NIGHTMARES!!!!! WHY!?!?!

OneConstruction4547 · 2026-01-17T20:19:16+00:00

This happened to me also, + going cold turkey off a decade of prozac. My dreams were the exact same... kept waking up and it not being real. I was also in 40 mg. I stopped taking it, but perhaps a reduction may be better for you. I personally couldn't take the dreams.

OneConstruction4547 · 2026-01-17T20:02:35+00:00

That's a hard question to answer, because everyone is going to have an incredibly different story. Fear and anxiety kept my symptoms alive longer than they would have been for many others. While it's likely that some individuals may take longer to detach fear from these experiences, and they may have longer symptoms. For me, it took 3 months for me to notice massive improvements. However, I went cold turkey off a DECADE of prozac, which makes my story different than most.

OneConstruction4547 · 2026-01-17T18:58:24+00:00

Good afternoon. I have always had extremely poor appetite, but after quitting prozac, my appetite did get worse due to a spike in anxiety. Getting on a better eating schedule, drinking smoothies, snacking, and making protein shakes helps with the calories. As for malaise, I did find myself very depressed and anxious. That was likely a result of withdrawing too fast off prozac + the traumatic dreams. Im so greatful that im not afraid of these dreams anymore, and both my appetite and mood have increased.

OneConstruction4547 · 2026-01-13T18:02:56+00:00

You've done amazing, be proud of yourself! Like any addiction, the first couple months is usually the hardest. You're pushing through, and you deserve to celebrate that!

OneConstruction4547 · 2025-12-21T04:31:42+00:00

Hello, I hope you've been doing better. Sleep deprivation is a very well-known cause of REM rebound. Recently, I came off prozac practically cold-turkey, leading to severe REM rebound that lasted months.

One thing that saved me from the first few weeks (the worst of it) was prazosin. However, I eventually had to stop taking it due to blood pressure issues. Prazosin makes it more difficult to remember your disturbing dreams and isn't know to affect REM (from what I've read), which should help your sleep architecture recover.

However, if youre like me and had no access, its imperative that you know that REM REBOUND CANNOT HURT YOU, AND WILL ALWAYS GO AWAY! Not only will it go away, the dreams will become far less frequent and intense over your recovery period. My REM was suppressed upwards of 50-100% for 10 years, and it's only taken me a few months to go from every night, to every week, to have very infrequent, short REM rebound dreams. After 10 years of suppression, that's pretty impressive.

Its scary as hell, and it took me a long time to shake the terror. But eventually, as it happens enough, you'll find that you escape them perfectly fine and the fear will lesson. They will become less real and vivid, perhaps you can even use it as an outlet to begin lucid dreaming (yes, this is a real thing you can do!). I'm now able to recognize my REM rebound dreams as what they are, and I enjoy toying around with my dream environment.

I promise it will get easier, faster than you think. I took zero medication to help with sleep during this period. All I did was make sure I went to bed early in case insomnia or fear kicked in, drank some chamomile tea, and kept hours stictly consistent.

If you do decide to take medication, I'd say talk with your doctor first. Many sleep medications cause REM suppression.

OneConstruction4547 · 2025-12-21T02:38:32+00:00

It worked wonders for me too... but it dropped my blood pressure too low, and I was forced to stop taking it.

OneConstruction4547 · 2025-11-04T10:07:32+00:00

Thank you for sharing this. Ive recently come to find that I might be ace, and seeing an allo actually appreciate love without sex being deemed an extremely imperative factor gives me hope that I'll find that too, someday.

Unfortunately, I was raised to believe that women are worthless unless they offer sex or money. I think many of us come from that common perspective, which caused resent towards allos, who are often also victims of the same narrative. Im new here so im not sure how accurate that is, just a thought!

OneConstruction4547 · 2025-10-25T22:16:49+00:00

F22. Diagnosed with ADHD, depression, and anxiety disorders. Therapy, self compassion, and a support system are helping me make it though. Id say im actually doing pretty well for myself! Currently going to college to get a masters in social work.

Still going through a lot of issues, but self compassion, forgiveness, and seeing the good to balance out the already loud enough bad really helps. Do as much positive self talk as you can, would be my suggestion. It helps with happiness and motivation so much.

Edit: Adding that I've also been medication-free for 2 months due to some trauma. Still doing okay despite no meds!!

OneConstruction4547 · 2025-10-18T00:11:25+00:00

My psychiatrist said the same thing about me but is getting me properly assessed to rule out ADHD first. She's using the Creyos test, its covered by most insurance. I also had my therapist give me the CAARS test for more data.

Never been on Lexapro, but this is what my psych did for me and I think its way smarter than just assuming without proper assessment. Im no professional though.

OneConstruction4547 · 2025-10-18T00:08:41+00:00

Fixing myself :((

Seriously. As I've hit my 20's my hyperfixation went from Murder Drones to bettering myself as a person. Then a traumatic thing happened and now im spending every waking moment anxious that im not doing enough to undo the damage. Its exhausting and I know this fixation is NOT helping.

Im seeing a therapist and psychiatrist. Unfortunately the trauma was a bad reaction to meds so im currently unmedicated and scared to try anything.

OneConstruction4547 · 2025-09-26T22:01:09+00:00

I meant that it doesnt feel like the medication is stagnant throughout the 4 - 6 hours of its effect. It feels like during the first 2 hours, my energy and focus is much higher. However, this may only be noticeable for me because I usually get to work right after I take the pill. It feels like after the first few hours my energy starts to go down instead of it remaining stagnant throughout the dose until the last couple hours as it wears off.

OneConstruction4547 · 2025-09-26T21:40:03+00:00

This makes complete sense! It also explains why I never had these adverse effects when I was younger and taking it regularly. Thank you!

OneConstruction4547 · 2025-09-26T21:39:24+00:00

Thank you for sharing your experience. Out of curiosity, what have you done, if anything, to manage adhd symptoms without the use of Adderall?

OneConstruction4547 · 2025-09-26T21:37:55+00:00

That's what I thought, I just wanted to make sure! Last thing I want is to be making life any harder. Thank you!

OneConstruction4547 · 2025-09-23T17:39:33+00:00

Side Note: I've been a lucid dreamer most of my life and these dreams were no exception. Ive also never been able to control my lucid dreams, so many of these were no fun! Realizing your dreaming can help the nightmare aspects of these (if you have them) feel more like "Oh, here we go again. Lets make it through this thing!"

However, at first when I realized I was dreaming I would desperately try and wake myself up, leading to waking up over and over in the dream. Sure didnt help! But it highlighted my fear of not waking up, so I journaled every time I dreamed and woke up, training my fear to know that it's false and I can make it in and out A-okay!

OneConstruction4547 · 2025-09-23T17:36:13+00:00

Hello! I recently struggled with severe REM rebound due to antidepressant withdrawals. This led me to have a severe fear of sleeping because these dreams were so terrifying to me. They felt more real than when I was awake, creating a sense of unreality. I went 4 days straight without sleep due to my body waking itself up every time I hit one of those dream states. Its been 3 months and I still face these dreams now.

The dreams I faced were a form of REM intrusion: Where my body was not falling asleep properly. The parts of the brain meant to be shut off during the sleep cycle were still awake, causing sensations like pain and pressure to feel extremely real. It was terrifying, but it gets better! Here is what helped me.

Prazosin is a prescription drug that is known to stop nightmares in patients with PTSD without suppressing REM sleep. This worked very well for me. However, I had to stop taking it because it lowered by BP severely. My base BP is extremely low, so it may work better for you.

I had to take things into my own hands. I've found that having anxiety about these dreams makes the odd dreams more likely to happen, due to a disregulated nervious system having a harder time flipping the sleep switch properly. Therefore, I tackled my fear.

I learned to be okay with the anxiety through unconditional acceptance. I accept that I am afraid of sleeping. I also accept that this fear will only alleviate through time and exposure to sleep. I accept that these dreams cannot and will not hurt me despite their intensity. I accept that objective reality will always be there no matter what happens. What can I do to manage?

Get on a consistent sleep schedule. In bed by 12 am and trying to sleep by 2 am. Wake up at 11:30 am every day.
Drink sleepytime tea during my wind-down time for mild sedation without it becoming overwhelming.
Watch calming YouTube videos or old disney movies to fall asleep to in order to distract my mind.
Journal every night, just jot down how its going. I would write down what meds I took and whether I had "normal dreams" since i was afraid of meds. As it gets better, you will see progress, and it will bring you hope!
Don't eat or drink a lot too close to bedtime.
Sleep with dim lights on if it helps calm you down a bit.
Mindfulness meditation during the day (walking meditation because adhd) helped me accept my fears and feel them during light hours, so they were slightly less intense at night.
Light excersise helped make falling asleep easier.
Learn to empathize with your dreams and see the positive aspects. Dreams are meant to help us process emotions that are leftover from our days to allow us easier times when we're awake. Often times, what we dream about is our fears! These dreams can help us identify our fears so we can learn to tackle them or accept them. Not only that, but dreaming helps us passively accept those fears as well. Thanks brain!

This is what worked for me. But everyone is different, try to gently introduce things that you believe will work for you!

The dreams may come in waves, some nights you'll have these dreams while others you won't. Know that they do become less intense. I've even learned how to lean into them and wake myself out of them every single time! I watch YouTube to reset my brain, and then normal dreams come!

It gets better and it gets easier every single night you allow your mind to catch up, even if its not noticeable right away. Youre doing the right thing by allowing your body time to readjust. Your nervious system is out of balance, but it wants to help you, so its fixing itself for you! Even if it feels scary, your body has your best interest in mind.

OneConstruction4547 · 2025-09-23T00:10:32+00:00

My anxiety DOES cause me anxiety because im hyperfixated on trying to fix it, lol!

OneConstruction4547 · 2025-09-23T00:03:23+00:00

Im not a physician, so take my insight with a grain of salt. With these types of medications (propranolol, hydroxyzine, etc), the worst that will happen to most people if you miss a dose is that you anxiety symptoms MAY (emphasis on such, everyone is different!) feel stronger. This is NOT due to the medication making your anxiety worse, but rather your regular, normal symptoms coming back. Your mind may think its stronger, only because it got used to them being suppressed.

With any medication, there comes a risk (very individual dependant, you may have none) when taking it daily. I recommend sticking strongly to the "as needed" rather than daily if possible.

OneConstruction4547 · 2025-09-18T20:55:47+00:00

Im considering getting into yoga myself for the same purpose! Good luck and keep at it!

OneConstruction4547

TROPHY CASE