tried to wake myself up (done that before) but i could feel myself rolling over but nothing was happening really and i dont know if i was dreaming or awake at that point but then i could feel my legs slowly feel like their sinking into the bed and then could suddenly feel the switch literally felt like i was falling into another place and then bam i was dreaming..or watching movies as i like to say..my dreams were very strange and when that switch happend i remember trying to get up so hard to where my bf if 10 ft away but could not...also lately ive been feeling super perplexed because more often than usual i have those dreams where u swear you're awake and then somethig happens and makes you realize you're not..then again i try to wake myself up and everything is so spot on and normal and then i realize im still not awake once something happens and makes me realize...so strange..but anyways my point about that is lately i feel like im getting trapped by my dreaming and its becoming too real sometimes..im constantly thinking about my dreams during the day as they arent always the best..wouldnt call them nightmares at all though. I dont kniw its all so crazy! Wish there was more people who understood dreaming. Again no medication for me and this has been happening since i can remember...now 20 years old.
apu91247 taya92159
Posted
rahel30659 zeroX14
Posted
I also have this, and it's been on going for about 3 years.
It makes me honestly want to cry, I don't hate doing it but I swear some people probably think I am crazy when i talk about it, all I want is a soloution, I live a very active life and need rest, I've never wanted to be the type of person to depend on sleep medication but if that's what I have to do, then I might have to see a GP, I'm going to try meditation first and see how I go...
apu91247 rahel30659
Posted
It is working for me
No dreams good sleep
For morning support using pacitane
Ambear apu91247
Posted
This gives me so much hope! What does the pacitane do?
hadesthegod zeroX14
Edited
I have the same issues as you and others have described. I do not take any medication and this has been going on for a year now. I see it as a curse because I am 15 and need to wake up at 6am to go to school but I am insanely tired and groggy that most of the time I can't even get out of bed until I really have to. I feel like my quality of life is lessened. How has nobody found a way to cure this? I can't stand it. I just want to have a normal sleep for once. Even on the weekends I can sleep a good 8 or 9 hours and still feel like sh*t.
daniel06637 hadesthegod
Edited
u11339 daniel06637
Posted
racing thoughts, generalized anxiety, social anxiety is exactly what I experience. (Anxiety appeared about 3 years before constant dreams, throat neurosis) . In my life there are many unsolved problems, in all spheres of life, and not even solvable. The somnologist suggested that me undergo polysomnograph , the procedure itself will not say specifically why my sleep is superficial, but maybe the eeg will show a premature onset of the REM phase of sleep, which indicates narcolepsy. Although I talked with a person who was diagnosed with narcolepsy, and it turned out to be the adrenal glands and hormones.I also have problems with the intestines, but there is no diagnosed intestinal permeability.
lillimint zeroX14
Posted
Hi I'm new to this and need help I'm 39 and for about 6 months it's started again dreams that keep me in bed I know I must get up and i can't move the dreams are vivid not all bad but some strange or unhealthy, I know I have work and need to see to my family but my body won't move .This happens when I was going 4/5 to teens and it's back but so strong and intense , reading some of you guys write ups make me believe I'm not going mad please help me
apu91247 lillimint
Posted
How are you now?
Olanzapine 10 mg is the solution for dreams and waking up exausted.
Olanzapine working very good and providing natural sleep.
I have used resperidine for a month and stopped cold turkey without tapering off.
Reason i had no knowledge of tapering.
From then onwards my mind going into dream condition but not sleep condition.
After suffering 6 months i found the solution in olanzapine 10 mg.