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.

My spider detector is going off like whoa and I can't see what she's mirping at. Now Puppycat and I are both intently looking at the walls like they are going to do something interesting.

Kristin, if you're interested in natural remedies, you could try valerian or passion flower to calm your sleep. I use passion flower almost every night. It really helps me sleep, without making me groggy in the morning.

I find valerian can get me to sleep but it can't keep me there.

Kristin, do you have a sense of when in the night your most vividly remembered dreams happen?

I have no idea if this is applicable to you, but I've found for myself that if I wake up/get woken up early, and then try to go back to sleep (real sleep, I mean, not hitting the snooze button sleep), if I can't be asleep for at least two hours, it's just not worth it because of my dreams. For some reason, I almost always dream in thtat situation, I always remember them, and they leave me feeling less rested because of it.

Oh, and no caffeine 4 hours or so before bedtime.

Caffeine actually stays in your system much longer than that - if it is causing a sleep issue, you really shouldn't have any except in the couple of hours after you get up. Sucky.