A while ago I asked if anyone experienced nasty dreams, nightmares etc, some replies agreed with me and a friend who is on same drugs as me has exactly the same trouble, Bisoprolol seems to be a factor. I experience many different topics and they have no relation to my life. the strange thing is that it is just like reading a Kindle book as it unfolds in front of me line by line. there are horrid things , murders or getting lost or even can't find my car or panic as missed the last bus. One recent one was about sheep all over a railway line getting killed . Another a goat walked into a camp fire and was set alight, I know this all sounds crazy. I am supposed to be a sane and sensible person, Cant tell other people as they do think I am mad. Sometimes I have two or three per night, am getting to worry about going to bed as I always wake up each time. Dont get much sleep. When you finish laughing tell me if anyone else has to put up with this. from Anne M
Scary and bad dreams: A while ago I... - Atrial Fibrillati...
Scary and bad dreams
Anne I would never laugh.
I don't take any drugs for AF since my last ablation in 2008 but still take warfarin and some BP meds but often have vivid dreams involving loss. One classic regular is that I am on holiday in a hotel and the coach is waiting to take me to the airport but I can't find my room to get my luggage. (Haven't had that type of holiday for thirty years.) Another is that my workshop has been bull-dosed or broken into and everything has gone. Classic anxiety dreams in other words.
I think as we get older we are less able to consciously manage stress so our brains do it whilst we sleep in strange ways. I did once have a strange waking dream where I was flying across I beautiful green valley with farms and animals below. It was me flying like a bird not in a plane. WONDERFUL, FEELING. If I opened my eyes it stopped but as soon as I closed them again it started once more like pausing the TV. I decided not to have any more port after that. ha ha.
I certainly had some very strange experiences on bisoprolol. Psychedelic lucid dreams, mixed with hallucinations. Mind you, it was combined with dihydrocodeine, so that probably made things a lot worse! I’m off the bisoprolol now and only take Flecainide at night.
My recent recuring dream was of purchasing and buying an old public toilet and renovating into a home...BUT then waking distressed as could still smell urine and no parking space.
Frequent dreams of flying like a bird and providing energy for myself by eating porridge....This dream is my favourite and is a wonderful feeling up there in cloud cuckoo land.....One of these dreams I was teaching others to get off the ground and fly too.
Other dreams are sometimes nightmares and very very unpleasant. ..
Haha can't blame the meds as I have always been wired to the moon.cx
As Douglas Adams wrote. It is easy to fly. You just throw yourself at the ground --- and miss! It really is that easy. Great sensation.
Absolutely Bob...
They say you've never seen a tree unless you've perched on it or flown over it or something like that..C
😊
I can identify with wired to the moon. My family calls me a giraffe as my head is often in the clouds. And I have a sweatshirt that says: " I live in my own little world but it's okay; they know me there." I'm not bothered by this because I think people like us are very creative and think outside the box. I also have ADD (the daydreamy type). I've come to look at it as a gift. Just a different way some of our brains work! 🐱😊😂 Take care, irina PS I'm 74 and can finally be as eccentric as I want! LOL. Thanks for reading this totally off-topic post.
Loved your response thank you so much ..Yes it's good to know l am not alone up there in cloud cuckoo land....It's true what you say about creativeness only subjects l excelled at was music and Latin (romantic poets) also Beethoven was my hero...
Can make life lonely though sometimes as we tend to get misunderstand by so called normal people.
Take care and meet you up there sometime when Bob and I are soaring above the roof tops...
Cx
I'll be there. And I think there are more of 'us' than we know. Re school I was good in similar subjects but terrible in math. I could always get the correct answer but couldn't explain how I got it. Used to drive the nuns crazy!!! Tee Hee😁😇
Yes me too.Could work out in my head but not on paper ...😂
🐹
I also have horrible,complicated, disturbing dreams. But the really gory, macabre, horror ones have lessened since moving my Bisoprolol to the mornings. The lack of quality sleep was getting to me more than the walking through treacle days.
I had similar dreams to yours when I was taking Bisoprolol. I told my EP and he confirmed it was often a side effect and changed my medication. It’s no laughing matter, your sleep is so important. Good luck!
All these comments make me realise that my dreaming is related to medication. I too am on Bisoprolol however the disturbing dreams I have always involve things happening to my family, and believe me I often wake up in tears. Like you say, I can't mention to anyone as they'll think I've lost the plot (anyway, a not sure if there ever was a plot to start with).
I am on cancer medication as well as all my AF stuff and yes I'm awaiting further investigation to see if 'it' has come back so all in all I'll admit to being somewhat anxious but these dreams have been going on a long time and fairly regular.
Maybe we are all looking for that plot eh?
stay well everyone,
Blue 
There is a plot but not everyone can see it-only us lucky ones. I am in a silly mood this morning (8AM in Atlanta) and am enjoying this brief respite from difficult medical probs. Thanks.
Yeah, my dreams exhaust me tbh. Ever since I started with Paf I’ve had lucid dreams. In the start they were horrible nightmares and often violent and very graphic, I think this is due to my exposure to trauma at work though. Over time the nightmares have just turned to vivid dreams most of the time comical really. I believe it’s my outlet for stress and anxiety. A common one for me is the nose bleed, loosing teeth and flooding. The psychologist amongst you will know they have great meaning. I’m med free now after my ablation but still have the dreams, my research also showed me that as we fall asleep we can become hypoxic momentarily and that lack of oxygen albeit minor can instigate terrors
It’s true. Bisoprolol can cause bad dreams as it crosses over the blood brain barrier. Atenolol probably less but if you have heart issues not just AF bisoprol is the drug of choice as it offers better protection overall.
Not only do I have the dreams and nightmares, I do the screaming and yelling that goes along with it. My husband is always waking me up to stop the torture to myself and him. My dreams come from stress, I am sure. All about my grandkids getting hurt or someone after them and me trying to catch them to safety——or about me delivering babies without a license and always looking behind my back to see if I’m going to get caught. I don’t have a nursing license anymore. Lol.
Yes I have such dreams, nightly, without exception from being a small child. Sometimes I quite enjoy the complexity of the dreams and am quite proud on waking of my vast storylines lol. My mum used to suggest I write them down as storylines and plots for books.
On a serious note they can be very scary and I am concerned about the quality of my sleep with all these random thoughts pervading. My plot lines are always in glorious technicolor with great detail and usually very well structured. My dad had the same constant dreams all his life so I wonder if in part it's hereditary in my case.
Sometimes I wake mid dream, am conscious of my surroundings then fall asleep again and pick up where I left off. I just accept it as part of my life now, can't say it's medicine or food driven.
Wow... and I thought I was the only one! I have always dreamed, but nowadays the dreams are complex, full of logical narratives with twists and turns etc... sometimes scary but always vivid. Last night I had three separate 'stories' all of which I remembered on waking. I am no longer on bisprolol since my ablation, but have been told that the dreams might be caused by mild/moderate sleep apnoea. One night I dreamed I was in a quiz programme and got all the answers right immediately. The strange thing about it is that I could not do that so quickly in real life. When I awoke I remembered the questions and answers and they were all correct! Wish I could tap that skill when I am awake! The brain is a strange organ....
Goodness, not just me then... I have terrible dreams - wars, terrible wars and I am trying to escape from soldiers on the ground, hiding and waiting to be killed. Or I'm totally lost somewhere. Shuddering just thinking about them...
My husband was away and during the night I opened my eyes to see a man crouched over the bed wearing a white balaclava. I shrieked so loudly my neighbours heard me and I thought I was going to have a heart attack with fear. A nightmare but my shrieking was real. The middle of the night is a very surreal lonely place and I would never find other people's nightmares amusing. Thank you for bringing this up - I too am on Bisoprolol and I must admit I only skimmed the side effects.
Yes, I commented in the last thread about my dreams. Whilst I believe it may be down to the bisoprolol, I am happy to say that these dreams have stopped bothering me now, even though I've not changed my dose or routine in any way. I suspect that they are still occurring regularly, but I only remember them a few times and have managed to start ignoring them.
Yes, when I was on Bisoprolol I had nightly nightmares. Very lucid and really more like normal daytime reality than a dream state, but horrible. I always thought they seemed to belong to someone else, like having someone else's dreams as they were so alien to me. Many times I awoke wondering where on earth the images had come from as I saw stuff I'd never been exposed to. Stopped taking the drug and the nightmares stopped.
Yes, I have the dreams. One recurring one is that I suddenly remember that I have a baby, but I haven't fed it for days and it's very weak. Or I dream it's Christmas eve and I haven't bought my children any toys. Another is that my air flight is only a few hours away, but I haven't finished packing my suitcase. I rush and then realise all the essential things I haven't brought with me.
My toilet dreams I've talked about on here before. I'm desperate to go but each toilet door I open (if there is a door and there's often not) reveals an overflowing, stinking toilet. Or I'm at someone's house and their toilet is in the corner of the kitchen totally exposed.
I don't know if any of you have visited the underground area in Palermo, Sicily where dead bodies are strapped to the walls (can't think what the place is called). At one time Sicillians used to preserve bodies and go and visit their dead relatives and change their clothes. Well that place horrified me and I now have a dream (like the films where we think, no don't go down to the cellar) I go down and all the bodies are alive and chase me.
I have your war dreams too Eatsalottie, where the enemy soldiers are coming to get me - I'm in a hotel and rushing to flee Paris.
Love hearing all your dreams.
Jean
Seems like we all have more in common than just AF.
Jean, I have had your baby dream but about hedgehogs!
I look after hedgehogs (none in at the mo)and have had as many as 15 for for the whole winter before. I’ve dreamt that I had hedgehogs to look after but forgot about them and inadvertently starved them to death!
Usually though, if I’m having a bad dream it involves my husband with another woman 🙄 (this has never happened and I have absolutely no reason to think it ever would!) . When I wake up I’m really cross with him 😂, can’t even bear to look at him. I tell him I’ve had a dream about him and he says ‘what have I done now?’
I also have lucid dreams where I’m aware and can direct it to where I want it to go. These used to involve Ewan McGregor 😊.
Pat
Ewan McGregor dreams, I could cope with them - am envious! Perhaps in a previous life your husband then cheated on you?
I wonder what the dreams of failing to look after something living means? Do we have an underlying fear of letting people down or something like that I wonder. Any ideas?
Jean
Yes all beta blockers seem to have this effect. I try to take my last dose at 5pm so they've worn off a bit but still sometimes get the weirdest dreams. I think the word I would use is vidid rather than scary, but they often seem very real.
Or maybe when we sleep we pass into a different dimension or time frame? I was once "talked back" by a therapist and accurately described flying a Lancaster in 1943 two years before I was born. OK this is getting deep now so I'm off. (throws stone into pond and watches ripples. )
Bob, in my previous life I believe I was in a WW2 concentration camp in Lublin, Poland. I had the most peculiar thing happen to me once when touring that area.
Must make the effort to come to one of your lunches and chat more about this. Or PM me.?
This is very interesting. More please. Years ago, when I was healthy, and on no meds, I could sometimes give myself a pre-sleep suggestion about something or someone pleasant I wanted to dream about. Often it would work. Then after starting to take meds for this and that I was able to do this less frequently. And when I started using a CPAP machine in 2011 I have not been able to do this anymore. The reason I think I started 'suggesting' dream topics to myself is because I worked in the Operating Room which was a very reality based, sometimes sad environment and pleasant dreams was my way of clearing my mind. Even now I don't like most reality grim-based movies/TV. I like beautiful settings usually in another time and place. Downton Abbey works!!! I guess this is my way of escaping all the unpleasantness in the world today.
Oh yes - had a nasty one last night that set my heart racing. I am sure it is the Bisoprolol and the cardiac nurse at my local GP surgery told me it is quite a common side effect.
Hi, I would never laugh about night terrors. I'm not on any medication for my heart, but I take trazadone for anxiety ever since my mom died last year. I actually posted about this very thing in the RLS group wondering if it could be the medication. The dreams are often scary, always vivid, sometimes sad, and often are about my mom. In my case, it could be at least partly the grief and maybe guilt surrounding her death. Hard to say, but I definitely can empathize with you.
I've tried several beta blockers over the years and they all have given me bad dreams. When I started taking bisoprolol I only took it in the morning and didn't have any bad dreams, but I was taking only 125 mg.
Hi Anne. Yes I'm on Bisoprolol and have terrible nightmares. I could write a screenplay for a horror movie from the content of some of my dreams.
Snap! About 6 weeks ago my GP advised me to take my bisopropol at night as my bp has been very high. Since then I dream every night, like you they are unrelated to life and are not just flashes but long drawn out novels! I'm hoping it will go in time. Like you I haven't mentioned it to anyone. I am seeing my GP for a review on Tuesday and will definitely mention it. Any novelists needing inspiration for a new book should try bisopropol.
I got this quote from a book on writing by Sophy Burnham "For Writers Only". When the author W. Somerset Maughan was asked where he got his ideas for novels from he said: "I listen to the voices." A perfectly plausible response, IMO.
Has anyone changed to taking bisoprolol in the morning because of the dreams and did it work?
I was taking mine in the morning but made me very lethargic so it's sleepy all day or dreams at night 😂
Hi Ann, I'm not laughing. I remember sometime ago (last year, maybe?) this same subject was discussed here and it seemed quite a few people posted experiences about meds and bad dreams. I do know that vivid, unpleasant dreams from certain meds are not that uncommon. Maybe browse around and try to find the thread. Very informative. Maybe google a question re what meds cause bad dreams? Just a thought. Hope this helps. Take care. irina
You’re not mad. It is the bisoprolol. Known but fairly uncommon side effect. Research has shown that for those who are vulnerable the restless sleep, leading to bad dreams and then hallucinations often kicks in somewhere around 120 to 150 days on the drug. Very important to get the best sleep you can so ask to change to a beta blocker that doesn’t cross the brain barrier. I changed to Carvedilol on the advice of one of my two consultants and have been fine since then.
I am following on to my old post re bad dreams with this thought, can you possibly rate this horrid nightime stuff with WIFI, we all have it in house now, dont we! getting into our brains!!!!!!!
Hello, really late reply so you are probably not on this thread anymore, but I have the worst nightmares and heart pounding every night since I have started taken this medication, mostly of my fears and sheer anxiety. I'm hoping they ease off.
Very scary pause
Worries and anxiety over stroke and AF can’t take blood thinners 
