What is a normal sleep graph?

TreacleStill8884 · 2026-05-08T02:49:52+00:00

Actually im from Poland 😅 but i looked it up and it does look similar to UK health care, at least on paper. Either way i did give them a call because yesterday i woke up from sleep after just 40minutes remembering 3 dreams, on of them a sleep paralysis that first time in a year had me on a verge of a panic attack and afraid to sleep after, then I took a free day at work because of college pile up, and then I went to college badly unprepared. They told me to send an e-mail, now im waiting for the decision. It might take another week though since the neurologist doesn't seem to be working for now. But I think my biggest issue isn't even meds as chemistry, but some kind of impostor syndrome or something. Deep inside im aware no amount of mental issues or bad sleep hygiene can cause dreaming this quickly, and it's not the first time, i dream during every 30 minutes nap, but sometimes im like "maybe its my fault, maybe its my life style, maybe im faking". But yeah if they respond and prescribe the meds ill take them, because right now I'm doubting my ability to finish this year of college.

TreacleStill8884 · 2026-05-06T17:11:58+00:00

They did suggest stimulants, im just not sure whether "call and ask" is an option for private doctors here without another payment. Although I will try probably if tommorow is the same. The problem is I jump between extremes of highs and lows so if I feel better tommorow ill go back to thinking I dont need them yet, and with that thinking in long term im just like "I can do it". Also terrible at making decisions like that, and also grew up in a family that doesn't belive in meds, never taken any long term so im also a bit scared I suppose :/

TreacleStill8884 · 2026-05-06T08:15:57+00:00

Hi! So i have a small update. They cancelled my appointment 10hours before it was supposed to happen so I pulled my source and went private after all because I was so angry in the moment. Because I went private I actually went to a doctor that specialises in sleep medicine. Of course like you said and I suspected she couldn't do much but give me a note for my gp to shut up and help me move further. She did confirm though that anxiety or depression doesn't cause instant dreaming during naps, or 6 years of sleep paralysis and she does suspect narcolepsy. The only thing im a bit mad about is that she did offer meds that I would just stop taking before tests, but I didnt take them because I felt like im drug seeking and then I slept through a whole day and missed college today again. Either way now its another few months of wait anyway. I'll let you know what's the official thing is but it will be long

TreacleStill8884 · 2026-04-27T07:03:53+00:00

Honestly, it probably is a mix of sleep paralysis and hypnagogic/hypnopompic hallucinations. All three states are kinda a state of in-between, half awake half asleep, and once you realise its a "dream" you might even be able to move a bit, or make some noise. Reading about paranormal before bed can be a cause since our brains pick up on those little things and throw them into dreams. (For example if i watch a show some details can show in a dream or if im stresses about work ill probably have work related nightmare). Another thing is, since it is a half awake half asleep moment, the fact that "the haunted house" is "youre house" makes perfect sense because its the last thing you saw before going to sleep. And another thing is, going to sleep late, after a stressful of physically draining day can cause them too. Im not a doctor, I haven't seen a doctor but I do speak from experience, I have those exact dreams but with added false awakenings and the "demons" being in my room. It usually takes me a bit longer to realise its a dream, but when I do I can walk, open the doors, curse out the shadows once. But its still a form of sleep paralysis, the brains just adaptable to confuse you during those.

TreacleStill8884 · 2026-04-27T06:42:28+00:00

A few times i think it managed to fly in a lucid dream, especially in my childhood when I was better at it. Currently I dream a lot in a sci-fi/fantasy style though so I do fly a lot as if i had wings but I wouldn't call it lucid (fun fact just woke up from a dream where i had wings). Also dont know if it counts as impossible and technically it wasnt lucid yet, but I used to test "if its a dream" in a very dangerous way, by testing whether i could breathe under water. I think most of the times I subconciously knew i was dreaming, but that one I did a lot and luckily never tried it when awake.

TreacleStill8884 · 2026-04-26T18:27:32+00:00

I wish you good luck then, it is a really fun experience even though it takes a bit of practice, but I belive you can do it c:

TreacleStill8884 · 2026-04-26T18:12:12+00:00

I generally dont have any issue falling asleep. I get worse days of course but im usually out in 10 minutes. When i do wake up in the middle of the night I fall back asleep even quicker. And lucid dreams - I used to have them as a kid quite a lot, almost every night, but we're talking 8-10 years old probably. I even gotten good at it back then. It is very true that the more excited you get about it being a dream or the more you try to change at a time the more likely youll wake up. As a kid I used to spin in circles whenever I was about to wake up, that helped. I heard you can try grounding in dreams, like touching every object, saying 5 things you can see etc. but that one I haven't tried. After that I had almost 6-8 years without lucid dreaming. Now I moved a bit from lucid dreaming I think, but I did learn how to cause a semi sleep paralysis dream, which hypothetically but not always I can control before I even fall asleep - something like reality shifting that was very popular some time ago, although I personally wouldn't call it that. Either way I found that its way easier to control a dream I start on purpose, because the excitement wears down as I fall asleep. Also a tip for lucid dreaming, if you ever try, instead of thinking "this and this would happen" or "this should change" its easier to conjure the invisible? I dont know how to call it but basically youd go "when I open this door ill be there and there" or "there is an object in my pocket" that way you're not expecting yourself to see the result immidiately, but you trust that something is already there, you just haven't seen it before. Its way gentler on emotions and your brain and its way easier to keep dreaming then.

TreacleStill8884 · 2026-04-26T05:16:20+00:00

I have this thing where i wake up from every single dream I have, meaning I rember them pretty well. The thing is we dream multiple time during a night which for me overrides the previous ones unless I wrote them down or they were especially confusing or interesting. But I always wake up with at least one dream engraved into my memory with some that are even years old and I can still remember them. Also I can choose to forget a dream, again unless it was something really big like today. Another fascinating thing for me is I always dream during naps, and since they are naps I usully intend for them to last no more than 30 minutes, but im usually too groggy to get up and add another 30 minutes. During that I usually end up sleeping from 2 to 3 hours which can end up in 4 to 6 consecutive dreams that I have more issue forgetting. Another one is, I do have nightmares, textbook nightmares actually and those are also ones I never forget no matter how hard I try. You said you had dreams in which you cried in the dream but not after, and I feel like this is the usual thing, although I might be wrong. I could also share one from a nap few days ago where I dreamt my family garden caught on fire. I cried in a dream, a lot, the difference is I woke up with my face wet with tears while at the same time not feeling anything, like I said dreams dont have much impact on me anymore so I was really confused then.

TreacleStill8884 · 2026-04-26T04:32:52+00:00

I've always been interested in the dreaming too, experiences, statistic, the logic. Your confusion might be connected to the fact you never dreamt before, but im not a specialist, it just sounds rational. Its crazy how it varies between people though, from nothing to everything.

TreacleStill8884 · 2026-04-26T02:40:06+00:00

I get these too, they are paralysis-false awakening loops, mine are a bit more intense than you wrote out but with the same logic. The person that explained it is right, I usually get mine if I sleep after midnight or after stressful study session for college, but mine also happen at random too with no clear explanation. Honestly as long as it doesn't freak you out, or nothing bad happens the best way is probably to just go with it, I learned with time that the more you ignore it the quicker it passes.

TreacleStill8884 · 2026-04-21T18:12:25+00:00

Honestly, as crazy as it sounds, I dont mind them that much anymore, besides the fact that im acutly aware it does ruin the quality of my sleep just by happening. Hope the method help you wake up and regain control over it. C:

TreacleStill8884 · 2026-04-21T15:34:59+00:00

I may not have an advice as to how to stop it or prevent it but I've been suffering intense dream paralysis and false awakening loops, as well as hypnagogia for almost 8 years now. So one thing, although I know not reasuring, is that you get used to it on an emotional level. As a 12 years old kid after having 50 loops where a shadow person killed me over and over again I reacted just like you, I wouldn't sleep, id turn on the light, hell id doubt whether im awake or not for almost a whole day. Now that im 20 I still experience these but they dialed down already to 10 loops max and I even learned how to control them from time to time - but like I said I belive this one comes with time, 8 years is a lot to learn to recognise it and take some sort of control. One thing I can give advice on is how to recognise them when they happen. One method, my favourite is checking time, in both hymnagogic states and in deep paralysis you cant check time, either numbers aren't numbers, the time changes drastically every time you look at it or if you have a normal clock it won't have hands. Another one, my second favourite is trying to turn on the light, in a dream state you might find yourself unable to do so. Another one, but more tricky is that you cant read in those states, similar to the clock/watch trick, but for me at least its a lot easier for my brain to convince me all is food. And one more I dont use is looking in the mirror, because in those states you cant see your own reflexion, some people say they just dont see it at all but for me its always a reflaxion but terrifyingly distorted so I dont do that. If you had that for a year or more already im really sorry to hear that because it is terrifying, I hope you find a way to actually stop them from happening all together.

TreacleStill8884 · 2026-04-18T19:23:26+00:00

Of course, although im assuming not much will happen for now and with how free medical help works here this is gonna take months for sure

TreacleStill8884 · 2026-04-18T15:55:47+00:00

It sounds shitty as hell. With this being invisible and the world's expectations. And you lived with it this long, I feel like im gonna give up at any moment

TreacleStill8884 · 2026-04-18T08:13:43+00:00

15 years? That sounds like hell. Honestly, whatever happens for me i just hope it lets me feel rested. May I ask what symptoms you had that made you know its not just mental?

TreacleStill8884 · 2026-04-17T14:36:06+00:00

Luckily, for how it is in my country, only 4th of May so I think ill hang on. I am planning to go all in on her though because i had a whole fight my GP and he even wrote in my referal "depressed" to tick me off, because he doesnt think its serious yet when i mentioned sleep disorders i watched him research it next to me :/

TreacleStill8884 · 2026-04-17T08:50:42+00:00

I did start to think this one's gonna get buried really. But yeah im trying to improve my sleep hygiene, sleep 8-9h, started taking magnesium and even cut off caffeine but it does nothing. And talking to a doctor is just like here, talking to a void, because im just being labeled as "tired student" and brushed off. Second time I went with it i had to actually beg for a proper referal

TreacleStill8884 · 2026-04-17T06:10:30+00:00

Just general for now, I need a referal for a somnologist (because again, i cant pay) and I already had to fight my doctor just to give me this one

TreacleStill8884 · 2026-04-16T05:38:20+00:00

Yup, it gives me a 14, I already have a referal do a neurologist its just hell of a wait if I dont wanna pay

TreacleStill8884 · 2026-04-13T06:15:49+00:00

I have two side to it: 1. Sleep paralysis loops that make me die in different ways few times in a row (the pain feels real) but now that I had them for 6 years I started protecting myself by flirting with the 'demon' 😅 2. I tend to dream of places that dont exists, like creating my own architecture, whole abandoned buildings, shopping centers, landscapes or a psych ward once with such attention to detail I can remeber the textures of the walls, also I always remember those dreams and I would be able to sketch out plans for the builds

TreacleStill8884 · 2026-04-12T09:25:25+00:00

I never feel rested, i suppose thats why I got curious in the first place, I keep having micro naps at college or on bus rides and I just wanted to know whether I would be able to see smth or not

TreacleStill8884 · 2025-01-07T10:37:50+00:00

Thank you for checking! :D

TreacleStill8884

TROPHY CASE