Weirdly enough I think Ativan may have also been keeping my nightmares at bay. On top of the horrendous sleep I’ve had without it almost every other one of my dreams is a nightmare. I had an absolutely awful one last night about our dad becoming too aggressive and bad and we had to leave and he never got the help he needed and ended up alone and I was so conflicted because I didn’t want that toxicity in my life anymore but I still loved my dad. It was so painful I was sobbing the whole time and I woke up feeling depressed for the first time in weeks.
Nah it’s because I’m not taking Ativan at night anymore. That’s been a disaster. Benzos are a miracle medication for me which is why it’s so frustrating that you aren’t supposed to stay on them.
I’m curious if there is anything non-addictive that can help with nightmares and vivid, bizarre dreaming. I’ve been getting more issues in that department on Latuda. This morning I had a very vivid dream that I was in a prison and fell in love with a guy who gave me a pendant of the Eiffel Tower, and then he tried to abduct my younger sister (who doesn’t really exist) so I shot him. Random as ■■■■.
I noticed since I started Abilify I’ve been having more vivid dreams as well. Funky. Not sure how to help there though, as again benzos have been the only thing that have helped with my nightmares.
Same. I would get horrifying paranoia attacks and hallucinations a lot of nights. Ativan could snap me out of those very quickly. I haven’t had disturbing night hallucinations in nearly a month now.
Hmm I always take it a couple hours before I go to bed, but that time can vary. I don’t mind vivid dreams, they can be very fun, but the nightmares I’ve had-ahh
Benzos are not a miracle drug. Do they work? Yes, they work very well, but the problem, besides having to updose to keep them effective, is that when you stop taking them you get a rebound of your symptoms. What ever they help you with, when you quit taking them, those symptoms come back even worse than they started. Maybe that is why you are having such a problem with sleep now that you are not taking ativan. Just a heads up I guess. You might want to try prazosin if you are having nightmares, and if you have to be on a benzo to be able to take an antipsychotic, you might want to rethink that approach.
Oh ok, I was just responding to the “if you have to be on a benzo to be able to take an antipsychotic.” I was put on the benzo initially because of my PTSD. I’ve been taking it several weeks longer than Abilify. But yeah I do think part of why my sleep has been even worse than normal is because my brain got used to sleeping w that help. I’m still taking Ativan, just during the day now because pdoc and I are experimenting if I can sleep without it now without constantly waking up/flashbacks/etc. so far I’ve not really had any PTSD symptoms, but I have had that insane trouble sleeping.
A medication you might want to look into is prazosin. It is a blood pressure medication, but it helps with nightmares and has been used in treatment of PTSD. I have used it before and it helped with my nightmares, and my sister has PTSD and it helps her as well.