Hi everyone, has anyone, like me, been experiencing bad dreams at night causing them to awake frightful and anxious?
I get this unsettling anxious feeling of unexplained fright which makes itvv by difficult to fall back to sleep again
I don’t get them when I have a doze during the day but waking up from these at night feeling literally afraid and anxious for no apparent reason is quite unsettling. I’m assuming it’s just a side effect of one or more or combination of the drugs I’m on including arrhythmia , BP, cholesterol and blood thinners
As I’m taking Atorvaststin at night and flecainide for my AF before I go to bed - I’m wondering if this anxiety is being caused by side effects ?
I have theses bad dreams nearly every night and always awake anxious and frightened so something’s causing them. Maybe there’s a connection with my meds , maybe not ?
Harry
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Harrythmia
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I have horrendous nightmares nightly. I wake myself up screaming, shaking and full of anxiety, even have tingling in arms and hands from the trauma of them. I no longer know what a decent nights sleep feels like. You have my sympathy.
Thank you. I have never mentioned it to my medics, I am so used to it it has become my norm. I recognise it isnt good for my health to have such disturbed scary sleep. Hope all is ok with you.
thanks meadfoot. Sorry to hear this you’re like me put up and shut up!
Hi,
In January 2021 my GP increased my Bisoprolol from 5 to 7.5 mg in an attempt to deal with raised BP. For the first 12 months this increase gave me no problems. Then around February 2022, gently gradually, I noticed changes, incredible tiredness, increasingly slow heart rate, often at night down to 39 bpm, and a continual "Zombie from the land of the Living Dead" state and nightmares. Ooooooh ! the bloody nightmares. They were beyond anything Vincent Price could dream up in a horror movie.
Given the hopelessness of the NHS at the moment and the chance of a face to face meeting with my GP I sent her a letter (hard copy) telling her I was cutting the Bisoprolol back to the previous 5 mg. I did this very slowly, as one is advised to do and cut it back bit by bit every 10 days so that by early September 2022 I was back at 5mg. Never felt better, just like superman, no more nightmares and a nice 55 bpm resting HR at night. Average resting daytime HR of around 63 to 67. Still have the occasional dream but I'd say that was about normal and I certainly don't dream every night either. Definately no more nightmares thank goodness.
Rather than changing the meds I would first try reducing anxiety levels and/or check for sleep apnoea.
I have always dreamt a lot with bad ones but more recently lifestyle changes have changed that to pleasant ones most of the time...still get a recurring anxious one looking for the loo but that is explained by too many visits in the daytime.
in the last 12 years since I have had AF, (fairly successful ablation in 2020) I have had various medications some causing night terrors. One of the earlier tablets was changed because of the terrors, I remember the Cardiologist saying some people were effected more than others some thing to do with crossing a barrier in the brain. This was a long time ago and at the time I didn't take as much notice or question things as I do now. I have had different episodes of the terrors, one 3 month period I was unable to go to bed at night it ended up cat napping in the day but still got the dreams. Since my ablation in 2020 when Flecainide was reduced gradually to nothing My dreams have mostly stopped the dreadful terror dreams I don't get at all. I have no idea if this was the cause or not. I take Lipitor, Diltiazem, Apixiban and Lisinopril. I had a few years on Bisoprol changing to Diltiazem because of Asthma with no dream change. I don't know if what I have written will help at all but I hope so. I will try to find the medication that was removed on old letters.
interesting about Flecainide crossing a barrier in the brain - if it was that drug your cardiologist meant - I'd second that if you take a high dose. Very weird. Am on low dose. Never got the nightmares but definitely used to feel like someone put their hand in my brain if I took extra PiP Flecainide. Yuck. Glad that I'm not needing to do that anymore
Both pretty bad drugs. Flecainide for me gave me very bad hallucinations after a very short time. Stopped them. No more hallucinations, a side effect my GP said.
no issues on Flecainide for me. Some others have reported nightmares with specific meds so it might be worth looking into. Also, what you're describing does sound like anxiety. So might be worth exploring both avenues.
Thankyou Singwell and to others with their insightful responses. Appreciated.,,So are we saying then that someone not on any of these meds but highly anxious by nature is just as likely to suffer from these vivid and frightening dreams? Am I “barking up the wrong tree” thinking it’s the meds rather than a anxiety personality trait causing this ?
Not sure if there has been any studies done into any of this(?). Singwell suggests, quite validly, that this may just be an inbuilt anxiety issue and nothing else.
Would be interest to hear from anyone whose on any off these meds who doesn’t suffer, or has never suffered, from anxiety, a past trauma or a stressful “life event” who nevertheless still experiences these nightmares & waking up anxious and frightened. H
Happy that you're questioning this and can only tell you from my experience and some learning. Dreams are one of the ways the brain processes our experiences. This is happening during sleep and especially during one of the phases- I think it's the REM phase but you can check if that's correct. So if we're navigating frightening or challenging experiences then this might show up in our dreams. Drugs can also impact and have a hallucogenic effect- others here have reported it and it's definitely worth checking your med leaflets re side effects.
As regards waking up suddenly and shaking and sweating, that is a known trauma response and is not untypical for those experiencing acute anxiety or PTSD. I had it after a particularly distressing blue light event during the height of the 2nd wave of the pandemic. I developed stress related vertigo as well. I would wake up in the night to pee and then suddenly start shaking, sweating and palpitating. My HR and BP would rocket. I mentioned this to the GP who said 'is anything else worrying you aside from the AF?' 'Global pandemic Doc - I no longer feel safe'. I chose not to take meds. Once I'd understood that it was a rush of cortisol and adrenaline because my parasympathetic system wasn't doing its job I sought help from a psychotherapist and started reading about the mechanisms of anxiety.
This used to happen to me too, though the worse I have now is bad dreams revisiting very stressful events in my life. I have always put it down to medications, though I was on a cocktail of seretonin reuptake inhibitors and benzodiazepines as well as the usual anti coagulants and beta blockers. I have largely eliminated the first two completely. But I think anxiety in general can do this as the unconscious mind is trying to cope with the very real fear of illness and mortality and 'replaying' the suffering of the previous day and week as it tries to form permanent memory.
Flecainide has given me nightmares for years. I also take Atorvastatin but had flecainide before I took that and had nightmares then anyway and so I put it down to the flecainide. Some of my weird dreams do make me laugh though. Sit back and enjoy the ride?
It may be worth looking at your beta blockers if you're taking one. Bisoprolol gave me the most amazing, exhausting psychedelic dreams... They were sometimes great fun but very wearing. I have since reduced and eventually stopped Bisop completely, no more acid trips..
I read just last week of this being a side effect of betablockers and similar. The doctors doing the study had no solution nor did they understand how it occurred. Some beta blockers cross the blood brain barrier more than others, I gather, with bisoprolol being one of the best for this, but whether that is relevant, I don't know. I get similar dreams regularly - at least ultra-realistic and rather negative, if not actual nightmares.
Yes I get very stressful dreams am on a bucket load of bp meds ,cholesterol and thyroid,apixaban and lansoperazol. If one is causing them near impossible to find out which one.I go into the spare room with a good book till I feel weary again.
I was put on 25mg daily of Betaloc (Metaprolol) in June and as well as feeling like a zombie I started having very vivid dreams about past events in my life. Sometimes they mixed various unconnected events and people. I can't say that they were nightmares, but they had a deep impression on me. On complaining about the zombie effect the Betaloc was reduced to half a tablet (12.5mg) daily, which is a small dose relative to what some people are on. I was able to talk to the nurse in the cardiology department and I opened up a bit about my underlying fears that my oldest brother had heart rhythm problems which never got sorted out and led to a stroke and then to his death. When I mentioned the vivid dreaming, she said that it could be my subconscious dealing with these fears. Recently the frequency and severity of these dreams seem to have reduced, but they still occur.
I'm also not sure what to make of it all but try to accept it as part of the journey. It reminds me of cycling trips we had in my youth and the attempts at map reading with varying levels of success: "Do you know where we are?" "Yes ... well er no. But it doesn't matter where we are; it's where we're going that matters." "So, do you know where we're going?" "Yes ... well er no."
Yes l do, the dreams come out of nowhere, really scary, things happen in them that couldn't happen, perhaps this is why l don't sleep well at all, lm frightened to go to sleep
I was on flec and didn't have this problem - it seems like others have though. Just a suggestion but maybe it's worth talking to your doctor about being referred for 'talking therapy'. No other meds involved and it could help with the anxiety which in turn might help with the nightmares. Just a thought.
thanks Paul. Very positive feedback. There is nothing to explain these nightmares and feelings of terror that I can relate to in waking hours
But perhaps there are things buried down there somewhere in my subconscious. Not sure if a therapist/councillor can provide answers. The general consensus seems to be that alot of people on this forum (not all) have had similar experiences to me and on the same meds. Perhaps these meds are a catalyst among a range of other causes. H
Sure it's hard to tell if it's med's or another cause. Just had a quick look on Dr Google and beta blockers are known to cause this. I'll link below to an article which may / may not help. Worth a read anyway.
Bisoprolol makes me have really odd dreams, but if I sleep on my back I have nightmares and occasionally sleep paralysis. When this happens when I literally can't move as my body is still in sleep mode but my brain is active. Really awful, I sympathise and can't offer any solution unfortunately.
I get bad deams, if not nightmares then vivid dreams. Valium is the only way i get a good nights sleep. Its been suggested that Sotalol can cause this but I'm not sure. I am going to start a sleep trial soon with new drugs so watch this space.
It took me a long time to realise and only recently come to terms with my fear of the dark. A few years ago my brother admitted that he was and I knew I was too. As children we lived in some very creepy and supposedly haunted houses, and I guess it all stems from that experience.
I'd hear a noise in the night and imagine someone was in the house. Even saw people stood by my bed. My heart would beat fast with terror. All solved this year, by leaving the hall light on which throws light into my bedroom. No more fear, but I do wonder if we have power cuts when it's dark this winter, just how I'll cope on my own.
thanks jean Sorry to hear of your story. Never thought I was afraid of the dar. I go to sleep no prob. In pitch black and k no I fear.? It’s waking up from a nightmare every night. Never pleasant dreams but ones that are really frightening and leave me in a hot sweat and pounding heartbeat. I feel frightened and “edgy” for no apparent reason. My medication dosages for BP and AF have been increased in recent years - so could this be a contributory factor I wonder ! Only my GP can answer this when I can get an appointment !
~Hi Jean - your post resonated with me - almost word for word as to how the dark touched you in such a challenging way as a child.
It has been like me shadow in life at times when alone in my big home which fortunately is not often presently. I do leave a light on & cope way better. Sleep somewhat broken as nightlight slightly visible - at least I am getting some sleep & sometimes catnap daytime to catch up.
I believe hypnotherapy can help address this which is something I am considering if I find the right Hypnotherapist.
Thank you for your honest reflection - I sincerely appreciated it.
~Awesome feeback Karendeena - giving this serious consideration. Life dominated by med apptments but going to make some enquiries re suitable Hypnotist as some nights procrastinate with bed routine which I know full well has its roots within the psychological paradigm area ~
Hi sorry to hear you are suffering with nightmares. I too struggled due to the betablockers i was taking at the time . I am an anxious person but once I came off the meds I was sleeping normally-ish(not a great sleeper at the best of times) . The only meds I tolerate is Apixaban. I hope you get an answer. 🌻
I actually started working with my dreams soon after my onset of afib, as several authors have addressed the possibilities of using lucid dreams to cure the body's ills. A good place to start is with Stephen LaBerge's work. (More recently and extensively, particularly for UK readers, is Charley Morley's work.)
On sleep more generally, a good starter is Matthew Walker's Why We Sleep. He has done great research on all aspects of sleeping, including dreams. You might find something useful in there.
A general rule on nightmares is that when faced with a frightening situation in a dream, embrace it rather than fear it. The more you fear it, the more it comes back. If you can embrace it, it disappears. Easier said than done, of course! 🥹
Hello Harry when I was on bisoprolol for my AF I had terrible nightmares and sleeping problems so I changed to Nebivolol and it was remarkable how they virtually stopped. Eventually I came to the limit of beta blockers and unable to take rhythm drugs and not fancying Ameodaron and all its side affects I opted for the pace and ablate option which I am now 3 months into and am off all drugs accept Warfarin and and Ramipril. Not every bodies choice I know but so far so good and great to be able to sleep at last. If you do take Bisoprolol try the Nebivolol instead for a start. Good luck.
I certainly relate - from both directions. I tend to be an anxious person but meds have also given me bad dreams. Even codeine can send me into delusions. I haven't been on the drugs you are on but we are unique and react differently. Meds are powerful. Your doctors need to know.
The little paperback, "Feeling Good" by Dr. David Brown has been a great help to me. Also reading the Bible and putting my worries into prayers. Of course our worst attacks come at night when our defences are down. That seems to be an open door for meds and any other worries to do their ugly deeds - meds gave me scary and and vile dreams at night . Sometimes I wish pharma would work harder at natural and herbal treatments rather than chemical. Honestly, I think if I were you I would also go to a naturopath and see if they can uncover something else going on.
Not necessarily. They use other means (physics, perhaps) of looking at the overall function of the body and then prescribe what is probably their own supplements, diets, etc. It can get expensive, but when our daughter's doctor was stuck, this is how she found help.
hi, when I mentioned my vivid dreams to the cardiac nurse he suggested taking the beta blocker, bisprolol, in the morning rather than at night. This seemed to help the problem.
Hi Harry - so sorry this occurring when your body desperately needs a time of restoration & cell renewal.
I found by reducing my melatonin at night (Dr prx'd) helped tremendously. My nightmares were awful & a common side effect.
Nothing worse than waking in morning feeling 10 times worse than what you were feeling tiredness wise the night prior.
You are a brave man indeed to put up with this but surely your q.o.l could be improved with tweaking some meds or at least discussion with GP &/or Cardiologist?
thanks for your good wishes and helpful advice Megams. Tweaking medication dosages downward is a no-no for me I’m told. When I suspected the statin at night might be the culprit in my case my GP wouldn’t recommend stopping it or reducing dosage for fear of sudden stroke !!! So I continue looking for solutions.
hi there, I’ve had bad anxiety an d nightmares with medication before but for me it was linked to the colouring in the tablets, if I have red or black colouring in tablets then that’s when I get then so I make sure all my medication is free of these colourings. Sometimes people are set off by the yellow colouring but if you’re tablets have these in try and get a brand without them.
Hi Harrythmia, I get this all the time, it's the brain playing games because deep down you are stressing about the afib. I have been known to take my pulse in the middle of the night. My EP looked astonished at me and said "Why" at that point I realised I was having nocturnal panic attacks. My GP have me diazapam and when I wake like this I take one, helps so
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Nightmares and bad dreams
hello new meds to try 
Flecainide dreams!
Dreams and Betablockers
