This Is MS Multiple Sclerosis Community: Knowledge & Support

(Bumped on 10-4-11 to add yet another dream story at the end.)

This event needs a better title than Dream Pain (suggestions are welcome ). And it happened last night (wait, that’s almost a film title...). But Dream Pain is a first for me. And I wonder if it happens to anyone else. (And now you’re all thinking, “Oh geez, it’s another of euphoniaa’s True Life Stories.”)

But here goes. I've been dreaming a lot in the last few months - deeply, frequently, pleasantly, excitingly, epic-ly, (sometimes sexily). It’s great! I've been wondering if the restful sleep and colorful dreaming are due to my current sleep position - propped up in a long incline of pillows to avoid my most current medical crisis, nighttime Reflux where I wake up choking to death from aspirating my most recent meal into my lungs. (This is not apnea...it's an actual choking event that takes me an hour to cough up out of my lungs until I can take full breaths. Another creepy non-MS story altogether.)

Anyway, last night I was dreaming I was in an auction crowd, someone had just bid on a painting, and I got one of my Screaming Leg Spasms (or maybe a cramp this time). The weird thing was that I was still in the dream, concerned that my howls would draw the attention of the bidders, while still close enough to being awake that I noted all the specifics – like, as usual, it was my left leg, and it quickly climbed to a searing pain level of about a “12” (on a pain scale of 10) this time.

In my dream I panicked, even though I knew this type of spasm lasts only about 10 minutes for me, it was becoming totally unbearable - the worst ever! (they usually hover around 7-8 or spasm back & forth between 4 & 10, without lingering at the top more than 30 or so seconds.) The pain was so real! I also remember thinking that the Screaming Tri-Monthly Nerve Spasm wasn't due yet – it was too soon. I just had one 2 weeks ago.

I could even SEE the pain. It was terrifying. I remembered my routine, pulled myself awake, threw off the sheets, grabbed my leg, and moved to the edge of the bed to stand like I always do - and then I realized that the pain was fading away with the dream. And I was awake.

But it had really hurt! Was it totally imaginary Dream Pain? Or had the most painful leg spasm ever, jolted me into consciousness? I guess if nightmares can scare you as bad as daytime fears - and sometimes worse - Dream Pain could feel just as real. I still don't know whether this was a real spasm. Or was my demyelinating brain mischievously screwing with my unconscious mind?

But it’s fascinating. I’d love to get some replies or other sleep stories, but sometimes I just have to express myself, so it’s okay if I don’t.

Wishing pleasant thoughts, pleasant dreams, and better health to all.

(Edited to add a P.S. - The reason I don't blame MS for the choking, I was dx'd with a hiatal hernia in January.)
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Dx'd with MS & HNPP (hereditary peripheral neuropathy) 7/03 but must have had MS for 30 yrs before that. I've never taken meds for MS or MS symptoms except 1 yr experiment on LDN. (I found diet, exercise, sleep, humor, music help me the most.)

heya e,

i used to have a killer problem with my throat when i was high dosing d3 and not balancing and timing right with magnesium in particular.

when i got the magnesium timed right it was amazing how fast my throat resolved.

when i took magnesium at bedtime, it helped me sleep too.

then i switched to magnesium glycinate and began a horrible reflux journey which had me coughing so hard at first that i missed sleep, missed work, couldn't eat, dry heaves and all.

i had never slept on an incline before the year of the cough - but i tested positive for reflux, and it was a little better when i stayed upright. for a while i had to sleep in a chair.

for whatever reason it took me a YEAR to make the connection to the change in form of magnesium.

now i take magnesium glycinate ONLY before a large meal, to get it away from my lower oesophageal sphincter. if i take magnesium at bedtime, it's magnesium citrate. i can sleep flat again thank goodness.

b-complex is great for dreaming by the way sorry to hear about the painful one

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my approach: no meds so far - just balanced whole foods (partial 'paleo', much less outright elimination), science, supplements, & bloodwork
my regimen - www.thisisms.com/ftopict-2489.html
www.whfoods.com, www.nutritiondata.com

Thanks for the input, jimmy, interesting.....how did you test "positive for reflux?"

I would have blamed my reflux thing on supplements/foods, except that in January I had an Endoscopy where they found a hiatal hernia. Of course it could be exacerbated by something I'm swallowing. If you recall, I had severe esophageal spasms from fish oil, but they didn't lead to reflux like this - just pain.

I just started taking my Vit D in morning only, because my evening meal usually has so much magnesium in it. I'm scared to try any more supplements, because I'm also fighting with my blood pressure regimen.

The reflux is way scarier than MS - I really believe I've come close to death by asphyxiation a few times. I don't know if I'll ever have the nerve to sleep flat again, because with the hernia the reflux comes out of nowhere, with no heartburn or anything! It even happens early in the morning after a good night's sleep if I slip down off my pillow pedestal.

But it did begin close to the time of the vitamins. This is so frustrating to figure out!

Dream Cruise:

Since I'm on my dream thread, I'll say I hoped someone else would have had a similar experience. I still can't get the Dream Pain out of my mind, wondering what really happened. And besides, I had another epic dream the next night with a cast of 100s, inducing both deep introspection and fanciful musing upon awakening, and I had to write about it, of course.

Anyway, in the new one, I was on a Dream Cruise (never been on a Real Life one), on a ship sailing through a crocodile-infested ocean, (or maybe they were 'ocean gators' or another sort of friendly dream reptile instead).

But while on board, I had to climb a staircase that had an obstruction at the very top...everyone else could clamber up and over it easily and step onto the highest deck where the action was. But I had MS. I clung desperately to the obstruction and tried to take the big step to safety, but I was dizzy and off balance and missed it - barely avoiding a tragic fall.

Back on the lower level, those of us who couldn't make it went looking for another passage (shades of the Poseidon Adventure...) to the entertainment above. And in the dining room there was a cameo appearance by a friend who died of lung cancer this winter, looking lovely, healthy, and puffing on her beloved cigarettes.

She was an unrepentant, unapologetic smoker who died within a week of another friend, a devout vegetarian/health nut with pancreatic cancer. The 3 of us were within 5 yrs age, but both were younger than me. And they didn't have MS.

Just musing this morning. I'm glad for the dreams, even though I always seem to have MS in them. And I was pleased that my friend had breezed through this one to say hello.

Analyze away. Or even better - tell me some of your dreams.

ouch, e!

is there anything you can do to fix HH, short of surgery? i know there is a lot of advice about foods to avoid etc but that seems more like how to live with it, not how to get rid of it.

i tested positive for reflux after this nasty test at the hospital. they make you eat a handful of stuff like pop rocks candy, then swallow water, and then they spin you around on this board with a scanner on your torso so they can see what is going on inside. it SUUUUCKS. even the lab techs had never heard a reflux cough like mine. for a while that made me think maybe it really was something else giving me the cough, but looking back it was just a really nasty case.

i hear you re scary. when i had my original throat problems, with magnesium deficiency, not from taking the wrong form, i really thought i could die at any time. it's horrible, i feel for you.

gotta split for work. take care of yourself!

_________________
my approach: no meds so far - just balanced whole foods (partial 'paleo', much less outright elimination), science, supplements, & bloodwork
my regimen - www.thisisms.com/ftopict-2489.html
www.whfoods.com, www.nutritiondata.com

Bumped on 10-4-11 to add yet another dream story.

Headline: Still sexy & attractive MS victim rescued from the brink of death by Dream Kiss!

Yet another dream last night – or rather at 4:15 am this morning. This nighttime reflux crap is really creating havoc in my otherwise bearable MS existence (seriously). Grumble, grumble. Of course, as I said, in general I've been sleeping quite well these days propped up on my ramp of pillows, except for the occasional dual with death that comes when I slip down from my lofty position and inhale the contents of my last meal into my lungs. It's terrifying! And painful! Coughing, gagging, choking, wheezing.

The dreams are an amazing plus, however, and I think they're mainly due to my raised sleeping position. As I've piled my cushioned tower higher & higher, making the reflux milder & rarer, I think my resting mind has become lax in its ability to quickly alert me to danger and yank me out of my fabulous dreams.

But not last night (this morning). In my dream I was suddenly wrapped in the embrace of a male co-worker – one I only rarely see and usually try to avoid. Although not totally unpleasant in appearance, he's a difficult, egotistical, pompous ass that causes our office all manner of problems. I assume that's why my subconscious mind found him the perfect character to gag me awake with a long, passionate kiss.

Gag!! Choke!! Cough, cough, gag, cough, cough, gag, cough, gag! It worked. I'm still alive.

_________________
Dx'd with MS & HNPP (hereditary peripheral neuropathy) 7/03 but must have had MS for 30 yrs before that. I've never taken meds for MS or MS symptoms except 1 yr experiment on LDN. (I found diet, exercise, sleep, humor, music help me the most.)