# Re-occurrent bad dreams with Zoloft?



## bubblywish (Feb 13, 2010)

Well, before I started my new medication about 5-6 weeks ago, I didn't have these. But lately, I've I'm taking Zoloft once a day and another one. And I keep on having nightmares everynight. waking up in the middle of th night, can't fully sleep well, and I wake up from time to time with discomfort. I have nightmares with things I am Completely terrified about in my concious.

like last night, I am terrified of rats.

so last night i had a dream with thousands and thousands of them in cages and I was walking through a narrow path and couldn't get away I saw rat cages on both sides of the line. it was so horrible!

Then the other night I had this vivid dream, that a rat was under the couch, and all of the sudden is on my bed (in the dream) and I wake up (and I mean my eyes are open) and I still see it moving in my bed for like 6 seconds...and I screamed and woke my mom in the middle of the night.

And always having these types of scary dreams, or things i fear in my subconcious.

the other night I dreamed my mom and my little sister died, and I felt a pain close to what I would feel in really life. I woke up with tears in my eyes.

It's really driving me nuts lately, I never thought it would get to this point with the medication....

*ANY of you experience or have experienced this with the medication? *
*or ZOLOFT? Maybe i should change my medication soon....*


----------



## bubblywish (Feb 13, 2010)

anyone?


----------



## sara01 (Feb 4, 2010)

*hey*

Oh, that sounds really terrible. :blank I have had a similar experience while being on lunesta. I had the most vivid dreams and they were all nightmares. They felt so real, and I woke up terrified, ABSOLUTELY terrified. I mean people died in my dream and everything, in really terrible ways too. I never had nightmares like that before. 
So, you have now been taking zoloft for about 5 to 6 weeks? 
I actually just looked up on google the connection between zoloft and nightmares and one person said this:

"I take Zoloft, and in the beginning I have very vivid bad dreams. I have been taking it for 1 year and that went away after a couple of weeks now I am fine. Whatever you do, do not stop taking it with out the help of your doctor."

So I guess it is up to you if you want to try to stick these nightmares out, or if it is just too much of a stress. See what you doctor says about lowering the dose or things that can be adjusted to avoid this.

I am actually also taking zoloft right now, and I have not had those side effects, but I definitely experienced those really traumatic nightmares with lunesta.


----------



## megocode3 (Dec 23, 2009)

I'm taking Zoloft and seem to have more dreams but haven't had any nightmares.


----------



## rustybob (Nov 19, 2009)

Pretty much any drug that touches seratonin will cause vivid dreams and/or nightmares. The one thing that I find that helps is melatonin. You can find it in pretty much any supplement or grocery store.


----------



## arth98 (Nov 30, 2009)

strong vivid dreams are normal from antidepressants, if they continue to bother you, try another prozac type med which may give you more pleasant dreams


----------



## Lionking92 (Apr 6, 2011)

*bad dreams being on zoloft*

I'v been on this drug for about 3-4 weeks for social anxiety disorder and generalized anxiety. Just this past week i'v been having bad dreams of waking up in panic attacks or screaming. On sunday i had a bad dream and kept waking up every half hour throughout the night, monday and tuesday night i had insomnia finally wednesday( last night) i had 4 bad recurring dreams. Everytime i woke up with chestpain and heavy breathing. I remember everything about the dreams it was horrible.

hopefully my bad week will end soon.. i need a good sleep..
I've been taking the sertriline as soon as a wake up because i heard that if you take the drug late at night you will have bad dreams and a bad night.. well i have them regardless. oh well. i hope this is normal to everyone !:|:afr


----------



## abali7 (Apr 18, 2011)

I've been on Zoloft for about 5 weeks now, and the dreams started for me about a week ago. Before starting the med, I rarely ever had dreams and if I did I couldn't remember them. Then a week ago, I started having numerous dreams a night and I could remember every single one of them. It started off as just random pointless things, for example: Earlier that day I had bought some underwear, and that night I dreamed that I tried them on and they were like infant size hahah... Just stuff like that, which I didn't mind. But then I started having really bad dreams each time.. like up to 10 bad dreams a night.. Extremely brutal/violent stuff. That's where I'm at now.. I dread going to sleep every night. Med seems to be helping otherwise though, so I'm trying to stick it out and see if it gets better.


----------



## hanzsolo (Jan 2, 2011)

I started wellbutrin about 4 weeks ago (which supposedly doesn't even touch seratonin) and have been having terrible nightmares and very vivid dreams.

I remember also having bad nightmares and very vivid dreams on cipralex, but it passed after 2 months or so. Am hoping the same will happen with the W..

Scary stuff indeed.. Last night my son died in my dream, it felt so real


----------



## Rasputin_1 (Oct 27, 2008)

I have super vivid dreams but they are not usually "bad" dreams. Im wondering if Zoloft is giving you bad dreams or just making the dreams you always have most memorable and intense(for lack of a better word.)

If this is the case it may be useful to remember your dreams and talk about them with a therapist or something. Of course if the drug is causing the actual bad dream, you would want to stop taking it.


----------



## ugh1979 (Aug 27, 2010)

I've never been convinced that any chemical can give you 'bad' dreams. Certain drugs will effect your sleep states which make you remember your dreams more vividly and more often, but the dreams, 'good' or 'bad' were always going to be going on in your mind regardless of if you remember them or not. It's generally accepted that your mind dreams to make sense/store/organise all your sensory input/experiences/emotions etc, and it does it in a way that we can sometimes consciously experience as dreams. So, that is going to be happening whenever you sleep, regardless of any drug you have taken.

If someone is having 'bad' dreams a lot then there are probably issues in the persons life that are manifesting themselves as such when they dream. The drug is only making them be remembered far more often due to how it can lighten someone's sleep state.

I find it interesting to look up dream dictionary's to see what the recurring themes of my dreams mean, although I'm dubious of how scientifically valid they are. However, so far they have been very accurate, but I'm aware that there may be a bit of a horoscope element to such definitions.


----------



## DUBSTEPER (Apr 25, 2011)

well yeah most of the people on antidepressants have some extent of issues in their lives..at that, the people with social anxiety that have issues or not just have negative thoughts in their heads and cant help it..i mean thats one of the reasons why i got on anti's because social anxiety makes me have negative thoughts along with all the other symptoms but i've been experiencing horrible dreams and dreams within dreams lol i just cant stand waking up in the morning with so much fear..i just want it to go away..


----------



## ugh1979 (Aug 27, 2010)

Indeed. I'm the same, the issues in my life lead to bad dreams. I wish I didn't dream at all. I always get up as soon as I've had enough sleep as oversleeping leads to more dreams which I don't want.


----------



## DUBSTEPER (Apr 25, 2011)

but yeah man it makes sense because we think about the issues in our lives and when we dream we still "think" so thats why i would have these nightmares like you said..but yeah if you think about it, once the medication does its job correctly you shouldn't be afraid of your issue because the positive thinking should be able to make you get over your fear/issue..like i've only been taking zoloft since april 5th and checked up with my doc and he doubled my dose so im hoping that the bad dreams go away and i have to say that my dreams are still vivid but not always bad..they're slowly getting better and im sure with time i shouldn't have these realistic nightmares.


----------



## kendramac404 (Jun 20, 2012)

I have been on zoloft for about 2 months. I have always had weird dreams, but lately I have been having nightmares everynight. I always remember my dreams now also. I think Zoloft probably made the dreams worse, but my normal anxiety is down, so I think I'll put up with the dreams. Hope it gets better for you!


----------



## Nightmaresnonstop (Jan 28, 2014)

*Crying*

I wake up crying every night after vivid nightmares I have only been on Zoloft 4 a week or 2 I'm 13 yrs old going 2 b 14 soon I got changed 2 Zoloft 100mg bec nothing is working on my depression I never had nightmares like this till I was on Zoloft and I been getting more thoughts of killing myself. I don't get a lot of sleep so when I get 2 school I'm tired and end up falling asleep I wake up crying 30min later and every1 is looking at me I have 1 nightmare I get a lot. I was spending time with my family and some1 walked in the house and killed them all including my 2 dogs and rabbit infront of me and left me there crying and no where 2 go. I want this all 2 stop my parents don't know about my nightmares no1 in my family does.


----------



## LongHardRoadOutofHell (Jan 27, 2014)

Yeah, I get the panic attacks, too. Not nightmares, though.


----------



## Mldrummer90 (Jan 30, 2014)

Hey Nightmares non-stop, if you are having extremely bad side effects from the medicine (which it seems like you are) especially thoughts of self harm, please contact your doctor immediately. There are many medications you can try to get relief, and this one may not be working for you. You are very young and have a lot of life to live, and I know how hard and frustrating depression/anxiety and dealing with and switching meds can be! I've been doing it since I was 11 and I'm now 23, so please contact your doctor and keep trying.

As for nightmares I just started Zoloft 50mg at night 3 days ago and I'm switching from effexor for generalized anxiety disorder and panic disorder. Effexor is known to give you vivid/strange dreams, and I'm still taking effexor 37.5mg every other day but I have been having slight nightmares that I typically don't remember, but I do wake up a few times with the feeling of my heart dropping from them. I'm hoping after a week or 2 or 3 it will stop, I haven't found that these are common for Zoloft, but I'll update as I go to see if they go away. Best of luck to everyone.


----------



## Usernamesarehard (Feb 5, 2014)

*Coincidence*

Hi, I'm Emily. I've been on Zoloft for about five weeks now (Severe depression, self harm, etc), and I have the same problem. The nightmares first began when I found out a dog me and my family had been hoping to adopt would be ready to pick up in about a week. The night I found out, I had a nightmare where me, my mother, and the dog were on our way back to my house. I glanced out the window and saw a pale face appear, only a few inches from my nose. I then heard a loud screeching noise and felt the airbag slam into my head. I had this nightmare for the entire week up until we went to pick Gracie (the dog) up. I was worried beforehand that this was a warning and that I shouldn't go, but ignored my instinct and went. That night, I stopped having those nightmares. About the time that those nightmares ended, a whole new series began. Every single night for the past three weeks, I've been waking up at twelve am (I just woke up thanks to the nightmare, decided to do some research) thanks to the nightmare. This time, the nightmare seems to have no meaning. I always dream of the exact same thing, nothing ever changes. I dream that a naked girl with long brown hair, porcelain skin, a face that has flesh covering the eyes, nose, and lips (leaving no holes or hairs), and no distinct female or male parts (Same goes, nothing but a blank torso and limbs). I only say she's a woman because of her hair and how petite she is. She just walks up to me in a blank, white space, and says "Bye". I wake up at that point and don't get back to sleep until the next night. Every night for the past three weeks, I've been getting an average of 2-3 hours of sleep. I look like ****. I can't even go about my daily life normally because every little thing I see makes me think I see her. Earlier today I was driving home after a therapy appointment with my grandmother and I saw a traffic sign in the distance that was white on the bottom and black at the top. I nearly had a panic attack because I thought it was her running towards me. Please, please, please, if you get an answer, tell me why my brain is screwing with me.


----------



## pmorris (Jan 15, 2016)

I too have been on Zoloft.. For several weeks and my husband says for the past few weeks ive been crying in my sleep.... I dream of my dead realatives, my mom and my brother both died within a yr of each other and i dreamed of them for the first time,,,it wasnt all that bad untill i started dreaming they were in danger and i couldnt get or reach them....now i hardly sleep and its starting to effect me. Yet my dr told me to stop the zoloft...taking 40 mg a day.. Idk bout that...ive heard its worse to do that.
Any suggestions out there????
_Posted via Mobile Device_


----------



## Hordak (May 5, 2017)

bubblywish said:


> Well, before I started my new medication about 5-6 weeks ago, I didn't have these. But lately, I've I'm taking Zoloft once a day and another one. And I keep on having nightmares everynight. waking up in the middle of th night, can't fully sleep well, and I wake up from time to time with discomfort. I have nightmares with things I am Completely terrified about in my concious.
> 
> like last night, I am terrified of rats.
> 
> ...


I also have scary dreams on Zoloft... every night. And they seem very real & vivid.

Today I was massacred by a chainsaw. And then I massacred a girl with a chainsaw... *****ed up sh*t dreams.


----------

