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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 9 of 9. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by Glenn Fagelson on May 18, 2001, at 15:05:45
Hi, my name is Glenn.
Just about every night, I have disturbing
dreams which often become nightmares. I am
on anti-depressants and Seroquel. Has anybody
else experienced continual disturbing dreams
while on psychotropic medication??Glenn
Posted by anita on May 18, 2001, at 15:27:58
In reply to Anti-depressant medications and nightmares, posted by Glenn Fagelson on May 18, 2001, at 15:05:45
Hi Glenn,
It is not uncommon for people to get nightmares from psychotropic drugs. Many of them can affect one's sleep architecture. When REM sleep is increased, there can be more nightmares, and conversely, sometimes when REM sleep is decreased, one can have particularly horrible nightmares in a different kind of sleep stage. I do know that Seroquel increases stage 3 & 4 sleep, which are the deepest and most restorative sleep stages, but I don't know if it affects REM sleep. Sometimes this effect does diminish with time -- how long have you been taking your meds? Which AD are you on?
If this is really a problem for you, perhaps your doctor may have a suggestion for alleviating them. I have heard that a small dose of clonidine at bedtime can help, but I haven't tried that myself.
Good luck,
anita
Hi, my name is Glenn.
>
> Just about every night, I have disturbing
> dreams which often become nightmares. I am
> on anti-depressants and Seroquel. Has anybody
> else experienced continual disturbing dreams
> while on psychotropic medication??
>
> Glenn
Posted by Glenn Fagelson on May 18, 2001, at 16:43:31
In reply to Re: Anti-depressant medications and nightmares, posted by anita on May 18, 2001, at 15:27:58
> Hi Glenn,
>
> It is not uncommon for people to get nightmares from psychotropic drugs. Many of them can affect one's sleep architecture. When REM sleep is increased, there can be more nightmares, and conversely, sometimes when REM sleep is decreased, one can have particularly horrible nightmares in a different kind of sleep stage. I do know that Seroquel increases stage 3 & 4 sleep, which are the deepest and most restorative sleep stages, but I don't know if it affects REM sleep. Sometimes this effect does diminish with time -- how long have you been taking your meds? Which AD are you on?
>
> If this is really a problem for you, perhaps your doctor may have a suggestion for alleviating them. I have heard that a small dose of clonidine at bedtime can help, but I haven't tried that myself.
>
> Good luck,
> anita
>
>
> Hi, my name is Glenn.
> >
> > Just about every night, I have disturbing
> > dreams which often become nightmares. I am
> > on anti-depressants and Seroquel. Has anybody
> > else experienced continual disturbing dreams
> > while on psychotropic medication??
> >
> > GlennDear Anita,
Thank you for your response. I have been taking anti-depressant medication for over 23 years now. My nightmares have been getting quite
troublesome; I am afraid of going to sleep at night. My doctor does know about this; he lowered
my Serzone from 150mg to 50 mg at night, but that
has not helped very much. I am also taking 400mg
of Wellbutrin, 80mg of Buspar, 100mg of Celexa, and 200mg of Seroquel. I will asked my doctor
about Clonidine. What is Clonidine, by the way?
Glenn
Posted by Elizabeth on May 18, 2001, at 21:04:58
In reply to Anti-depressant medications and nightmares, posted by Glenn Fagelson on May 18, 2001, at 15:05:45
> Hi, my name is Glenn.
Hi. Welcome.
> Just about every night, I have disturbing
> dreams which often become nightmares. I am
> on anti-depressants and Seroquel. Has anybody
> else experienced continual disturbing dreams
> while on psychotropic medication??For me, Risperdal -- an atypical antipsychotic similar to Seroquel -- caused intense, anxious dreams and an exacerbation of a sleep disorder (REM sleep behaviour disorder).
SSRI antidepressants and Effexor often cause very vivid dreams, sometimes nightmares. Tricyclics and especially MAOIs are more likely to suppress dreaming. Serzone and Remeron are not supposed to have much effect on sleep architecture.
I hope this helps you some. Take care.
-elizabeth
Posted by Elizabeth on May 18, 2001, at 21:07:51
In reply to Re: Anti-depressant medications and nightmares, posted by Glenn Fagelson on May 18, 2001, at 16:43:31
Glenn,
Clonidine is an antihypertensive drug. It's sometimes used for posttraumatic stress and attention deficit/hyperactivity as well. In people with PTSD, it can help to suppress nightmares. There are a lot of drugs that can do this; another common treatment for serious nightmare problems is to take a benzodiazepine (e.g., Klonopin, Valium, Tranxene) at bedtime.
-elizabeth
Posted by Glenn Fagelson on May 18, 2001, at 21:21:35
In reply to Re: Anti-depressant medications and nightmares » Glenn Fagelson, posted by Elizabeth on May 18, 2001, at 21:07:51
> Glenn,
>
> Clonidine is an antihypertensive drug. It's sometimes used for posttraumatic stress and attention deficit/hyperactivity as well. In people with PTSD, it can help to suppress nightmares. There are a lot of drugs that can do this; another common treatment for serious nightmare problems is to take a benzodiazepine (e.g., Klonopin, Valium, Tranxene) at bedtime.
>
> -elizabethThank you Elizabeth! I will ask my doctor to prescribe some Clonidine for me. I do suffer from
some PTSD. Sometimes, I will take a Xanex at
bedtime, but I cannot take it every night because
Xanex and the other benzos are so addicting. Do
you suffer from nightmares? Have you tried Clonidine yourself?
Glenn
Posted by Elizabeth on May 19, 2001, at 15:05:06
In reply to Re: Anti-depressant medications and nightmares, posted by Glenn Fagelson on May 18, 2001, at 21:21:35
> Thank you Elizabeth! I will ask my doctor to prescribe some Clonidine for me. I do suffer from
> some PTSD. Sometimes, I will take a Xanex at
> bedtime, but I cannot take it every night because
> Xanex and the other benzos are so addicting. Do
> you suffer from nightmares? Have you tried Clonidine yourself?Hi Glenn. I once tried taking clonidine for insomnia and some other sleep problems. I didn't notice any effect, but I wasn't taking much (just 0.1 mg at bedtime). It's also sometimes used for hyperactivity. It's supposed to help calm down a lot of the autonomic symptoms of heroin withdrawal too.
You're right that Xanax probably won't continue helping you sleep if you take it too frequently.
Sweet dreams.
-elizabeth
Posted by geekUK on May 20, 2001, at 8:33:46
In reply to Re: Anti-depressant medications and nightmares, posted by Glenn Fagelson on May 18, 2001, at 21:21:35
May have something to do with Noradrenaline as prozac gave me no dreams (usual) but effexor which works on seratonin and NA gave me some scary dreams. I put this down to the NA. The following is my reasoning, so take it wiht a pinch of salt. NA activity in an area of the brain known as the 'Locus coeruleus' stops totaly during REM sleep. The NA increase by the drugs messes with this silence of this area causing the problem.
So if any of your meds work on noradrenaline (norepinephrene) and you beleive the rational then this might be the problem.
Good luck tracking it down,
M
Posted by Glenn Fagelson on May 20, 2001, at 16:21:39
In reply to Re: Anti-depressant medications and nightmares, posted by geekUK on May 20, 2001, at 8:33:46
> May have something to do with Noradrenaline as prozac gave me no dreams (usual) but effexor which works on seratonin and NA gave me some scary dreams. I put this down to the NA. The following is my reasoning, so take it wiht a pinch of salt. NA activity in an area of the brain known as the 'Locus coeruleus' stops totaly during REM sleep. The NA increase by the drugs messes with this silence of this area causing the problem.
>
> So if any of your meds work on noradrenaline (norepinephrene) and you beleive the rational then this might be the problem.
> Good luck tracking it down,
> MDear geekUK,
Thank you for that bit of information. I
will talk to my doctor about that.
Glenn
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