So many of my dreams are about being in my house or some other familiar building, but it always has extra rooms or floors, or one of the entry doors opens up to a beach or a forest or something, or there's a tunnel in the basement that leads into a cavern or vault. Meanwhile my mind is all, "yep, this place has been like this the whole time" and accepts this wonky alternate universe as fact.

Then when I wake up, I'm slightly disappointed that my house is the same old boring place it's always been.

[–] Umechan@hexbear.net 4 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

I used to have dreams like that all the time before I got diagnosed with sleep apnea. There was a very rough period where I had withdrawal symptoms from quitting sleeping pills, and the only reason I could tell something was a dream was because my one bedroom apartment suddenly had stairs to a second floor, or extra windows.

I hope you're not also having cycles of false awakenings where you dream that you've just woken up, realize you're dreaming and start to worry you've overslept, then wake up again within the same dream. They can be a sign that you have a sleep disorder.

[–] RoabeArt@hexbear.net 2 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (1 children)

Yeah, I'm scheduled for a sleep study in a month because I sometimes wake with my mattress shifted or my bedspread on the floor, which I know are signs of sleep apnea. Though I've always had the "my house, but drastically different" kind of dreams for as long as I can remember, at least going back to my preteen years. Unless I've had an undiagnosed sleep disorder for nearly three decades now, which I hope the sleep study will catch.

I hope you're not also having cycles of false awakenings where you dream that you've just woken up, realize you're dreaming and start to worry you've overslept, then wake up again within the same dream. They can be a sign that you have a sleep disorder.

Interestingly I only ever get those when I have a high fever, usually on the first or second night battling influenza, or recently the two times I had COVID. Usually they involve me trying to perform some stupidly absurd, impossible task, like building a skyscraper out of garden gnomes, pencil sharpener shavings and barbeque sauce, all the while I have "I gotta wake up soon" in the back of my mind. These dreams are repetitive too, even after waking up and going back to sleep. And worst of all, I can't get the task done because everything resets.

[–] Umechan@hexbear.net 1 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

Good luck. I don't think they will have any way of telling when it started. I only started getting those kinds a dreams a few years before I was diagnosed, but I've had issues with sleep for practically my entire life, so I think I may have had sleep apnea for some time. I used to constantly wake up between 3 to 5 am until I was 6 or 7 years old, and I've needed 30-60 minutes to fall asleep since my teens.

I've also had those dreams where I think I have to do some stressful task. I've been on CPAP for a few years, and now I only get them if I'm very sick or there's a problem with my machine.