Citalopram & Vivid Dreams

[moomingirl88]

hello all,
i have been taking 20mg citalopram daily since last October to combat mild depression/excessive worrying/anxiety.
in the last few months, i have been experiencing vivid dreams every night. they are so detailed that i always wake up feeling unrefreshed. i have no problem getting to sleep and feel i usually get my 8 hours...but the dreams mean i don't feel rested.
my partner has also commented recently that i make lots of noises in my sleep...something which is also new.

is this something anyone else has experienced? i just feel tired all the time and am wondering if the dreams are a result of the medication.

many thanks. :wacko:

[Elen]

Hi must say i miss my SSRI fueled dreams.

The only problem I had with them was they contained enough reality that I had to sift through things in the morning to work out what was real and was in fact a figment of my imagination.

[Debs21uk]

I have them on and off but it's quite normal.

Sometimes I wake up thinking someone has actually done what they did in the dream. Weird but normal.

[moomingirl88]

Thanks for replying guys. Nice to know I'm not alone.
I woke up the other day with a horrible feeling that the dream had been real life. It took me a good few minutes to gather my thoughts and realise it was just a dream! Scary though.
Thanks again :)

[Mojo61]

Oh yes, tell me about it lol!

My dreams are so vivid that I sometimes wake up and for a couple of seconds I wonder if it was a dream or real life.

And yes, they are exhausting and seem to just go on and on for hours! A while back I had a dream that I went into the bakers to get some bread and the manager said they were short staffed so would I help out by doing a shift behind the till? I said yes and for the next 8 hours I was run off my feet, serving bread and cakes, taking money (I couldn't get the till to work properly) answering the phone, making doughnuts and God only knows what else. When I woke up I was completely exhausted, it honestly felt like I'd done a full shift, even by feet were aching! It was the most vivid dream I've ever had lol, I was knackered the next day :roflmao:

[sidiam]

Hi,
I take citalopram 20mg and have trouble with "daydream dreams" when I wake up too early. Drifting in and out of a sort of sleep, on the surface dreams, not nice at all.
I know I should probably get up but then the day is far too long.
Of course I googled, dreams/rem sleep etc.
found this, liked the elephant information...
Dream Facts




Most dreams last anywhere from five to 20 minutes.
People don't only dream in black and white, as was once believed.
Even though they may not remember them, everyone dreams several times a night. In fact, during a typical lifetime, we spend about six years dreaming.
People who have been blind from birth have dreams that are formed from their other senses (e.g., touch, smell, sound).
When people are snoring (http://health.howstuffworks.com/mental-health/sleep/basics/tips-to-stop-snoring.htm), they're not dreaming.
Elephants (and some other animals) sleep standing up during non-REM sleep



take care all,
Sxx