SSRIs and Vivid Dreams

Ive been taking Prozac (1 year) and after, Zoloft (8 months) and ive noticed a big change in my dreams I have since switching from prozac. Just in the past 2 months I dream so vividly everything I dream has just happened. I wake up in night sweats and have to shower in the middle of the night. I also about a month ago was put on Ambien. I have a hard time falling asleep and staying asleep. I will wake up more than 6 times a night. I also can dream these insane dreams if I only have slept about 15 mins. Sometimes I wake up confused and have to lay in bed for awhile until I know im awake. Its weird and has been getting worse, my dreams are becoming almost terrifying when I dream of things I fear. I will wake up scared that someone in my dreams is in my house. I will talk the next day about my dreams I can remember them in detail so well.

I guess my question is has anyone on SSRIs noticed vivid dreams or experiences like these?

I have also been having some very strange dreams myself, a lot of them are very morbid. I had this dream last night about a boy who decided to become a serial killer, so he grabbed his fathers shotgun and started wandering around with it to find someone to shoot. While crossing the street he playfully aimed it at this other child a few yards away from him, the other boy had his back turned so he had no idea what was going on behind him. The boy with the shotgun eventually made his way through a citrus orchard, stumbling upon a farm laborer picking oranges. As soon as the man turned around to face who was approaching, the boy shot him. I woke up after that, dunno if you could really classify that as a nightmare, I wasn't that distressed by it. Well, now that I think about it, I am a little distressed by having dreams of this nature

You might want to bring this up with your Dr. People react differently to medications. The slip you get with your prescriptions that give side effects of the meds only tell you a very small percentage of the side effects that are possible. Ask for the insert that came with the medication before it was dispensed. The one meant for Dr.s. You will get a much more detailed list.

When i was put on Gabba pentin, it made me do some really bizzare things. I'd wake up and find my shoes lined up inside my guinea pig's cage. In the middle of the night, I'd awaken to find I had the cap to something in my hand and had no idea where I got it or what I was doing with it. To me, my speech sounded normal, but to my friend and her husband, the words were not real words. i promptly called the Dr. and stopped taking the medication.

sam2

I feel youon the strange dream front. It takes me a while in the morning to differentiate between memories and dreams.

Oh God yes. They have always done that to me. The SNRI's too. Every night I sleep good for three or four hours and then dream like crazy and wake up every two hours. I usually really like it and just want to keep dreaming. Lately they have not been good dreams and wake up with alot of anxiety.

Yes, I was on antidepressants for years, and I'm sensitive to them, but only the first few days on them, the dreams were different to the point I didn't feel good at all and I felt like I had slept but not really, way too many dreams. Sleep paralysis, nightmares, etc. It did get better after being on them for several months, and after a year or two, the nightmares were getting better. I think its tied into all the chemicals being changed. Some antidepressants that are older (I think tricyclic) work best for sleep (doxepin, amitryptiline) etc.. they gave me a better nights sleep.
Ambien, can cause sleep walking, doing strange things in your sleep etc. Just my opinion based on what they say about sleep meds, and trying zopiclone myself, but they never gave me a good sleep anyways, and staying on them for more than a few weeks, you will get used to them and be dependent on them. I have the night sweats too, my gp says its because of nerves, energy, whatever is going on in my mind affects my body. Hope you get your meds straightened out and tell your psychiatrist about all this. hugs.

Yes, on ssri and snri med. They may get better. I thoroughly enjoy mine. They are cinematic... or even bigger. It's almost like living more than one life and they are always interesting although I can understand how some might find them scary. I hope it gets better for you soon.

The problem I have always had with them and dreaming to much was not getting enough of the really deep sleep we need so much. I would have to take long naps in the afternoon to get that deep sleep.

Also I usually adapt to it and it is not as much and I sleep better.

My dreams get a lot more realistic and I have trouble between determining if it was my vivid imagination or an actual memory. Recently it's been getting worse hahaha. So it's interesting when I talk to people and feel like I've told them before or etc.

I've had vivid dreams on Prozac. Sometimes, when I'm remembering something, I'm not sure if it was a dream or if it really happened.