Anyone wake feeling exhausted after seemingly dreaming all night

Hi @mazeppabob, I dream a lot myself and do have some days that I seem more tired. I had never heard of the diagnosis EPIC dreaming and just had to research it a little.

"Epic dreaming was described by Schenck and Mahowald in 1995 and represents a dreaming disorder characterized by endless and exhausting dreams associated with morning tiredness and chronic daytime fatigue. The condition shows a strong female predominance (85%). The dream content typically consists in relentless, mostly banal physical activity reoccurring nightly in 90% of affected patients. A remarkable feature is the poor affective tone of the dreams and the absence of emotional arousals. Polysomnographic recordings do not reveal any particular abnormalities, and the underlying disturbance of the disorder remains unknown."
-- Epic Dreaming and Complex Nocturnal Visual Hallucinations: https://www.europeanmedical.info/psychoanalysis/epic-dreaming-and-complex-nocturnal-visual-hallucinations.html

I also found this article on things that may help the dreaming -- 5 Ways to Soothe Those Strange, Vivid Dreams You’re Having: https://www.healthline.com/health-news/5-ways-to-soothe-those-strange-vivid-dreams-youre-having

Do you think it could be stress or anxiety related?

Hello @mazeppabob

Yes, I know what you mean. Many medications and disorders cause vivid dreams. I've experienced this as well. When I've had a night of vivid dreaming, I wake up feeling like I've worked all night. The dreams aren't nightmares they are just very active dreams. Is this your experience as well? For many people this is in reaction to certain medications or disorders like Parkinson's.

You might take a look at your medications and see if vivid dreams are described as a side effect. Since you've had this problem for a while and you've seen a sleep specialist it might not be the case for you but still might be worth looking into.

Will you let me know what you think about this?

These seemingly realistic dreams - but often in unrealistic situations (like tiny elevators, stratospherically-high skyscrapers, marauding T. rex's on the skyline 🙂 ) - seem to occur especially in the hour just before finally getting up.

Other common topics are looking for a car parked somewhere - I have no idea of where - and frustration trying to find it and/or finding out in the dream it was stolen...

Teresa, you mentioned 'in reaction...to disorders like Parkinson's'...though not asking for a dream analysis, wondering about how some kinds of dreaming may be indicators of Parkinson's or other forms of cognitive impairment? Any links to NIH studies or Mayo research?

Thank you!

@brandysparks I thought I would post a few research articles that you asked about for Teresa @hopeful33250.

-- Cognitive Impairments and Self-Reported Sleep in Early-Stage Parkinson’s Disease with Versus without Probable REM Sleep Behavior Disorder: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7016995/
-- Distressing dreams and risk of Parkinson's disease: A population-based cohort study: https://www.thelancet.com/journals/eclinm/article/PIIS2589-5370(22)00204-8/fulltext

The DR who made the diagnosis of Epic dreaming described it as non-REM dreaming. I can take a short nap and dream. They seem to start as soon as I nod off. The dream continues for what seems like hours. I can be drifting in and out, partially awake, and go right back to the same dream. The only way to end it is to physically get up and walk around. When I return to bed a new dream starts and goes on and on.
This has been going on every night basically my whole life. I can't believe that I have been stressed every single day or that it is medication related since I wasn't on any when younger.
I asked the DR if there had been any research for cause and treatment. His reply was that no one wants to spend time and money on rare disorders.

@mazeppabob

Your doctor may be right about rare disorders as there often is not a lot of research done, but that doesn't mean that you should stop looking for answers.

As it seems like this stress of sleep interruption is problematic for you, it certainly might be helpful to get a second opinion on this problem.

Is the sleep specialist that you see part of a large medical center? These facilities are more research-oriented and have medical professionals who are great at solving hard-to-treat problems. I'm thinking of a university medical school or a multidisciplinary health care center like Mayo.

Would you consider having someone else take a look at this with you?

Hi @brandysparks

The websites that John, @johnbishop, provided offer some good information. If you were wondering specifically about sleep problems and Parkinson's here is some information from the Davis Phinney website which you might find helpful and informative,
https://davisphinneyfoundation.org/why-is-it-so-hard-to-sleep-now-that-i-have-parkinsons/.

While this does not answer about the type of dreams, it does explain the type of sleep problems that people with PD encounter.

Do you have any other thoughts or concerns?

I live close to Rochester Mayo clinic and asked for a referral to Mayo sleep medicine I spent probably an hour with a sleep psychiatrist explaining symptoms, diagnosis and meds tried. After all that he said well you have already done everything that he would suggest and that was it.
My whole point in asking the question is to see if dreaming disorders are really that rare, unreported or misdiagnosed. Maybe chronic fatigue syndrome is a sleep disorder?

You ask some good questions, @mazeppabob. I wish there were some more answers. You really have tried to come up with an answer as well as a solution. You are undoubtedly working and advocating for yourself on this sleep issue.

I found an organization online, The National Sleep Foundation. The website is https://www.thensf.org/issues/. As this organization seems to be continually working to research sleep problems, you might keep an eye out there for answers to problems similar to yours.

I'd like to hear how you are doing. Will you post again with any other insights, questions, or concerns?

Excellent John. Thanks so much.

I will take a look at these links right away.

My best to @mazeppabob and others trying to figure these things out for themselves.

Keep asking informed questions...it may make some professionals uncomfortable, but at the very least it gets it "out of you" and into an effort at discussion, and hopefully someday, it will lead to more of an answer, or a study at a research hospital (as Teresa mentions later), if not an immediate solution.