Psycho-Babble Medication Thread 920765

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Parnate and nightmares

Posted by Girlnterrupted78 on October 13, 2009, at 5:54:20

I've been on Parnate for less than 6 months, and it's been working very well for depression and social anxiety. This has been the 2nd time an antidepressant actually works for me in 9 years or so that i started trying them.

The only problems that I have with it arise during sleep and with the fact that I have pretty much permanent shortness of breath. Sometimes it's hard to sleep because I feel too energetic during the night and I kept doing stuff and talking to myself a LOT and the hours just go by very fast.

The other times, when I do get to sleep, I have some severe nightmares. This is not always the case, and in fact I believe it's happened 3 times at the most since I started Parnate, but when it happens it is so bad that it leaves me crying for more than an hour or so.

Tonight I had one of those nightmares. It was one of my worst fears and phobias made into a reality, mixed up with the saddest things in my family, and a darkness and fear that were simply horrifying to me. Like waking up without having never been on Parnate to begin with, feeling just as depressed as ever, like my depression hit the bottom. It's like being fully depleted of any positive neurotransmitters I have from Parnate, and going reverse and reaching the lowest point in depression.

All 3 of my Parnate nightmares have been like that. I dream with my phobias and they become very real and very threatening and I feel so completely helpless and depleted of any internal defense that I just crumble and cry for hours.

Last time it happened, I had to work the next day. I began my day as a quiet, subdued worker, sort of the person I was before being on any antidepressant that worked for me. But 3 or 4 hours later after waking up, (and continuing my Parnate dosage) I was again energetic, smiling and doing a good job.

What is it about sleep that depletes Parnate of its helpful effects? When I told my doctor about it, I don't remember him giving me an answer, I will have to ask again. But it really concerns me.

After waking from that first nightmare at 11:30PM I was afraid of going to bed again because of this, the phobia I had dreamed of can become quite and obsessive thought that I like to put away, and i didn't want to think about it anymore. But went to sleep anyway, and I left 1 dim light on. This time I started dreaming again, but about something different and this time it was ok. Not a nightmare anymore. The weird thing is that even after the second dream, which lasted 7 hours or so (the first dream was barely 2 hours 9pm-11:30pm), even after the longer, better dream, I still woke up and felt disoriented in my own room, not knowing where #1 neighbor wall was or #2 neighbor is either, and disconnecting the wrong switches when I wanted to make a tea-- I disconnected the whole refrigerator which I never do. I sort of felt like I hadn't been in my own place in several months, and I haven't even left it. I just slept a night and had this nightmare.

If someone has any answer to this, I'd greatly appreciate it. Or if someone has experienced a similar thing, I'd like to know from other people's experiences.


Thanks in advance

 

Re: Parnate and nightmares

Posted by catstretch on October 13, 2009, at 8:04:57

In reply to Parnate and nightmares, posted by Girlnterrupted78 on October 13, 2009, at 5:54:20

Do you have dreams on nights when you don't have the nightmares? There is a phenomenon that sometimes happens when people stop taking Parnate described as REM rebound that sounds similar, but it also doesn't sound like you are doing anything differently before you've had these dreams.

 

Re: Parnate and nightmares » catstretch

Posted by Deneb on October 13, 2009, at 8:18:03

In reply to Re: Parnate and nightmares, posted by catstretch on October 13, 2009, at 8:04:57

Hello Catstretch!

Welcome to Psycho-Babble. Thanks for contributing. Feel free to post on any of the boards and ask questions if you are unsure of anything.

Deneb

 

Re: Parnate and nightmares

Posted by ColoradoSnowflake on October 13, 2009, at 15:16:10

In reply to Parnate and nightmares, posted by Girlnterrupted78 on October 13, 2009, at 5:54:20

Hi GirlInterupted:

I'm happy to hear that the Parnate is working well in so many areas!

My experience has been that I've gone through lots of different feelings and states. I don't know what it is, but I call it "brain housekeeping". I have nightmares sometimes, not as bad as yours, and then I have times when "old" stuff comes up during a day or two or three....., is quite upsetting, then it goes. I think the Parnate is allowing crud to come up which was pushed way down, and it gets taken care of by good chemicals in the brain, and leaves!! I guess I've put a really positive spin on it, but I BELIEVE it! I think some stuff is more easily worked out and let go of than others, and its a long term process. I keep feeling a little bit better all the time.

I don't have the problem with deep breathing. I do have problems with exercising and taking walks because I have balance problems now. I've fallen down several times, only really hurt myself once, but it makes me fearful. I'm not as good a driver either! I haven't figured that out yet...something about thinking I don't need to pay as much attention.

So hopefully all this stuff will pass, along with other side effects which have gradually disappeared!!

For years I have awoken at 3-4:30A.M. I hate it because I obsess about the blackest things. Sometimes I could go back to sleep (Yay) but most times not (awful). This whole phenomenon is getting better on Parnate. I don't often obsess anymore. I can usually go back to sleep after taking a couple of aspirin with a very hot glass of water. So I'm good and rested in the AM. Amazing.

I think it's a process with good results!

I'm anxious to hear what your "take" is on it! and others who are taking Parnate!

It's so great we can share information here! I don't think I would have made it past "GO" (or "stop") without the people here and the help.

Thanks everybody!

Gayle

 

Re: Parnate and nightmares

Posted by Phillipa on October 13, 2009, at 22:14:36

In reply to Re: Parnate and nightmares, posted by ColoradoSnowflake on October 13, 2009, at 15:16:10

Could you possibly be processing any of the days anxieties as I did that without parnate when working. Nursing couldn't find patients and couldn't find their meds. On and on it went. So I'm thinking could some sort of processing of anxiety thingy? Love Phillipa

 

Re: Parnate and nightmares » Girlnterrupted78

Posted by pedr on October 15, 2009, at 11:54:21

In reply to Parnate and nightmares, posted by Girlnterrupted78 on October 13, 2009, at 5:54:20

Hi,
I'm on Nardil but have experienced changes in my sleep. I frequently (most nights) am dreaming an OK dream and then at some point, something involving high kinetic energy comes towards me suddenly e.g. a rock comes flying from nowhere towards my head, or a soccer ball, or a large man or something. Just on impact I physically shake like I someone shaking a ragdoll (in real life, not the dream) - my head flings back&forth, then there's a blinding flash of white and I wake up. Sometimes it happens upwards of 5 times a night. It's a little disturbing but I've not thought about it much since Nardil's the only thing I've found to help at all.

Pete

 

Parnate and nightmares (Big correction to my OP)

Posted by Girlnterrupted78 on October 15, 2009, at 16:08:12

In reply to Parnate and nightmares, posted by Girlnterrupted78 on October 13, 2009, at 5:54:20

Thank you all for your responses.
_____________________

In my OP, I made it believe that I had gone to bed and had a nightmare very shortly after (11:30pm) I wrote that because I genuinely believed that to be the case.

I found out later on, however, something that really scared me.

When I woke up at 11pm on "Sunday night", I thought I had gone to bed around 9pm and only slept 2 hours or so.

The reality was that I went to bed at 3am on Sunday night. I could figure this out because I took my blood pressure last on Sun at 3am and wrote it in my spreadsheet. (I take my blood pressure several times daily after my 3 Parnate doses.)

Surprisingly, there were no results written for Monday. When I woke up at 11:30pm, it was actually Monday night, not Sunday night, as I first assumed.

So what really happened was: I had gone to bed on Sunday somewhere around 3am, and without realizing, slept all through Monday and woke up at 11:30pm on MONDAY NIGHT. I slept somewhere around 20 hours in a row without waking up and without even realizing what happened. I had no recollection of anything except for what happened Sunday. It didn't feel like a whole day of sleeping to me, that was probably the scariest part.

So after going to bed at 3am on Sunday, and waking up at 11:30pm on Monday night, I finally woke up Tuesday morning, thinking it was Monday, and didn't find out the actual date until later that afternoon when I looked at my cell and wristwatch.

This means I lost a whole day of taking my medication without even noticing. And I assume the nightmare must have been a result of the oversleeping? I must have been awfully sleep deprived that I ended up just sleeping straight through.

I have no idea, but this was the scariest nightmare ever. I swear to God I kept looking at my room and it looked totally weird and gloomy, I did not recognize a lot in it, it looked like death to me. I also felt so desperate to talk to someone, (and I'm not like that at all, when I'm upset, I always keep to myself and I NEVER need to "talk to someone") but this time I went as far as to see if there was a neighbor around, and I actually hit the streets to see if i could find a friendly face at 12am and just talk for five minutes to feel better because I just felt devastated. Of course, I didn't find anyone.

It was just horrible. It was like going from normal depression, to being more depressed than you can possibly be. The pit of depression, where things are no longer even half bad half good, everything's bad, and as bad as it can get. Sometimes I look at my closet and still get chills from the nightmare.

If anyone has some scientific explanation for this, it would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.


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