I have a background in psychology: A BA in 1977 and an MA in 1980. I bit dated, I know, but some of it is still good.

A source of curiosity for me has been the possibility of dream deprivation. It was known way back in the `70s that dream intensity increases dramatically after a period of dream deprivation. Given the common problem of insomnia and that some of the drugs we take also inhibit dreaming, I've been wondering if the vivid dreams and the need to sleep at odd times may be a result of dream deprivation.

I know I'm not dreaming much when I'm wide awake with insomnia. Depressants, such as clonazepam, which I take every night are known to inhibit dreaming. Antidepressants, such as trazodone, which I also take every night, can have the same dream inhibiting effect. So the combination of less sleep and drugs may have a significant impact on my dreaming activity. In this theory, when PWP say they're desperate for sleep, perhaps they're actually desperate for dreaming, at least in part.

We still don't know for sure what dreaming does for us, but I think we are sure that we need to do it.

I'm sure you still dream--you just aren't remembering your dreams. My sleep therapist for my sleep apnea told me that it is healthy to not remember your dreams.

The idea is that people remember dreams because they awaken while dreaming. This awakening deprives the person of the deep sleep that is so necessary for us all. It's a problem because the deep sleep--dream sleep--is disrupted and we end up not getting enough of it.

It is a different cause with the same effect for those of us with sleep apnea. In my sleep study, they determined that I stopped breathing 40 to 60 times an hour. The survival instinct would wake me up enough to get the breathing started again. I don't wake to the point of consciousness, but enough so that my REM sleep, or stage four sleep, is disrupted. This brings us back to dream deprivation.

teehee?

like most everyone here, my sleep hasn't been great since pd. pre-pd, i was a great dreamer and greatly interested in dreaming as well, sometimes dream journaling and was once a regular in a weekly dream breakfast group. anyhow, of late, maybe the past 3-4 years, the dreams have been dwindling down to almost nothing and i really misssed my dreams.

this summer i got an Earthpulse electro-magnetic device and have been using it ever since. the magnet is under the mattress and is turned on at night for however many hours you choose.

i'm sleeping a little better - still wake often but go back to sleep easier and i am dreaming most nights. i'm not sure why but i do feel i NEED to dream...and it makes sleeping much more interesting.

also part of my current sleep kit is 1/2 an ativan which kick starts the show.

it's not like it used to be when sleep just happened, but iti's better than it was 6 months ago.

oyster, i think it's called lucid dreaming when you know it's a dream and can change/direct it while you're dreaming.

time to sleep, perchance to dream...

ibby

I go through periods of not sleeping well too. There are days, and sometimes weeks on end where I may sleep only 3-1/2 to 4 hours at a time. These make me feel like crud the next day, and of course this affects the quality of my work. My boss is understanding, so he's not making an issue about it, but I know that this has ruined some of the orders that customers have placed with my company. I feel like they have to run damage control after I've screwed up.

I noticed too that when I go through these non-sleeping periods that my legs are very active because my blanket and sheet are rolled up in a ball around my chin, or the blanket is hanging off the bed. When I'm sleeping well, the blanket is almost like I've just made the bed and turned down the blanket.

Speaking of dreams, mine are pretty vivid. I always had vivid dreams to a point where I could feel and hear the environment I was in. In one case I could feel the sun beating down on me as I was riding in a car. In another dream, I was trying very beautiful harpsichords, and I could hear each instrument clearly. (I have a virginal and clavichord so I know what they sound like). The dream I had last night was odd. I remember there was a car accident where a driver went head-on into a police cruiser. This took place on the old street where I used to live.

Sometimes, the dreams are bit scary, and the subjects one of two things. Tornados or bugs. The tornado dreams are so vivid, I can remember feeling the hair stand up on my neck, and I've gotten up and looked out the window to make sure there was nothing there. The bugs are bit much too. I'll get the the crawling itching feeling, and in the dream, are hundreds of ants, cockroachs, grasshoppers, beetles, and sometimes fleas running all over my arms.

I'm wondering if this has something to do with the amount of Dopamine we have in our body when we go to sleep. The reason why I'm saying this is that I noticed that when I was going off soon, that was when I had the bad dreams and the restless legs. Now that the doctor has adjusted my Sinemet higher, I seem to be sleeping quieter. I'm not an expert; just making an observation.

John