Friday 6 January 2017

Sleep, perchance to dream...

Last night I had the most bizarre dream. In my dream, my back teeth were loose. I could feel them move under my tongue. Then later in the dream, my back teeth came out, just like when you are a kid, and there is no root left, just tooth. Shortly after that, the teeth in front of those also became loose and fell out! Of course there was other content to the dream, but I can't really remember much of that, but the whole tooth thing seemed so real that when I woke up I could still remember it and actually was happy that my teeth were still there!

Have you ever had a tooth dream? Apparently, they are quite common. I remember sitting in a highschool science class and a classmate talked about having a dream where he crunched and ate his own teeth. "They tasted like those candy cigarettes!", he said.

When I was in university, my housemate took a course in which she had to keep a dream journal. As part of the course, they were given common dream interpretations. For fun, I kept a journal as well. We would then analyze our dreams. Much of this interpretation wasn't rocket science. Usually dreams reflected what you had been experiencing as of late, or what had been on your mind.

A common meaning of "tooth dreams" was having to deal with a stressful situation. I doubt there is anyone who isn't dealing with some kind of stress. Another dream that I have had involves going through a big house with many rooms and hallways, not necessarily one I could identify. The interpretation for that one was trying to work out a problem, or make a big decision. Kind of a theme, here.

I used to dream much more vividly than I do now. I also used to remember my dreams much better than I do now (mind you, I used to remember a whole lot of things better than I do now). I think you can train yourself to remember your dreams better. When my housemate and I were keeping a dream journal, we were able to recall details better as we continued to do it.

Our son used to talk and walk in his sleep A LOT. It caused me a lot of concern. I worried that he would grow up and move out of the house and go to university and continue to sleep walk and get into all sorts of danger. I talked to our family doctor about it and he found the whole thing fascinating rather than concerning. He said it would likely stop around age twelve or thirteen. Well, darned if he wasn't right! Our son did in fact stop his sleep walking when he was around twelve.

If you've never witnessed a sleep walker / talker, it is a bit disconcerting. Our son would have his eyes open and he would walk into the room and talk in a normal tone to us. Usually this would happen within an hour or two of us putting him to bed. We would be downstairs watching tv and we'd hear him come downstairs from his bedroom (yup, walked down 16 stairs without a problem). Often the one way that we could tell if he was still asleep was to ask him a skill testing question. Usually it was, "What room are you in?" If he told us a different room than where we actually were, we knew he wasn't really awake. He never left the house, but that was always a fear.

Our daughter did not sleep walk, but I do remember night terrors when she was quite young. She would scream like a banshee after being asleep for a while and there was no consoling her until she just ran out of steam. For first time parents, that was also a bit disconcerting!

Apart from my teeth falling out, another dream experience that I had only once was an incident in which my body really was paralysed. I had learned that our body has the ability become paralysed while we sleep and have particularly violent dreams so that we don't hurt ourselves. In this incidence, I woke up from a bad dream and honestly was unable to move. It was scary, but I actually reasoned with myself what was happening and fell back asleep for a bit, and then when I woke up it was all fine.

So, there you have it. Respond with your sleep walking, recurrent dream, teeth falling out stories!

Sweet Dreams!

20 comments:

  1. I wish I could keep a sleep journal but it takes me awhile to "get up" and my dreams just fade quickly

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I bet if you knew you were going to write them down, you'd start to remember them better.

      Delete
  2. Now there's a dreamer.

    I remember, as an adult, telling my father I used to dream I could fly. Run down a hill and take off and soar a little way before landing. He said he had the same dream, except he stayed up in the air and floated for hours, looking down.

    ReplyDelete
  3. One of my granddaughters had night terrors and would walk and carry on a conversation but she would not be aware of it nor would she remember it. It was quite scary. I don't think I have ever had a tooth dream. lol I have dreamed for years of going down a hill to the same house a body of water...and I have always thought that I would 'find' that house and that would be the home where I ended up. Mind you, I have lived in about 30 places over the years! Since I married hubby we have lived in and rehabbed 15 houses...so I keep looking for the one in my dreams. xo Diana

    ReplyDelete
  4. I've had sleep paralysis happen to me. This was a long time ago and I didn't know what it was then. Scared the living daylights out of me! Now I know better.

    My brother was a sleep walker. It was pretty unnerving for my parents who also worried about his safety, but eventually he did grow out of it.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I dreamt about my teeth crumbling away a lot in my teens. Must have been all the angst! I have awful dreams from tim to time where you wake up and you think your heart is going to pound out of your chest.
    Last night's odd dream - just woke so I know - the HG had won a footballer of the year award and it was miles and miles away, we had to get a taxi with another couple and the fare was £12 each.

    Things to note.
    The HG hates football, all forms and I've no idea who the other couple were!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Ye gods and little fishes, what dreams, screams and walk about. One f my grandchildren sleep walked for a while. Really weird when I was babysitting. She always went back to bed after a few minutes. My two girls ground their teeth in their sleep as teenagers and wore teeth protected for a while. I have dreamt that I couldn't wake up quite a few times. Tried to open my eyes and they just would not. Slept on and woke up later thank goodness

    ReplyDelete
  7. What an interesting post. I have never experienced any of this although I do dream most nights and some of my dreams are so vivid that they stay with me for the first part of the day. Luckily they are mostly quite inoffensive dreams - only very rarely do I have an unpleasant one.

    ReplyDelete
  8. This is interesting. Our son used to walk and talk in his sleep from time to time but it stopped at around 13 years old. Otherwise he was an excellent sleeper, sleeping six hours at six weeks and eight hours at three months, unlike his younger sister .... ! It was always a slight concern when staying in ancient holiday cottages with rickety staircases but he never fell and I never thought to report his nighttime wanderings to our GP. I have a recurring dream when I stumble across unused rooms in our house. I always thought it meant that I needed more space, but I like your interpretation better. Oh and the falling and falling dream is very common too - it is so vivid and sudden it often wakes me up. What does that mean I wonder?

    ReplyDelete
  9. My recurring dream is one that I lose me wallet. I looked it up and it says that I feel that I am losing my identity. Too deep for me. Have a great weekend.

    ReplyDelete
  10. i too have had dreams of teeth falling out that re occur on a couple of nights, i googled and was said to be when you are suffering from anxiety ..i was just glad to wake up will ALL my teeth lol
    sammie xx

    ReplyDelete
  11. I've been thinking of starting a dream journal because I've been dreaming a LOT lately and some of it is pretty interesting -- or at least that is the feeling I recall but I can only remember fragments within seconds of waking. Very frustrating. I keep thinking there is a story in some of those dreams -- if I could remember long enough to create it!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Had tooth dreams too. They all crack into small pieces and I spit out mouthfuls of eggshell like teeth. Also go places completely naked and I'm trying to cover myself and embarrassed and the house dreams too. Also dreams of Armegeddon. Terrible anxiety dreams.

    ReplyDelete
  13. One of my sisters sleep walked. Once when she was about 6 she went downstairs and got into the flour and covered herself and the kitchen before my mom found her. Almost everyone in our family talked and mumbled in their sleep. If you woke up at night it seemed like someone was always blabbing away.

    I still keep a dream journal. I've had times when I don't remember much for awhile and then it starts up again. Lots of house dreams recorded. I was told those were common among women whose lives were in the process of changing. Dream on. I'd really miss my dreams if they stopped.

    ReplyDelete
  14. I have also dreamed of loose sleep! and Once I dreamed my teeth were made of red jello! OMG, that is just gross. I don't even want it evaluated, lol. I also still have dreams about not having my homework done or not having studied for a test. It's been 30 years or so since I've had to worry about any of that! and yet...

    ReplyDelete
  15. I use to look forward to the dream where I could fly. I would run into the wind and suddenly lift off. I made my first solo parachute jump when I turned seventy -
    the Ol'Buzzard

    ReplyDelete
  16. I've had those dreams about buildings with many halls and many doors. It went on for some time and I figure I was looking for something. Must have found it because the dreams stopped after a couple of years.
    These days I am having construction dreams. I am hammering and sawing and building to beat the band and wake up exhausted from them. (No power tools!)

    ReplyDelete
  17. I used to have dreams of my teeth falling out. And of having unending gum in my mouth. It was stale hard gum and as I took it out of my mouth more appeared.

    I have a picture on my blog today of Norbert in that same pose.

    ReplyDelete
  18. I have dreamt about my teeth falling out and my husband usually tells me that I was grinding my teeth that night. I love the big house with tons of rooms dream. I have that one once in awhile and don't want to wake up, as it is fun exploring. Lately, I have been dreaming of a big river filled with giant fish. I am fishing, but terrified to fall in. Crazy huh. This post was wonderful. Nice to know I'm not the only one with teeth falling out.

    ReplyDelete