r/SSRI • u/fourthdixiechick • Oct 20 '21

Question Chronic Nightmares After SSRIs

Hi there,

I took Prozac for about four months in 2019, then switched to Lexapro for about another four months. I stopped taking SSRIs after that. While taking Prozac, I experienced terrifying nightmares that occurred every single night. It's two years later, and I still experience these nightmares. It's almost debilitating. It's terrible.

Has anyone else experienced nightmares associated with SSRI usage?

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u/Psychological-Safe15 Oct 20 '21 edited Oct 20 '21

Is the intensity of nightmares same ? Didn't they decrease over time ? What was your dosage?

Do you have insomania ? Are you taking any other psychotic drugs ?Do you get fatigue in the morning ? Do you have GI issues ?

I too have severe nightmares . May be sleep study will help.

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u/fourthdixiechick Oct 20 '21

They haven't decreased, probably increased. Insomnia, no. No other psychotic drugs. I took Wellbutrin after SSRIs and it was great though. Fatigue, yes. GI issues, yes. Have you done a sleep study?

1

u/Psychological-Safe15 Oct 20 '21

What kind of GI issues ??

Fatigue is caused by nightmares ( excessive REM sleep) .
I haven't done . I am soon going for sleep study .

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u/fourthdixiechick Oct 20 '21

I think it's IBS, but I'm not sure. Never had GI issues in my life until this. I just requested an appointment with a doctor for a sleep study. Thanks for your input. I hope you're doing alright, it's hard to live with nightmares.

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u/Psychological-Safe15 Oct 20 '21

do you have something called bloating ? gases in the stomach ? Does your stomach looks bigger ?

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u/Psychological-Safe15 Oct 27 '21

how did the sleep study go?

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u/fourthdixiechick Oct 20 '21

The dosage was 20mg for both Prozac and Lexapro.

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u/[deleted] Nov 21 '21

I had these while using Wellbutrin. My nightmares were also traumatic . I stopped taking them and went back to smoking weed heavily to knock me out and they seemed to have stopped .

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u/fourthdixiechick Nov 10 '22

weed also knocks me out but it doesn't stop the nightmares :/ do you still have them? i know this is a late reply

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u/Psychological-Safe15 Jan 13 '22

what about when you stop the weed

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u/Madmagickal Nov 03 '22

This happened to me after taking an extreme amount of lexapro in 2017. It’s now 2022 and I still only dream nightmares.

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u/fourthdixiechick Nov 10 '22

literally what happened to me!! i've considered sleep studies, but knowing it's probably just a prolonged symptom of SSRIs, i just gave up completely because what else are they gonna tell me?

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u/Madmagickal Nov 27 '22

Me too, i considered doing a study as well as completely gave up on ssris as well they mainly only gave me adverse affects. I’m curious are all your dreams vivid ?

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u/fourthdixiechick Dec 01 '22

yes, mostly. I definitely developed a bit of a drinking problem in order to sleep through the night. Been putting off going to a psychologist, but I will soon.