Dreams, sleep paralysis and other

[LadyS]

What are your dreams like? Do you remember them? What's your awareness level? Do you experience things like sleep paralysis or other weird things during your sleep?

My dreams can be pretty chaotic but feel so real. Sometimes I'm aware I'm dreaming. When I was younger I was able to somewhat control what was going on in the dream or steer it where I want it to go. I would also experience dreams within dreams with dreams. I can only remember the more vivid ones which don't happen as often. But more often then nought I wake up feeling exhausted when I dream, like I've been up all night. My mind doesn't get rest.

One of the strangest things is that the dream starts out with certain random people I know but then they change or mutate into other random people I know but my mind registers them as the original person the dream started out with. (Ex: the dream starts out with Steve but then he changes to Larry but he still answers to Steve).

With regards to sleep paralysis, this morning I was mostly awake, partly trying to go back to sleep. When I started to cross the line between awake and sleep I was startled by what sounded like a little kid growling behind me in my ear. At first I thought it was my son but I knew he wasn't there. I tried to turn over but I couldnt, like an electric current had me frozen in place. I could feel my muscle straining though.

It doesn't happen often, and not always like this. In the past I'd be in the same state and could feel the bed depress at the foot of the bed or behind me like someone sat down. And again, would panic and can move like someone was holding me down.

I've also started hearing voices lately not only while I'm trying to fall asleep, but while I'm fully awake too. Only recently though. Usually I can logic my way out of most experiences but this one I can't just yet, Wondering what it means.

 

[tree]

Some of these threads may be of interest.

Dreams

https://www.autismforums.com/threads/what-are-dreams.35387/#post-743719

dreaming while sleeping

Lucid dreams

https://www.autismforums.com/threads/disturbing-dreams.32224/#post-667320

Sleep Paralysis

Exploding Head Syndrome, Hypnic jerks and Sleep Paralysis

Sleep paralysis - Have you experienced it?

the border between dream and reality

 

[LadyS]

Some of these threads may be of interest.

Dreams

https://www.autismforums.com/threads/what-are-dreams.35387/#post-743719

dreaming while sleeping

Lucid dreams

https://www.autismforums.com/threads/disturbing-dreams.32224/#post-667320

Sleep Paralysis

Exploding Head Syndrome, Hypnic jerks and Sleep Paralysis

Sleep paralysis - Have you experienced it?

the border between dream and reality

Thanks, I've already looked into all the dream info, but haven't combed through threads. I often wonder if autism affects our dreams and if we dream differently. I've asked people I know, all NTs but they're no help, none of them have similar experiences.

 

[Martha Ferris]

That you are suddenly hearing voices added to the other issues suggests that there may be some issue that needs to be addressed by a physician. Please make an appointment for an physical evaluation to rule out physical causes.

 

[Magna]

I don't remember many of my dreams as an adult. I used to have very frequent nightmares as a child which included sleep paralysis. At least I assume it was sleep paralysis? I would wake up from a nightmare and try to move or scream and could no neither; completely paralyzed.

 

[QuestJan]

What are your dreams like?

Family lore is that I was not much of a sleeper and often left the house at night, which I continued as I got old enough to form episodic memories. I generally don't remember dreams, but the few I do have been lucid, so if I don't like them I change them. I avoid napping due to sleep paralysis which sets off claustrophobia.

I naturally sleep only 3 to 4 hours, which is not enough. So I usually take something to sleep. Perhaps that's why I don't remember

 

[tree]

Thanks, I've already looked into all the dream info, but haven't combed through threads. I often wonder if autism affects our dreams and if we dream differently. I've asked people I know, all NTs but they're no help, none of them have similar experiences.

Since the threads are primarily responses by members who are ASD,
you might find perusing them informative.

 

[LadyS]

That you are suddenly hearing voices added to the other issues suggests that there may be some issue that needs to be addressed by a physician. Please make an appointment for an physical evaluation to rule out physical causes.

I do wonder if this is related to multiple ear issues I've had over the years. But every time I go to the doctor they say everything is fine. I had one particular episode where it felt like my head was about to explode, felt major swelling under my ear, near my jaw to where I could barely move it. Went to the emergency room and they said it all looked fine, just a little red inside the ear while I was in tears from the pain.

I went to an ENT afterwards, after a string of sinus related infections prior to Covid but they again told me unless I'm having 5 or more infections a year they can't do anything further, except prescribe more antibiotics. My symptoms are just never severe enough or numerous enough to warrant further investigation. It's like living in limbo.

I hate going to the doctor only to be told everything looks normal.

 

[Gerald Wilgus]

I used to sleepwalk. thankfully not any longer. My dreams are usually surreal puzzles that I need to solve. The worst dreams are those where I am stuck doing a boring repetitive task for work.

 

[Suzette]

I do wonder if this is related to multiple ear issues I've had over the years. But every time I go to the doctor they say everything is fine. I had one particular episode where it felt like my head was about to explode, felt major swelling under my ear, near my jaw to where I could barely move it. Went to the emergency room and they said it all looked fine, just a little red inside the ear while I was in tears from the pain.

I went to an ENT afterwards, after a string of sinus related infections prior to Covid but they again told me unless I'm having 5 or more infections a year they can't do anything further, except prescribe more antibiotics. My symptoms are just never severe enough or numerous enough to warrant further investigation. It's like living in limbo.

I hate going to the doctor only to be told everything looks normal.

Dental infection can masquerade as ear aches, sinus issues and even the common cold. Also, colds, flu and strep can all result in swollen glands under you jaw line near your ear, and deltal infections can do it too.

As for dreams, I had a lot of sleep paralysis, lucid dreams, and sometimes people talking
Like overhearing a conversation when I was younger, before 40.

Some of these things maybe hormone related.

 

[Ken]

What are your dreams like? Do you remember them? What's your awareness level? Do you experience things like sleep paralysis or other weird things during your sleep?

My dreams can be pretty chaotic but feel so real. Sometimes I'm aware I'm dreaming. When I was younger I was able to somewhat control what was going on in the dream or steer it where I want it to go. I would also experience dreams within dreams with dreams. I can only remember the more vivid ones which don't happen as often. But more often then nought I wake up feeling exhausted when I dream, like I've been up all night. My mind doesn't get rest.

One of the strangest things is that the dream starts out with certain random people I know but then they change or mutate into other random people I know but my mind registers them as the original person the dream started out with. (Ex: the dream starts out with Steve but then he changes to Larry but he still answers to Steve).

With regards to sleep paralysis, this morning I was mostly awake, partly trying to go back to sleep. When I started to cross the line between awake and sleep I was startled by what sounded like a little kid growling behind me in my ear. At first I thought it was my son but I knew he wasn't there. I tried to turn over but I couldnt, like an electric current had me frozen in place. I could feel my muscle straining though.

It doesn't happen often, and not always like this. In the past I'd be in the same state and could feel the bed depress at the foot of the bed or behind me like someone sat down. And again, would panic and can move like someone was holding me down.

I've also started hearing voices lately not only while I'm trying to fall asleep, but while I'm fully awake too. Only recently though. Usually I can logic my way out of most experiences but this one I can't just yet, Wondering what it means.

I have dreams almost exactly as you describe. My dreams are always very busy leaving me exhausted when awaking. It's rare for me to wake feeling rested.
All my dreams are about some sort of struggle, trying to fix something, but most often trying to navigate to a destination with all sorts of obstacles. They often are dreams taking place in my house or work, but the setting is always different from my house or work. Sometimes either place is a huge building with complex floor plans and confusing hallways, but that never seems strange in the dream.
During stressful times my dreams are almost always nightmares. It's always dark and misty and I am paralyzed. Someone or something is approaching me and I can't move or see. I usually wake upon capture, which feels like I am being smothered or consumed by the "thing".
I seem to always dream and I seem to never have "pleasant" dreams. It has happened, but I can probably count the number of pleasant dreams in my lifetime on one hand.
The manor of my dreams has been the same throughout my life, from early childhood to present. So, it's nothing that's changed.
During wake time and sleep, it seems that my mind is always busy. I can never relax my mind. Since diagnosis, I have wondered if the "busy mind" thing was an autistic trait. I have read that autistics brains are forty something percent more active than an NT in any given state; resting, studying, working, sleep, etc.

 

[LadyS]

Dental infection can masquerade as ear aches, sinus issues and even the common cold. Also, colds, flu and strep can all result in swollen glands under you jaw line near your ear, and deltal infections can do it too.

As for dreams, I had a lot of sleep paralysis, lucid dreams, and sometimes people talking
Like overhearing a conversation when I was younger, before 40.

Some of these things maybe hormone related.

So I get regular dental work and have had dental x-rays done recently as well but no signs of infection as far as I know. I was tested for strep during my string of infections but was negative. I get annual physicals which includes hearing tests which I recently completed and all looked normal.

 

[SimonSays]

I've also started hearing voices lately not only while I'm trying to fall asleep, but while I'm fully awake too. Only recently though.

Can you describe the voices? What are they saying?

 

[LadyS]

Can you describe the voices? What are they saying?

The voices really only say a word or two. Occasionally it sounds like it's near me but most of the time it sounds further away.

 

[Au Naturel]

When she was younger my daughter had a number of night terror episodes. She'd appear to be in extreme distress but we simply could not wake her up. Really frightening the first time it happens.

Sleep terrors (night terrors) - Symptoms and causes

 

[dragonfire42]

I have extremely vivid dreams, that except for what is happening are just like reality. Touch, pain, smell, taste are all there. I sometimes have dreams where I can fly with my own wings, and I feel the air supporting me and muscles I don’t even have in reality.

A common theme I have in dreams is not flying, but floating. I’m very aware of this in the dreams, I have had ones both where I know I’m dreaming because I’m floating and where I know I can float because I know I’m dreaming. But other than that, knowing that I’m dreaming actually prevents things from happening that I know couldn’t in reality. Over the past few months I’ve often been fully aware that I’m dreaming but can never actually control anything.

It is not uncommon for me to have dreams within dreams, dreams where I remember other dreams I’ve had, and ones where I “remember” dreams I haven’t actually had. Sometimes when I wake up and get back to sleep fairly quickly, the dream I was having will continue.

My mom says that I had night terrors when I was young, I don’t remember any. I sometimes have dreams where I’m trying to get up but can’t move much/at all. I start with struggling to even get my eyes open, usually end up on the floor trying to drag myself toward the door of my bedroom, but when I actually wake up, I haven’t moved. I feel like I urgently need to get up for some unknown reason, but I never feel any sort of fear or anything, only that I need to keep trying as hard as I can.

I do have severe insomnia, and can’t remember ever having awakened feeling rested in my life. Without medication I’m lucky to get half an hour of sleep a night (often none at all), still have trouble sleeping with medication, and every so often have to change medication because the last one stopped doing anything. Interestingly, I’m not usually that tired the day after I get little to no sleep, but then I’m exhausted the next day when I have gotten sleep, like it just reminds my body what it’s missing.

 

[Wulven]

Sinuses and sickness cause nightmares for me. Had a very bad experience a few years ago. Where I was sick a whole month. Nightmares asleep hearing voices when I woke up. It was a close thing. Even when I recovered. I still heard the voices months afterwards.

 

[LadyS]

Sometimes when I wake up and get back to sleep fairly quickly, the dream I was having will continue

Yes, same here. Unless I become "too awake".

All my dreams are about some sort of struggle, trying to fix something, but most often trying to navigate to a destination with all sorts of obstacles

Yes here too. There's always something going on that requires a group of people to accomplish. It can take place anywhere, but the places change in an instant but feels totally normal in the dream.
I don't have nightmares often but when I do I'm usually being kidnapped but never last long as I wake up as soon as it happens.

 

[Suzette]

The voices really only say a word or two. Occasionally it sounds like it's near me but most of the time it sounds further away.

I often hear my name being called just before I fall asleep. Of course I am instantky awake cursing the idiot who is calling me. But, no matter the cause I have learned that it is nothing. It is merely an auditory hallucination with no ill effect. I can ignore that.

My most startling episode of hearing voices happened when my son was about 4 months old. He has colic and hd been crying for hours everyday for about two weeks. I wss exhausted and he was crying again. I was so frustrated I put him in his crib and went outside to throw a raging temper tantrum. Suddenly, very clearly and loudy I heard "Suzette! Get a hold of yourself! Deep breaths!"
I felt better after that and was able to handle my sons crying afterwards.

 

[SusanLR]

Never had sleep paralysis, but, it seems to be very common.
Science says it is a built in mechanism to prevent people from rolling out of bed or hitting around with
their hands and arms which could hurt self or someone you are sleeping with.

As our brains go through the various levels of sleep/wake cycles, there are different things that can
be experienced in each.
Supposedly the last and which is closer to being half awake, half asleep is the REM state.
This is where dreams usually happen and is why most people remember those most vividly just
before waking up.
There can be a hypnogognic level much like being hypnotized. This is a brief state our brains
go through as we drift into sleep and sometimes for a moment as we wake up.
This is when some people hear things as you describe.

My dreams are lucid or vivid and just like being awake. All the senses are the same.
I walk, run, eat, taste, hear, think, feel. Everything is just like real life except for the few
times I've experienced flying on my own accord. I really didn't care for it and eventually have
gotten to where I seldom experience it.

I've had those dreams within a dream and I don't like them either.
I dream I'm trying to wake up and in the dream, when I do, I can't get my eyes open and have
much difficulty moving or walking. Then I finally wake up and realise it was a dream.

The one constant that has always been in dreaming is I don't dream of people or places I
know in real life.
Like today as example, I dreamt for a very long time that I was at a huge enclosed
Flea Market. The place is like a mall in size, but, you can see it is a Flea Market.
Some compartments are permanent sellers and other boothes are tables with garage sale type
stuff. In the center is a place to eat and vendors that sell food.
I walked the whole place out until people were closing up their selling boothes and some were
loading up their stuff to leave.
An oriental lady got mad at me for wanting to look at a tiki mask she had already put in a box.
Said I should have been there sooner, she had had it for the day.
I wanted to eat at the food court, but, was out of time as they were closing too.

This was in the afternoon when I was taking my second half of my split sleep time.
Two hours. And I recognised the market as having been there before.
No idea of where it is, but, when I awoke at 3:30 pm I thought today is Sunday, perfect day for
a Flea Market and that would be about the time people start closing in the eastern time zone.
For those who believe, there is always Astral travell experiences too.

I don't have nightmares either, which is unusual.