I get this and so do many people on this board and so do many people who don't have dp. Check back through the posts for one called Night Terrors and another one I can't remember what its called. There's probably quite a few.
Sleep disturbance can run in the family aswell. My brothers sleep walk, my parents have those dreams you describe and I have little bit of it all! Had night terrors as a kid, and slept walk at least 100 miles in my time. Dp can make it worse and vice versa, in my case. Last night had extremely vivid dream, same as always - boyf is having an affair etc etc, i know Im dreaming, so 'wake up' - think everything is ok - then it happens all over again and I realise I haven't woken up. Then I actually wake up, fall back asleep, straight back into it and this continues for about 4 hours, until I can actually make myself wake up and stay awake. For the first half hour I am expecting to 'wake up' again, thinking I may possibly be still dreaming, eventually the sensation fades, if you do not dwell on it, and the memory of the dream recedes. I also have the thing where you are dreaming whilst awake - hypnogogic or hypnopompic its called.
Seriously, you are not hallucinating. Sometimes the line between awake and asleep is hazy, you are not doubt awake right now, if you are capable of writing this post, and you are not going to hallucinate. Try your hardest to believe this, and focus on something else, because your fear is feeding this sensation.
Here is an example of extreme 'dreaming whilst awake'. And I was totally fine afterwards.
My doctor prescribed me the sleeping pill Sonata a while ago. It is not a tranq/benzo and supposed to be fairly side effect/hangover free. Had taken it twice before this point and it was ok. I got back from holiday and was all over the place - we had just unpacked and decided to have a glass of wine to relax. Also had a cup of tea. Had also taken my effexor and an ibuprofen earlier. Watched tv in bed and decided I wasnt tired so took a sonata. As I swallowed it I regretted it but dont know why. Apparently 10 minutes later I sat bolt upright and said 'oh my god something's not right-i feel funny'. I tried to stand up but the floor was like the deck of a ship in a storm. Imagine the drunkest you've ever been x 100. I went to the toilet and made myself repeatedly sick, in order to 'remove the poison' from my stomach. As I stood over the sink, I felt as though there were people in the room with me, but I couldn't see them. Like with Lsd, you feel stuff as opposed to seeing it. Though I did hear things next door, and spent a good 10 minutes with my ear to the wall 'listening'. I couldn't walk or hold onto anything or focus. I was too 'out of it' to feel scared to be honest. My boyfriend had to wipe my mouth and carry me back to bed and told me not to worry that it was just a bad reaction. (He's had a few bad trips in his life) He knew it was crucial to play it down and this helped tremendously. I lay in bed and lights from the dvd player formed faces, and I dreamt some crazy things. All with my eyes open. NEVER drink alcohol with Sonata as apparently this causes this kind of reaction. I was fully dreaming whilst aware of it, reality and unreality were mixed up. I do not believe this is any form of schizophrenia or psychosis. It is exactly how I felt as a kid with night terrors.
I awoke in the morning as fresh as a daisy.
At a later date, a discussion with my boyfriend revealed he was scared for me, and admitted he played the whole thing down, as he knows exactly how this whole fear/dp/neurotic thing works. This proves that the only thing that makes it so scary is you fearing it.
