Posted: 5/31/2005 5:00:36 AM EDT
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Well, until this past Saturday night, the last dream I recall having (the sleeping type of dream) was sometime in May 1998. Here I thought this was in some way related to my severe fatigue, and just sleeping SO deeply that I simply wasn't RECALLING my dreams. Though I certainly MISSED dreaming, I didn't really worry about it, or anything.... it was what it was. But then Saturday night, I had a very nice dream - quite sensual, not at ALL sexual - and, AFTER that dream, not QUITE a "nightmare" but close...I was in a car w/ my grandparents (that part is fine), my grandmother driving (that part WOULD be fine if we had been on a familiar, relatively FLAT road), in UTAH where the road was PRACTICALLY straight down! I mean, I "felt" the car go "airborne" on more than 1 occasion! (Got the old ticker to going, let me tell you!) I believe shortly AFTER that I woke. Pleased, but perplexed. After doing a bit of research today, I find that it is QUITE likely that my occipital lobes and/or my posterolateral thalamus were likely damaged in one of the MS exacerbations I had back in April or May of 1998.... these areas of the brain are apparently most involved in processing visual information and emotions, therefore also believed to be where dreams are experienced. So, while I KNOW I'm not 100% "cured" yet... (by my research it will take a total of 7 years for total recovery from the MS... I'm about 4 years into the 7 - but as I used myself as a Guinea pig the first year.... maybe only 3 years into it... or maybe "split the difference) aside from some intermittent fatigue issues, and not having had the exercise required yet to "build up" my strength physically, I had THOUGHT I was pretty well "recovered" already.... just needing to "clean up" the fatigue issues... then this dreaming thing came along .... Really makes me wonder if my estimate in 2000 that if I didn't figure something out pretty quickly, I'd have been dead by 2005 wasn't a bit "optimistic" ...  Just feel VERY grateful that I AM continuing to get "pieces" of myself back ... even ones I didn't THINK were related to the MS... but there's a BIG study published September 10, 2004, in the online edition of the Annals of Neurology, scientists describe a patient who lost all dreaming, and very little else, following a stroke in one distinct region of the brain. And YES the mechanism of a stroke is VERY different from MS, but the RESULTS of the damage are quite similar.... and I saw several anecdotal reports of people w/MS "loosing dream capacity"...So, first Q is, why did I dream about this woman I BARELY know? And second what's w/the practically falling down the mountain in a car thing?  And are these truly BIZARRE things to dream about for the 1st dream(s) in like 7 years???Does rather make me hopeful that perhaphs I COULD return to the printing industry, after full recovery... I know last year I was STILL experiencing some minor problems (presumably from the chemistry of the press?) when visiting (the people) where I used to work. |
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I could fiil several pages with a dissertaion about what you dream about and why. But, in my first Pysch101 lecture class, three PhD's put it best... "Everything you are going to learn in completely theory, and can be proven, or disproven at will. We're full of it!" Sorry... but it's the truth  I find my dreams to be a curiosity as well. The most messed up one I ever had, was about a girl I liked. I the dream, we were living together... as room mates and her boyfriend (in real life) was room mates with a guy I grew up with .Here's where it gets good... In my dream... THEY WERE STILL DATING!!! WTF, over???  Dreams... BAH!!! 
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Oh, there are a LOT of differing theories, from the somewhat "realistic" to the "way out there" ones.... It's mostly just a TRIP to have NONE for 7 years - then BOOM! Several (have dreamed every night since Saturday... after NOTHING for almost EXACTLY 7 years... |
I've had THAT sort of dream (granted, some TIME ago) but ya never know.... I DO recall "benefitting" from dreams... like do you ever "sleep" on a problem and wake up knowing JUST how to FIX that problem? I know at least a FEW of those occurances that I have had were directly "solved" by dreams.... But yeah, sometiomes they just downright suck ;) Still, I'll take `em :) |
Nah, for me, my problem solving comes during the waking hours. My dreams tend to be more spiritual or fanciful. I'll have a problem, get into something else later, and all of a sudden, out of the blue come up with the prior solution. Kind of a PITA if you ask me
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Like Kacer said there are any number of theories on dreams. Some think they are simply electrical impulses through the brain while you sleep. Because the brain never "shuts down" so to speak, it tries to interpret those signals. In essence, they mean nothing. Others think dreams are a way of processing short term memory into long term memory. Some say it's the subconcious effort to categorize things that happened to you during the day, etc. etc. etc. Truth is no one really knows for sure what they are or why we do it. At any rate, Kacer, have you considered that maybe you didn't just start having dreams, but rather just started to remember having them? I personally haven't remembered a dream in years, but I'm sure I still have them. Also, severe exhaustion and drug induced sleep are the most common times when people actually do not dream. So if you were/are that exhauted, it's a pretty good bet that's why you haven't dreamed. As for what the dream meant. Not knowing you, I could only guess and it would be little more than a generic meaning at best. As i'm sure you know, dreams are heavy on symbolism. So your grandmother may have been "representing" somone or something else entirely. Second question about the "falling down" thing, seriously could be any number of things as well. Again, not knowing you, I couldn't guess. Are these strange things to dream about after 7 years? No, I wouldn't say so. Nothing you mentioned is any more or less strange than any dream really. |
Well, yeah, initially that IS what I thought was going on... but while doing some research on it earlier today, I found a study on a stroke patient that strongly suggests that it could be as a result of damage sustained during an exacerbation I had way back in 1998 - and I have my films here from the MRI I had back then, and I got out my Gray's Anatomy" book and there IS a (pretty prominent) lesion on my occipital lobes and a smaller one on my posterolateral thalamus (these were marked by the docs, I didn't "identify" them, just where they appeared to be.) This is where they "should be" if they were to affect my dreaming... at least according to the study from September 10, 2004, in the online edition of the Annals of Neurology, where scientists describe a patient who lost all dreaming, and very little else, following a stroke in one distinct region of the brain.
Which is why I thought the same thing until today. And for the MOST part the fatigue (except intermittantly) has been largely "resolved" for about 2 years now.
Yeah, and years ago, I've had some doosies (sp?)! ;) Thanks for your input. |
Yeah, it is ;) But I've "problem solved" BOTH ways... though the last... couple of years BEFORE my MS DX, I did MOST of the "big" stuff while asleep. Simple stuff while awake. |
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falling dreams...from dream moods... "As with most common dream themes, falling is an indication of insecurities, instabilities, and anxieties. You are feeling overwhelmed and out of control in some situation in your waking life. This may reflect the way you feel in your relationship or in your work environment. You have lost your foothold and can not hang on or keep up with the hustle and bustle of daily life. When you fall, there is nothing that you can hold on to. You more or less are forced toward this downward motion without any control. This lost of control may parallel a waking situation in your life. Falling dreams also often reflect a sense of failure or inferiority in some circumstance or situation. It may be the fear of failing in your job/school, loss of status, or failure in love. You feel shameful and lack a sense of pride. You are unable to keep up with the status quo or that you don't measure up. According to Freudian theory, dreams of falling indicate that you are contemplating giving into a sexual urge or impulse. You maybe lacking indiscretion. Falling dreams typically occur during the first stage of sleep. Dreams in this stage are often accompanied by muscle spasms of the arms, legs, and the whole body. These sudden contractions, also known as myclonic jerks. Sometimes when we have these falling dreams, we feel our whole body jerk or twitch and we awaken from this jerk. It is thought that this jerking action is part of an arousal mechanism that allows the sleeper to awaken and become quickly alert and responsive to possible threats in the environment." |
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Very odd.... I've been having very complicated and vivid dreams for the last few days as well.... As for interpretation, I think you can take what the dream reference manuals say but the truth in them lies in what feels right to you. Someone could tell you that falling means you feel out of control in your life but, to me, what if you find peace while falling? Perhaps you are making peace with letting go of something that you have no control over? Keep a journal by your bed and write what you can remember down immediately when you wake up. I've gone to dream classes and it's really rather interesting! 
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Well, it IS a tad bizarre to have NO dreams for 7 years (close to the day) and then all of a sudden getting that back.... And until all that sun I got on Sunday, I hadn't been feeling all that great w/the MS (not anwhere NEAR "bad", just not AS well as I HAD been feeling) I think the OD in the vitamin D department did THAT ;) (I SHOULD have taken you up on the sunsceen though, not SO much for my shoulders, but for my NOSE, so FAR it hasn't peeled... but....  And MS is QUITE "unpredictable" and if you ARE in the "throes" of it... well "out of control" is a BIG, nay, HUGE understatement. But I've felt great since all the sun Sunday (Well, a TAD "headachy" today, likely from Vitamin D toxcicity can't win for loosing sometimes!
Thanks Sig :) Since my grandparents were ALSO in the car, and Papa has been DXed w/Altzheimer's, and THAT DAY he called me "Kim" the FIRST time I can recall in like - 3 years...(I was so happy for him I almost broke out in tears, and I'm NOT :prone" to tears) that MIGHT be it. But we have him on a GOOD Omega 3 (ALA) ("good" in that I'd wager NONE of the ALA is rancid - whereas a LOT on the market ARE.). And He's been VERY good, and not so good a bit lately, but the bad is less, of late and the good has been VERY good of late...
Not SO "odd" if you are still (or recently ended) reducing the dose of prednisone you are taking. Vivid dreams are EXACTLY what you TEND to get when your system is "dumping" the buildup of prednisone in your system. And actually, the first time I was ON prednisone was one of the LAST times I recall dreaming (I had a few after that that seemed pretty "normal") But then my dreams rather TEND toward the complicated and SOMEWHAT "vivid", anyway... but on the prednisone it was VIVID. <g>And trust me, with my grandmother driving, there was no peace. However, I am pretty "at peace" w/the whole "dying" deal. So maybe in a WAY ... you might be correct on THAT account. And I WANT to get a book on dreams, but I need one that addresses "healing" or "heal"... none that I have come across DO. That's probably my BIGGEST Q in refrence to dreams, I (used to) frequently have dreams where either _I_ was healed by someone, OR I healed someone... (and it was ALWAYS to myrecollection an INJURY - usually QUITE OBVIOUS (gunshot wound, knife wound, broken compound fractures etc...)) it was like a whole "theme" thing going on from like 28-31 years old...  (and shortly before my 32nd BD is when I stopped dreaming. I have only been able to find a couple of things on line that are in refrence to "healing in a dream"... that said that the correct way to intrepret THAT is: "Something that is in need of attention or repair. A time to heal self or others, or a need to see a healer." Which, since I was pretty much doing EVERYTHING WRONG (practically) to AVOID developing MS... kinda makes sense... I guess.And good thoughts all. I USED to keep a journal by the bed... BUT as I stopped dreaming..... guess going back to that habit is a good idea :) Thanks :) |
not completely true, I've had dreams of something that is happen(albiet random as hell) but don't remember crap untill what ever happened happened and i'm kinda like damnit, i knew that was gonna happen but yet i let it happen....*shrugs* maybe i'm a freak |
Nah, not a freak... just need to work on "retaining" the info a tad better is all Miss_M's suggestion on keeping a journal helps w/that, IMO.
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Kacer, there are tons of books out there that help in the interpretation of dreams...many offering some of the information posted here (Freud's theories, et all) but I just like to think that my dreams are mental vacations if you will...not to say that sometimes those vacations *don't* bear significance: I dreamt of attending my mother's funeral. The next day, I'd found out that HER mother (my nana) had died. Nana and I were not close by any means (no issues, just lived 600 miles away and never saw her much). Funny thing is, 2 years ago, I got talked into seeing a psychic who told me my nana was with me...she was seeking forgiveness from my mom...she was with ME because she knew I'd hear her and get the message to my mom (who did have issues with her). So...random or something more? I dunno. But like you, I rarely remember my dreams. As drache said, I blame exhaustion (2 kids) and vodka (so I don't kill the 2 kids) |
Yeah, there ARE tons of books out there, but until I find one that addresses the meaning of healing someone in the dream... I figure they aren't "thorough" enough. <shrug> That's interesting, was the psychic "prompted" by you in any way as to the dream?? (IOW - lucky "guess", maybe? A lot of the "psychics" (99.5% (or more) of those "in business" have NO "ability", IME). I've BEEN pretty tired the last couple of weeks (actually, I think it is that I have been really "pushing" myself) and yet I've dreamed every night since Saturday... didn't RECALL last nights as WELL.... but I remember I was IN one when I woke... Anyway, it's interesting.  |
Nope this psychic made a believer outta me: told her my first name and my age. THAT'S IT! She nailed so much (something so frightfully personal that many of my friends did not know) that whenever my neighbor has her over since, I politely decline <shudder> I don't like people being able to see my intestines...I rarely have time to apply makeup on them!
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Hmmm.... I've only met 3. I DO think that they were "for real"... but wasn't that impressed w/what they said... until recently. NONE of the 3 were "in business" AS psychics, just friends of a friend type deal. But when they saw me, they got real interested, real FAST. (Felt like a bug under a microscope I did). |