Bad Dreams PCS - Anyone else?
 

I originally thought that I was having nightmares due to taking amitriptyline to help me sleep, but I am not taking anything now and I have extremely vivid and generally twisted nightmarish dreams! This has been fairly continuous for the 4 months I have had PCS. I bring it up mainly because I still feel exhausted, like I could sleep for another 8 hours or so, when I wake up. I've tried napping during the day, because I work later in the afternoon into the night, but I have dreams again and still feel mentally fatigued when I go to work.

I was wondering if anyone else has experienced this? Maybe its just me and the anxiety/depression is taking its toll. My doctor told me to try taking trazedone, but I'm concerned it will make me even less able to wake up from these terrible dreams when they happen. Not really sure what to do at this point. I am open to suggestions!

Bad dreams
 

I had some (though not like you) when I was really really depressed. They went away when I started Wellbutrin. Good luck!

I had been waking up in a panic attack state-sometimes I could remember the vivid dreams, but mostly I was just in a heightened state of fear/flight.

I have been taking trazodone and propanolol. I was on amitrip. before which made me very dazy and zombie like.

I find the trazodone good overall for headaches, and together with the propanolol and L-Tryptophan I am doing better. Now I wake up 1-2 a week vs. 7 in panic.

Best of luck to you-everyone will have different experiences. I suspect my bad dreams/ panic are my unconscious trying to work out my trauma.

My dreams change based on how well I am breathing or if I am sleeping with my neck and head in a good posture. I find that it helps if I wake up, I get out of bed and sleep in my recliner or just get a drink of water before trying to go back to sleep.I have had a string of bad nights this past week. No big deal for me. I have lived with this for 12 plus years.

I Can Relate
 

I had nightmares but I was told it was more from Post Traumatic Stress disorder.:grouphug:

I have experienced this also. To the extreme. I finally started having seizures in my sleep and the neurologist diagnosed me with REM sleep disorder and nocturnal epilepsy. I am told it is common for sleep problems to occur after head trauma. The doctor put me on clonazepam and Ambian at night and it has cleared up the problems. I sleep good now and feel rested in the morning. I don't think I was really getting much real sleep before. Good luck. I know how miserable this nightmare and not feeling rested problem can be.
Brain

Thanks for sharing your experiences!
 

It is good to hear I am not completely alone in this! I have had a seriously weird four or five days. I don't know if it is too much to hope that maybe my brain is making some connections or something and its completely throwing me off? I ended up taking Friday night off work because (I'm assuming) the weird dreams and not getting real rest increased my photophobia.

Still having the weird, twisted dreams, but I guess I am going to get the trazedone filled and see what happens! I've tried to go back to minimal stimulation (except for the computer) and I've just been listening to a book on tape. However, I have several thing to take care of this week...taking my car to get it fixed and providing dmv w/ certain documentations etc...this means I'll need to function a little during the day before going to work.

I know we all have to do this, but it's difficult to limit myself! All I can think about sometimes is swimming laps or going for a run. If I have a good day, these days, I try to go for a walk, but I've never liked walking because it's too slow!! Ugh...I'm being petty and silly I know. My heart aches for the energy and resilience I used to have, and can only HOPE that I'll have again at some point!! I'm rambling now, so I am going to stop!

Thanks!
jac3sr

Brain patch, I would question the doctor who said you have 'REM sleep disorder and nocturnal epilepsy.' Duh, these may be terms that can be written in your record but the question should be, What is the underlying cause ?
There is a saying that neuros are good at diagnosing aneurisms, epilepsy and tumors. These can all be imaged. Ask the doctor about something that can not be imaged and you likely get deer in the headlights.

A general idiopathic diagnosis of REM sleep disorder and nocturnal epilepsy only helps if the doctor is going to defer to drugs.

"The doctor put me on clonazepam and Ambian at night and it has cleared up the problems." This would likely be more accurate if it said "The doctor put me on clonazepam and Ambian at night and it has resolved the symptom."

I hope you have been able to move on from the clonazepam and Ambien. They are not good maintenance drugs. Clonazepam makes my Paxil look like a baby aspirin. I was on it for over a year.

I know plenty of TBI subjects who have insomnia but overcome it without drugs. I take gabapentin to help my body sleep without jerking. Without it, I can still use my non-drug techniques to get to sleep but the sleep with include twitching and jerking.

I have bad dreams and trouble sleeping from the stress.

I've had nightmares and trouble sleeping since my concussion 3 weeks ago, waiting for follow up Dr appointment to see what's happening.

Does anybody get surreal or abstract dreams - these aren't frightening but just wake me up and I think to myself where did that come from ....... then a few seconds later I am back to sleep.

I can never remember the dreams in detail but boy are they weird

Abstract Dreams
 

Yes...you actually gave a better description for my dreams...the ones that aren't downright nightmares anyway! I recently had a night full of these weird abstract dreams, but I couldn't really wake up from them. It was strange...I knew I was in my bedroom and I could see my bedroom but my dream was still going on, so I knew I shouldn't be in my bedroom and NOTHING made a bit of sense that night!!

Usually I can wake up from them though - and I also don't generally remember details, just the feelings they provoke!

Jac3sr

Do you also get them when your awake ? I do. I am not sure if it is part of the lack of cognitive function but I find I can be thinking about something then end up with a completely different train of thought - some days I think I am going nuts.

Mark,
Thanks for the concern. I agree that it is better said that the Ambian and Clonazepam have cleared up the symptoms not the problem. Unfortunately, the problem is more complex for me than just the post concussive syndrome. It looks like I have inherited the same disease that my dad has. The REM sleep disorder is the first symptoms of Parkinson's disease. They call it a precursor for this disease. My MRI shows the same frontal lobe shrinkage as my dad and also shows something that severe chronic migraine headache sufferers have. The specialists at the University of Utah have compared our blood and I have hereditary factors. This specialist said that at this time I do not have enough of the symptoms for a diagnosis of Parkinson's disease but it looks like that is where I am headed. I would not recommend anyone to get on Ambian and/or Clonazepam unless absolutely necessary. With my seizures and this sleep disorder the clonazepam is the only option. It is the only medication that controls this REM sleep behavior problem and as it is brain damaging me every time it happens, I think the clonazepam was a good choice for me. I will have to be on these medications for the rest of my life. For those with just insomnia, I agree with you that there are better alternatives. Wish I had better news to report on my health but it is what it is. I do not need any more brain damage than I already have if there is something that can reduce it. I feel much better being able to get some actual sleep and no seizures. I have been getting out and doing more so this works for me. I hope all of you are coming along good with your recovery. I wish you all the best.
Brain :grouphug:

You Are Not Alone!
 

Yes, I have experienced this too. It sort of feels like ADD or ADHD or something. I've been blaming it on the lack of concentration/attention that I seem to have right now. One of my close friends that has been helping me a lot through this mess (she's also a nurse, which helps) has ADHD and we generally just try to crack up about it. But, not normally being like that, it is really weird!!

I have to admit that about 60% of the time these last four months I've felt like I'm in the twilight zone because nothing makes sense!!