Thank you for this post. I had never heard of epic dreaming, and now I finally have a term for this problem. I have been experiencing these very vivid dreams since I was in my mid 30's. I'm now in my mid 40's. It does not happen everyday, more like 4-5 times per week. I have to force myself to stay awake when I do wake up from the dreams in the morning. Otherwise, I can keep sleeping for hours more. If I wake up in the middle of the night, I immediately drift back into a dream within minutes. I can take a one-hour nap, and I will dream the whole time. I am exhausted all day. Coffee does not help.
My dreams are often, but not always, filled with anxiety. That could be a psychological thing as I have GAD and depression that I am on medication for and it helps me. However, it seems to be less effective for this dream state. I had been taking medications for GAD and depression for years before this started. The sleep is also accompanied by excessive sweating. I'm not sure if this is a perimenopausal thing because night sweats are common for women in perimenopause. I basically feel like garbage a lot of days.