Anyone wake feeling exhausted after seemingly dreaming all night

@angel
All I can offer is a hug. I have similar symptoms but not as severe or disturbing as yours. Sleep medicine was no help since they only prescribe CPAP machines.
The difficult part of this is finding a doctor who will listen, take ownership, follow up, research, and not fumble when handing the ball to someone else. Everytime this happens you have to start all over.

Greetings,

I just returned from the Mayo clinic a few days ago and was looking for diagnosis information. I came across this thread and signed up to share what I know. My son has had a sleeping disorder for over ten years. It resembles Epic Dreaming, but the doctor believed it was a variant.

There is one known study on Epic Dreaming, although it is small. It is titled: Polysomnographic and clinical correlates of epic dream complaints: A retrospective study of 28 Taiwanese adults.
_https://experts.umn.edu/en/publications/polysomnographic-and-clinical-correlates-of-epic-dream-complaints

It does contain medical treatment.

I don't know the rules yet for this forum, and I am not a doctor or in the medical profession. I also hesitate to identify the medication he prescribed. I can post his name and medication if it is allowable; just let me know.

Also, he intimated he was treating someone for a similar diagnosis.

Hope this helps someone!

Hi @rockysoftis and welcome.
I noticed that you wished to post a URL to research article with your post. You will be able to add URLs to your posts in a few days. There is a brief period where new members can't post links. We do this to deter spammers and keep the community safe. Clearly the link you wanted to post is not spam. Please allow me to post it for you.

- Polysomnographic and clinical correlates of epic dream complaints: A retrospective study of 28 Taiwanese adults https://experts.umn.edu/en/publications/polysomnographic-and-clinical-correlates-of-epic-dream-complaints

You are permitted to post the name of medications or therapies that have helped your son. How is he doing now?

Thank you for making it into a link. I received a warning that I could not post it, so the underscore up front allowed me to. It is from the University of Minnesota and is a safe link.

Thank you for asking; my son is doing ok. His sleep issues are so severe he is on total disability, but he has several additional disabilities, such as Aspergers Syndrome, ADHD, depression, and anxiety, to name a few. He would like to work, but his sleep disability is so bad he has no circadian rhythm.

He got a job at Costco but resigned after two months due to absences. He would have been terminated the day he left as he could not work.

He is titrating on Clonazepam which the study I included identified as helping. We started at .25 mg and can go up to 1 Mg. We are going to .75 mg tonight as the lower doses have not helped. Other options after this include temazepam between 15 to 30 mg; if that does not work, Lunesta between 2 to 3 mg. We have been working with another local sleep specialist for about five years. His current Psychiatrist recommends evaluation at the Mayo Clinic.

After ten years of helping with his treatments, we both know not to expect miracles. However, I will not give up hope. There is always hope, but if I stop hoping, there is nothing.

I am still hoping what I learned at Mayo can help someone!

CFS can cause sleep disorder as I have a dear friend who has it. Have you tried Melatonin 5 mg for sleep? Sounds like you go to sleep but are a light sleeper....I could be wrong. I'm so sorry. This has got to be extremely tiring. God Bless.

Hi, first of all, I'm not a big advocate of cannabis at all, but what I do know is that you stop having dreams altogether when you regularly smoke weed, especially the Indica strain. Just a few drags or 1 joint before bedtime is enough.

If you can't stand smoke, then you may try an edible, like a cannabis brownie. If you're not used to cannabis at all, I wouldn't recommend more than 1/8 of a cookie or brownie as it can be quite potent and too much might make you feel uncomfortable instead of relaxed. Edibles take about an hour to take effect, but you can take it right before bedtime so it'll become active while you sleep.

I'm not gonna tell you it's healthy because it's natural, but there are some properties about marijuana that may be beneficial under some conditions. and in the right dose. In your case, I would definitely rather have a little bit of daily weed at bedtime than prescribed chemicals every morning.

Melatonin is known to increase REM sleep, the sleep cycle when dreaming occurs most. It's usually recommended for people who don't sleep deep enough or to assist with jet lags to induce sleep, so I don't think it's suitable for someone who seems to get too much REM sleep.

I would steer clear from Benzodiazepines altogether. They are extremely addictive and disrupt your entire natural physiologic ability to sleep. They actually block receptors in your brain in a way that prevents normal sleep. Getting off of Benzo's is an absolute living hell and takes months or even years too.

In your case, creating a daily rhythm is crucial. Wake up the same time every day, eat healthy and regularly and exercise lots. If your son has so much free time, I would recommend mountain biking. 10 to 20 miles a day of intense cycling doesn't get boring and by the time he finishes the body is physically tired. I found this to be the key to recovery myself: If your brain is not capable of normal sleep, make sure the body is exhausted and your brain will follow automatically.

Now, if you're not used to exercise, don't go overboard on day 1 and build it up gradually. Start slow and time your progress. It may take a few months to get into the habit and get to a point where you're able to get enough exercise and get back into a normal sleep cycle, but once you do, most of your issues will gradually fade away and you won't need any prescription drugs anymore.

I can say that taking antihistamines cause me to dream constantly. For that reason I steer clear of them. Melatonin works for me.

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.