Posted by nails on February 16, 2003, at 14:47:24
In reply to Re: Strange REM sleep Phenomenon, posted by nails on February 14, 2003, at 20:33:21
I've been on SSRI's (Prozac) for 13 years and feel "drugged" whenever I try to wake up. I finally became self-employed to I could work my own hours! I used to start my work at 9 a.m., then 10 a.m., then 11, now it's noon or later. (Today I slept until 3:00 p.m.!) I also find myself going to bed later and later, sometimes not until 5:00 or 6:00 in the morning. But, regardless what time I retire at night, I could (and often do) easily sleep 10-12 hrs or more.
And the DREAMS!! My dreams are SO VIVID, with beginings and endings and plots! They're very sensible. My husband keeps telling me I should use my dreams to write movie and t.v. scripts! I'll often spend an hour or more relaying a dream to him in colorful, vivid detail as he listens intently with genuine interest. I can recall verbal exchanges verbatim, which, like I said, will read like a movie script. Colors are vivid, I can smell smells, hear sounds, feel stimuli... all pertaining to the dream. What's kinda scary is that my dreams are so sensible and realistic that I often confuse them with reality. I'll think I dreamed something when actually, it really happened. Or, I'll swear something happened and it turns out I'd dreamed it.
I'd told my Pdoc about this sleep/dream stuff on more than one visit, but he'd just shrug it off. He NEVER told me this was not uncommon among SSDI users. And I've never before seen anything to state that it's a reported side effect of SSDIs. So, until I found this site last week and started reading these posts, I thought I was just weird.
My theory was that I just had a very active imagination, therefore the long, vivid dreams. And the reason I felt "drugged" when trying to wake up was because my mind and body were busy all night "living my dreams" and didn't really get proper rest. Actually, it still makes sense.
How many of you other SSRI users experience this vivid dream and grogginess thing?
poster:nails
thread:140244
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20030214/msgs/200932.html