awful dreams

[Sobrietysucks]

Not sure if I should post this in TDS OR Sober Living as this problem arose after I went "clean", well kind of.

Lately, ive been having these dreams that I wake up from feeling depressed/ . Very emotional dreams about my past, often involving people Ive met or known in real life. These dreams feel SO real that when I wake up I can't tell between the dream and reality. I have to snap myself out of it to get out of bed every morning.

Some background info about myself:
1.This problem started after I recently cut down on taking benzos and lyrica to sleep. I was on them for almost a year.

2. I take kratom every day

3.I stopped an Antidepressant SSRI medication a few months ago.

4.. If I take a substantial amount of gaba ergic drugs before bed I DON'T get these awful dreams.


My question is,
has anyone here experienced these awful dreams about your past after stopping certain substances ? Do you still get them?

 

[Dcole461]

I think it can be an aspect of getting clean, at least based on my experience. I know that when I cut back (substantially) on my use, I start getting awful nightmares, very meaningful dreams that I wish were true and feel true but as I slowly wake up, I realize they're not and I can't help but cry.

Oddly enough when I stop cold turkey to visit my parents, no matter how long I'm there, I never have a single nightmare.

More specific to your situation, I was reading a paper that gaba receptor antagonists were shown to prevent REM sleep in rats (no offense, we're not rats haha) so it would make sense that if you take gaba before bed, you wouldn't get these dreams.

I don't yet know enough physiology to be 100% accurate in the above or to address your other points, but something is happening in the brain and I've been there and it sucks.

 

[Muzda Jonxx]

I reckon this might be related to coming off the benzos more than anything else. I had the most incredibly twisted, vivid dreams for a good two years after I stopped the vallys, etizolam and xanax. Mirtazapine just compounded the issue. These dreams were so intense that I started getting sleep paralysis because my mind would actively throw itself out of the nightmares into a weird semi conscious state. My dreams are all abstract nightmares that bare little resemblance to reality. More like a pastiche of really terrifying music videos, I suppose.

Anyway, 5ish years later and the twisted dreams are now gone. I still got the sleep paralysis on occasion which sucks, but most annoying is that I've entirely robbed myself of my ability to nap.

Funny thing is, I kind of miss those dreams, terrifying and hyperreal but quite interesting. Sort of like how a bad trip can be positive, I suppose.

 

[Moreaux]

I had terrible dreams after I was cut off of Xanax - I had taken it daily for ten years. The dreams were very disturbing and felt more real than reality. They were so real that they were fused into my memory. Fortunately, they do go away in time.

One thing that helped me was to focus my thoughts before going to be and trying to will myself to dream about specific subjects. It took some practice, but this helped. Another thing I did was to train myself to acknowledge the dream as it was happening and to force myself to wake up - this also takes practice. If you're interested in learning how to do this let me know and I can tell you how I taught myself.

Certain GABAergics are terrible for sleep, they do block REM sleep, and the sooner you can stop the sooner your dreams will get better. Which benzo(s) and how much were you taking and what are you taking now? Also, are you taking any antidepressants now? If not, you may want to consider taking l-theanine (200mg), 5-htp (100-200mgs), and 1-3mg melatonin before bed. Take a good kava extract (Gaia makes a great extract) if you're really restless, but not every night. Melatonin will however make your dreams vivid, not necessarily bad but vivid.

I think part of the reason why these dreams happen you either decrease or quit some GABAergics is because they've been blocking REM, and now you're able to achieve that sleep state, and also your body has been sleep deprived from the GABAergics that it's going to take advantage of the ability to get full sleep. Also, when you decrease them I believe your glutamate system becomes overactive for a while, which is the main reason why you shouldn't stop them cold turkey. If you're in the process of a taper try a slower taper and that may decrease the amount of over activity from the glutamate system.

You've haven't been taking them very long so hopefully this will be resolved soon. If you notice withdrawal symptoms are too intense you can always slow the taper - that should ease the intensity.

 

[amzam]

In the immediate aftermath of using a lot, vivid dreams are common. Sometimes they are really unpleasant. On average they tend to diminish the longer you are clean.

Often as one's sleep architecture gets more 'normal' after drugs are discontinued disturbing dreams become less common. But,there is always a but. If drugs and/or heavy alcohol use were masking some sleep problems that needed professional attention, then you likely need to get with a proffesional. A lot of problems go away when you get clean, the remainder likely needs attention.

 

[herbavore]

I've always been a fan of my dream life and from my new vantage point of old age I can say that there were definitely periods of my life when my dreams were all about fear (my twenties being the most obvious). Like Muzda, even though they were terrifying I found them to be interesting to think about. While I'm sure that the brain coming off drugs is in a chemical time of turmoil and re-setting, time of life can also be important. You are in a big transition. You are probably expending a lot of psychic energy on maintaining and managing and disciplining yourself to make the important changes that you are making. It makes sense in this situation that you would have to conquer fear almost on a moment by moment basis. Maybe the dreams are a way for you to acknowledge and confront the fear? IDK, but I find that rather than focusing on the actual details of a dream, focusing on the emotion it threw me into can be enlightening. Doesn't make living through nightmares any easier though. Mine got so terrible in my twenties that I was sleep-walking trying to get away.

 

[Sobrietysucks]

I had terrible dreams after I was cut off of Xanax - I had taken it daily for ten years. The dreams were very disturbing and felt more real than reality. They were so real that they were fused into my memory. Fortunately, they do go away in time.

One thing that helped me was to focus my thoughts before going to be and trying to will myself to dream about specific subjects. It took some practice, but this helped. Another thing I did was to train myself to acknowledge the dream as it was happening and to force myself to wake up - this also takes practice. If you're interested in learning how to do this let me know and I can tell you how I taught myself.

Certain GABAergics are terrible for sleep, they do block REM sleep, and the sooner you can stop the sooner your dreams will get better. Which benzo(s) and how much were you taking and what are you taking now? Also, are you taking any antidepressants now? If not, you may want to consider taking l-theanine (200mg), 5-htp (100-200mgs), and 1-3mg melatonin before bed. Take a good kava extract (Gaia makes a great extract) if you're really restless, but not every night. Melatonin will however make your dreams vivid, not necessarily bad but vivid.

I think part of the reason why these dreams happen you either decrease or quit some GABAergics is because they've been blocking REM, and now you're able to achieve that sleep state, and also your body has been sleep deprived from the GABAergics that it's going to take advantage of the ability to get full sleep. Also, when you decrease them I believe your glutamate system becomes overactive for a while, which is the main reason why you shouldn't stop them cold turkey. If you're in the process of a taper try a slower taper and that may decrease the amount of over activity from the glutamate system.

You've haven't been taking them very long so hopefully this will be resolved soon. If you notice withdrawal symptoms are too intense you can always slow the taper - that should ease the intensity.

Thank you all for your replies. They've helped me a lot.

I had a happy dream for the first time in very long time last night even though I didnt sleep much. Must be all the good vibes you guys are sending me lol.
I took half of my Xanax (1 to 0.5mg) and lyrica (50 to 25mg). I look forward to make the jump to 0 soon.

I made an order for all the supplements you mentioned, except for kava. Can I use them every night or will that cause the effects to be ineffective ?