Hi. It’s Jenny at AnxietyBoss.com. Our question today is from Daniel in LA. Can Zoloft cause me to experience strange and unusual dreams?
Yes. Zoloft can cause a side effect of the user experiencing strange, very vivid, and sometimes-frightening dreams. These strange dreams are due to the association that depression and rapid eye movement or REM sleep share.
When a person is in a deep state of sleep and is dreaming the most frequently, they’re in what is called REM sleep. Due to the nature of the subconscious, many people who are depressed tend to report having more dramatic, extreme and overall stressful dreams. However, it’s important to try to understand where the culprit of these unusual dreams is truly coming from.
Did you have these dreams before Zoloft? Have your dreams always been vivid and intense? If you can, you may find it helpful to keep a journal of these dreams and tell them to your doctor so that you can figure out what is truly bothering you and if you can work through it without taking yourself off of the medication.
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I am taking Zoloft due to PTSD from combat. Prior to taking it my dreams were violent in the extreme. In my dreams before beginning meds I have died in many different ways and situations. Now all violence is gone replaced by a stream of dreams of being unprepared in high school or college. Also, many dreams of sex with former pardners making me feel that I was with the dream subject. Dreams are in IMAX and high def sound. Touch and smell feel real. I know that I will have to remain on Zoloft for the rest of my life. But at least life doesn’t suck.
Thank you for your share. SSRIs such as Zoloft can induce vivid dreams, just as you describe. On the other hand, Zoloft may be unmasking your unconscious and may be something to discuss with your therapist. The fear of being unprepared and the feeling of intimacy are possible themes to explore further.
I have always had dreams that I can remember parts of since I was 4 years old. I am now 30. I have been on Zoloft since mid January 2017… and now it is mid March. I am always tired for a month and a half now because my dreams have become almost real. I am on Zoloft to reduce my anxiety from hormone treatments connected to Crohn’s Disease. Since I get up a few times at night for the restroom I have many VIVID dreams about everything under the sun. Some are obviously not real because they include people who have passed but some are so real I have to ask my friends if we have had the conversations that now seem like real memories. I showed up at a friends house convinced we had decided to hang out, but it was a dream conversation. I always too the Zoloft right before bed till yesterday. I am now trying to take it 1st thing in the morning to see if it helps. Yesterday I didn’t eat with it and I got very high at work about an hour later. This morning I took it with food and thank goodness it didn’t happen again. I really miss good silent dreams. I am so tired.
Hello Kandis, yes, Zoloft can cause vivid dreams. You may want to ask your doctor to switch to another medication if the vivid dreams continue.
I’m pregnant and on Zoloft. First time ever being medicated. 23 years old and first pregnancy. Since I started the medication I have began to confuse my dreams with my reality. I really think that the things in my dream actually happened and when I wake up I am so confused and takes me a minute to realize I was dreaming. I have had a couple dreams where I thought I actually already had my baby. Sometimes even when I sleep hatd through the night without having a vivid dream, I wake up drenched in sweat when it’s not even hot or the slightest bit warm. I woke up today and thought my MIL came home from work and my puppy was up scratching at her door and even heard her talking only to wake up and it was actually a dream. I was so confused and it took me 30 minutes to realize what had just happened…which was nothing at all. I find it hard to differ it this is because I am pregnant and exhausted….damn near restless or because I’m on Zoloft. It is starting to freak me out a little. Especially since my mom brought it to my attention that if it is the meds I could think I’m dreaming that my baby is crying for me but it’s real life and I’m just passed out thinking it’s a dream.
Unfortunately, Zoloft (sertraline) is commonly associated with the vivid dreams and excessive sweating that you mention: https://anxietyboss.com/anxiety-treatments/prescription-drugs/#sertraline. However, Zoloft can also induce a serious side effect- auditory and visual hallucinations. Please follow-up with a psychiatrist immediately, to help determine if you are experiencing hallucinations from a serious side effect from Zoloft, or if the hallucinations are due to a worsening mental illness.
Hi Dr
I got on zoloft recently for postpartum anxiety. For awhile I had this feeling of impending doom. Since meds I feel less anxious & more functionable. I am an ER nurse and my husband is a cop in a dangerous city. I’ve always been “used to” our jobs and what it entails but since having a baby… I am always worried about him. Last few nights I’ve had dreams people were invading our house and killing babies while I wore my son in carrier (he kept falling out) & we were all on lockdown. I’ve never had violent or vivid dreams like that. What could this mean???
Zoloft and other SSRIs can cause vivid dreams as a side effect. Your nightmares may also be a stress response. Or it can be due to both. Please follow-up with your psychiatrist and therapist to assess what is going on.
Hi, I been taking sertaline 100mg for a month now….I been having bad panic attacks, feeling like I can’t breath and every time or most of the time I eat I feel like it’s something stuck in my throat! I immediately panic..but taking this medicine it has come down just a tad bit…but I’m having unusual dreams, slight headaches, and thinking I’m seeing things outside my dreams…I’m scared and don’t know what to do..but want my anxiety to leave!! Do u have a response that can help??
You may need a lower dose, as the side effects of headaches and vivid dreams are secondary to the dose being too high. When I prescribed Zoloft, I went really slow with my patients, as the side effects can be quite debilitating. But I know that Zoloft is effective, but the side effects must be managed first. Visit your doctor about taking a Lower dose, and then once the side effects go away after a few weeks, then the dose may be slowly increased if you still have the anxiety symptoms. The main advice is to start low, go slow, and increase the dose ever so slightly. The side effects usually go away after a few weeks of starting, and after each dose increase.
I started taking zoloft almost two months ago. I started on 12.5 (half of a pill) for 5 days, and then went up to 25 for about 2 weeks, and then went up to 50, which is where I’ve remained. At the beginning, I could feel an improvement almost immediatley. Little things. Like being able to wake up and make coffee, which sounds so small, but I had been depressed for quite some time and the mornings were so hard. I feel like I’ve made improvements in some ways, but have regressed in others. An example of my regression, is my ocd. I struggled with it pretty bad in the past, but sincertainly high school (I’m 30 now) I’ve had it in check for the most part. I was hoping it’d take care of the residual ocd tendencies I have, but instead, I notice that at night before I go to bed, I’m compulsively checking on my daughter in her crib. Even if I just checked on her a few minutes before, I can’t relax until I go and put my ear to her mouth and hear her breathe again. This only happens at night. Prior to being on zoloft, I’d check on her the normal amount that any new mother would do, but now like I said, it’s compulsive. I feel like it’s starting to get more manageable again, and I’m more able to talk myself down and say “you JUST checked on her. She’s fine.” I’ve Googled whether or not zoloft can make ocd worse instead of better, and all I found was something saying it can temporarily increase anxiety but in the long run it should help. Is this accurate? Bc Im really satisfied with the improvements I’ve been making in other areas, but I’m concerned that my ocd could get out of hand. If it is a temporary spike in anxiety, do you have any idea how long it’ll last?
Actually, Zoloft is often prescribed for OCD, as it is indicated for it. And Zoloft can cause an initial worsening of anxiety in the first couple of weeks, then it goes away. I wonder if you are now just less depressed, and your increase in worry about your baby is because you have more energy now? Please consult with your doctor about this.
I had extremely vivid dreams when I started Zoloft in 2016, but then that went away. Then just in the last couple of months my vivid dreams started up again. All of my dreams are of violence or scary situations where someone is murdered or dies. I have been watching a lot of scary movies lately and did just have 2 deaths in my family so I figured it was that, but it is starting to scare me to where once I wake up from them I have a hard time falling back asleep. I’m only on 25 mg.
Unlikely from Zoloft, as those are treatment-emergent effects, at the start of treatment. You have been on Zoloft for a while, and at low dose, so most likely not from Zoloft.
I have been taking Zoloft since 2011 when I was 16, and I’m 23 now. It has helped me immensely with my depression. The dreams, however, are absolutely crazy. I’ve had dreams in which I am able to control energy with my body and project it from my hands (think Dragon Ball Z-sounds dorky, I know), dreams where I can fly and levitate, and others where I’m talking to my best friend who passed away tragically as if we were making up for lost time. In almost all of my dreams I am somewhat lucid. I look forward to dreaming on Zoloft for a few reasons: it gives me a break from the stresses of reality without the use of narcotics, it allows me to interpret my stressors on my own and figure out ways to solve them or at least cope, and it gives me a chance to see my loved ones that I have lost, most often my friend. I was taking 250mg for approximately 5 years, and that’s when they were the most intense. I know this is above the FDA maximum recommended dose, but my doctor and I determined it was appropriate for me. I’m down to 100mg now, and the dreams have become a bit less intense and abstract.
Thanks for sharing.
Just stumbled across this page searching for Zoloft and dreams. I’ve been on 25mg for 2 months now. My depression has lessened dramatically, and my anxiety has tempered. Until recently, but I’m thinking I just need to up the dose when I see my doctor. My dreams, however, have become SO vivid it’s crazy. Thankfully, I’ve only had one or two nightmares in the past two months and I was quickly able to realize (whether in REM or not, I don’t know) that I was in a dream. Otherwise, they’ve all been bizarre, weird, funny, sexy, crazy dreams. I don’t mind them at all, other than I do want to analyze the odd one that I remember for more than my walk to the coffee maker in the morning. My problem, however, is that I end up sleeping only about 4 hours a night. Thankfully, I’m not working as I’m caring for my elderly mother with dementia. My fear, though, is that this constant lack of proper sleep will end up biting me in the butt. I’ve got no health insurance despite having no income for the past year and don’t qualify for public assistance, so I can only really go see a doctor at the local clinic on a sliding scale basis. No psychiatry for me at this point. Should I be worried?
If the vivid dreams are keeping you up at night, then you may need to see a doctor to look at something to help you sleep, like melatonin at night.