Sleep and Dreams

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I have a few abnormalities regarding sleep and dreams, but I don't know if they could be related to AS in any way. Perhaps some of you know more than me, or at least can relate...

First off, my sleep/wake patterns have always (or at least for a number of years) seemed to be reversed. I really have trouble getting up in the morning (I know, thats not unusual) and I am exhausted most of the day, but then I seem to hit my stride at about 10 o'clock at night. I get all hyper and motivated late in the evening, and often have a lot of trouble getting to sleep.

What is more weird is that, just as I am falling asleep, I sometimes get these intense, super-realistic dreams. These dreams almost always involve me trying to do something, but it is very difficult to move or even see properly, kind of like I am really drunk or stoned, but a little different. An example would be that I have to get somewhere or get away from something, but I can barely walk; it is an extreme effort to pick up each foot and place it down an inch forward.

What I think is most unusual about this is that, from what I understand, dreams, particularly vivid dreams, are not supposed to occur until the later stages of sleep, but I know I have these dreams just as I am dozing off. At some point, especially during the dreanms in which I am tryting to get away from something, I suddenly snap out of it and I am somewhat aggitated; it often takes a long time to get back to sleep afterwards. When I was younger, the effect was even more intense. I didn't just have trouble moving within the dreams, I would be totally paralyzed, not even able to breath. I honestly don't know if I would be able to breath in reality, but within the dream I would feel like I was suffocating until I suddenly snapped into consciousness.

I sleep so deep a hurricane could come by and I wont wake up.

What you are experiencing is called sleep paralysis; it's as though the body is asleep but the mind is awake. It's similar to lucid dreaming. I experience this quite a bit too, and have had the same thoughts-- why am I having such vivd dreams in the first few moments of sleep? Some of these dreams are so vivid they seem more like hallucinations; I'll go downstairs to get something, and then wake up to find myself actually in bed.

I also have a very disordered sleep pattern. I rarely can stay asleep for more than 90 minutes at a time.

Thanks for the reply en_una_isla, good to know I'm not the only one. And I love your icon. Nothing like an anime character getting down and funky!

http://wrongplanet.net/modules.php?name ... pic&t=6375

Is another thread about sleep paralysis

I've got a bit of the perpetual lucid dreaming going myself. But I have to admit, it can be nice sometimes. Never had a nightmare in my life.

Sleep paralysis, eh?

I never even thought of any of that as out of the ordinary, but I definitely do that. I must say, it gets really annoying when I wake up for school and fall back to sleep without knowing it, but while I'm sleeping I've gone through my entire morning routine and am ready to go before realizing I'm still in bed.

So, does this have anything to do with Asperger's?

Coctyle wrote:

The minute school holidays start my sleeping snaps back into waking up at 9pm in winter or 4 pm in summer and going to bed after the sun comes up. While I have to keep a seme normal sleeping pattern I have trouble getting out of bed am all ways tired and in winter I will sleep as mush as I can I could have slept for 15 hours and still have to struggle to get out of bed. In the summer I sleep much less but still just stay in bed for hours cos I am to tired to do anything

I didn't know this was what it was called. I go through the very same thing. It's very annoying and I feel I am sleep deprived most of the time. I will have one day a month where I will sleep through 6 hours. I feel wonderful afterward.....but; those nights are very rare.

same for me. it feels like my body-clock is set to between thirty and thirty-six hours rather than twenty-four. i often skip a night's sleep to try to manipulate my sleeping pattern but it seldom works. if i try to go to bed at a conventional time i will lie there for hours just thinking about utter crap!



same for me, but they occur half-way through my sleep or towards the end. a common feature in my dreams is not being able to speak. i often have nightmares about people trying to hurt me and i will try to shout for help as loud as i can- but the most that comes out is a broken-up whisper. sometimes i dream that i am trying to call the emergency services (because something bad has happened) but the telephone isn't working properly.

my dreams are very powerful and detailed. i never feel revived like other people do after a night's sleep. i often find that any emotions (usually negative ones) i experienced during the previous night's dreams will linger throughout the day. i often have lucid dreams too.

I tried a sleeping pill and acted really weird and couldnt sleep all night once.

I once had a really weird dream. The setting was extremely vague and ominious, enveloped in a dark-gray fog. I kept seeing rapidly changing images of thunderclouds, caves, old stone structures, suspension bridges, long staircases, and mosques (which is strange, 'cause I'm not Muslim). What's even more strange is that everything in the dream seemed to completely make sense. I woke up from it feeling pretty refreshed.

It seems like what should have been a nightmare didn't feel scary at all. Has anyone else had an experience like this?

I dream vividly all the time I am asleep. Probably the result of a overactive visual cortex. I just shut my eyes and images start coming unbidden into my mind. The moment I doze off, I start dreaming. I often catch 15 minute periods of sleep during the day, and I always dream during them. Unfortunately, it means I never get into a deep sleep and always wake up tired and lethargic. I can have 11 hours of sleep, and still be tired when I'm awake. That's not sleep paralysis, is it?

Has anyone tried melatonin? It isn't really a "sleeping pill", but a chemical that regulates the cercadian rythms (sleep-wake cycle). I don't think it puts you to sleep directly, but triggers the systems that do. i also think that if you take it at about the saame time every night, it helps to set up the rythm so that you eventually don't need it anymore (except for a possible maintenence regimen once in a while).

I have been taking it more-or-less every night for the last week or so, and it has worked pretty well. It does not eliminate dreaming, like some synthetic sleep aids seem to do, but I think it makes dreams a little more calm. It actually might make them more lucid, but not as stressful, if you tend to have stressful dreams. A problem I have had with synthetic sleep aids is that they don't seem to wear off until halfway through the next day. I don't have that problem with melatonin. I also read (I think in one of the links someone posted to this or a similar thread) that lack of melatonin is a factor in sleep paralysis, so if you have that and it bothers you, maybe try melatonin (I haven't had an episode of sleep paralysis while taking it, but I may not have anyway).

Its sold as a dietary supplement, so it is over the counter.

I suffer from loads of weird sleeping problems (as per the other thread highlighted by Serissa). I am used to it now and look forward to the bizarre things that happen.... The only time I don't like it is when I get injured because of it ! !!

I have that problem as well.