My Life and Sleep Apnea

Although dreams according to some people only happen during the REM stage of sleep, people with sleep apnea still dream . I know I do. Sometimes the dreams even seem long, other times they are abrupt. I suppose that has to do with the sleep apnea kicking in. I received an email the other day about an article on dreaming called 15 Fascinating Facts About Your Dreams . The list is really interesting with a lot of things that I didn't know. I knew of some of the things listed like the late night snacking can cause nightmares. That is certainly a problem of mine. And the one about how the REM state is similar to being awake as far as the brain is concerned. But there are other ones that I truly didn’t know about or even think about like how do blind people dream, it’s an interesting explanation. The most interesting one for me and it explains why I dream even though I have sleep apnea is that you can dream during any stage of sleep, REM or not. It is a very interesting article ...

I have read that you dream during the REM stage of sleep. I have also read that sleep apnea patients don’t reach that stage of sleep. But sleep apnea patients still dream . REM (rapid eye movement) is a stage of sleep that occurs 4 or 5 times a night. Usually it takes up about 20 per cent of your sleeping time. The brain is very active during REM and the body has a type of paralysis that it goes into. There is also a sleep disorder called sleep paralysis . REM is also the time of the most vivid and memorable dreams that you will have. But I dream all the time and I remember the dreams? As a matter of fact my dreams go on for what seems like a long period of time. I have had the sleep studies and there is no doubt that I have sleep apnea but it seems strange that my dreams are so vivid. The only thing that I can think of is that I wake up (caused by apnea) then I fall asleep quickly and resume the dream. Another reason that I don’t think that I reach REM is the paralysis that occu...