Vivid dreams?

[kuntrygurl78]

Ok, I started on elavil 10mg soon after diagnosis. I was on it for a month and couldnt shake the morning fog. So I went off it.

About a year later I started seeing an IC doc. He wanted me on it. So I started on 5mg. I did that for a little over a month with no problems. So I upped it to 10mg (per doc). Now, Im having vivid dreams. Like crazy ones sometimes. I talked to my mom. She takes 50mg for her fibromyalgia, and she hasnt had any side effects.

I know that my IC doc eventually wants me to be on a higher dose. I dont want to even think about it until these dreams go away. Has anyone else had this side effect? And how long did it last?

[ICKIRSTI]

I have crazy dreams all the time!! I wish I could tell you if it was the Elavil or one of the other gazillion other meds I've taken. There are many factors that can cause those crazzy dreams, so don't let it stop you from getting the help you need!!!! :pray: for peaceful sleep and perhaps it shall find you. :smile tee

[Claredale]

I had them from time to time, but not until my dosage was increased to 50 mgs. I mainly had the horrible dreams when I was on nerve meds like Lyrica, Neurontin or Topomax as well as the Elavil. I had gotten up to 50 mgs before I stopped a few months ago because I felt like I was doing okay without it finally.

My husband just mentioned a few weeks ago that he was so glad that I wasn't waking him up during the night because of a bad dream or tha I couldn't wake myself up.

T83

[Claredale]

Kirsti is right. There are times I have dreams out of no where as well. If I have a dramA filled day or have some pain and I haven't woken up enough to take a pain med, I notice I have more dreams than other times. My mom also told me that even though we are given the Elavil to help us sleep, it really isn't good restful sleep, so that can tend to lead to having dreams more often that we remember.

[leelee88]

Kim I am one that had very vivid dreams with Elavil..To the point of being real like and sometimes very scary!

[jjt001]

I did have some crazy dreams in the beginning, but they went away fairly soon. I don't remember for sure, but within a few weeks, I think. And they didn't seem to come back when I increased my dosage (all the way to 75 mg for a while). I have always had pretty vivid dreams, but I remember that these were extra-vivid and sometimes pretty scary!

[kuntrygurl78]

Im glad my dreams arent scary. They are just really there, and I remember them pretty much every day. Before the elavil, it wasnt every day that I remembered my dreams.

For instance...one night I woke up after having a dream about being in the snow. When I woke up, I didnt have socks on, and my feet were cold. Then, the other day, I had a dream about my grandparents dog that died a few years ago. I have no idea why.

I truely believe that those who pass before us come to your dreams. The only person Ive been close to that has passed is my grandma. Havent had any dreams about her yet.

Im on such a small dose and I dont want to increase it until these dreams go away. Do they go away?

[leelee88]

Kim, I am sorry to say but as long as I was on Elavil they never went away. I jsut dealt with them because the Elavil helped my pain.. Now the tofranil did not give me the vivid dreams and helped my pain just as well..

[kuntrygurl78]

Well, I guess since my dreams arent nightmares, I should be ok. Its just something new to get used to.

Thanks yall for your insight:bow:

[Claredale]

Yes, Lisa and I have compared our dreams. I can remember one time knowing i was dreaming and having a horrible dream. I couldn't wake up. I felt as if I was screaming my head off, but finally had to hit my hands on the head board to wake up my husband. He said I hadn't uttered a word. I was only able to wake him up by shaking the bed. I got up after that and had to calm down for at least an hour because when I tried to go back to sleep, that dream came right back. I don't normally remember them the next morning, but my husband used to tell me how upset I would get.

I dreamed the other day that one of my co-worker's daughters was going to get engaged. Her boyfriend had purchased the ring way back in February and wasn't going to give it to her until this summer. It was killing my co-worker knowing. I always say the moms shouldn't know! Anyway, I dreamed early one Friday morning that the guy was going to pop the question. When I told my friend, she said he better not this weekend since, she and her husband would be out of town with their younger daughter. I got a call that Saturday afternoon that he had in fact proposed. Now she wants me to work on lottery numbers so that she can pay for this massive wedding that her daughter wants. She doesn't want it to be like anyone else's wedding! Have I ever said I fortunate I feel to have had only sons! LOL!

T83

[jjt001]

Kim, my vivid dreams did go away (I've been on Elavil for about a year and a half). I don't think they lasted more than a few weeks or a month. My dreams now don't seem any more vivid than my usual, but I am a person who very often remembers my dreams. Elavil has really been my miracle drug, so even the scary dreams were worth it to me! Though I'm glad they went away!

[Jess82]

How funny- I just had an absurdly vivid dream last night in which I was laughing and mumbling so much it scared the bejesus out of my poor boyfriend! I've always had a tendencey to talk in my sleep and have vivid dreams, but it's good to know maybe the elavil is influencing it a bit.

...so I'm not just crazay on my own, lol

[lan]

I had vivid dreams when I started taking Elavil at 25mg. The vivid dreams went away after a few weeks and now my dreams are back to normal. So, for me, it was not a long term side effect. Wishing you well. Linda

[Kathy in Canada]

I am taking Amitriptyline (generic substitute for Elavil) 20 mg is the am and 20mg at 8 pm. I can't take it only at night or in the evening because the nerve pain relief wears off by about 4 pm the next day. So I take more in the morning. I had to work up to both of these doses, they both are the most I can manage with my other meds- or else I'd be on the couch all day.

I have vivid dreams almost every night. They are often scarey, usually exhausting, I sometimes have to wake myself up. I will even go back into the same dream after waking up. If I am having a real bad dream and it is around 1 to 2 hours before I would usually get up, I sometimes get up so I will not dream anymore. These dreams are not quite nightmares, but as close as you can come to that often. They are never pleasant and seem very real. I usually have severe challenges ito deal with in whatever the dream is.

The medication does help my nerve pain a lot. So I deal with it. You would think I would be afraid to fall asleep. I'm so tired by bedtime, I 'm usually out like a light.

Kathy

[ICKIRSTI]

haha, okay i must retract my former statement and agree the Elavil has some strange twisted dreaming kinda going on. haha. I was not taking the Elavil for a while. I had given up on it. BUt lately I was getting a bit on the depressed side and so I started taking it again. (Like this past week back to 25mg) I can now definately say, my dreams, WOAH, VIVID, STRANGE, ALL OVER THE PLACE, WOW!! HAHA, on the bright side, I WAS VERY HAPPY TO RETURN TO MY NORMAL STABLE LIFE THIS MORNING. HAHA. But The crazy part, the VIVIDNESS of the dream. I know like every detail!!! I will share last nights frenzy with anyone that would like to be humoured. Okay, I peeked down the staircase and saw my boyfriend trying to hide from me, he wanted to leave before I was awake, but i Caught him!! He was wearing a basketball outfit with pink stripes. (he hates basketball and pink nevertheless) He told me not to follow him and I did, and I wound up asking him why he was being shady. So, he didn't answer. ANd somehow he allowed me to go along with him on his mischeivous day. Apparantly we took my car. Because before I knew it, someone stole it. I was wandering around, looking for it crying. He was busy fighting bulls in bull pens and getting hit on by random ladies. I asked him why he had my ring, and he told me that he really bought the ring for someone else, and that he gave it to me, when she turned him down.Now she wants him and must have the ring back as it was meant for her. Meanwhile, I'm following him, he's getting very annoyed and I'm freaked out, but I still follow. Next thing I know, my car is back. Completely stripped of everything, I get in, and it wasn't even my car. I could tell the make and model were totally different. No one believed me! I couldn't find the mileage marker to prove to them that it wasn't my car!! I was convinced someone stole mine and gave me their old frame. Next thing I knew I was at a birthday party unable to find him, still stressed over my car and man, and they were playing a game, seeing who could chop the most apples the quickest. Apparantly from all the stress, I demanded a cigarette and started smoking again, and found myself crying and peeling apples in a colonial dress, alone in a barn, in heavens knows what time period. Then I woke up. hahaha. Oh, I am so grateful to be back to reality!! Top of the morning to you all!! haha. So, the vivid, strange, randomness in the dreams. Yeah, the Elavil musta had something to do with that.:smile tee

[jen48446]

I had this problem with Effexor XR, initally they were strange dreams then about 5 weeks into it I had a horrible nightmare & called the doc that day & weaned myself off of it.

I hope your experience is better than mine:smile tee:angel::cat:

[kuntrygurl78]

Im still having the dreams. Luckily, they are not bad dreams. Just very vivid. I even notice that when I get up to go to the bathroom, I go back the same dream. Its take a few months, but I think they are slowly winding down. I have a feeling that my doc wants to up my dose at our next apt. He wants me up to 25mg. So I imagine the dreams will increase again with the increase in meds.

[MirandaW]

I have been having vivid dreams since I started Elavil as well. I wondered if that was normal...