4 ms·
I discovered this when coming off Citalopram. The waking nausea and discomfort were unpleasant, but the worst part was undoubtedly the lucid, extraordinarily in
by stupidcar 8y ago
I discovered this when coming off Citalopram. The waking nausea and discomfort were unpleasant, but the worst part was undoubtedly the lucid, extraordinarily intense and violent nightmares that would begin the moment I fell asleep and continue, for hours at a time, for the entirety of my sleep.
After trying to quit cold turkey a couple of times, I researched about tapering strategies online, bought some pill cutters and started a very gradual dose reduction. So long as I only halved the dose every 2-3 days, I was fine. But I had to go down to a minuscule fragment of a pill before I could quit completely. Until that point, missing one of the reduced doses would still induce withdrawal symptoms just as intense as the full one had.
- davesque 8y agoIt's really interesting to hear someone else say this. I too have suffered occasionally from intense, violent nightmares. They don't necessarily continue all night, but the imagery is extremely disturbing, like a Hellraiser movie. I also took SSRIs like Paxil and Celexa in my early to mid twenties. Recently, I've also begun experimenting with microdosing. I know almost nothing about the science of psychedelics but I've heard that they mimic the chemical structure of serotonin. I've also had a couple of intense nightmares recently. I wonder if there's somehow a connection between the effect of serotonin or things like it and the tendency to experience intense imagery in dreams. Perhaps it's not exactly the quality (negative or positive) of the content but the intensity that is magnified. I think I could just as well say that I've had a number of intensely positive dreams while taking these substances but I can't speak objectively about it.
- ljm 8y agoI've experienced similar, although I ended up switching from citalopram to fluoxetine. I've woken up crying, punching the shit out of the pillow next to me (luckily sleep alone), screaming... the dreams are visceral. How many times I've woken up and felt the sheets because my entire body had the sensation of taking a huge piss in a dream, that intense feeling of relief. Never got withdrawal symptoms from the first round some time ago, unless you call a second bout a withdrawal. Sleeping at night has become a bit of an adventure.
- halleonard 8y agoI mean, I'm no scientist but dreams seem to serve a purpose on some level and it doesn't surprise me that after all of that time locked down behind a medication your dream state might have something to communicate to you.
- subcosmos 8y agoSerotonergic signalling is a really important regulator of sleep architecture, and this is why psychiatrists are increasingly prescribing trazadone as a sleeping aid. It was previously used as an antidepressant, but lower doses and it is a remarkably effective sleeping pill. 5-htp has similar effects, and this is why its sold as a sleep-aid supplement. In my experience, all of these drugs can bring on intense very visually pleasant trippy dreams, with the occasional intense violent nightmare. Aside from the mood and sleep architecture effects, I wish I knew more about the neuroscience separating the positive from negative experiences.
- johnisgood 8y agoYeah, I take GABA before sleep to induce intense dreams. It works all the time for me.
- fwip 8y agoWeird, I get the vivid dreams while on Citalopram, not after missing a dose. My dose is only 10mg though (used to be 20mg).
- vilifiedtwin 8y agoI had hallucinations after few weeks of taking Citalopram and then intense suicidal thoughts.
- aergaegr 8y agoNight terrors are no joke. I had to taper off Effexor by 1/2 mg a day to avoid them.