Can (Lucid) Dreams Cause Fatigue?

[AE]

First, some things I should mention before I get to the nitty-gritty: [list]I do not know alot about lucid dreaming. I have a basic understanding of the subject, and that's about all. [*]I've always dreamt alot. That is to say that I recall many of the dreams I've had during the night (lucid or otherwise) and I dream quite vividly.[*]I've never actually tried to lucid dream. I've never had more than a passing interest in the subject. Rather, I'm quite sure that I do lucid dream without trying and that's one of the things I need help with.[list] Ok, so now we get to the matter at hand... I have a few questions. Can dreams (normal or lucid) affect quality of sleep? Maybe I should elaborate on that one. What I'm wondering is if someone experiences a dream (or series of dreams) that are physically/mentally/emotionally taxing, will those effects linger when the person awakens? Going into personal experience here, I often have dreams where I'm in hand-to-hand combat, or in large battles or such, and when I wake up the next morning I feel as if I hadn't slept at all. In other words, I'm physically exhausted. This happens even if I sleep for quite a long period of time (10 hours+). So basically I'm asking if this is a coincidence or if anyone else has experienced the same thing. Is it possible to "un-learn" lucid dreaming? I lucid dream without any effort to do so on my part, but I'd like to stop. The problem is I'm not sure if I can since I seem to do it unwittingly. Can I stop dreaming? I think I know the answer to this one but just incase, I'd like to know if I could cut dreaming out all together. At this point I'm sure it would be more helpful than hurtful. If it's not possible, is their any way I could somehow...lower?... my dream recall. That is, rather than trying to improve it which I'm sure is a question commonly asked on these boards, could I un-improve it? ^_^;; I'm having alot of sleep issues. I'm tired almost all the time, even when I get quite a bit of sleep. I also have a very hard time getting up even when I hear my alarm (most of the time I sleep right through it, and it's very loud). I'll have periods where I will sleep for a few days, getting up only periodically to go to the washroom, get a drink, and such. These things are having a very negative impact on my quality of life and I'd like to fix it. While I realize that their are numerous things which can affect sleep, you'll have to take my word for it that the usual factors (health, medication, stress, etc.) are not what are causing my problems. Getting in to detail would take too long but suffice it to say, I've done my own experiments and have kept track of the variables. The only common thread I've found is dreams. I always dream, and I always dream hard. When I was younger my dreams were not of the taxing sort but for the past few years they have been. Of course there's the possibility that it's something else entirely. Hell, it probably is something else but I think that this is worth exploring. Sorry for the length of the post. I just wanted to make sure that anyone who read it would have all the facts although there are probably still a few I forgot to mention. I'd also like to apologize if a similar topic has been posted before, I did several searches but didn't see any relevant topics. I also spent a bit of time google-ing looking for information but didn't find anything. Any suggestions or comments would be greatly appreciated. Thanks. -AE <3

[Delmara]

Actually, I think dreams are vital to a good night sleep. I can't remember where I read it but if you don't dream, you get very disorientated and confused. I don't think it is possible to stop dreaming. You have to have a balance between the non REM sleep and the REM sleep. Maybe you should tell your doctor? I'm kinda like you, where I seem to have a lot of dreams. During the summer I've also noticed that sometimes, even though I've gotten a ton of sleep, I feel like I havn't gotten any rest. This happens especially when I have just woken up from a dream. The feeling usually passes after a few hours, though. I was thinking that maybe it could have to do with the sleep stage you are in when you wake up. I'm not sure though. I still don't think dreams could be harmful. Hmm, what do I know?

[Seeker]

I'll give what input I can. When I either have an extremely vivid night of dreaming or lucid dreams, I always wake up refreshed and ready to face the day. I believe this is because I am sleeping soundly through my REM cycles. When the dreams are fragmented and fuzzy, I wake up more fatigued. I suspect it is because of reduced sleep quality during REM. I do not know of any way other than some pretty strong drugs to supress sleep, you probably want to stay away from those anyway. I also don't know how possible it is to stop lucid dreaming from occurring once you have learned how. You say that you have sleep issues, not getting rested, poor quality sleep and such? How much exercise do you get during the day? An hour of vigorous exercise does wonders for your sleep, also refraining from sugary or caffienated drinks two hours before bed can help.

[Samwise]

every time i have a lucid i wakup completely awake and alert but i think this is more to do with excitement, the first time i had lucid dreams and i had 3 in a row drifting in and out of sleep i wokeup feeling really drained

[Remus]

When I have lucid dreams, or even just normal dreams, I don't wake up feeling tired at all.... But when I have nightmares, I sometimes wake up feeling tired.. I think it's because you toss and turn more when having a nightmare, or something.>> No idea. xD

[Lucid83]

I get tired when I LD some times. Even during the LD i feel tired. I think its becasue you are trying to rest and ur mind is awake. BTW, I LOVE (LOVE) VIVID LUCID DREAMS!!!