I get nightmares very frequently since my concussion happened. In most nights I wake up around 4 or 5 am and start to struggle to fall asleep again(I sleep good until that point). It takes about 3 or 4 hours until I sleep in again. Then the sleep pattern gets very strange. I wake up every 15-30 minutes and only for a few seconds. During this time i get numerous nightmares, which do not always result in waking up.
All in all this strange sleep summarizes to about 3 hours. During the day i get no sleep, no matter how tired I am

My question is now how do nightmares effect the brain? Nightmares raise the stress level and the output of adrenaline and cortisol. Both stress hormones are neurotransmitters and harm the brain cells(at least that's what I've read so far). If this is true, i will abstain from the bad sleep occurring after 4 am and stay awake.

Chris,

From what I understand, interrupted sleep like you have is not worthwhile sleep. I have had times when I wake up during the night and struggle to get back to sleep. I have learned to get up and do something for a while. Get a glass of water, maybe watch 30 minutes of recorded TV or go online and read. I do this trying to minimize the environment so I am ready to fall asleep again, minimal lights, TV volume down real low, etc. I usually am ready to go back to bed within 30 minutes to an hour. I can then get back into a good sleep cycle.

You could also just get up and get your day started. Then, try to have an opportunity to take a short nap later in the day.

btw, A bunch of short naps is better than pushing to fatigue then trying to take a longer nap.

Hi Chris, welcome to the 5am club! There's a few of us on here who suffer from early wakimg, typically 4-5am and difficulty getting off again. I find getting up and having a bowl of breakfast cereal and reading in bed for a while helps. I wouldn't worry too much about the bad dreams they will pass.

I am curious to the OP's question. Do nightmares make a toxic environment for the brain?

I think it is a chicken or egg question. Did a toxic environment cause the nightmares first ? Either way, nightmares are no fun and disrupt needed sleep. They can be caused by poor sleep, poor breathing during sleep, a rough day the previous day, etc.

I know that if I wake up from stressful dreams, I will have a bad day.

Chris,

Sounds familiar! I have pretty much stopped having the nightmares but I have to be real careful about what I say during the day as some things that I say translate to very stressful replays of the situation during sleep.

I typically wake between 12:30 to 1:30 am and following cues from Mark I grab a tangerine or banana and seem to be able to go back to sleep. Awake again around 3:30 and then 5am for the day.

All new behavior for me.

Bud