Dreams Exhaust Me: 5-7 Months

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soundsoap98

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I am curious how many of you experience dreams almost every night that are exhausting? I am used to the twitching, I can truly say that it doesn't really bother me anymore. However, I have vivid dreams every night where I feel as if I get no sleep at all. I am around the 5-7 month mark now and curious if this EVER gets better? That is, if, someone actually has suffered from this. Thanks for any help.
 
I am getting insanely intense dreams since I started on Klonopin to treat my symptoms which absolutely wreck my sleep. If you are dreaming a lot then you are in REM sleep -which is not a restful or restorative sleep phase. Research "sleep architecture", you need several hours a night in deep stage 4 sleep, that restores the mind and body and is completely dream free, and without it you will never seem rested. BFS symptoms as well as any anticonvulsant medication definitely effect sleep architecture, and any neurological disorder can lead to chronic fatigue syndrome due to frequent awakenings through the night that disrupt sleep phase transitions. At least for me the fatigue is far more manageable than the insomnia, I am so grateful for any bit of sleep I can actually get at this point. Also my dreams seem very involved and psychologically symbolic, and many repeat which NEVER occurred before my onset. I think sleep deprivation taps really deeply into the subconscious as well.
 
I have very intensive, detailed dreams every single night. My husband has grown accustomed to my wild dream stories. They vary from doing things like taxes, balancing a checkbook that never balances, waiting tables endlessly, running all over the airport trying to catch a flight...on and on they go. I also have frequent nightmares. I dream frequently about having to defend my house against a never ending onslaught of criminals. By far the strangest involved a monkey that lived in the bottom of my refrigerator. He needed more room to exercise so I spent the whole dream trying to convince my husband to give me the refrigerator out of his "man cave" so the monkey would have more room...yeah...explain that. I hope this leaves you with no doubt that you are not alone with the plague of dreams. If you know of anyone who can explain the monkey in my refrigerator please let me know. :eek: Frances
 
soundsoap98,That is me to a tee, unless I take Ambien or something to force me into a deeper stage of sleep.It stinks. My dreams are vivid and continuous and last all night long, without Ambien or something else to sleep.And, the reason we're so tired, is that we're getting zero restorative sleep - even though we're sleeping. REM sleep is the most active sleep where our brain waves are in alpha stage (same as being awake), and what we're craving is Stage 5 - or Delta wave sleep.I feel your pain. The bad thing is I have no idea what to do about it.I remember when I got my master's in psychology, that I read that people who are under a lot of stress (like people who have experienced some sort of trauma) tend to have a lot more REM sleep than other people.In my case, because I have high levels of anxiety in my life (generalized anxiety) - I think it equates to a whole lot of dreaming.And, if you take melatonin, it makes your dreams even more vivid.Mitra
 
Thank you for your responses. I appreciate the explanation (lara25) of the sleep stages and the shared experience (DesertKnight). If you find anything that explains it or helps, I would appreciate it. Mwagner: how often do you take Ambien and how much does it help? Please explain. I would appreciate any feedback.
 
I have a regimen of taking Ambien or Ambien ER (extended release) about 2-3 times a week. I may take xanax once instead of an Ambien (which also helps me sleep well). But 3-4 days a week I sweat it out either with nothing, melatonin or some natural stress tabs I take.My doctor said (and I know some disagree on here) that you can't get dependent on Ambien unless you take it more than 4 times a week. I find that to be true. I have no issues at all with falling asleep, and definitely don't rely on Ambien to help me fall asleep. And, I was a very light, heavy dreaming sleeper, way before I took Ambien. Ambien has always been the best way for me to get deeper, more restorative sleep. I've been taking it for well over 10 years at this point.That being said, it does have side effects you should be aware of - I do the whole sleep eating thing (when the Ambien kicks in - not after I have fallen asleep), where I eat when the Ambien kicks in, in kind of a dazed state, and wake up and notice a bowl of cereal next to my bed, or two eaten bananas. Never too much food, but still - it's a little weird :)Mitra
 
The eating thing is interesting Mitra. I tried to leave my house with my car keys in hand while taking Ambien. Needless to say they cut me off after that. My best friend takes it and has zero side effects, so its definitely an individual experience like most medications.
 
I have taken ambien frequently and noticed I don't dream AT ALL but i still don't wake up feeling rested. The whole day I am groggy and the after affects to me feel just like coming out of anesthesia. It knocks me out within 10 minutes of taking it so I don't even have time to fix a snack or grab my keys. After several days on it in a row i also get deeply depressed, but apparently that is also a rare side effect like the eating and driving. Again everyone's reaction to a medication is going to be different, and I would venture to say that every one of us on this forum has some kind of neuro- chemical embalance underlying all our other symptoms which will increase side effects and effect sleep patterns. Try to limit your anxiety as much as possible, no t.v. and Internet before bed, and cut out all caffeine. I know for me anxiety is my number 1 issue, and i have low GABA and serotonin levels which are crucial in sleep transition and decreasing nervous system excitability. There are ways to resolve embalances and sleep issues through many means like meditation, supplements, medications, acupuncture, etc. it just takes time to find what works for you -again each person is a unique case with a unique solution so don't give up hope of this getting better!
 
Frances,Wow! I read that some people do that, and it's pretty scary (driving their cars). My friend Ambien dials me once in a while, which is pretty funny. The unnerving part (no pun intended on this board!) is that we don't realize we're doing it - so it's like amnesia. But, since it's always only been food for me (and no cooking, thank goodness - just snack foods), I haven't been too concerned. I did wake up once with half a piece of cold pizza in my hand (I'd had a few glasses of wine along with the Ambien that night -- definitely NOT recommended!!!). My husband had a good laugh with that one.But, everyone's different. My mom takes Lunesta which works great for her, but only allows me to sleep for about 3 hours and then I'm wide awake. Worse than nothing at all for me.I've tried everything else (acupuncture, Chinese herbs, herbal medications with Valerian, for instance, etc.), especially while I was pregnant with my kids. None worked well for me.Now, Xanax helps me sleep even better, but per my doctor is much more addictive than Ambien, so I only allow myself to have it for extreme anxiety, and as a sleep treat once a week.Mitra
 
As for knowing your neurotransmitter levels your symptoms and disorders will point to exactly what your lacking. I have always suffered from anxiety and depression, everyone with those conditions has low serotonin levels, that's why people with those disorders take SSRI's to bring the brain chemistry back into normal ranges. Low GABA causes a whole bevy of problems, a lot of which are discussed on here like sleep starts, involuntary jerking, panic attacks, insomnia, it is also believed to be at the root of substance abuse. FYI low dopamine levels causes restless leg syndrome and Parkinson's, hense you would take a dopamine agonist as treatment. As for me another great sleep aid was Xanax, no dreams with that and helps with jerking and anxiety too. I can't take that anymore or ambien now that I am on Klonopin due to drug interactions.
 
DesertKnight,Your description of dreams are just like mine... Very intensive and weird. Do you take medicine and does this help you? Do you EVER feel rested?
 
j_sageurge,Thanks for the suggestion and concern. Not to sound over dramatic, but that pretty much sums up each night. I wake up exhausted from 'sleep', wanting to actually sleep. :)I am curious if anyone suffered from this for months, but it eventually went away, for them at least. It appears that most have had this for a night or two, but when it hits the month plus mark, it really takes a toll. Hope the best for you.
 
I have dreams like this five or six nights a week. After nights like that I don't feel rested. I usually take a nap just to make it through the day. I've been like this for over five years. It used to be insomnia, getting maybe two or three hours a night for weeks on end. I now fall asleep easier, I just dream the type of dreams that make you feel like you've worked all night. I wish there was a way to get some help for this, unfortunately I live (literally) in the middle of nowhere. I drive an hour to see my GP and three hours to see my neurologist and get my injections. My chiropractor is a 45 minute drive for me too. Who knows where I would have to go to get alternative type treatments. I've found no medication or relaxation technique that comes close to solving this issue.
 
wanderer, I am not a physical specialist, and someone can correct me, but it is my understanding that alcohol, while helping you initially get to sleep (sedative), prevents you from getting the deeper sleep needed to restore our bodies. Again, this is just from what I have read. I will let you know though, if I find anything that helps. Hope the best for you in the mean time.
 
Last night my dream was about trying to fix a typewriter that didn't type straight. I actually woke up to get a drink at 4am and when I went back to bed I started dreaming the exact same thing. Couldn't drag myself out of bed until 9:30 this morning and I'm still exhausted.
 
That is why I still refuse SSRI's. I have all the side effects of them allready (tremor, twitching, vivid dreams, insomnia etc.). I don't see how they could help me.
 

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