![]() The first thing that strikes me is that this side effect needs to be taken seriously. Even those of us who knew we were experiencing drug withdrawal felt some fear and shame to think, as one woman put it, “that such brutal creations could be a product from within my brain.” To have these nightmares without any inkling they were drug-induced could be too much for some people to take. It might be much worse for those who had survived real war or other extreme trauma, or for those who held strong religious beliefs about Satan or Hell. People may also be at risk of being quickly misdiagnosed as psychotic, treated with more powerful drugs, and seen as “crazy” by those closest to them. I’ll be honest, I’m a Christian and I had some long talks with God about the dreams because they were so disturbing.’ ‘… Each time we’ve tried to wean off Cymbalta, my sister and I have both experienced awful nightmares that are not like anything we’ve ever known.Once in the dream, I accepted it in my mind I started to understand it and try to convince my wife (in the dream) to accept it/him too. One of them involved an invisible being who spoke a language I didn’t understand and I was afraid of. I am having terrible dreams which I can only recall parts. Pretty much the most terrifying, disgusting & sad images I’d ever thought possible.’ My nightmares vary greatly but always involve unfathomable slayings, terror, bloody massacre, dismemberment. I eventually made the connection and it scared me and had me feeling ashamed that such brutal creations could be a product from within my brain. ‘… I never imagined that anyone else suffered from this bizarre withdrawal symptom.I scream in my sleep and wake everyone in the house.’ How many times can you put up with your zombie mother climbing out of her grave and lurching around your front door? That’s just one of my nightmares. I’ve had some of them more than 50 times. They are in HD, widescreen, surround sound, full colour and Smell-O-Vision … in other words, a real horror film in my head every night. I had no idea my dreams could be so horrible!!! Not religious but sexual, and in a bad way.’ ![]() ‘… I have had the worst dreams of my life as well.I took a nap a little while ago only to wake up crying from some Exorcist-type dream … Is anyone else having crazy, vivid religious dreams?’ My family is Catholic but the only Latin I know is from Lent at church which I haven’t been to in 10+ years. My husband woke me from a few last night. Lots of others had experienced gory nightmares that were startlingly similar to my own. Recently I checked a website called Here are a few comments: I was VERY lucky in one sense: by this time I began hitting the Internet and discovered that this was not coming from my own mind, but from drug withdrawal. Yet there they were – crazed killers, spattered brains, severed limbs, the whole nine yards. In godawful living color, and even with a smell of blood I could clearly recall on awakening. That was another curious thing, because I usually don’t have vivid dreams I’m doing well to remember them at all. These dreams were incredibly vivid. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre? Night of the Living Dead? I don’t really know – I’m the type who refuses to see those movies because I can’t handle the images. I can only describe them as a “highlights reel” of all the worst Hollywood slasher/horror movies ever made. That’s when the strangest withdrawal symptom hit me: Cymbalta nightmares. It started when I tried to step down from 120 mg per day, back to the standard 60 mg dose. From simply feeling depressed and tired, I shifted into full meltdown mode: crying uncontrollably unable to concentrate simultaneously groggy and agitated. At this point I realized the drug was part of the problem, and resolved to try going drug-free, for the first time in years. I myself had been on and off a long series of antidepressants, but never had really dramatic withdrawal symptoms until I stopped the SNRI inhibitor Cymbalta. ![]()
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