How do you dream?

[Rae1889]

Hello all

I thought this might be a cool thing to ask. Aside from how anti-epileptic drugs affect your dreaming, I want to know HOW you dream. As in...

1) do you dream in colour or black and white or sepia?
2) are you a spectator (you watch yourself do things) or are you viewing as yourself (seen through your eyes)?
3) do you ever know that your dreaming (lucid dreaming)?
4) types of dreams that annoy you. (ie: dreaming you got up for work, came home went to bed, then actually woke up and thought you already did what you dreamed)

5) this one is just out of curiosity and Cinnabar mentioned it in the AURA poll, do you ever dream you are having a seizure? of any sort? *this goes for people who dont have E too, but they live with someone who does*

[Nakamova]

Hi Rae, I love this question! I love dreams and dream interpretation (even if it's a bit like the horoscopes). One of things I miss since being on Lamictal is the ability to recall my dreams in detail. I used to have good-sized narratives, but now they are rare, and I'm more likely to pull up only a detail or two. (When I first went on Lamictal I had very vivid dreams, but that faded once I adjusted to the med). I dream in color, sometimes a spectator, sometimes not. I'm not sure I've had lucid dreams -- I've been halfway there I think, the moment during a bad dream when I'm suddenly relieved that it's only a dream. I haven't dreamed that I'm having a seizure (because I've only had tonic-clonics, I have no conscious memories of what seizing is like). But I have dreamed about the before and after -- either the anxiety that I'm about to have one, or the unpleasant realization/fear that I have had one.

Annoying dreams (as opposed to nightmares): The usual anxiety ones -- "I'm in school, the semester's over and I haven't been to class and it's time for the exam". Or a recent one where I had just parked my car for half a second, got an immediate parking ticket for $293, and my car was towed to a lot far away so I had to figure out how to get there via bus... etc.

My dreams often have music too, but at a very low level like soundtrack music, rather than part of the content.

[Rae1889]

So to answer my own questions:

1) yes i always dream in colour. always. I think it would be neat to dream black and white like an old movie.
2) I am always viewing through my own eyes. I have never "seen" myself from behind or above or face on in my dreams (unless looking in mirrors)
3) I have occasionally had lucid dreams. these are neat because you can actually test your dream world. like normally looking ina mirror you look distorted, or trying to leap and fly like superman.
4) i hate dreams in which everyone around you in your dream looks way different than they do in real life. but yet they are familiar and you know who they are. or when you know your in house, but it looks differnt. like you suddenly have a basement that you dont have in real life

5) yes, all the time since my diagnosis. could be chad, mym mum, my friends little brother. and i have had tonic clonics in my dream. and its odd, cuz i am aware of what goes on around, what people say and how they act. as well as how it feels to contort and not control it. And i have never known what its like to have a seizure *well i have them but don't know whats it like to be awake to know whats going on.does that make sense?*

and to add to this, i usually remember my dreams

[horsehead]

I dream in color.Sometimes a spectator and sometimes not.I almost always know I'm dreaming.my annoying dreams are going to school and not knowing where my classes are and its the end of the year.Or trying to do something very simple and not being able to do it.i have dreamed of having a seizure and I am on the ground and people just walk by or laugh at me.

[Rae1889]

i have dreamed of having a seizure and I am on the ground and people just walk by or laugh at me.

I have had one like that. but not with a seizure. I was stabbed in a mall and fell to the ground bleeding in the middle of a crowd and nobodt noticed

[horsehead]

I have dreams like that alot. I think its do to the doctors thinking there is nothing wrong with me.

[Meetz1064]

see.

I have had some black and white dreams, as well as just a few (maybe 3) sepia colored dreams. ALL others (99.99%) of my dreams have been in bright, vivid color.

I'm NORMALLY a spectator, although there are a few times that I'm viewing myself, it just depends on the dream.

Lucid dreams are the best because then you KNOW you're not insane. You KNOW you're dreaming and things will return to normal soon. You can do all sorts of things to prove yourself that you normally can't when you're awake, too....

Dreams that annoy me? The ones that you can't figure out right away...the prophetic ones. Like the weird one I had a while back that I talked about before---a shark, swimming in a sea of chocolate. I mean, REALLLY, COME ON NOW.....

I don't ever dream I'm having a seizure....I dream of OTHERS having a seizure, but not ME.....

[CathyAnn31]

Before going on Lamictal, I would maybe remember 2 dreams a year if I was lucky. When I just started the meds I would have awesome, very vivid dreams and I LOVED it....sometimes several each morning and they usually occured right before waking, or after I get up and go to the bathroom and went straight back to bed.

I am never a spectator and always view as myself. Always in color.

Never have I dreamed of having a seizure.

One dream I had last month, I lost all my friends at a huge outdoor shopping strip. I was a little panicky and almost fell into some water after walking along an unsteady plank, and older creepy dude helped me. Then when back on steady ground I heard some music playing. I went to see where it was coming from and on the left side of me was a stage with Bon Jovi performing. Never was a big fan, but it was soothing me..LOL.

The only dreams that freak me out are when I dream of snakes. Snakes in my house, outside my house, and even the snake in the toilet what wants to bite my rear end when I am going to the bathroom. These are usually a little unsettling/upsetting. And yes, I don't like snakes even when awake.

I could go on and on....but thats all.

Unfortunately I don't have them as often now that my body has adjusted to the meds...I still have a few every week, just not as vividly as before and I dont remember as many details.

Unsure about the lucid dreaming...I have dreamed of flying before and that was really cool..but don't think I had any control of it.

Great thread.

[Rae1889]

I hate dreaming of bugs crawling on me too! even when i wake up and realize that i'm safe in my bed, and i've check my sheets and blanket, i can still "feel" the memory of tehm being there.

same with dreaming of being in a fire. I wake up and can still "feel" the memory of being burned, and my arm will hurt, but i'll look and theres nothing there.

[Chris515]

1. Always colour for some reason. Black and white would be cool though.
2. Always seen as myself, never the spectator.
3. I don't think I've ever known that I'm dreaming.
4. Dreaming about work is the worst!! I did that last night. Dreaming that you spent the day at work and then actually having to do it really sucks.
5. I don't think I've ever dreamed that I was having a seizure.

I remember when I was a kid - I would have simple partials in my sleep, and my subsequent dreams felt like I was flying. Pretty cool at the time.

[Cinnabar]

Oh, dreams! The deep waters of the subconscious have always fascinated me. Now, since my first simple partial seizure I've been dreaming of having them in my sleep. I'm not sure if their nocturnal seizures but I do wake up with loss of bladder control.

I've never dreamt in black and white but full color. Never pastels. A few times I've dreamt of long ago past and it was in sepia like the days of old and I thought that was pretty cool.

They are usually frought with symbolizm which is why I keep a note pad by my bed and even make analytical annotations.

I have characters who exchange very witty dialouge. Beyond what I'm capable in life.

Also, dream in stereophonic sound.

One interesting dream: It was midnight and I didn't have the key to get into my house. I quickly realized I was dreaming and had the ability to pass through the door like a ghost. Oh, the power of dreams!

Lastly, I have PTSD. There's no describing the horrors of these kind of dreams. You feel like your right back at the place of trauma. You wake up sweating and sobbing. The intensity and frequency has lessened over the years but they are still with me. And I'm talking of twenty five years of these kind of dreams.

To end on a happier note...sometimes I just have sweet dreams where I wake up smiling.

[Meetz1064]

other thing that I have going on in mine, which is REALLY WEIRD (I KNOW, look who's talking, right?? )

Lately, or at least in the last couple of years, there almost always seems to be a narrator, OR a strip of text running through the dream for me to read. I can't explain it. Very, very ODD...... Sometimes, someone speaking TO me. On other occasions there are full-blown conversations going on between the characters in the dream--almost like in a movie. *eyeroll* Heaven help me, it can be tiring sometimes........

[vapour]

I dream ALOT, its always in colour.

I can only recall a handful of times that I was not seeing through my own eyes.

I lucid dream alot, usually I lucid dream if its a re-curring dream.

Dreams that annoy me: Yeah the getting up dream when I have not and I end up sleeping in.

Never dreamed that I am having a seizure, but since March (when I was rushed to ER) I have had nightmares about waking up (after being in status epilepticus) in the ICU with tubes down my throat and in me everywhere...but the actual seizure is not in my dream.. hmmm... v interesting.

[BuckeyeFan]

Definitely more vivid dreams after switching to Lamictal. When on Keppra, I think they were somewhat reduced. Weird how two anti-epileptic drugs act so differently.

1. Always in color, except maybe in b+w when I was young (so was tv)

2. Always as me, never even thought about a dream in third person

3. I think that sometimes I relaize I am dreaming, especially the really ridiculus ones

4. A recurrent dream over the years has been one of going fast either in a vehicle or running, then going airborne more than would be physically possible, then that awful feeling of falling. Also have dreams where I am being very embarassed about something. Have plenty of good dreams as well. Weirdest are the ones which cause dejavu later. How can a mind predict a situation.

5. Don't think I have ever dreamed a seizure. Maybe some of the after effects, not real sure. Memories of details usually fade rapidly.

thread

[Nakamova]

Last night I dreamed that I was able to "flap my arms" to get above the roofline. It wasn't easy to hover because of the strong winds. And then a little, bird flying by got stuck in the elbow of my sweater. I was startled, it was frantic, but I was able to unhook its claws to let it go.

[Cinnabar]

I never dream that I'm flying. But I'm up there in real life when dissociation sets in. A wonderful sense of weightlessness.

I also have the dreams, typical to most. I'm in college and am attending no classes knowing I have to catch up somehow but keep procrastinating. How will I ever get my degree? Will I have to begin as a Freshman all over again?!

[Rae1889]

I had a dream once where the city was in the clouds, and everyone had these balloons tied around their waist. but whenever they did something wrong *like stealing or swearing* their balloon would pop and they'd fall through the clouds and never be seen again.

I also love dreaming about my grandma. she passed away when i was 9, and I am slowly starting to forget her voice adn her face. the way she used to smell and feel. And whenever i notice that i am forgetting *like now* I end up dreamin about her. and we will be in her old living room, talking and laughing, she'd cuddle me like i was 5 again, even though in my dreams i am whatever age i really am. We'd talk about how I 'm doing and how i miss her. *in my dream still know she passed away* and then we'd say good by, i leave through the door, hear it lock behind me and then wake up.

[Cinnabar]

I have dreams about my uncle, my closest friend, who passed away this June. We are in his apartment and he says "I'm not "exactly" dead. Why are these people removing my furniture? Who would want it anyway!" We both laugh. Then I say "Since you're alive you're going to be surprising allot of people who are after your money". He say's "Ha! The jokes on them!" We laugh. Then I say "Oh, John! Who the hell's ashes are on my mantel? We both crack up laughing because we are both fond of the morbid. Dreams like these. And we're always laughing.

[C0urt]

does no one else dream of electric sheep?

I only remember my sleeps when i am allowed to get into a deep enough sleep.
that doesnt happen often. meds and stuff.

[Nakamova]

Only androids dream of electric sheep...