Slightly OT: Medications and Vivid Dreams

[drummergirl410]

I think I have always been an active dreamer. My dreams have always been fairly understandable and for the most part pleasant. Over the last few years, I started to notice that my dreams aren't making much sense, and most of the ones that do aren't pleasant. This came to my attention even more when I was diagnosed with SA. I was hoping that xpap would help alleviate some of this. It has to some extent. I'm dreaming more because I'm spending more time in uninterrupted REM sleep. My dreams seem to be making a little more sense lately. However, I got to wondering if some of the many medications I am on werent' the cause of my vivid dreaming. I did some quick google searches and found out that Calan, a med I take for heart palpitations, causes vivid dreams and sleep problems. I've been taking it now for about four or five years. I don't smoke, drink or do drugs. Both my PCP and my pulmonologist know my meds and haven't mentioned any of them that might interact. I'm thinking about asking my PCP if I can switch the Calan for something else. It was perscribed by a cardiologist that dismissed me after finding out that there was nothing else that could be done for the palpitations save taking meds. Has anyone else experienced this or something similar?

[Eleena]

I have been on depakote for seizures for 16 years. They cause awful nightmares for me. Doc says this is not unusual. Since I've been on apap, dreams are a little calmer. Not sure why. You are not alone. Missy

[kteague]

When I was on Sinemet (a Parkinson's med used for Periodic Limb Movement Disorder) if I ate something wrong or took an OTC med that interfered with how it absorbed, it messed with my dreams. I would be stuck in one short burst of a dream that was maybe one sentence, although I was aware it was part of a whole scene. That sentence would repeat all night, even if I got up for a potty break and layed back down. I would thrash wildly in the bed, unable to go fully asleep or make myself wake up. It was quite maddening. Believe me, when I learned the triggers, I was diligent to not violate them, but it took years of trial and error to figure it out, and by then the docs took me off the med due to other side effects.

Too bad that so many meds are a double edged sword, or a necessary evil.

Kathy

[KAZ]

I've posted before that I found out about my SA the hard way, complete respiratory failure, 21 days just in intensive care. I have no memory of those days other than terrible vivid dreams. I was a bad patient, ripping out tubes, had to be strapped down! The next six weeks in the regular part of the hospital I was every bodies favorite patient. The difference was the change in medication, I'm back to good dreams. Regards

[Highnote]

I have taken Calan (Verapamil) for migraine prophylaxis and don't recall any strange dreaming. It just gave me more headaches. However, another cardiac drug I've used for migraine prophylaxis, Inderal (propranolol), definitely did cause nightmares. My first night on it I woke up yelling two or three times in the middle of the night. Bad guys were out to get me!

Calan is a calcium channel blocker, Inderal is a beta blocker, and they are used for similar indications. I would not be surprised if Calan had some effect on dreaming too. Check the prescribing information sheet.

[drummergirl410]

Seems like a lot of meds do cause the vivid dreams. When I googled it, the first links were for meds like valuum and other sedatives, which would be obvious. Then came the Parkinsons's related meds. On the second page I foind the link about the Calan. I take the generic Verapramil. I'm still wondering whether or not I should ask the doc for a swithc in meds. I was on Cardizem for a while before the cardiologist put me on the Calan. It might be that all perecription drums in that same family have vivid dreams as a side effect. If so, I guess I'll have to live with it. But it does seem unfair that something that helps in one way hurts another.