What I dream about...
What I dream about...
Thanks again for all the responses! I have seen some write specific descriptions of what they dream. I didn't include that in my original post but figured, what the heck, if others are describing, I might as well, too (plus I KNOW my wife is getting bored of hearing about my dreams so I'll just use vr.com as a sounding board... but just this one time!). Plus I know in a few days time I'm going to forget these dreams and here's one way to record them (though it just occurred to me that this would be a terrific time in my life to start a dream journal).
My typical post-OHS dream involves me being around a large number of people, it could be a party, a school-setting, with lots of people hanging out (again with the party theme). In all cases I'm feeling very confident and thoroughly enjoying being around a large number of people (which is NOT what I'm all about in real life). I am actively engaged in conversation and people are finding what I have to say interesting, witty. I'm not the center of attention... not "the star" of the party or the outstanding student in school but I am very comfortable being around a lot of people. I sometimes have one of my kids with me. I also may have a friend who I've lost contact with in my dream. In one dream, I was in a school setting that involved a graduation. After the ceremony, I confronted a good friend of mine about his misuse of Dextroamphetamine. It was a very lively conversation and while he tried to make excuses, I felt I did a good job of confronting him and encouraging him to seek help. I have a very good recall of our conversation and that part of the dream seems quite real. In another setting, I was invited to the home of an influential family in town for a small party. That dream also had a very strong aura of having really occurred. I woke up another night with the sense that I was laughing out loud. I was laughing in response to something my 6 year old daughter said in my dream. My wife woke up and told me that it sounded like I was crying and she also told me she's never heard me wake from a dream making noises of any kind. I was really upset at the time that she thought I was crying because my very real experience in the dream was that I responded to my daughter's funny comment with laughter. I found it troubling that my "dream experience" did not actually carry over into reality, at least according to what my wife heard from me.
To aussigal's comment, since my dreams are yet to be nightmarish or depressing, I also tend to look forward to the dreams. I'm not happy with how I tend to wake up so quickly and so often I wake up just as the story, oops, I mean dream takes an interesting turn. At times like this, I'll wake up and first thing I'll notice is my heart is beating rapidly, sometimes with a sense that it's pounding. (I've made an appointment with a pulmonary specialist who treats sleep apnea.) And like others mention, I do have a tendency to sometimes blur dream and reality but not to the point of feeling like I'm chronically delusional (though I know we're talking dreams, not fantasies, here).
Now my inclination is to apologize for babbling on and on about this topic but it occurred to me if anyone bothered to read this far into my posting, they must have some interest in this issue or in the subject of dream and sleep patterns. Obviously what I'm writing is more of a "dumping of feelings" on vr.com than anything else right now... maybe an effort to purge out the psychologically odd state of mind I'm in right now. So... no apologies and thank you to those out there who actually read to this point.
I do find it terribly interesting that so many people have experienced similar issues with dreams and sleep patterns after surgery. Probably not OHS specific though the link to beta blockers appears to be significant. I return to work next week and I expect to get a number of people asking "how are you doing?" I'm skeptical about that question... I really don't believe most people want to know many details. It's a different way of stating "I hope all is well." I plan on responding... "I'm fine but the dreams I've had since surgery are out of this world!"... and leave it at that.
Steve C.
), but it was a little strange.
