Vivid weird dreams every night which I find unsettling

Does anyone recognise being able to talk to yourself during a frightening dream, telling yourself to wake up, if that makes sense?
I have lots of disturbing dreams and can remember quite a bit of them for the rest of the day.
I know they are anxiety based but awful when it's a bad one!

My cardiology meds give me very vivid dreams

I too have very vivid dreams that waken me or leave me reliving them throughout the day, not sure if medication is the problem but I’m aware that anxiety plays a big part.
The most embarrassing episode was when we were on holiday, our room had a double layer interconnecting door which was locked from each side. In the other room we’re 2 young men probably in their late twenties. I never sleep well on holiday initially and was conscious that the men kept later hours than we did. One night my husband woke me as I was shouting and screaming, the next thing I heard the men laughing and imitating me, they obviously thought we’d had a good night. I was so embarrassed I avoided them for the rest of the holiday. Can laugh about it now but still feel the shame

My OH is the same - his meds give him really weird dreams - he once woke me to tell me that ducks have really sharp beaks....

I don't know which meds are causing my dreams, but they're exhausting - so complicated and frustrating.

I quite often dream I’m in a large hotel or university building racing down corridors looking for a ‘Ladies’, only to find it locked, or a long queue…. Then I always wake up bursting to pee 🫢😂

Be thankful you wake up.

Flipping Bisopralol (beta blocker) is the main culprit. I have the vivid dreams/nightmares between 0300 (pit stop) and 0700 (getting up). They always involve my major fears - heights, fire and anything happening to the dogs.

I’m on heart medication and never stop dreaming. Sometimes wake up exhausted! I have always dreamed but I have definitely experienced more weird dreams since I started the meds!

I started having very vivid - not necessarily disturbing - dreams once I started taking statins a few months ago. Could this be causing your dreams?

I used to have an occasional dream, maybe once a week, but from the first day of taking my blood pressure tablets I have several vivid dreams every night. They are not nightmares, just very detailed stories. I wake 3or4 times a night and each time I could write down the dream I've been having. I've just come to accept them now as the pills make me feel better.

I am late 70's and take no meds but I wake up about 3 or 4 most nights and get back to sleep about 5.30. It's during this second period of sleep that I have vivid and unsettling dreams. I think they are caused by anxiety. They are usually quite sensible but frightening.

I sometimes have weird dreams which I have now decided are connected with taking stains and using eye drops for high eye pressures or combination of both.

I have Hollywood blockbuster dreams that are so huge I have questioned my
life and career choices. I could be a millionaire 😂🤷‍♀️

The recurring theme ones are quite something though, aren’t they?

Same here. I’ve been on various anti-depressants over the years, Sertraline, Seroxat and Citalopram all caused very vivid and very colourful dreams. I think there are many medications which affect the brain and have an effect on sleep and dreams.

Yes OP. I can relate to that. I usually wake up around 3.00 and my dream is still very sharp in my mind. I then go back to sleep and off I go again. Sometimes things are going wrong in my dream but when I start to wake I manage to put them right before I properly wake. It’s usually the feelings in the dream that stay with me - a happy dream can lift my mood all day, but a dark dream can also affect my mood significantly. I have a lot on my mind at the moment, and I think that certainly affects how vivid my dreams are. I always feel that it’s my mind trying to work things out. It can be exhausting, but I don’t see it as a problem.

I've had various periods of dreaming but nowadays, despite being on a raft of medications, including betablockers and statins, it is very rare that one disturbs me or I even remember it. When my mum had dementia and a neighbour saw her admitting a stranger to her house late at night I dreamt several times that someone had attacked her. I was relieved when I found her a care home and that dream ceased. When I was a child I used to dream I was in a friend's house and heard a noise on the stairs. I went to the staircase and there was a brown bear coming down. I stood there frozen but when it reached me I floated up to the ceiling and it couldn't reach me. Then I woke up. I dreamt it so often that I use to think to myself "just stand here and you'll float up to the ceiling" - and it worked!!!

I always have vivid disturbing dreams if I go back to sleep after waking late in the night. It doesn’t happen when I wake to go to the loo earlier in the night.
Because of this I get up as soon as I wake, if it’s anytime after 4 o’clock.

pink princess
Nicotine patches are the ultimate for vivid dreams. When I used them they weren't nightmares, but every night & extremely real. If they'd been distressing I couldn't have coped with it - as another poster said, once you're awake you know it's not real, but you still feel as though you've experienced it.

I had amazing dreams on those nicotine patches.

Really detailed, vivid colours, and a sort of "whole body" experience.

I have nightmares virtually every time I fall asleep whether that is at night or a daytime nap. Some I remember in detail, others I just wake up terrified. I also sleep walk, scream, shout and lash out. Poor DH suffers terribly as a lot of my lashing out hits him. I don't remember anything about lashing out so the first I know is in the morning when he shows me the bruise, mark or scratches [embarrassed]

Sorry should have been

I’ve dreamt vividly for as long as I can remember and can often remember my dreams, they don’t bother me generally unless I’m particularly stressed.

Thankyou Valdavi and MissAdventure

One of my workmates also had what she called peculiar dreams on nicotine patches, she described them as making her not wanting o sleep because of the things that appeared in her dreams

pinkprincess

Thankyou Valdavi and MissAdventure

One of my workmates also had what she called peculiar dreams on nicotine patches, she described them as making her not wanting o sleep because of the things that appeared in her dreams

I've never used nicotine patches but I recognise that reluctance to go to sleep in case of disturbing dreams. Not helpful!