If you have a dream, does that mean you have slept well?

[rhkwon]

I've read a lot around here and other places that stage 4 or REM sleep is indicative of good sleep. Is this true? Because if so, I have'nt had a dream in quite a while. Although most recently, I had a couple of dream filled nights, and I felt a lot better during the day. Or is this kind of a placebo effect? ie I had a dream so therefore I had a good night sleep so there I do not/will not feel tired today?

[rested gal]

rhkwon, I could be very wrong about this, but I think it's not a good sign to be aware of a dream. I think that's a sign that something woke a person up in the midst of REM. For untreated OSA sufferers, apneas and hypopneas may jolt them up before they can get into REM (in which case they don't even get into REM where most dreaming happens)... or may jolt them up in the midst of REM and wake them up enough and for long enough that they actually remember the dream.

In your case, since you felt noticeably better after a night of remembering quite a bit of dreaming, it's probably a sign that your cpap treatment is going well, not BECAUSE you woke up enough to remember the dreams, but rather in spite of the fact that you woke up that far in the midst of REM that you were able to remember dreaming.

While people are getting used to sleeping with masks and machines that can cause their own set of disruptions to sleep, it wouldn't be unusual to wake up several times during the night, enough so, to remember several dreams since there might be a higher chance of the coincidence of being in REM during the early days of treatment. REM "rebound" (more REM than usual) for several nights after getting on good treatment is common. That could also make it more likely that REM was going on during some of the extra wakeups - and could make a "lot of dreaming" be remembered.

While a healthy amount of REM is good, I think the best sign of a peacefully restful night is if we do have REM and dream, but don't remember a thing about the dreams or even have an awareness the next morning of having dreamed at all. A refreshed feeling isn't necessarily tied in to a memory of having dreamed.

Intermittent REM periods get longer as the night goes on and morning approaches. So, it's very likely that an alarm going off will be what finally wakes a person up for the day during the last, longest REM. It wouldn't be unusual for that last dream to be remembered, even if one slept peacefully and obliviously well-treated through the other normal REM times earlier in the night.

Just my armchair opinion. I'm not a doctor or expert in any way about dreams, REM, etc.

Here are links to a lot of interesting message board discussions:

LINKS to dreams - dreaming - REM rebound

[CollegeGirl]

Rested gal -

As usual, I agree with you. I was an exception to the rule, perhaps - during the 10 years my apnea went undiagnosed, I still dreamt frequently, every night. I know because I would remember several dreams every morning that I'd had the previous night. My doctor said "You can't possibly have apnea if you're dreaming," but she was obviously very misinformed. I was getting REM Sleep, but I was being awakened way too frequently, and long enough to think about each dream and remember them the next morning. It was when I stopped having dreams, but rather felt like I'd been "thinking" all night, that I knew something was really weird and wrong.

[dopey]

"normal" sleep night usually consists of three or four cycles, where you progressively go through stage 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 and then REM sleep. At the end of REM you normally briefly awaken, though you will likely not remember awakening. The last sleep cycle, REM is often the greatest and you awaken. Dreaming mostly (maybe always) occurs in REM sleep. So when you remember dreams, it is because they occur just prior to awakening. From "Promise of Sleep" I remember there is a short time period needed before information is transferred from short term to long term memory. Here's some examples; the fighter never saw the punch that knocked him out, a person doesn't remember the other car actually hitting him/her, a football player doesn't remember making the tackle that knocked him out. Those are instances where the event resided in short term memory for an instant, but not long enough to transfer to long term memory because of becoming unconcious.

The sleep test tells us that we wake up xxx times an hour. Yet most of us are very surprised to learn we are even having a sleep problem- other than being tired or so. I think it can be said that if you attain REM, you dream. Males experience erection during REM, if everything is working. Hope this is helpful.