Dreaming with sleap apnea

[allencraig]

I know a doctor is who I should be asking, but for the moment, just in case anyone here has any experiential insight I thought I'd ask.

 

The setup:
I have clinical severe sleep apnea, yet I dream on occasion.
Sometimes I've dozed off for 20 minutes but have had dreams in this short time.

 

I have understood:
"You move through sleep in a particular order of stages to complete the sleep cycle, like steps to a dance," says Breus. One 90-minute sleep cycle consists of five stages: stage one (light sleep), stage two (full sleep onset), stage three and four (deep sleep), and REM sleep (dream sleep)."

 

So, my question is:
If i dream (stage 5 - REM), does that mean I have progressed through all 4 previous sleep stages?

Is it POSSIBLE to enter the dream/REM stage without the proper progression through stages 1–4?

 

Thanks for anyone's insights.
 

[Sheryl]

The duration of sleep stages is much more variable than you may have read, and in conditions of sleep deprivation changes even more

 

It also varies at different times of the night and some stages may be skipped altogether as the night progresses

 

A good description here

 

http://healthysleep.med.harvard.edu/healthy/science/what/sleep-patterns-rem-nrem

 

I know from my own experience that when very sleep deprived (for example after a long flight) I go almost immediately into REM sleep.  That is likely what is happening to you.

 

You need to do something about it, badly interrupted and insufficient sleep is very bad for your health and increases risk of adverse health events

[allencraig]

Hi Sheryl,
Those Harvard pages support to a small degree what you say about variations in sleep stages, but generally it does say that there IS a cycle that would normally be followed. 

 

I'd had an overnight sleep study done at a sleep clinic years ago in Bogotá, and had been struggling with poor sleep and daytime fatigue for years before that, so I'm somewhat familiar with my problems. 

 

I guess I'm just poking around for some periphery input to gauge whether my sleep problems are changing as I get older. (For the better would be nice.) I know I need to be retested and most likely get fitted for a CPAP mask. I couldn't get the mask years ago as my insurance ran out and I left the country.

 

Here in BKK I'm waiting to get health insurance before I visit one of the sleep centers here. I know it's a serious problem and I think about it daily. Sigh.

[allencraig]

"sleep". I know, I know...

[Puchaiyank]

Take a sleep aid...go to sleep...don't spend too much time analyzing it!

[Sheryl]

Drugging yourself to not be awoken by sleep apnea is not a good idea.

 

He needs to treat the underlying cause.

 

OP if you are going straight into REM sleep then you are seriously sleep deprived. The brain cannot fumction without dreams and indeed if sufficiently sleep deprived you'll start to have them while awake AKA hallucinate.

 

Whether the rapid start of dreams happens by greatly shortening the preceding sleep stages or by skipping them altogether (or a combo of both most likely) is really not the issue. You are not getting the normal sleep that you need for mental and physical health.