Lately you haven’t been able to remember most of your dreams, but the few you have had have turned into horrible nightmares. What could be the cause of your nighttime terrors? Surprisingly, it could very well be a natural consequence of sleep apnea. In addition to the numerous other health complications it causes, this disorder can affect the way your dream – and in some cases can make your nights much more disturbing. Below, you can learn about sleep apnea nightmares and what can be done to make your nights peaceful again.
How Does Sleep Apnea Affect Dreaming?
Many people with sleep apnea end up not having dreams at all, or at the very least having fewer of them. The condition also makes it less likely that you’ll remember your dreams, with one study finding that only 43.2 percent of sleep apnea patients remember their dreams as opposed to 71.4 percent of people without sleep apnea. This is thought to be due to the fact that sleep apnea has a tendency to disrupt or prevent you from reaching REM sleep – the stage of sleep where most dreaming takes place. If you don’t spend enough time in REM sleep, then you likely won’t have dreams, and your overall mental health will suffer.
The Link Between Sleep Apnea and Nightmares
Of course, sometimes dreams can still occur while you have sleep apnea. In many cases, these dreams will turn into vivid nightmares. It’s not entirely clear why, but it’s thought to be due to the suffocation that people with sleep apnea tend to suffer. When you are repeatedly cut off from oxygen during the night, the stress is causes the rest of your body will likely get incorporated into your dreams. The more severe your sleep apnea is, the worse your dreams can get. If the nightmares continue, not only could they have a negative impact on your entire day, but they can also increase your risk for anxiety and daytime depression.
How Can You Improve Dreaming?
You’ll have to treat your sleep apnea in order to stop the nightmares or lack of dreaming caused by the condition. A sleep study will be conducted to confirm that you do have sleep apnea, and then your sleep dentist can start putting together a treatment plan. An oral appliance can help keep the airway open, and it might be combined with a CPAP machine depending on the circumstances.
Dreaming is an important part of the sleep cycle, but bad dreams can end up ruining your night. The quality of your dreaming is just one more reason why you need to have sleep apnea treated as soon as possible. If you don’t take action, you’re unlikely to have truly “sweet dreams.”
About the Practice
Dr. Pamela West has over three decades of dental experience and has spent 20 years helping Las Vegas patients at iSleep Solutions. She is a member of the American Academy of Dental Sleep Medicine as well as the American Association of Sleep Medicine. She loves how treating sleep apnea allows her to improve her patient’s lives in ways that go beyond traditional dentistry. If you’ve been having bad dreams that might be linked to sleep apnea, you can schedule a consultation with her today by visiting her website or calling (702) 844-6226.