Hydroxychloroquine & bad dreams?

[Haz58]

Hi all. Since I started taking 2 X hydroxychloroquine I'm having bad dreams every night, shouting in my sleep or even screaming and waking up so agitated or even angry. I take them at 1pm after lunch as directed as i need 4 hours after taking omeprazole and have to eat with them. Has anyone had this please? I have never talked,shouted or screamed in my sleep before.

[JenniferW]

When I took two pills a day I was told to separate the doses and take them morning and evening. I think two at once is quite a high dose.

Also what brand have they given you? Some brands can upset some people.

[Haz58 in reply to JenniferW]

Hi Jennifer. They are made by Ipca labs. 200mg each pill.

[JenniferW in reply to Haz58]

I am not familiar with that brand, but it's worth asking the pharmacist about what fillers are in it and asking to try a different brand, in case it's that rather than the hydroxy itself. No harm in asking.

If it's any help hydroxy gave me awful tummy problems to begin with but calmed down to bearable after about six weeks, it is one of those drugs the body learns to tolerate..

[Haz58 in reply to JenniferW]

Ok thanks. Got them from hospital so not much chance of changing I bet. But I'll keep in mind for my next lot. They taste dreadful! So far tummy is ok. Mtx jabs caused gastritis and Leflunomide terrible diarrhea. So far so good on sulfasalazine and hydroxychloroquine no tummy probs.

[Garnacha in reply to Haz58]

Hi I've been on hydroxy for 3 years with no problem but my last batch taste absolutely vile & they never have before, reading your post they're made by ipca too, & last night had a horrendous dream (only one) I take 1 200mg a day.

I know there's been a shortage of them so whether they're from a different source, but I'm going to mention this at the chemist when I pick up my other medication & ask if its possible to go back to the original source. X

[Haz58 in reply to Garnacha]

That's interesting! I'll mention it to the nurse tomorrow. I got mine from Lloyds chemist with a hospital prescription. Would you let me know what your chemist says please?

[Garnacha in reply to Haz58]

Yes no probs x

[wishbone]

Similar thing here only my vivid dreams are courtesy of tramadol, which I've taken daily for the past 5 years or thereabouts. Probably addicted to the stuff as well but am not concerned about that at my age as it does help quite a bit with my pain. Not all my dreams are bad, but enough are. I too become animated and lash out at someone or something that is trying to harm me. Though not very nice I've sort of got used to it. I did manage to hurt myself on one occasion when I fell asleep in my armchair, lashed out and kicked the wall with just my socks on....ouch!! My toes were badly bruised but no breaks. Bad dreams occur more often with me when there negative stuff going on in my life and were more frequent when I was having a lot of health problems a couple of years back.

Perhaps best for you to have a word with rheumy.

[Haz58 in reply to wishbone]

Thank you wishbone. It's very unsettling isn't it. Ive not bashed hubby yet but I do keep waking him up. 😴 I'll give the Rheumy a ring like you say. Can't say there's been any stress for me lately but I've had a lot of health probs since October which are calming down now. X

[wishbone in reply to Haz58]

I have made contact with wifey once or twice but no harm done...except for me getting a slap in the face that is. 😊

Hope they stop soon.

[Mmrr]

HDQ gave me strange, vivid dreams too. Fortunately I wasn't on it for long, I didn't tolerate it well.

[rmros]

Hi. How long have you been taking it for? I seem to recall getting vivid dreams and anxiety early on when I started taking it. It took several months for the side effects to settle down and now I have none and barely know I'm on it.

Is there a way you can change the timing to see if that helps or do you need to take the omeprazole in the morning? I split my hydroxychloroquine so I have one in the morning and one after my evening meal, then take the omeprazole around lunchtime when I need it (I've heard PPIs work best if taken 30 minutes after eating, not on a full stomach or an empty stomach).

[Haz58 in reply to rmros]

I take 2 omeprazole a day 1 at 7 in the morning so I can take my Sulfasalazine at 9 when I eat. I was told to take omeprazole before eating. The sulfasalazine has to be taken 2 hours after the omeprazole so pharmacist and nurse told me. Then I have to take another omeprazole before bed. So it's a timing nightmare lol. That's why I take the 2 hydroxy at lunch. I've only got to take 2 for 8 weeks then can go down to 1 again if it's working. 1 I'm not too bad on one. I'll try the hydroxy with 1 at lunch and 1 at 6pm with tea. But I'm thinking it may be the dosage...?

[football64]

I take Hydrox after breakfast. No side effects or bad dreams.

[Haz58 in reply to football64]

Hi football who makes yours please?

[janmary]

When I was on Hydroxy I had horrible nightmares which would wake me up and left me feeling agitated. I also began to have episodes of weird anxiety in the daytime - never had that before or since. I also developed tinnitus which has never gone away ( that might ot might not be a coincidence )

I can’t remember if it helped with RA now

[Haz58 in reply to janmary]

That's interesting Janmary. Thank you for replying. It can cause tinitus too I've read on the NHS website. I'll talk to the nurse next week. X

[Carolsos in reply to janmary]

I take mine after eating something, like a biscuit at 4.30 am . And then I take all my tablets. Leflumomide, codeine, laszoperol. I have started on 300 mg of hdry for 5 days only and it seems to be doing the trick! My dreams have been very vivid, but thankfully no nightmares. X

[Seatgeorge]

Yep I had the same problem, really bad dreams etc, imagination runs riot as well, my consultant took me of them because they were causing hallucinations, I must say they helped the R A but at what cost, and remember the more stress you get the more likely to get a flare up.

[Foofsie]

I feel like I am having an epiphany here but I have been on hydroxychloroquine for more than 20 years but I also have had these weird vivid dreams/nightmares some of which I literally scream myself awake and my beautiful husband has to gently wake me up. Weirdly, I can hear myself wailing and flailing but can't stop it and I have NEVER thought to link it to my meds!! Is this an established fact or just a supposition on our part. I know I cannot deal without taking Hydroxychloroquine. Please let me know? Gx

[Haz58 in reply to Foofsie]

Apparently Hydroxychloroquine can cause vivid, weird and frightening dreams. I actually read the NHS website and it's there. It can cause anxiety, psychosis plus other stuff with the mind. Mine didn't start until I upped the dose as prescribed. 1 a day for 1 week then 2 a day for 8 weeks then back to 1. This got worse for me after starting the x 2 dose. I asked the Rheumy nurse before I read the NHS site and she said yes hydroxy can do that and to stop it for a couple of days to see what happened. I stopped it for a day but started the next day on 1 as my fingers started hurting. I took just 1 for 4 days and still had dreams but not as bad. So I upped it again to 2 and the dreams got worse again. I didn't take it at all yesterday and slept better. Ive got to call the nurse again tomorrow to report how it's going. So I'll let you know when I hear back. I did try to take it twice a day instead of once but it made no difference.

[Girtonian]

I tried hydroxychloroquine a long time ago and found that it messed with my head. I had vivid dreams and also strange thoughts while awake, and one time I thought my husband had come home from work because I heard him speaking clear as anything in the garden. When I went outside to ask why he had come home he wasn’t there. This really frightened me and I checked the side effects listed in the leaflet - all these things, including auditory hallucinations, were listed as rarer side effects. I stopped taking it. It’s interesting to note hydroxychloroquine is an anti malarial and these do have a reputation for sending some people a bit crazy. When my husband would take them for work trips abroad I noticed he would be really bad tempered and angry until the course had finished. But he denied it when I suggested I didn’t like him taking them!