Weird dream phenomenon - does this happen to anyone else?

[KimR]

Let me begin by saying I do tend to have unusual dream experiences. I've experienced sleep paralysis, lucid dreaming, dreaming while awake, and one other I won't get into right now. No, I'm not crazy: these are all normal, although maybe somewhat uncommon, phenomena.

But one of the strangest is that I tend to have these recurring dreams. The situations in the dreams change, but the places are basically the same. That's not unusual in itself, but the weird thing is that these dreams are very unremarkable, yet for some reason they make me incredibly happy. It's odd.

Today, for instance, I woke up in a wonderful mood. It's been a normal Thrusday, yet I've been sooo happy all day and if I didn't know better I'd swear my mood was drug-induced. It wasn't until I was driving to the mall that I remembered - oh, yeah, I had one of 'those' dreams last night. Weird.

Of course, I'm not complaining. I LOVE having these dreams. They make me feel like nothing bad could ever happen to me or anyone else. If I could just learn to induce them on demand, I'd never need another xanax in my life. But still, it's the strangest thing because there is nothing in the dream itself that's remarkable at all. I don't understand this and I want to!

Has anyone else experienced this or better yet, are there any dream interpreters here on the dis who could clue me in as to what's going on? I'm very curious about this.

 

[CaliforniaDreamin]

I have also had sleep paralysis and I would not wish it on my worst enemy. It is absolutely terrifying. Thankfully, it's been about 2 years since I have had one.

I just re read your post and I don't think we are talking about the same dream. Sooo.. nevermind! lol

 

[KimR]

Funny thing about the sleep paralysis. Typically my experiences have been very benign. DH coming into the room and rummaging around drawers and then coming into bed and getting 'affectionate'. Things like that. I was always thankful that I never experienced the 'bad' kind, until about 4 years ago. That was truly the most terrifying incident of my life and I was afraid to go to sleep for I don't even know how long. It was a while before I could even bring myself to talk about it. I'd trade a lifetime of the warm and fuzzy dreams to never have to experience anything like that again.

 

[golfgal]

I don't think I have had sleep paralysis but I have had recurring dreams. I still remember parts of one I had as a child where we living in an Indian tribe-tepees, the whole deal--and we were on a cliff talking to the 'Chief" in full headdress. I don't know if those were brought on from stories from my Grandma living on an Indian reservation or what.

I had a recurring dream last night. I had the dream, woke up for some reason, fell back asleep later, has the same dream. That happens often as well.

I have very vivid, colorful dreams.

 

[KimR]

It's not the fact that they keep recurring. It's the fact that for some inexplicable reason these dreams put me in such a wonderful mood. It's not even just a normal good mood, but ecstatic, giddy, happy, almost 'high' feeling - for no real reason. Some more than others, but today was a good one.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

I don't have any of the other stuff you have however all the women in my family including my 2 dd's are vivid dreamers.

I wish mine were "happy" like yours Our dreams tend to be bizzarre. And we dream every night.

Naturally I have to hear about it.

 

[golfgal]

It's not the fact that they keep recurring. It's the fact that for some inexplicable reason these dreams put me in such a wonderful mood. It's not even just a normal good mood, but ecstatic, giddy, happy, almost 'high' feeling - for no real reason. Some more than others, but today was a good one.

I have have bad dreams that have taken me several hours after waking to shake off. I don't remember having one that has put me into a state of euphoria though. I wonder if a hormone in your brain is over producing or something that is causing this--either that you are just really lucky.

 

[disneybound2010]

The strangest experience I've had from a dream would be that ,well, I don't remember the dream...

Just before I woke up I was almost euphoric. I was so excited and I wanted to wake up and tell someone what was happening. Just as I was about to wake up, I literally heard a guys voice(no clue who it was!) say,"You won't remember ANY of this!" I woke up excited started to wake DH up and realized I didn't know why I was waking him up because I couldn't REMEMBER what my dream was about. Still bugs me that I have no recollection of it.

 

[KimR]

The strangest experience I've had from a dream would be that ,well, I don't remember the dream...

Just before I woke up I was almost euphoric. I was so excited and I wanted to wake up and tell someone what was happening. Just as I was about to wake up, I literally heard a guys voice(no clue who it was!) say,"You won't remember ANY of this!" I woke up excited started to wake DH up and realized I didn't know why I was waking him up because I couldn't REMEMBER what my dream was about. Still bugs me that I have no recollection of it.

I've experienced something similar although it was ages ago. I can't remember if I was actually dreaming or if I was half-asleep, but all of a sudden I had this huge epiphany. I knew all the secrets of the universe. Everything about birth and death and everything in between made perfect sense to me and it was totally amazing. I couldn't wait to wake up and explain it all to my husband. Now, at this point it gets a little fuzzy because I don't remember if I actually woke my husband up to tell him about it or if, like you, it was just 'a voice' but basically I was told I wouldn't remember any of it. And, I didn't. I later read somewhere that this is a somewhat common experience.

 

[bumbershoot]

It's not the fact that they keep recurring. It's the fact that for some inexplicable reason these dreams put me in such a wonderful mood. It's not even just a normal good mood, but ecstatic, giddy, happy, almost 'high' feeling - for no real reason. Some more than others, but today was a good one.

Sounds nice! I wouldn't try to analyze it or think about it too much...just enjoy it.


Because I've had years of dreams that cause me to be ANGRY when I wake up, anger that I can't shake even though I know it's just a dream. Those are rotten. Yours sound nice!


But I can change my dreams quite often. Wake from a nightmare, calm down, go back to sleep and go back into it to change the outcome. Like the one a week or so ago when DS fell out of an airplane. Thankfully he fell slowly enough that I "pause" him, wake, stop crying (yep, I do that while asleep), make sure he was OK (family bed), get back to sleep and figure out a way to catch him in the dream. Much better. Can't always do it, and I have plenty of negative emotional dreams (not physical things I can change), but it's nice that I can save DS from falling out of an airplane every so often.

 

[snarlingcoyote]

I didn't realize I did this until a few years ago when I was required to keep a dream journal for a class.

I do several odd things: I stop dreams and change their outcome based upon what I want to happen. My dreams also tend to have convoluted, action-movie/spy movie (think Bourne) plots involving really diverse, tangential topics and supernatural (zombies, vampires, the illuminati etc.) characters. I will dream an entire story out, then come back and re-dream it from a different character's persona.

Once I was journalling, I discovered I could do this on sequential nights.

I've had the "You won't remember this" dream, but of course, I remembered the entire dream, including backing away from the kiss that would've made me forget. . .it was a fascinating dream too, but if the secrets of the universe include the truth that rips in reality are healed by a secret order of higher beings who re-work history every once in a blue moon for a better outcome. . .hmm. . .you mean the universe is really a sci-fi movie?

 

[KimR]

Wow, coyote, do you actually wake up feeling relaxed and rested after all that?

Once in a while I will have a dream that involves some sort of fascinating (to me), complex plot like something out of a suspense or mystery novel. I'll realize I'm dreaming and will think to myself that it's critical that I remember all the details because this would surely be a bestselling novel or screenplay if I could get it all down.

But as soon as I wake up it all starts to fade away. My husband has experienced the same thing and it makes me wonder how many of our best-sellers were inspired by someone's dream.

 

[CaliforniaDreamin]

The strangest experience I've had from a dream would be that ,well, I don't remember the dream...

Just before I woke up I was almost euphoric. I was so excited and I wanted to wake up and tell someone what was happening. Just as I was about to wake up, I literally heard a guys voice(no clue who it was!) say,"You won't remember ANY of this!" I woke up excited started to wake DH up and realized I didn't know why I was waking him up because I couldn't REMEMBER what my dream was about. Still bugs me that I have no recollection of it.

I once heard that you lose about 90% of the memory of your dream within 10 min of waking. So the trick is to keep a notebook and pen by your bed and as soon as you wake up, start writing.

 

[HM]

My recurring type of dreams are not happy ones. There is usually something scary or unpleasant about them.

Next time you have your annual physical, I'd mention these 'happy' dreams and their high that they give you.

 

[Magpie]

My dreams have complex plots and I do play with them - stopping, rewinding, restarting, trying a different tack or just playing one over again because I liked it so much. I figure it's because I'm a writer, so this is what I do in real life.

I also have ordinary day dreams that make me very happy. I can spend all night browsing in a book store. The only part that makes me sad is not being able to keep the books when I wake up.

Shopping or zombies - it's all good!

However, all too often, I get bouts of sleep paralysis and that's NOT good. I would definitely wish it on my worst enemy. Apparently sleep paralysis is the origin of the myths around succubi, and I can totally see why. It's already a horrible feeling to be trapped awake in your body like that, and then the hallucinations start!

 

[Tinkermommy]

I do not have reoccurring dreams but I have had dreams that give me a feeling or emotion. They were so strong that I remember them vividly today and it's been years.

The first one was early in my marriage and we were going through a rough patch and wasn't sure we would be together. Before bed I asked God for a sign on what I needed to do. The dream that night was so real!!

My family (me, husband, daughter about 9/10 and son about 4/5) were moving into a new home. But it was a huge penthouse and it was nighttime so we could see the lights from a big city. There are a lot of details in the dream I won't go into, but it ended with me being in bed, my husband behind me and I was looking out into the night at the city lights and I was so peaceful and content. Well, years and years later hubby and I are still together and in love and my children are almost the same age as the ones in the dream. Now I guess I should be waiting on the penthouse!

The second one, I dreamed I was a wild horse. A pony really. I was in a herd and I knew which one was my mother. I saw myself when I took a drink in a pond. I was a white and brown painted horse. I still can recall the wild, free feeling of running with the other horses. Sometimes when I am feeling grumpy, I recall that dream.

Also, dreamed my husband cheated on me with a woman named Missy. I was sooooo mad at him when I woke up! We still joke about Missy at times.

 

[CaliforniaDreamin]

Last night I dreamt I had twins. A boy and a girl. And it was completely unexpected (like one of those "I didn't know I was pregnant" shows).

This one is very easy to analyze. My teenage daughters have nothing to do with me. I sort of suffer from severe depression and they see it as weakness and laziness. Their homecoming dance is tonight and they won't let me help them at all. Every year I buy their dress, shoes, get their hair done, makeup, the whole works. This year, Hannah told me that she is sure they will take pictures and I can see them. They are both going to friends houses to get ready, so I have no involvement whatsoever. And I am so brokenhearted I cannot stand it.

Anyway, the giving birth to the twins is obviously my need for 2 children who love me unconditionally, the way babies do. I'm crying now. Or as my daughter Haley would say "feeling sorry for myself and it makes her sick".

 

[NikkiLovesWDW!]

I can't comment on the euphoric dreams but I have to agree with everyone who's said sleep paralysis is the most awful thing you could ever imagine!

The first time it happened to me, I was a a freshman, in my dorm room in the 4th oldest college in the U.S. so naturally I thought for SURE it was some sort of ghostly encounter. (Even now, when I watch shows where people talk about experiences with ghosts, VERY often I'm sure they are describing sleep paralysis and they just don't know it!)

After the first time, it would happen occasionally, sometimes 3 or 4 times a week, sometimes, not for months...but it lasted 4 years! Thankfully it hasn't happened to me in 7 years now.....

After the first few times, I did some research and discovered that it actually was sleep paralysis. Many people think "alien abductions" are actually sleep paralysis.

It really is the most terrifying thing ever. Loud bangs, weird hallucinations, knowing you are awake but can't move...I used to close my eyes so tight and just pray for it to be over because after the first few times, at least I knew what was happening....

 

[KimR]

The thing that made it so scary for me was that, even though I had experienced sleep paralysis before, I still did not recognize it for what it was. I thought my hallucinations were real and I honestly thought I was going to die. I have had episodes since then, but the accompanying hallucinations were benign and I really don't mind those.

 

[moon]

California Dreaming, I'm sorry you are going through such a rough time. Please get help for your depression. I hope your daughters come around and show dome understanding of your feelings soon

I've experienced Sleep paralysis (the scary kind) recurring dreams, vivid dreams, Lucid Dreams, and those dreams where a place looks totally familiar to you, but when you wake up you realise you've never been there.

I' have never had the type of dream you describe here, but I wish I did! You are very lucky!

Lately I have been having nightmares of a violent kind, which I never had before. It's awful. I also seem to be unable to Lucid Dream anymore, and I want to so badly....those dreams are so amazing. It used to be that nightmares made me realise I was dreaming, and that triggered lucidity, but it doesn't happen anymore.

Enjoy those amazing dreams!