[Elana05]

Has anyone else had these?
I have been taking 900 mg St. John's Wort for over a year now and I'm not sure if this has anything to do with it. Anecdotally I have heard other people describe vibrant dreams while taking the herb.
I can't stop repeating the same 2 lines of a song I heard during the day. Or I can't stop dwelling on the information I took in during the day, just kind of repeating it over and over in my head like a broken record.
On top of that I have anxiety during the night as well as very active dreams. Not bad, just unceasing. I can't remember the last dreamless sleep I had.
I used to sleep very peacefully but my nights have been so unsound that I don't even feel like going to sleep.
I have been going over a lot of hard stuff in therapy lately and just started an AlAnon group so I was wondering if it's all like "psychological fallout."
Maybe I should try meditation. I've been pretty bad at it in the past, though I could try again.
I have tried a low dose of trazadone and it made it worse (almost passed out upon standing) so I'm so hesitant to try meds. But maybe a different one is the way to go.
Just wanna sleep soundly.

[Gojamadar]

Originally Posted by Elana05

Has anyone else had these?
I have been taking 900 mg St. John's Wort for over a year now and I'm not sure if this has anything to do with it. Anecdotally I have heard other people describe vibrant dreams while taking the herb.
I can't stop repeating the same 2 lines of a song I heard during the day. Or I can't stop dwelling on the information I took in during the day, just kind of repeating it over and over in my head like a broken record.
On top of that I have anxiety during the night as well as very active dreams. Not bad, just unceasing. I can't remember the last dreamless sleep I had.
I used to sleep very peacefully but my nights have been so unsound that I don't even feel like going to sleep.
I have been going over a lot of hard stuff in therapy lately and just started an AlAnon group so I was wondering if it's all like "psychological fallout."
Maybe I should try meditation. I've been pretty bad at it in the past, though I could try again.
I have tried a low dose of trazadone and it made it worse (almost passed out upon standing) so I'm so hesitant to try meds. But maybe a different one is the way to go.
Just wanna sleep soundly.

Hi,
What do you expect from your dreams? Dreams are dreamt to respond to external and internal influences in the sleep. Dreams are dreamt to solve problems that happen in sleep. If you are taking St Jonsworth, it may be doind something that needs a dream to divert your attention away from it.
In my experience repetitive dreams like yours happened to me when I had bad colds and taken medicines with a strong scent. In sleep a strong and unusal scent usually causes a very strange dream. I had dreams with monotonous music playing with just two notes repeating over and over.
However, withdrawal from a medicine or a drug also requires strange dreams to divert one from the craving.
You should regard your dreams as your nocturnal helpers, even your "guardian angels-in-sleep!

[lotusflames]

if it helps, i do this anyway!

[A_Fine_Madness]

I have the same problem. The only solution I've been able to find is Ambien. I understand your reluctance in turning to medication. Perhaps if you find a mantra or a song lyric that you find particularly inspiring (I have several friends that use Biblical verses and prayers) it may help you in meditation. I found that an increase in physical exercise decreased the dreams slightly. I've noticed that my dreams are worse when there's no sound in the room so I always have the fan on or the radio on white noise. I hate having to take medication to sleep, but if it guarantees a functional day tomorrow I'll do it. Oh I'm signing up for a Tai Chi class later this month in the hopes will will help with my stress, perhaps an activity like that or yoga may help. I hope you find solace and a restful night soon.

[Perna]

I would go with psychological fallout and/or reduce how much St. John's Wort I'm taking if it doesn't seem to be helping, maybe even taper it off and see?

When I had a lot going on in therapy I would have more active dreams and did the song thing too, where I'd wake in the night with a particular song going around for a couple weeks in a row (it was a song significant to what was being discussed in therapy and when I noted and "looked at" that fully, I didn't need it to do that anymore).

Hmm, maybe stop taking St John Worts for a while and see if it helps. If so, perhaps there's something else you can take that has the same beneift for which you first started taking it for in the first place.

Originally Posted by Elana05

Has anyone else had these?
I have been taking 900 mg St. John's Wort for over a year now and I'm not sure if this has anything to do with it. Anecdotally I have heard other people describe vibrant dreams while taking the herb.
I can't stop repeating the same 2 lines of a song I heard during the day. Or I can't stop dwelling on the information I took in during the day, just kind of repeating it over and over in my head like a broken record.
On top of that I have anxiety during the night as well as very active dreams. Not bad, just unceasing. I can't remember the last dreamless sleep I had.
I used to sleep very peacefully but my nights have been so unsound that I don't even feel like going to sleep.
I have been going over a lot of hard stuff in therapy lately and just started an AlAnon group so I was wondering if it's all like "psychological fallout."
Maybe I should try meditation. I've been pretty bad at it in the past, though I could try again.
I have tried a low dose of trazadone and it made it worse (almost passed out upon standing) so I'm so hesitant to try meds. But maybe a different one is the way to go.
Just wanna sleep soundly.

[graceingarden]

Originally Posted by Elana05

Has anyone else had these?
I have been taking 900 mg St. John's Wort for over a year now and I'm not sure if this has anything to do with it. Anecdotally I have heard other people describe vibrant dreams while taking the herb.
I can't stop repeating the same 2 lines of a song I heard during the day. Or I can't stop dwelling on the information I took in during the day, just kind of repeating it over and over in my head like a broken record.
On top of that I have anxiety during the night as well as very active dreams. Not bad, just unceasing. I can't remember the last dreamless sleep I had.
I used to sleep very peacefully but my nights have been so unsound that I don't even feel like going to sleep.
I have been going over a lot of hard stuff in therapy lately and just started an AlAnon group so I was wondering if it's all like "psychological fallout."
Maybe I should try meditation. I've been pretty bad at it in the past, though I could try again.
I have tried a low dose of trazadone and it made it worse (almost passed out upon standing) so I'm so hesitant to try meds. But maybe a different one is the way to go.
Just wanna sleep soundly.

this seems to be a very old forum but i am going to post my own experience with st. john's wort (sjw) anyway.

i have severe fibromyalgia and have tried the gambit of ssris and snris used to keep the pain under control. i have no underlying psychiatric diagnoses.

when i started to use savella i developed horrific side effects (depersonalization, other terrible things) -- someone suggested trying sjw.

it worked wonderfully for a while. but one evening after i attempted to participate in an all day workshop, i came home so exhausted and in so much pain i was heaving sobs. since that day i have had repetitive songs and thoughts that are keeping me from even being able to meditate (which i have done for years). i stopped the sjw but still had issues with the songs (the thoughts are really snippets of songs -- it gets much worse after i listen to music or perform it). i recently went off snris completely -- but i got back on the sjw to try and control a depression that turned out to be menopausal in nature.

stupidly, i ramped up the sjw to try to ease off the snri (cymbalta). i got to 900mg a day and i am so bedeviled by snippets of songs that change randomly i cannot think of anything else. i have no peace of mind. i stopped the sjw as of today and am hoping this problem will eventually even out.

i have been on some sort of ssri or snri since 1989 for the fibro. i think being off completely will take my brain a long time to start firing properly again.

as for the dreams -- i have always had fantastic dreams -- technicolor, multi-sensorial (all 5 senses are active in them). i was on the verge of real lucid dreaming when the meds turned ramped up the volume a few orders of magnitude -- but they make no sense anymore. i must admit to really enjoying them though -- having these dreams is the one way i know i actually got sleep!!!!

i am not sure anyone will answer this but if the original poster is still around, perhaps s/he could respond and let me know if the songs and dreams eventually resolved.

best to all