I had to cease Mirtazipine due to nightmares - or more specifically, because I was waking my wife up from the screaming. Never happened before nor since, and I can remember some of them still. Terrifying
For a number of years, Mirtazapine helped me sleep, although it reduced dreaming to nil. Interestingly, the antihistamine sedation effect of it decreases at increased doses.
The drugs are appalling. They have all sorts of weird side-effects but offer only marginal benefits in terms of sleep amount and quality. I have used Mirtazapine to good effect, however, so you might yet find something which does suit you. The only other thing which has worked is just learning to accept the suffering and not get too stressed out about it. Losing sleep is bad, but getting angry about it just pushes me over the edge, so I avoid getting angry.
Mirtazapine is one of very few drugs that will knock you out without giving you poor quality sleep, being risky long term or becoming a physical dependency
On the subject of mirtazapine, I was like a zombie for the first week @15mg and ready to ditch it but the doc persuaded me to stick it out and sure enough the chronic drowsiness went away by the following week, leaving only the potent sleep induction that encouraged an increase to 30mg.
But this thread terrifies me now, finding it's also a dementia-inducer. Is there any literature I can review to either allay or justify the fear? Additional horrifying fact from same physician: Chronic benzo use also linked to dementia?
I got prescribed Rosuvastatin and got extremely vivid nightmares to the point of waking up unrested. I thought I was the only one because I could find much online. The dreams and nightmares are so intense I have stopped the statin.
Thank you for recommending me exercixe. That might be the answer.
Funny that some medications have these dream effects. An uncommon side effect of Montelukast is vivid nightmares and sleep paralysis. It’s a relativity common asthma control medication, but was recently moved to a not-recommended status for younger people because of this side effect. My personal experience was pretty intense nightmares 1-2 times a week if I took it before bed. Taking early in the day stopped this side effect.
My wife takes it... not regularly, but perhaps 5-6 times per year, to deal with sleep issues. From what I can tell, there's no real side effects for her - she gets a decent sleep, and is refreshed. I took it 2x about 10 years ago - first time was... a bit spaced out after I woke up. Second time a few nights later I had probably the most horrific nightmare I'd ever had. Never touched it again.
I used to react strongly to antihistamines, even weak ones, that are not supposed to induce sleep (levocetirizine would knock me off), but after mirtazapine I got a semi-permanent tolerance to other antihistamines sleep inducing properties -- so if other antihistamines cause dementia, I'd expect mirtazapine to do so as well.
It's also a pity because I used to feel quite well rested and clear headed the day after antihistamines.
Prazosin is the one drug on the market approved for PTSD-related nightmares, I've heard that it works well, but it's a blood pressure medication, so it might not be well tolerated based on conditions or other medications taken.
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