Thread: Make it stop please!

i started taking a drug called Welbutrin for my depression but started having extreme lucid nightmares so I stopped taking it, now every single night I have between 3-6 very intense lucid dreams. I wake up in the morning filled with anxiety, stomach pains, and fear. The dreams now aren't always nightmares but they are sometimes, last nights was. I just want it to stop, I don't want this anymore. I'm really scared from these and don't know what to do. Please help me

Not to downplay the fear and anxiety..as I know they can be there...but if you are lucid, you should know nothing can hurt you in a dream, so have you tried taking control of the situation? You could also try closing your dream eyes and try to wake yourself up or at least change locations. If your dreams are vivid but not lucid, I would work to also turn the fear into a dream sign to alert you to the fact you are dreaming.

Seems like vivid, intense and even bad dreams are one of the side effects of WB ( I googled it). You may try and read a few forums about that to learn if the side effects end after you stop taking the drug.

Also, as Rothgar said, you have come the right place to learn how to deal with your lucid nightmares. Lucid dream is a dream in which you realize you are dreaming. Once you have your daytime memory functioning, you can remember that it's just a dream and nothing can hurt you. You can even change the dreamscape or what is happening, or wake yourself up. Good luck!

First, if you're having a severe side-effect from your meds, definitely tell the doc who prescribed them about it. They may be able to change you onto something different. Don't just stop taking them or resign yourself to living with the nightmares. The internet's a bad place to get specific advice about that sort of thing.

If you want to take control, keep a journal where you write down every dream you have in as much detail as possible. Especially the nightmares! You may find this process therapeutic in itself -- if nothing else it's a way to process the bad stuff and get it out of your head by putting it down on paper. However, recognising patterns in your nightmares can also help you overcome them.

For example, I used to often have nightmares involving confined spaces (something I strongly dislike in real life). Now, if I find myself in a situation like that I usually recognise it as a "dream-sign" and become lucid. This gives me three possible ways out of the nightmare:

1. I instantly become more relaxed, because I understand it's only a dream;
2. I have a chance to try to change the dream narrative, for example by believing that I have a key in my pocket for a door that was locked.
3. If (2) doesn't work out, I can usually wake myself up. Personally I do this by just shouting "wake up!" and stamping my feet, hitting a wall etc.

I'll wake up having defeated the nightmare -- a good feeling! And over time those nightmares have gone away, perhaps because I got good at getting rid of them, although I still don't like confined spaces IRL.

This works because of keeping a regular dream-journal -- like a lot of other thing it takes a bit of persistence and probably won't help overnight. It's a journey.

Good luck with it!

Originally Posted by Tiredalot

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You should research on your own. On the first page I found using Google:

Hopefully, once you've adjusted to WB, the vivid nightmares will fade.

I started with WB, and when I added Celexa, it dampened my dreams a little, back to what they used to be. Hopefully, once you've adjusted to WB, the vivid nightmares will fade.

I've heard that doing meditation/relaxation exercises before bedtime can help relieve nightmares.

Source: Vivid, Gorey Nightmares On Wellbutrin - Wellbutrin (bupropion) - The Depression Forums - A Depression & Mental Health Social Community Support Group.

Originally Posted by Tiredalot

I wake up in the morning filled with anxiety, stomach pains, and fear.

This is caused by your dreams, right?