Posted by IsoM on January 14, 2002, at 18:19:11
In reply to Re: Zoloft and Nightmares » Mindful, posted by MB on January 14, 2002, at 17:05:17
MB, your dreams sound like the dreams associated with sleep paralysis. It's often accompanies narcolepsy. I have those the dreams & the paralysis but antidepressants control those features of narcolepsy. So I can imagine if you don't take your ADs for a few days, you'd experience these dreams.
Here's a quote from a sleep site about the dreams:
"Hypnogogic and Hypnopompic Hallucinations--
Hypnogogic and hypnopompic hallucinations are not peculiar to narcolepsy, though they occur at a very high rate of frequency in most cases of narcolepsy. However, they are the predominant subsymptom in only an estimated 5 percent of narcolepsy patients and appear in other disorders as well. Hypnogogic hallucinations occur while falling asleep, and hypnopompic hallucinations upon awakening. Both last a few minutes. The hallucinations can be visual, auditory, or tactile and often frighten or disconcert the patient with terrifying shapes and noises. It is possible to wake up a patient during hypnogogic and hypnopompic hallucinations without further distressing them.These hallucinations are similar to nightmares, in that they are typically more intense, and their effects last longer than mild dreams or daydreams. In the past, patients who suffered from hallucinations were sometimes misdiagnosed as schizophrenic.
Sleep Paralysis--
Sleep paralysis, the inability to move immediately before falling asleep or upon awakening, has been described and documented since the early 19th century. People who experience sleep paralysis have described feeling afraid, as if some person or creature were sitting on their chest, holding them down.Like hypnogogic and hypnopompic hallucinations, sleep paralysis is a nonexclusive secondary symptom of narcolepsy. Sleep paralysis usually lasts from a few seconds to 30 minutes and is usually accompanied by hypnogogic and hypnopompic hallucinations. Like hallucinations, sleep paralysis can be alleviated temporarily if an observer intervenes and wakes up the patient."
Here's the site if you're interested:
http://www.sleepdisorderchannel.net/narcolepsy/symptom.shtml
> > Has anyone else experienced difficulty sleeping and intense nightmares when missing doeses of Zoloft after 2-3 nights (I take 50mg once each evening)?
>
> Yeah, SSRI withdrawal gives me really bizzare dreams. I've had those dreams where I open my eyes, but I'm paralysed, and there's a dream going on around me in my bedroom even though I'm awake. That is the weirdest of all. I don't know what that's about. I don't like it though.
>
> MB
poster:IsoM
thread:90101
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20020110/msgs/90149.html