Loss of dreams

[Mstiles]

I really miss my dreams.

I’ve always had lots of dreams, sometimes prophetic ones. I’ve kept Dream journals for years. I’ve gotten so much guidance and inspiration from them and I miss them! I’m an artist and they’ve been important in connecting me to creativity energy.

Since PMR/GCA I’ve pretty much lost them, or at least lost the ability to remember them. Another side effect of pred, interrupted sleep? Anyone else experienced this? I take melatonin and CBD/cannabis oil to sleep.

Seems like a minor problem compared to all the other horrible things about these diseases, but I feel like part of myself is missing.

[PMRpro Ambassador]

I have never been able to remember dreams - at least not since a recurrent prophetic nightmare was fulfilled when I was 17. That was it - no more dreams that I am aware of.

Maybe it is a change in your sleep patterns:

healthline.com/health/menta...

[Mstiles in reply to PMRpro]

Thanks Pro. Could be I’m missing that very last stage of sleep when I would easily recall dreams since I’m now waking up at 5:00 am or earlier since pred etc. instead of about 7:00. Guess that shocker of a dream you had earlier turned off your brain to dreams. Hope it warned you!

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to Mstiles]

It related to the death of my father - nothing I could do, it just was.

[piglette]

I remember some dreams and not others. All my dreams are quite exciting. I even have serial dreams, for example someone borrowed my tennis racket in one dream and gave it back a few weeks later!

[Mstiles in reply to piglette]

Interesting!

[DorsetLady PMRGCAuk volunteer]

Perhaps your sleep patterns are different due to steroids -

“Dreams are hallucinations that occur during certain stages of sleep. They're strongest during REM sleep, or the rapid eye movement stage, when you may be less likely to recall your dream. Much is known about the role of sleep in regulating our metabolism, blood pressure, brain function, and other aspects of health.”

[SheffieldJane]

You are dreaming Mstiles, you are just not waking during REM sleep. Try the notebook and pen by the bed and jot them down. Sometimes my most vividly remembered dreams are in the afternoon.

[PMR2011]

I lost my dreams to higher doses of Pred (or early disease stages?). Once I got to the really low doses (below 3 mg) they came back! No idea why...

[Mstiles in reply to PMR2011]

That’s hopeful, that they may come back if I ever get that low. Thanks Pro

[Noosat]

I can relate. My pattern is to dream whole believable stories. I am not in the dream. It is as if I am watching other people's lives. When I don't dream, I have had a bad night. I am down to 4.5 mg of prednisone, have been as low as 3mg. Yes, instead of getting up once a night, I am inclined to get up twice. At one time it was 3 times. I write poetry.

[Mstiles in reply to Noosat]

Did your dreams get interrupted by pred or tha PMR/GCA Noosat?

Do your dreams connect to your poetry?

I feel like part of me died without them.

[Noosat in reply to Mstiles]

I really don't know what influenced my dreams, but I do seem to dream more the lower I go on the medication. No my dreams don't influence my poetry. However, often when I have trouble sleeping, instead of meditating, I think poetry. I believe most of us "speak" poetry in our daily lives, just don't realize it. I know I can be anywhere, in the shower, cooking and I find I am thinking it. I usually don't share it with anyone, however, since being restricted so much to house, I send one out every Monday morning to a group of diverse friends. They seem to enjoy it and it keeps me in touch.

[Mstiles in reply to Noosat]

What a good idea! Maybe I’ll try that with a sketch. I’m in the process of starting a painting group with three other painters I know from Atlanta before I moved to Atlanta with the idea of usining FaceTime to show our work and talk about it. The 4 of us were in an undergrad fine arts program 23 years ago.

[Noosat in reply to Mstiles]

Where do you live in Atlanta? I lived in Midtown area for 15 years before moving to Hill Country in Texas

[Mstiles in reply to Noosat]

I lived in Atlanta for 45 years before I moved to Northern California in 2015. Lived in Buckhead, near Emory, and then in Edgewood, and Little Five Points. I still miss it!

[Noosat in reply to Mstiles]

I live 45 minutes from San Antonio and about 1 and 1/2 from Austin. I thought I would be going to lots of museum events etc., however, my fear of hitting a deer on Hwy10 at night stopped that. I love the McNay, but only can go during daylight hours. In Kerrville, where I live, fortunately, all kinds of art flourishes, so that is a consolation. Have been to very few in last 6 months, because of the virus. I am in the very high risk population. It has also put a stop to my overseas travel, which my daughter and I were used to doing for a couple of weeks a year.

[S4ndy]

I've never remembered dreams but there's one recurring scary dream I used to get as a child that was that all my teeth came out in my mouth! Apparently a friend who purports to understand dreams says its a common dream related to loss.

I don't remember much as I sleep really deeply. However, if I have a doze or a nap I sometimes remember snippets. Guess it's related to REM sleep.

[Mstiles in reply to S4ndy]

Yes that’s a common one. Is REM the last and deepest stage of sleep? I can’t remember. I’m waking too early since pred, etc, so maybe I’m just missing that stage now. .

[S4ndy]

Yes REM is the lighter sleep that we cycle in and out of in the night and just before we wake.

[siteguy18]

Your inability to remember dreams is very likely related to the fact that Prednisone "robs" your body of a number of essential nutrients. More accurately, it prevents your body from absorbing them. The most likely candidate for this issue is vitamin B6. Taking a B6 supplement will most likely restore your ability to remember dreams. I recommend 100 mg., which is more than the recommended daily requirement, to overcompensate for what your body is not able to absorb due to the Pred. Truth be told, there are at least 9 (!) nutrients that the Pred partially or completely blocks your body from absorbing. I'm working on a post that will outline what all those nutrients are, and recommend suitable supplementation. This is not a trivial thing, but it has been virtually ignored by the medical community. Many, or even most doctors are completely unaware of nutritional issues like this. Many dieticians are aware of the problem, but the information seems not to be readily available to those who need it most. I'm not a nutrition professional by any means, but my daughter is, and she is also on Pred for a condition unrelated to PMR. She has confirmed much of what I learned by extensive reading on the subject. I hope to have my post ready for next week. I supplement daily with a dozen essential nutrients and have confirmed via blood tests that many of those are back up to normal levels. The rest simply do not have available blood tests in the country where I live (Israel), although we have a very advanced medical system. In any case, supplementing with B6 as noted will bring your levels up to normal and in all likelihood restore dream memories. One caveat: it's a short-term solution, because supplementing with one B vitamin is unwise in the long term. It's best to supplement all of the B vitamins, because they are interdependent. More to follow. Let us know how this goes!

[Mstiles in reply to siteguy18]

Thanks siteguy! I usually take a B-100 and a few others but been sporadic lately. I’ll try the B6. I look forward to your post.

I’ll experiment with the B6, I’m aware of the info about too much. Thank you.

[siteguy18]

You're most welcome, Mstiles! Yes, I should have noted that in keeping with the truism "too much of anything is harmful", that most certainly includes supplemental nutrients. You can overdose on almost any single nutrient, including (especially) B6. 100 mg. is fine, it's when you start getting into higher doses that it gets dicey. In any case, I hope you have good results. I supplement with a 'B50 Complex' plus an additional 50mg. of B6, and things seem to be fine (including dream memory, although that's not why I take it). Sweet dreams!

[Mstiles in reply to siteguy18]

Thanks! I’ll try a B50 and check my B100 to see how much is in there. If I get my dreams back it will help me cope!