Doxepin giving me vivid dreams

I started on Doxepin as a preventative almost a month ago. I've seen a great deal of improvement. No weight gain, and since I take it at night the sleepiness inn beneficial.

However I've been very vivid dreams. Mostly involving my deceased parents. Yesterday I was dreaming that I was setting up a FB page for my Mom. I even remember the email address that I had picked out for her. I heard her come in the back door and I was so excited to tell her what I did. When I got to the living room I was so disappointed to see it was hubby and to realize that yes, my mother is still dead.

It puts me in a funk the rest of the day. I'm trying to look at it as a chance to visit with MOm and Dad, but they are SO real it's spooky.

Anyone else have this experience with Doxepin or any other drug?

Charlotte,

I can't remember what drug gave me vivid dreams and it was several years ago.

Sometimes the dreams were like watching a horror movie!

They weren't always scary, but weird in different ways.

Also, with normal dreams, I wouldn't remember much about them when I woke up.

With these dreams, I remembered every detail and usually didn't want to.

I think I only took that med for about a month because these dreams were going on every single night and I just couldn't take it anymore.

I know exactly what you are talking about and feel for you.

Hopefully this will go away with time.

Cindy

Cymbalta and later Effexor did the same thing for me. The dreams were so vivid and intense, like a hi def Imax movie. They would wake me up at 3 or 4 in the morning and I could not go back to sleep. I would be talking or yelling out loud and it would also wake my wife. I finally had to stop taking it.

I noticed one of the antidepressants advertised on TV actually lists that as a major side effect. It's not in the package inserts that I had last summer. It sounds like the vivid dreams side effect has been reported enough to the FDA and they are now requiring it to be listed.

It's one of those things you have to experience, there is no way to describe them to anyone else.

I tried Inderal as a migraine preventative. It's a blood pressure medicine, which I do not need. It lowered my blood pressure too much. But the worst part was the violent, bloody dreams. I was beginning to feel like I was in A Nightmare on Elm Street.

Chris

Interesting....I was taking that also.

Brent,

What did you think of Inderal? You said that you were taking it which sounds like you're not taking it now.

Chris

I was taking 160mg a day and felt like I was being poisoned all the time. It was also causing me to gain weight so I stopped taking it. And now I have high blood pressure which I never had before. It never did help the migs.

I talked to the neuro yesterday about the dreams. His response was "Good! It's working!" And yes, it has been working for the migraines. He said more than likely I was not going in to a deep REM sleep before the Doxepin. Which is true. I was a horrible sleeper.

Even when the dreams wake me up, I'm still able to go right back to sleep. And wake up in the morning refreshed and not groggy like I do with sleeping pills.

He said in time I'll get used to the dreams. And, at least I'm not having nightmares.

i took this for a couple of years, and it did help me sleep. no vivid dreams that i can recall.

brent, it's interesting that you say you felt POISONED from the b.p. med. that's how i feel with 95% of the drugs i try. it's very scary to think about trying new ones. i think i'm done with that! none ever helps, anyway.

a couple of drugs i took 13-14 years ago gave me no bad effects then, but did help the sleep issues. now, they also make me feel poisoned. (effexor and neurontin).

if you've mentioned this to a doctor, brent, i wonder what he/she said?? i've told a doctor this, and just got a look of incredulity in return. dianne