ahalo Posted November 22, 2010 Share Posted November 22, 2010 The main side effect I have from Lithium (1200) is very vivid dreams. Been dealing with some heavy family stuff that I've decided to just not think about because dwelling won't change anything right. But according to my subconscious thanks to Lithium I need to dream about these things. And I had a particularly tough dream where someone who I love very much but can't be with was with me, I was so convinced he was there but I woke up and he wasn't and it sent me into almost hysterics, deep depression. Luckily it mostly passed after the next sleep but I'm still dreaming about the situation. I need something, a sleep med or something, that will stop these dreams. I got so upset yesterday that I was convinced something was wrong with my nephew (who I dreamt about) and freaked out. The Lithium is helping otherwise but anyone on anything that seems to keep them from dreaming?? Right now I take clonazepam to sleep but it wears off after about 5 hours. Then I dream. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Emperor Posted November 22, 2010 Share Posted November 22, 2010 I wish there was one certain med to stop dreams because I have very vivid ones too, and they ARE NOT PLEASANT. Mostly gory accounts of loved ones deaths to be more specific. Oh and the one where SO leaves me for someone else and tells me exactly WHY this person is better than me. I hate that shit. Anyway, some of the meds I have been on have helped, and some have not. I've been on Ambien as far as sleep aids go, and that doesn't help me personally. I take klonopin 3x a day and it doesn't help. It seems like when I was on the SNRI's I didn't dream, but that's probably not a GOOD reason to take an AD. So, to conclude, I wish I could help, but I can't. So good luck with that. I hope something helps along the way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
helloheartbreak Posted November 22, 2010 Share Posted November 22, 2010 prazosin can change the characteristics of your dreams if you have ptsd nightmares - I don't know how it would work or what it would do if you don't have ptsd. it doesn't stop dreaming though, I just don't have the terrible nightmares anymore. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crazycatnapper Posted November 22, 2010 Share Posted November 22, 2010 many antidepressants will cut down on the hours of REM sleep you get, but you are still going to dream, just not as much. Sorry I don't have any help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dancesintherain Posted November 22, 2010 Share Posted November 22, 2010 I would have given a lot for one about a year ago, but my psychiatrist didn't know of anything particularly helpful. I found they went away with time, but that may have been luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnneMarie Posted November 22, 2010 Share Posted November 22, 2010 (edited) The main side effect I have from Lithium (1200) is very vivid dreams. Been dealing with some heavy family stuff that I've decided to just not think about because dwelling won't change anything right. But according to my subconscious thanks to Lithium I need to dream about these things. And I had a particularly tough dream where someone who I love very much but can't be with was with me, I was so convinced he was there but I woke up and he wasn't and it sent me into almost hysterics, deep depression. Luckily it mostly passed after the next sleep but I'm still dreaming about the situation. I need something, a sleep med or something, that will stop these dreams. I got so upset yesterday that I was convinced something was wrong with my nephew (who I dreamt about) and freaked out. The Lithium is helping otherwise but anyone on anything that seems to keep them from dreaming?? Right now I take clonazepam to sleep but it wears off after about 5 hours. Then I dream. Thanks. Do you have a therapist? If so, talk about these dreams, and more importantly, the situation they are about. If you do not have a therapist, seriously consider getting one. These dreams suggest that you need to deal with the issues in waking life. Edited November 22, 2010 by Stacia Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RoseDropper Posted November 22, 2010 Share Posted November 22, 2010 I found that SSRIs were giving me more vivid dreams. I was happy dreaming in black and white, now it's fricken technicolour. It was almost too difficult to pull out and into reality. For me the most anxiety that I experience is the transitions from REM to REality. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ahalo Posted November 23, 2010 Author Share Posted November 23, 2010 Stacia yes I have a therapist and I mentioned this in another thread, I tried to talk to him about it. He's very matter of fact. Basically said that something bad is going to happen and that I need to accept there's nothing I can do about it. I get the thinking behind that because it is pretty much true, but it doesn't stop the dreams, and it doesn't stop the episodes that could follow. So far it's just happened once, having an episode after the dream but it makes me feel like I lose touch with reality and I don't think he understands that I can go about life pushing it back and not mourning, it really feels like they're dead, but that my dreams are telling me I can't just suppress how I feel about it. So I don't know. I just want the dreams to stop. Or to find a way to enjoy my time with them in my dreams rather than wake up terrified that something is wrong. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Velvet Elvis Posted November 23, 2010 Share Posted November 23, 2010 There was the the stuff Nancy took in Nightmare on Elm Street 3, but other than that I don't know of anything. If there was such a thing it would fuck with your REM sleep to such a degree that sleep would no longer be effective for its rejuvenating purposes so you might as well just take speed and stay awake until you go crazy. They tried that on Nightmare on Elm Street too. The Jason vs Freddy movie was lame. Wellbutrin is the only drug I've taken that's severely altered my dreams and it made them much more vivid for a while. Desiprimine is supposed to severely reduce REM sleep but I have no idea what effect that would have on dreams. Somebody ask May to comment on this thread. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vanderk Posted November 23, 2010 Share Posted November 23, 2010 If there were such a med, it would do more damage to you than good. Dream sleep is tremendously important to our cognitive well-being and overall health. Yep, you've got some serious stuff to deal with. Deal with it and the funkiness of your dreams will likely moderate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas Posted November 23, 2010 Share Posted November 23, 2010 (edited) Lamictal affects my dreams like the change from B&W to Color in The Wizard of Oz. Not only are colors more vivid, but the dreams are more complex and seem much longer. I can never remember exactly what they were about when I awaken. Tommy Edited November 23, 2010 by Her Tommy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ahalo Posted November 27, 2010 Author Share Posted November 27, 2010 I was prescribed Clonidine. It knocks me out pretty effectively. LOL. I know that I'm dreaming, but it seems like the moment I wake up I forget what the dream was. So that's good and I'm feeling a lot better. Just getting used to it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
weordmyndum Posted November 27, 2010 Share Posted November 27, 2010 Funny, sylvan, I take a TCA (was nortriptyline, but just switched to amitriptyline) to treat a rare sleep disorder where I wasn't having proper REM or delta cycles. TCA's are the only drugs they know of to treat this particular disorder. But I guess it could have the opposite effect on someone without the disorder. As several posters have noticed, lack of proper REM sleep will screw you up big-time. I didn't have real REM cycles for years, perhaps most of my life, and I had no idea how much it was messing me up until I got a proper diagnosis and proper treatment. I've found prazosin really useful in reducing both the frequency and intensity of my nightmares. However, all the studies I've read on using it for nightmares are specific to people with PTSD, so I don't know if it would be useful in your situation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RoseDropper Posted November 28, 2010 Share Posted November 28, 2010 If there were such a med, it would do more damage to you than good. Dream sleep is tremendously important to our cognitive well-being and overall health. Yep, you've got some serious stuff to deal with. Deal with it and the funkiness of your dreams will likely moderate. Yeah, I totally agree. Someone I know went to a sleep study and claimed that without REM, he becomes delusional, and always feels tired. I think it cleans out a lot of the junk in my mind so that it's not cluttered. Studies are always telling us that too much alcohol and caffeine interferes with REM. I'm always dreaming about being in bars and cafes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vanderk Posted November 28, 2010 Share Posted November 28, 2010 If there were such a med, it would do more damage to you than good. Dream sleep is tremendously important to our cognitive well-being and overall health. Yep, you've got some serious stuff to deal with. Deal with it and the funkiness of your dreams will likely moderate. Yeah, I totally agree. Someone I know went to a sleep study and claimed that without REM, he becomes delusional, and always feels tired. I think it cleans out a lot of the junk in my mind so that it's not cluttered. Studies are always telling us that too much alcohol and caffeine interferes with REM. I'm always dreaming about being in bars and cafes. This is a big issue for me, and I have some pretty adamant opinions. Mostly that we tend to mess with our sleep too much. Becoming phobic of your dreams can become a serious trap. Supressing REM sleep leads to really bad rebound effects where dreams become even more vivid and disturbing, never mind how we become cognitively impaired. Screwed up sleep can very often be restored without a chemical fix. But it's also true that this can take a lot of time. Time we often feel we don't have. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ayohelp Posted February 22, 2017 Share Posted February 22, 2017 Prasozine helps reduce them though? I continue to have dreams im being grabbed and pulled/held down in place. Like im about to be tortured and beaten. And it feels so god damn real. I think mostly because my brain is trying to wake my body up and my mind becomes a little more alert so then im struggling in the dream against the people as well as in real life against sleep paralysis or whatever it is because my body is still in rem sleep. It makes it so much more real because i actually am stuck and helpless. Really cant continue having these dreams im terrified to sleep after. Get maybe an hr or two every day or 2 until im eventuallu so exhausted i just pass out and its pure blissfull blackness till i wake up. Thats qll i want. That nothingness to sleep in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toast Posted February 22, 2017 Share Posted February 22, 2017 (edited) t Edited April 17, 2017 by toast Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melissaw72 Posted February 22, 2017 Share Posted February 22, 2017 The first med that came up when I googled, "meds for nightmares" was prazosin. 4 hours ago, Ayohelp said: Prasozine helps reduce them though? Yes, for some people it does. IME, it did work for me, but it also made me forget everything that had happened before I took it, and I found that I was sleep-eating etc. This is how ambien worked for me also. Have also tried clonidine, but had to go off of it also (don't remember why though). Here is something about clonidine: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23413663 No success for me on all of these. YMMV though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dancesintherain Posted February 22, 2017 Share Posted February 22, 2017 knock on wood but prazosin has been great for me at getting rid of nightmares. it took some tinkering with the dosage before i got to consistently not having problems and then it took one bump up when things got more intense in real life so my nightmares started breaking through. but for now, it's doing it's job other than one really bad one recently. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KnickNak Posted February 22, 2017 Share Posted February 22, 2017 Sometimes I wish there would be meds that would stop dreams.. my dreams are soo vivid I wake up the next morning thinking they happened and I get soo sad or confused.. I am drenched In sweat, What is that movie.. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.. where a couple tried to erase each other from their minds and memories. That movie was messed up. Usually my dreams are way better than reality.. which is why waking up is soo hard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melissaw72 Posted February 22, 2017 Share Posted February 22, 2017 2 hours ago, KnickNak said: Sometimes I wish there would be meds that would stop dreams I don't think meds stop dreams, but when you wake up you don't remember them. That is what the prazosin does (at least for me, and I am sure others) ... you have dreams but when you wake up you have no recollection of them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts