Is Sleep Apnea Preventing You From Dreaming?

Despite what you may remember most mornings, people actually dream every single night—we just tend to forget it a lot of the time! Dreaming is actually a part of REM sleep or the deepest part of the sleep cycle. REM sleep is absolutely essential to getting a full night’s rest, and if you’re deprived of it, say because of sleep apnea, your health could actually be at risk. How at risk? And why is dreaming so important to your health anyway? What can you do if you’re not getting the quality of sleep you need every night? Today, we reveal why your dreams are actually important to your overall wellbeing.

How Dreaming is Connected to Your Health

Every time you go to sleep, you enter what is called a sleep cycle. You start in non-REM sleep, it eventually turns in to REM sleep, and this is the stage where you dream. Of course, that’s not all that is going on. REM sleep is that deep sleep that everyone needs in order to wake up feeling refreshed and focused. Without it, even if you sleep for a certain number of hours, you’ll likely find yourself feeling tired throughout the day or like your brain is in a fog.

According to research, the U.S. population is actually extremely dream deprived. This is due to a wide variety of factors, ranging from alcohol and cannabis use to people choosing to sleep less to disorders like sleep apnea. As a result, rates of depression, obesity, and cardiovascular disease are steadily increasing every year.

It really comes down to that many, many people are not getting the quality of sleep that they need. Without getting the proper amount of REM sleep (and the dreams that come with it), you’re basically only sleeping half the night, which can lead to some serious health problems over time.

How to Get Dream-Filled Sleep Every Night

So, if you find yourself constantly feeling tired throughout the day despite getting “enough” sleep, it could be because something is interrupting your sleep cycle and preventing/shortening REM sleep.

Here are a few tips to make sure you have dream-filled sleep every night:

• Don’t use alcohol or cannabis a few hours before going to bed.
• Minimize the amount of artificial light that is in your sleep area.
• Try to modify your schedule so that you wake up naturally as opposed to with an alarm clock.
• Make sure you allot at least 7-9 hours of sleep every night.
• Talk to your doctor to see if your medications could be affecting your sleep (most kinds of anti-depressants have been shown to cut REM sleep short for patients).

Dealing with Sleep Apnea

Of course, if you’re suffering from sleep apnea, you may be missing out on REM sleep altogether, and the above tips will probably do very little good for you. If you still find yourself feeling under-rested despite taking care of your sleep routine, then you should consult a doctor to see if you have sleep apnea.

An easy way to get this process started is to take our short sleep test. It’s only 8 “Yes or No” questions, and once you’ve submitted it, I and my team will evaluate your answers and contact you within 24 hours with advice on what to do next. From there, we can help you get the treatment you need so you can finally get the quality of sleep you deserve.

With that, not only will you be able to dream again, but you’ll also wake up easier and feel more energized throughout the day. For people who are chronically sleep-deprived, that’s usually their dream anyway!

About the Author

Dr. Kenneth Mogell is a certified sleep dentist who has been serving Jupiter for over 30 years. At his practice, he provides at-home sleep testing and can effectively treat sleep apnea with custom-made oral appliances. If you’re concerned about you or a loved one’s sleep, he can help you get the answers you need, so contact him today for more information.