One of the big side effects of anti-depressants for me is increased dream activity. The 40mg of Prozac I’m currently taking certainly makes me experience a feature film nearly every night.
Prozac dreams are a very commonly reported side-effect. It makes sense, to reduce depression these types of SSRI drugs increase brain activity.
Sometimes the dreams I have can be disturbing: ranging from slightly unsettling to full-on horror-film nightmares. But thankfully, they’re not all like that, some are just happily bizarre. One last night featured a girl I’ve not seen since school as a religious fanatic wearing a broccoli-covered suit. Weird!
I’m not too worried about it, the side-effects of Prozac dreams usually dies down in a few weeks or months. And there are some things you can do to try and help the situation.
1) Be tired! A silly-sounding suggestion perhaps, but if you are properly tired when you go to bed you should sleep deeper.
2) Don’t overstimulate before bed. So don’t stay up late watching fast-paced thrillers or, even worse, horror films. Better to turn the TV off and read a good book!
3) Try herbal sleep remedies. Passion flower, valerian, lavender, hops etc. are all herbs well known for promoting sleep. I find hops are particularly effective. For me they deepen the sleep and put the dreams ‘further away’, so if they are disturbing they bother me less.
4) Have a sleep routine. This is something I’ve always struggled with. I’d go to bed at all sorts of times, and get up at all sorts of times. I’ve followed the advice of others and now get up regularly at 7am-ish every day, including the weekend. I sleep a lot better for it, and now look forward to going to bed early!
If you are on anti-depressants and are effected with excess night-time activity don’t worry, try these simple tips, and be patient, hopefully over the months they will reduce.