Kristin, are you in any pain when you go to sleep? The few things I know to improve sleep include taking an Advil or two before bed, trying to go to bed at night and get up in the morning at the same time every day, making sure you're getting adequate sleep time, and refraining from having a drink before bed because it will encourage wakefulness when it wears off. Not much, really. Oh, and no caffeine 4 hours or so before bedtime.

Deena, not generally in pain, no. I don't drink alcohol or caffeine close to bedtime, either. I'm not great about going to bed and waking up at the same time every day (I've refused to keep a school schedule on weekends in order to have some semblance of a social life), but otherwise I'm pretty good about the rest.

ETA: Oh, and the reason that I suspect that sleep time isn't the problem is that I have just as many problems during vacation when I can sleep up to 10-12 hours a night as I do when I'm grabbing 5-6 during a work week.

Oh, and the reason that I suspect that sleep time isn't the problem is that I have just as many problems during vacation when I can sleep up to 10-12 hours a night as I do when I'm grabbing 5-6 during a work week.

depends on home much of sleep dep you are carrying.If you are running with one for a month aor more - a week of lots of sleep isn't going to do it.

There is an Irish blessing, "May you live every day of your life". Gus lived every day of his life many-fold. He was too generous to seize the day; he gave every ounce of himself to every minute instead.

Yes, but the dreaming happens regardless of anything else. Even throughout the 10 weeks of summer.

Fibromyalgia is belived to be caused at least in part by someone's inability to get into the deepest sleep state, I believe it is called Delta. It is a deeper stage than REM sleep.

Also, dreams are believed to only last a few seconds or minutes at most, so you might just be passing through REM on the way to waking.

Are you as tired when you wake up as when you go to sleep? If so, you definitely have a problem.

Interesting - I usually remember a dream , maybe two. Not quite so much with diabetes/asthma/allergies under control. ( sleeping way better) . And I do know the nights where the dreaming keeps me awake.

Are you as tired when you wake up as when you go to sleep?

I am really curious about this concept. ( this has nothing to do with Kristin) becasue i get up pretty close to the same time every day - with and without an alarm. It takes about an hour before I can tell anyone how I feel.

I posted my take on the whole thread idea in Bureaucracy, but I wanted to take moment to remember Gus here and lift a glass of single malt to his memory.

His bar posts were a joy around the time I delurked, so here's one over the lips and through the gums; look out stomach here it comes...

To GUS!

Kirstin, I was going to say something along the lines of what quester said, that the dreams themselves are probably only a symptom of light sleeping, not a cause of bad sleep. You are probably remembering them simply because you are waking up, at least a bit, after them.

I am a very light sleeper too, and much as I'd like to find a medical miracle to fix it for me, my situation right now (two wee kids) precludes any pharmaceutical answers. But if you talk to a doctor about possible causes or simple lifestyle changes that can help, I'd be interested.