I had the same dream!! though I'm not having it anymore I think it had something to do with great stress or feeling overwhelmed by some specific problem

I believe that there's others that have the same situation, I myself sometimes don't dream if I have insomnia, but at other times I do.

I think there's times when we don't dream and it's normal, maybe this is do to our way of living.
Either we are not eating well, maybe stress, anxiety, depression, paranoia, etc.

But this is my way of thinking.

That's amazing, thanks for sharing this Thomas. I didn't think it was possible to live without REM sleep. What are the long term effects of this, tiredness, madness?

i never dream there for i become an insomniac since i don't enjoy sleeping and put it off as much as possible. i have never had a study done on the sleep cycles i go thru though.

people keep telling me no it is because you dont remember your dreams but i figure then why do all my friends know about their dreams and i dont.

I have sleep apnea too. For 8 years I was undiagnosed. During that time I could never get to REM sleep, because each time I passed from light to deep sleep I would choke and return to light sleep again. Not very satisfying.
It caused all sorts of problems, not the least being that I had no mechanism for releasing brain activity or something. My brain would overload and turn off for a few seconds. Not good while driving. I would also experience my dreams while awake.
It was quite terrifying.

Hi, I'm another sleep apnea sufferer, which I didn't know until recently. This causes all sorts of problems: no dreams, no mental rest through REM sleep, the decrease in oxygen to the brain causes you to have difficulty focussing and increases the possibility of heart failure(not exaclty sure why though). I just started using a device that pushes air into my nose to keep me breathing all night. Usually within about 3 months, you recover normal brain function, and hopefully, dreaming. If I don't use the device, it was assessed that if i fall asleep on my back, I have 56 respiratory arrests per hour. That is severe. I've probably been like this for 20 years or so. I do hope I can dream again.

I used to be in the Canadian military and my experiences taught me to fall asleep at the drop of a hat. I rarely take more than 2 minutes to fall asleep at night. I take 2-4 deep breaths (it varies because I sometimes fall asleep in the midst of doing this), in through the nose and out the mouth, and, I will my body to completely relax. I think many people, unaware that they are doing so, hold up parts of their body when they should be relaxing. In the beginning, you might have to assess the way you "hold" yourself in bed; start at your feet and make your way up. Are all your parts relaxed, or are you holding them up? The other part of this is the stillness of the mind; got something on your mind you just can't shake? That'll keep you awake. I know it might sound a bit corny, but visualize a calm scene. I for one have an image in my head of Mt. Fuji, adorned with blossoming cherry trees at its base and a very still lake. I was a shooting coach in the army, and when you hold up a rifle, you have involuntary movements that'll keep you from hitting your target. The idea to counter this is to make little movements you control, very small circles that you make smaller and smaller until you are aligned with your target and then you let off the shot. Stillness of the mind is very similar. Your mind will "wander" in ways that will keep you from your target; sleep. Give your mind something to contemplate, something that'll quiet your mind so you can fall asleep.

All the best, dreamers

I'm medicin student, and, for what I know, a person can`t live without REM. There are studies in mouse that show that they can't live more than 3 days without REM sleep, and in humans, are cases that after 3 days a person turns absolutely mad.
Also I know that people with apnea tends to fall asleep during the day, and can achieved REM sleep.
Narcolepsy is a pathology in which the person falls into REM sleep in a second, usually as a respond to a joke very funny or a scare (really, i'm not joking).
There are people who cannot rebember they dreams, and that has nothing to do with no REM sleep.

Regards.