Worried about REM disorder

[Scared80]

Hello everyone

The past week I've suddenly started to respond to dreams, but it just happens when I wake up - so as soon I start to do a physical movement associated with my dream, it wakes me. In the past few days I've dreamt my husband was having an affair and woke up giving him a smack (I apologized immediately) I've backed my head away from someone who was getting too close to me in my dream, and I've also woken up when I've started to copy facial yoga movements in my dream!

Each time I start to do the moments I wake up, and remember doing them and also my dream.

Has anyone experienced this before?? I'm so worried.

thank you in advance.

Yeah I wake up doing movements in my dream. I’m chill about it; I have never even considered it was some kind of disorder. It’s just that sometimes we are half asleep and half awake! I am sure you are fine xx

Thanks so much for your reply.

i am very scared I have a condition called REM disorder, where people act out their dreams in their sleep. I’ve heard that approx 90% of the time this leads to Parkinson’s, Lewy body dementia etc.

x

Keep an eye on it, address any stress do your best with sleep routine and sleep hygiene, and see if it passes. Don't read too much yet, if you are prone to worrying, but do seek advice and inform yourself if the problem doesn't remit. Which it likely will. Not all sleep movement issues are the same.

Thank you. I’m finding it very hard to cope with the fear I’ll be diagnosed with a condition that leads to Parkinson’s or dementia. I have two children, the thought of getting ill is unbearable

Do you have health anxiety OP? Xx

It's common for people to have hypnogogic hallucinations on waking and these can involve movement, trying to hit people etc. I have them, but just the noise, but I know someone who like you wakes up doing stuff from dreams. They're totally harmless. I also know someone who has had rem sleep disorder for decades, and might develop Parkinson's, but if so it's still down the line in the future, the 90% stat is of course hard to know, but you just keep on living your life. Don't self diagnose and make yourself a victim of something hypothesised.

Runskiyoga, do your friend’s rem disorder symptoms sound like mine?

Yes I do, but I genuinely think this is a real threat. Your body is meant to stay paralysed as you dream, and it’s clear mine isn’t if I’m waking up moving.

OP I don't know where you got the information that your body is meant to stay paralysed during dreams, I mean in absolute terms, because it's not true. At best it's a relative aspect of the relationship between our dreams and our bodies. There are lots of ways that the paralysis of sleep eases during some dreams, including talking in our sleep. I often wake up speaking out loud, still deep in a conversation I was having while dreaming, for example. A few weeks ago I almost fell out of bed while dreaming! We do move at times while dreaming, as different functions of our bodies can be activated while we're sleeping. The body and the dreaming mind are in an interdependent relationship. You might be experiencing some sort of decline in your health, I couldn't say categorically that you're not, but be very careful what you're telling yourself from just this one (possible) 'symptom'. Something as common as a virus can mess with us in the ways you're describing, and if you don't understand that then you will frighten yourself.

No, they don't sound like yours

I have read that during the REM part of sleep - which is often when you experience the most vivid dreams - the body temporarily paralyses to protect you from physically acting out your dreams.

I am worried sick, I woke up in the night and couldn’t get back to sleep for a couple of hours, so I had a sleep this afternoon. I had a very vivid dream of my late mum being at the door saying she was back, and I physically started to reach out to her. At that point I woke up suddenly.

i don’t know what to do, i am so worried 😦

Have you had any counselling to really go into your grief over losing your Mum, OP? Grief and dreams can be powerfully connected.

Be careful not to raise your anxiety levels by catastrophising about your recent dream experiences. They genuinely could be a passing phase, some sort of processing that is engaging your body at times. Try not to draw doomy conclusions, and if you can't switch off your worries see your GP and explain your concerns so you can get some tailored feedback.

It sounds like you are reading the internet a lot OP and to someone who is objective to you and doesn’t suffer with HA, I have to say it sounds like you are working yourself up into a frenzy over something that others wouldn’t worry about. I once woke up kicking a wall! Please just try and put the phone on a Google ban and call your GP on Monday morning to get some support for this. You will look back at this and see it for what it is but right now you’re just in a panic. I really feel for you. Everything will be okay. Xx

Thank you for your kind messages, they mean a lot. I just feel so sick and worried about the thought of going to sleep and experiencing these movements as I wake. I don’t know how to cope with the risk I could have REM disorder which could lead to a form of dementia.

thank you for listening

It sounds much more like health anxiety to me. I would definitely seek some counselling. Even a short course could be hugely beneficial.
Meditation can also help calm the mind before sleep. I use the Headspace app but there are lots of options.
You will get through this!

I'm have both rem and non rem sleep disorders , had them all my life and I think it would be very unusual for you to just develop them out of the blue for now reason.