Health & Fitness

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Q: I’ve been having weird dreams since I started my new prescription. Could they be connected?

A: This is actually a fairly common occurrence with many prescription medications as well as some over-the-counter drugs, alcohol and certain dietary supplements. 

For some medicines, this effect can occur almost as soon as the drug is started. In other instances, it occurs after it has been stopped. 

While experts aren’t quite sure why this happens, it is believed to be related to the ability of some drugs to alter the various stages of sleep that people typically rotate through three or four times per night. 

This is particularly true if the medicine affects our REM (raid-eye-movement) stage of sleep which is the period that normally gets longer closer to the morning and is where the most vivid dreams typically occur. 

Not surprisingly, drugs that impact the chemicals in our brains, called neurotransmitters, are the ones most apt to cause nightmares. These drugs include all of the anti-depressants, anti-histamines (drugs used to treat allergies), sedatives, some Parkinson’s drugs, anti-cholinergics (drugs used to treat urinary frequency) and many anti-dementia-type medicines. 

While vivid dreams are not necessarily harmful in and of themselves, they can lead to a significant amount of stress and potentially chronic sleep deprivation which, in turn, increases the risk of disorders such as depression and diabetes. 

To avoid or treat this side effect, a number of strategies may be tried. Changing what time you take the pill can sometimes help as can cutting the dose or changing to another drug that works in a similar way. Slowly going off these medications can also help minimize the potential for withdrawal nightmares. 

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Monday, October 31, 2011