SSRIs and vivid dreams

[Ballerina123]

I know that it is quite common to get really vivid deam on SSRIs. I just want to peoples experience on different SSRIs.

I am on fluoxatine and it has really helpped me in terms of my depression and it has also really helped my IBS. However I get really vivid dream so much so that I either get them mixed up with reality or I wake up feel like I have never actually been asleep because my mind has been active ALL night. I have also has some really nasty nightmares.

I see my psych next week and I was going to ask her if I can swap my SSRI to somthing else. I know sertriline worked for my depression once but can't really remeber if I got the dreams.


For thoes of you who have been on more than one SSRI have you found that certain ones cause worsening vivid dream and some cause less or are they all pretty similar?

[Lemur]

I found venlafaxine and lofepramine to be the worst, but I think I got them with sertraline/citalopram/fluoxitine nd a few others too.. It might be worth asking to switch if they're too unpleasant. I know some were worse than others for me.

[Aardbei]

Every med I've been on (fluoxetine, sertraline, escitalopram, citalipram and mirtazapine) gave me vivid dreams in the first couple of weeks of taking them, but settled down after that x

[DollyPOP]

citalopram gave me really mad vivid dreams. I'd wake up sometimes, in fact that might have been the time i thought there was a horse in our room and i woke my girlfriend up to tell her there was a orse in the room. And other things like that.

I think though, for a side effect depending on how bad it is obviously there are worse.

I quite enjoyed them to be honest I thought it was great. A bit mad but great all the same. xx

[Ballerina123]

Thanks guys

I have been on this medication almost 4months now so I think if it was a side effect that was gonna go it would have went by now. In fact it is just getting worse.

[DollyPOP]

if it's really concerning you, maybe you could speak to your dr about it? But do the negatives outweigh the positives?

[overcome.]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DollyPOP

if it's really concerning you, maybe you could speak to your dr about it? But do the negatives outweigh the positives?

This really. It comes down to whether you think you can handle this side effect. I've taken quite a few anti depressants including 2 SSRI's, I've had vivid dreams with at least one of the AD's I've taken, not uncommon.

[MunchBox]

Nothing more to add but Citalopram also gave me vivid dreams too, although I rather enjoyed some of them.

[Ballerina123]

Thank you all for the replys

[PassedExpectations]

i get really vivid dreams from my meds, but i've found that while they're annoying, they aren't actually hurting me in any way. like, they've only been nightmares about three times, and i've been on them for over two years now. i just have to be careful that i'm not confusing something that happened in my dream with something that actually happened (once i started congratulating someone on their chorus concert and saying what songs i liked best, and they gave me this strange look and told me that they hadn't had a concert yet, that is was coming up the next week...) but i can generally laugh off situations like that

[just a dreamer]

I never had dreams on Fluoxetine or Citalopram but since starting Sertraline maybe 4/5 months ago I've had some weird vivid dreams. Thankfully I quite enjoy them (excluding the nightmares, but they don't harm me so I'm more or less okay on them).