Epileptic dream recall

[TheMix]

So I'm epileptic, which means a specific point of dream recall is a little impossible for me. Sleep deprivation is one of the major factors in having a seizure. I can go to sleep and wake-up during the evening, but waking up to recall/write down a dream after 4 or 5 hours of sleep would be pushing the limits. So I'm wondering if anyone has any advice on how to obtain similar results through a different approach. Is waking up after 8 hours of sleep and recalling the dreams you've had still fairly effective? Is there some sort of alternative to be utilized?

[seeker28]

Here are some possibilities: Teach yourself to wake up during the night, if you don't already. Autosuggestion works great for this. When you do awake try to remember any dreams you've had. When you do go over them in your mind several times and tell yourself that you will remember them in the morning. Or you can do the above and instead quickly grab a note book (keep in under your pillow or next to your bed) and, with out getting up or turning on the light, write a bit about the dream. Often I just write enough to spark my memory. Like I'll write "@ HS w/ J floating desk." To me this means "At my old high school with Jennifer. There was a floating desk." This is enough for me to remember at least part of the dream. I'll rember if I made the desk float, or whatever. The idea is to write brief little notes that will help you remember the rest. Even if you don't remember anything else, you still have some information about the dream. If you only make short notes it should take less than a minute. Then immediatly flip the page (so you don't write over what you've already written if you awake and remember more dreams), stick it back under your pillow and go back to sleep. If neither of these options will work for you, try this. Also, this can be used with the above techniques. Use autosuggestion to tell yourself to remember your dreams. Then in the morning when you wake up lay still for a while. Keep your eyes closed. Do you remember any dreams? If you don't think you do, just let your mind wander for a bit. You probably will discover that as your mind wanders it returns to bits of at least one dream. Quickly write a few notes on them. Then later, look in your notebook and then write more complete entries on the dream(s) in your dream journal. If you have questions on autosuggestion let me know!