I don’t know quite how to explain or ask this. I have of course been struggling with my lungs, but it’s been a bit worse this month. I have fluid that pools in the most damaged part of my right lung (mid-lobe) that causes coughing attacks like one would have if they were drowning. It’s incredibly exhausting. It doesn’t happen all the time throughout the day, but seems to peak in the evening and at night, which makes proper sleep very difficult.
So I’m sitting at my computer, and suddenly I have a flash of a dream? Or something… I can’t quite grab or remember it except I know it’s a bit disturbing. I’m left wondering if I really did fall asleep with my eyes open, dream quick and snap out, or if I’m having flashbacks to the nightmares I was having in the hospital.
I’m trying to piece together what’s going on. Does any of this sound familiar to anyone? A dream where you’re awake but not really? While you’re sitting up?
I hope I don’t sound crazy, I’m just very exhausted.
You’re not crazy buddy, but the exhaustion takes a huge mental toll which can make the brain do weird things.
Can you try to sleep at different times during the day? Take lot of small naps? There is lots of evidence that even small catnaps can be beneficial in providing the body time to rest.
I can’t say I’ve experienced anything close, physically, to what you’re going through but there was a period of my life where I was under extreme mental stress and hardly slept as a result. The ‘waking dream’ thing happened, with visual hallucinations that were quite vivid at times. The only experience I’ve had similar was when I did shrooms.
I don’t know what to advise, you’re suffering sleep deprivation on top of everything else and… I’m so sorry, you don’t deserve what’s happening to you. I’d talk about it with your doctor, there may be medication you can take to help you sleep?
Exhaustion hallucinations. Very much a thing, I once drove 14 hours to New Orleans through an ice storm, so about 20mph and had to keep constant sharp vigilance on the road. After seven or eight hours images were popping up out of the road in front of me, very realistic.
This is definitely a thing that can happen. I’ve known people who encountered this kind of thing while experimenting with lucid dreaming. You can get into a state where you’re “awake” (but usually incapable of movement), and experience dream elements. It can be really disturbing.
I’d suggest that it’s a symptom of your exhaustion, and something you may want to mention to your medical provider when you get a chance, but it’s not unique.
@jpinard
Absolutely been there, done that before. You’re not crazy and you’re not alone. As everyone says, it’s exhaustion. I’ll also say I suffered from something else which is similar but at the same time very different; petit mal seizures. Those give the sense of lost time (seconds) paired with vague awareness something had occurred while I was “checked out.” Exhaustion also aggravates that condition and makes them more likely to occur. Doesn’t sound like what you experienced, but I figured I’d bring it up just in case.
Yeah, it’s happened to me before (in the not too distant past, in fact).
Hallucinations from sleep deprivation are unlike anything else: they can be incredibly vivid and in sharp detail. The things I’ve seen (heh). Shadow people, mostly. They are there to help, at least that’s what I tell myself; and, judging from the overall experience, it honestly feels that way. A few nights of good rest makes them go away.
I’ve also seen strange writing appear, hovering over objects or over the moon, and tiny, colorful, translucent, insect-like creatures.
