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

I really doubt nightmares stress the brain, I think it's a sub concious symptom of our friend anxiety. I reckon the disruption in REM sleep is the cause, how concussion effects that is a mystery. I find morning dreams are always most lucid for some reason, even before my injury if I dozed off again Sunday morning I'd have some pretty weird dreams.

Pretty sure mine is anxiety related.

Bud

I've had issues with sleeping since I was a kid, but now all of my issues are intensified. It really seems like overstimulation (thoughts racing), and hypersensitivity to my girlfriend's movements next to me in bed are the two biggest problems. My noise sensitivity has gotten worse in the past month or so. They prevent me from getting into a good sleep cycle and I miss out on that precious REM sleep. It can be quite frustrating.

One thing I have noticed that seems to help is regulating my sleep schedule and keeping good sleep hygiene. I know that this seems obvious, but I was always a night owl. I've forced myself into a habit of going to bed around 10pm and waking up around 8:30am. This seems to give me the best chance to sleep.

Whether or not I sleep during those hours is a different story...
I sometimes have to use anti-anxiety medicine or sleeping pills but I find that Magnesium Citrate can help me relax before bed. Trust me I hate having to use medications to sleep. They don't seem to really help in the end. I've found that since the concussion, I sometimes wake up unable to fall back asleep. I never had this issue before. It was always a matter of falling asleep and then I would be fine. It is extremely frustrating.

Like you DannyT once I was asleep I used to sleep very deeply. I've been trying to find a pattern to my early waking such as daytime stimulation or diet but haven't been successful so far.

The advice I got from a sleep therapist is to reduce the time spent in bed, by reducing time in bed the brain associates bed only with sleep. So, basically if you mysteriously wake at 4:30am (like me) get up and try and make it to your normal bedtime. I do it for a couple of days then lapse!