Possible cause of nightmares/bad dreams (sleeping)

[lyssword]

Ok I think I have uncovered part of why I have bad dreams.
Imo, its mostly about the oxygen supply to the brain.

Today I had a violent dream, where I was just playing with my nice lil brother, then suddenly without warning he starts stabbing me in the face with a pen and I could not move or do anything. Then I wake up as I fall to the ground in dream,

and discover that I just took a deep breath, aparently I wasn't getting enough oxygen due to my nose being congested. And a comforter is over my face, adding to bad oxygen flow..

I think the really violent dreams is subconcious mind trying to wake me up by disturbing me and jolting the heartbeat way up, actually causing me to wake up.

Another cause is inadequate temperature. When your body is sleeping it cannot move its muscles to warm your body up, except contract ur muscles in a spasm. When it is cold, your neck muscles tighten up, restricting bloodflow and thus the oxygen to the brain, causing nightmares/bad dreams.

I've had this happen dozens of times and each time my violent dreams are related to lack of oxygen.

Now this only goes for really violent dreams, not weird dreams or any other type, in my experience.

Ty for reading, tell me what you think (btw i'm a 20yr old, healthy male)

 

[futuristicmonkey]

A reasonable hypothesis. I'd like to hear from some experts.

 

[imported_bearfx]

You could try sleeping with a cpap machine.

If you continue to have bad dreams while you are connected, then you know it is not related. If you do not have bad dreams, then you can devise further tests (sleep study?).

BTW, I sleep with a bipap machine, and still have bad dreams.

 

[Born2bwire]

Originally posted by: lyssword
Today I had a violent dream, where I was just playing with my nice lil brother, then suddenly without warning he starts stabbing me in the face with a pen and I could not move or do anything.

I don't understand... is there a gas leak in your house or something?

By the way, you aren't taking any Melatonin or sleep aides are you? Those can give you weird dreams.

 

[lyssword]

Originally posted by: Born2bwire

Originally posted by: lyssword
Today I had a violent dream, where I was just playing with my nice lil brother, then suddenly without warning he starts stabbing me in the face with a pen and I could not move or do anything.

I don't understand... is there a gas leak in your house or something?

By the way, you aren't taking any Melatonin or sleep aides are you? Those can give you weird dreams.

Don't know about a gas leak, but almost always when my oxygen is restricted the cause is either my head is in 90 degrees or ther was a blanket over my face. Btw this does not happen often, this is really rare (heh my q key is stuck ) For example today (next day after OP) I had a very good night's sleep, and the airflow/temperature was ok.

And I didn't take any drugs at all for the past 5 years except some cold medicine when I get sick, and caffeine that comes from soft drinks/tea/coffee.
This "disturbingly violent dream" happens maybe like 5-8 times a year max, its just that I started keeping track of it..

Now I'm not saying that this is 100% true for everyone, obviously i'm not a scientist and I didn't test 1000's of subjects, its just that im about 80% sure thats the cause

 

[AzureNightmareX1]

Many sleep and dream experts attribute the nature and content of dreams to physical experiences, subconscious thoughts, and hormone and chemical levels in the body. It could just be that your body chemistry is a bit out of whack at the moment

 

[lyssword]

Originally posted by: AzureNightmareX1
Many sleep and dream experts attribute the nature and content of dreams to physical experiences, subconscious thoughts, and hormone and chemical levels in the body. It could just be that your body chemistry is a bit out of whack at the moment

But don't oxygen levels affect body chemistry as well?

 

[Gibsons]

I think real-world urgencies will often intrude into dreams. I can remember hearing a phone ring in a dream, but when I picked up the phone it kept ringing... woke up soon after and the phone was ringing. Being really thirsty and drinking water and it not doing any good... then waking up really thirsty.


As for brain chemistry, if you want to experience some wierd/vivid dreams, take some B complex vitamins before going to sleep.

 

[Exterous]

When I was young I used to have severe asthma attacks at night and used to wake up almost unable to breathe. I also had to learn to deal with restricted breathing when trying to sleep. I would imagine that this would contribute to a lack of oxygen intake but I have ever only had two nightmares - so for me I do not believe this to be the case

 

[Jeff7]

I think my dad might have violent nightmares every night then - he's got sleep apnea, where he stops breathing for several seconds, and then takes a sudden breath, often with loud snoring. It never seems to wake him up, and he rarely mentions dreams.


Waking up and taking a deep breath may simply be due to the waking up - suddenly you're conscious, and your body's moving quickly, plus maybe you get an adrenaline rush from the violent thought. All that means that you'll want more oxygen than you were using when you were sleeping = deep breath.

In my case, if I need to wake up when there's something that demands attention, I generally will just wake up. Generally. A smoke alarm will not wake me up, mainly because it's only ever signified that someone's either getting out of the shower (warm, moist air sets it off), or else someone's trying to cook something, but never that the house was on fire, thus it doesn't register as "dangerous" in my mind. Things that will wake me up:
Needing to use the bathroom
Smells of bizarre things being cooked
Someone using a computer mouse
A computer's POST beep, or a UPS beeping to indicate loss of power
Running water
Unpleasant dreams, including being chased, or things involving violence. Oddly, the only violent dreams I have involve me committing the violence. Rather strange. I'll get chased, but no harm ever comes to me.

 

[Bill Brasky]

What time of night was it when you awoke from the dream?

Strange dreams can come from many things, but I was told the most common are eating within 2hrs of sleeping, drinking alcohol before bed, lack of exercise, or an irregular sleeping pattern.

To be honest, I usually have bad dreams when I watch a scary movie or anything even remotely disturbing.

 

[janamswag]

Hi Lyssword.

I kept googling of similar symptoms, and I found you.

I have exactly the same thing: a strong correlation between Oxygen and Vivid Dreams.

ANY night, if I don't open the window enough, or if someone is sharing the room with me (and use half of the available oxygen in the room), then I have vivid dreams. Most often I would be chased, and need to run heavily to escape.

After such nights, I wake up with difficulty, feeling lack of energy and with a tension on my head.

Recently I have found that the Hemoglobin level in my blood is close to the lower end of the normal range. Hemoglobin helps to deliver oxygen from the lung to other parts of the body, including the brain. This is in correlation with my demanding of oxygen much more than a normal person in my family.

I start adding iron to my diet now. I will report to you if this helps to avoid my vivid dream.

Thanks,

Don't know about a gas leak, but almost always when my oxygen is restricted the cause is either my head is in 90 degrees or ther was a blanket over my face. Btw this does not happen often, this is really rare (heh my q key is stuck ) For example today (next day after OP) I had a very good night's sleep, and the airflow/temperature was ok.

And I didn't take any drugs at all for the past 5 years except some cold medicine when I get sick, and caffeine that comes from soft drinks/tea/coffee.
This "disturbingly violent dream" happens maybe like 5-8 times a year max, its just that I started keeping track of it..

Now I'm not saying that this is 100% true for everyone, obviously i'm not a scientist and I didn't test 1000's of subjects, its just that im about 80% sure thats the cause

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