REM Rebound- need answers quickly!

**SuperFob** · 04-30-2011 08:46 AM

Here's the deal. Last night, I didn't sleep so great. It wasn't a horrible night of sleep, but it was poor enough that I felt tired today. And at some point today, I took a nap that was like three or four hours. There was some REM rebound during the nap, and I ended up having a fairly long and vivid dream.

Here's my question. Will my REM rebound continue tonight? Will the nap I had today effect my REM cycles tonight, or will they be no longer and no more frequent than they would have been otherwise? Keep in mind that right now, it's about two or three hours past my normal bedtime. I'm staying up later because it normally takes me longer to get sleepy on the nights of days I've napped in. I am feeling kind of sleep right now, though.

**A_Citrus** · 04-30-2011 02:51 PM

I don't know much about REM rebound, but I do know that during naps, you usually go straight into a REM cycle, so you may well have longer dreams. I would assume that you won't require the same number of hours of sleep, since you've had a four hour nap. But whether that will affect your REM cycles in the time that you do sleep, I cannot say.

ShockWave.

**Matte87** · 04-30-2011 07:20 PM

I'm sorry but I don't really know either. But It would only be logical to assume that the rebound effect wouldn't be as effective.

**SuperFob** · 04-30-2011 08:45 PM

Well, no one bothered showing up and helping last night, so I was pretty much left to face the dangers of my subconscious mind alone. I was in bed for 3 hours and 10 minutes. I spent a significant amount of that time awake, though. I guess the nap I'd had during the day led to me needing less sleep during the night. I'm guessing I spent 1-2 hours actually asleep.

And yes, there was definitely REM rebound. I had a (by my standards) long and vivid dream. Way too long and vivid for a normal 1-2 hours of sleep. So REM rebound is really the only explanation here.

The dream was pleasant for the most part... until the end. It didn't end badly enough for me to call it a nightmare, but it did end with a fairly stressful everyday type of situation. I was taking a test and didn't know any of the answers to the questions. I had that "holy shit!" feeling you get when you realize you're about to get an F, I started panicking a bit, and I woke up.

Does anyone think that REM rebound will carry over into tonight, also? I'm planning on sleeping 5.5 hours and I'll make sure there aren't any more accidental naps today. Hopefully someone actually shows up to answer my question this time.

**A_Citrus** · 04-30-2011 08:51 PM

Sorry I wasn't able to answer 'yesterday'. Time zones, etc

.
Considering you only got about 2 hours sleep last night, the REM rebound most likely will carry over to tonight

.

ShockWave.

**Matte87** · 04-30-2011 09:00 PM

Yes it definitely will carry over to tonight. But I suggest you sleep way more than 5½ hours as you haven't slept much lately. Sleep deprivity is never good, and REM rebounds shouldn't be used more than you have to. And yes, your inability to fall asleep was because of your nap. Stick to regular sleeping patterns and you will have no trouble falling asleep, and nightmares might be less frequent. Good luck!