Question. Has anyone with PCS or other BI been diagnosed with Narcolepsy.

Hi I have brought up the subject of having 'fantastical imagery' with my psychologist at the brain injury unit and just get a wide eyed stare in return, it seems to say she is suggesting 'don't go there'. I have wondered about this and have read that similar experiences (mad visions) come under neuro-psychosis.

I have described this fantastical imagery in previous posts and have come to the conclusion that they are Hypagogic events, ie being conscious during REM sleep. I have body paralysis during these. It's like watching and experiencing your brain repair itself and sort out information in a visual format and also delves deep into the subconscious. If you want to find out more search for the DMT experience it's the closet thing and describes extremely similar visuals.

I have excessive sleep patterns which I always thought was fatigue, however many people on here with fatigue suffer from insomnia.

I feel a bit stumped but at the same time feel I am on the right track. I get these experiences multiple times a day now and would really like to get to the bottom of it.

Thanks in advance for any info.

[randomphantoms]

Hi pink vision .

A long time ago I posted about what I called a healing dream. Similar dreams still happen occasionally. (Many more in the last 12 months with having to be the "responsible adult.")

I believe that , as our brains rewire and relearn to process information, it can happen that either our strongest communication stream changes or that we come to depend on one information stream and everything gets processed through it.

How is your memory? Are you learning things from these events?

To be honest I gave up on research a long time ago as I was finding it both depressing and it didn't match how I felt.

Not sure if this is any use to you.

[Hidden in reply to randomphantoms]

Hi Randomphantoms, yes this does help in a way. (I have just finished writing the post and it's a longish one, no probs if you don't read it, it was good for me so thanks for your comment, my memory is improving rapidly at the moment and I am learning so, so much, thanks again.)

From what I have found the thinking of dream time is the repair of damage to neural networks, de-toxifying and the making and storage of memories via new neural networks. Brain scans show that more of the brain is active during dreaming than at any other time, when a brain is in the 'awake' mode the least brain activity is recorded. The frontal cortex, the logical region, is dominant when awake and is closed down when asleep, one response from this is the body is mostly paralysed. This is to prevent you acting out your dreams. People who do act during sleep in any way have sleep disorders of one kind or another.

How a damaged brain repairs itself after acute or functional damage is an interesting question. I suppose people would have to think about how they were at their worse and then what functions returned as recovery proceeds, innate abilities and learned abilities stimulated by exterior actions i.e. washing, cleaning teeth, doing the washing up and cooking etc.

I found information from lectures for the American veterans association where they discuss many mechanisms for stimulating functional repair via a system of learning an action then practising it over and over to stimulate either repair or creation of new neural pathways. Bypassing acutely damaged areas are stimulated by attaching an action to another action that has never been learned before. For instance if there is a problem with language memory either going in or going out via speech or the written word this can be bypassed by learning to type properly if you have never typed before. This gives a new route for communication of language. I did this myself after it was shown I had at best 30% retention of language going in and out via speech and the written word. The improvement was dramatic.

It takes about 8 weeks of practice to cement in neural networks and build up a good knowledge of practice and information. This is only the basic 'scaffolding' and you can set yourself tasks to improve on a wider scale and hone in, in absolute detail on a narrower scale.

Another issue I had was spacial awareness, I took to 'tightrope walking' along an old railway line and it also had dramatic results. So there are many ways to improve.

The relevance of these to the issue of dreams and sleep is as said above dreaming is the repair mechanism and setting up of memories in neural networks.

I find a three to five day turnaround where I try to learn something for a few hours then get exhausted and fatigue sets in, I repeat the actions the next day etc, the fatigue gets worse and I crash, I am fatigued for 3-5 days. Then however when I recover I can do the activity without much effort.

This is another key factor and a good way to reduce fatigue over time. In BI there is a loss of automatic function ie learned skills built up through out life, most people don't think about what they are doing most of the time, it is learned and ingrained and it's action is unconscious and automatic, the brain does not use much energy in this. A BI brain with damaged functions lose many of the previously automatic functions and it takes a lot of effort and energy to consciously think through an activity. This leads to fatigue very quickly.

Another study, in fact there are many, show that by visualising an activity via a meditative practice can stimulate the neural pathway of an action or reinforce a pathway that is being learned by up to 30%.

All of this however needs time to form and it is done during sleep as mentioned.

The problem I am trying to solve may be a sleep disorder or some kind of weird brain chemistry, maybe stimulated by light, I have multiple kinds of light sensitivity and it is known that light governs our sleep patterns via the pineal gland and the regulation of melatonin.

I have been thinking that this is one mechanism that leads to my being conscious during periods of sleep and experiencing the visual effects in absolute clarity of REM dreaming. It can be totally mental and mind bending, it can be comical, lucid and surreal, scary and could make you believe in higher states of consciousness and other dimensions etc. It's very similar or the same as experiences described after the use of DMT.

Here the chemistry kicks in because melatonin, the sleep regulating chemical is only a little different in side chains to DMT, also to seratonin. They are all tryptamine based molecules.

Another option is, as I am trying to find out, narcolepsy. The symptoms are being conscious during periods of REM dreaming going into sleep, sleep paralysis, irregular excessive sleep patterns and muscle tone relaxation in parts of the body. I get all of these and I'm looking for answers.

All of my brain functional problems are improving as I address the particular problem, I seem to attack what is most prominent at the time and repeat a group of actions for 8 weeks at a time.

Things still to get on top of are light sensitivity, noise and the sleeping issue being discussed here.

Apologies for the length, it just came together and poured out.

[randomphantoms in reply to Hidden]

"All of my brain functional problems are improving as I address the particular problem, I seem to attack what is most prominent at the time and repeat a group of actions for 8 weeks at a time.

Things still to get on top of are light sensitivity, noise and the sleeping issue being discussed here."

For my money( the little I have) that is far and away the best way to tackle our issues. Sort , prioritise, and take the most important (to you) first. Very dependent on awareness of course.

As for the light and noise sensitivity an opticians report of non responsive pupil got things moving and a referral to audiology led to my issue specific filters which are a godsend.

[Hidden in reply to randomphantoms]

Thanks, yep just keep going, bit by bit by bit.

[sospan]

Hi,

Even before my injury, I was able to doze in my arm chair and be asleep but also aware of what was going on around me - conversations, tv etc.

When I had my HI, I used to get some complexly bizarre dreams. I could never remember what the dreams were about but they were so bizarre they used to wake me up and I would think that was weird and go back to sleep.

I had paralysis twice on my left side whilst in bed. So severe, I couldn't even talk or move to get help. Both times it subsided by itself and fortunately haven't occurred since.

Interesting your "tight rope walking" I used to do the same with the floor boards to walk in a straight line. A friend asked me one day why is it when I walk down the pavement I take up all the room by walking a metre from the walls, hedges and trail my arm along them. When I was chatting to an specialist I happened to mention it. They responded that I have really bad depth perception and I am doing it subconsciously. Then went on to say that is why I bump into things and have poor co-ordination. I asked what they could do to correct it - nothing! as they don't have the resources, staff or budget.

With no real help from the NHS, a bit like yourself(and others here), I set out to try and fix things myself by doing research and experimenting. It is quite fascinating finding out how the brain and all the other related systems work.

I posted another thread on a product, I have found that does improve sleep.