I am on gabapentin for the last two days I have had the most vivid nightmares I’ve ever had I wake

I have been taking gabapentin for a couple weeks, my dreams are not necessarily scary but they are very vivid, strange, and Depressing, leaving me feeling depressed upon waking up for a while. I take them for anxiety and for now they work for that and it's worth it but the dreams are effecting my conscious life.
I'm also irrationally angry at times, and I just read that irritability is a common side effect. but honestly I would rather have weird dreams and be angry then have crippling anxiety. Anxiety can be a whole nother level of hell.

The dreams are very vivid and disturbing as most people have indicated. Hard to wake up, dreams within dreams, you think your awake but really in another dream. Interestingly enough the first night I took this medication in my dream a man kneeled down in front of me, looked me in the eye and told me you need to get these drugs out of your system and then he laid on his side not facing me in front of my front door. I was lying on the couch by the front door, I get the impression that he was a spirit not alive bc in the dream I told someone that was also (in the room in real life and in the dream) that there was a man lying on the floor and only I could see him.

I’ve been taking Gabapentin 300 mg for several years for nerve damage. I take it at bedtime. Just today, my doctor increased me to 900 mg. I just woke up from the most terrifying dream I have ever had. Then when I woke up, something grabbed both my feet and began squeezing them and pulling me down the bed. It was so realistic I thought I was being murdered. I’m too scared to go back to sleep and so grateful to all of you after reading your comments! I normally never have bad dreams! I’m going back to old dosage Tom. And tonight, hugging my German Shep mix in bed the rest of tonight while shaking!

I'm so glad I found these responses. Ive been taking gabapentin for 2 nights now. The first night the dreams were so real and I remembered every detail. I was crying in my sleep and woke up crying thinking it really happened. Last night was the second night and they got even worse. The dream lasted all night and was so real.. The only good thing is I got to see me grandmother and grandfather again and heard their voices. I woke up sobbing for hours. Went back to sleep and had another vivid dream. I had no idea this medication made you have such awful experiences with having dreams. Im done taking this medication!

I was on Gabapentin for 18 months and became severely depressed and semi-suicidal. It’s the same thing as Lyrica, and when you see the commercials they try to gloss over the side effects but THEY ARE REAL. See if there’s something else they can put you on that’s not so bad. I’m currently taking Tramadol, one of the milder drugs, and my doctor says there’s no withdrawal symptoms. It does help with pain, but I have to take it with Tylenol to really be effective.

I've been on 300mg 5 times a day to combat my alcohol addiction. Very vivid dreams that are almost like inception. Waking up covered in sweat and my hands feel like they are acting out while I sleep. Very scary. Hope it subsides. Drinking with it sure feels like the dreams get more vivid.

I've been on Gabapentin for a few months now and also have vivid dreams. They're quite scary and seem so real! I'm so glad I found this page to read everyone's comments and know that it's not just me.

It was horrible. I also, have PTSD that made me more symptomatic. I started using minipress in 2013 and topamax that has helped a lot. I gained so much weight and just had terrible side effects on Gabapentin many have successful outcomes. I hope that this is only temporary for you. Buspar and clonidine gave me very vivid dreams that had subsided after, a few months once I reached my therapeutic dose hopefully the same will happen with you and gabapentin .

Take care!
Muse

The vivid dreams do subside. I've been on gabapentin but im now on Pregabalin they are in the same family but i promise you after about a week you get used to it. I used to have dreams that felt so real but they do subside.

I, also, experienced weird dreams. No weight gain. Finally asked my dr. for a change in medication and he put me on Duloxetine (20 mg) after dinner. Took about a week to kick in, but same results in my symptoms without anymore weird dreams!!

I've been taking it for 20 years. It works good for me. I had weird dreams so doctor put me on Ambien and weird dreams stopped and I was able to sleep good all night. Now I just have good dreams. Ask your doctor for Ambien. Hope it works for. Give it time. Good luck

I have the same experiences as many of you. Once I started taking Gabapentin I started having very weird dreams. Also I noticed I would be talking in my sleep and also acting out the dreams with my hands. I knew that my hands were moving around and I would be reaching up and out to grab things that were happening in my dream. Very very strange stuff.

I have been on Gabapentin for over 6 months. I talk in my sleep incessantly. Not only that I demand that my husband answer my questions while he is sleeping. like others I will wake myself up while talking. If I do not wake myself up I have no recollection of the talking. I also have very bad dreams. One thing I have started to experience is hallucinations. Has anyone else had these? They can be very disturbing. I will think I see my husband standing over the bed or in a corner of the room. I will ask him why he is there and he will reply lying next to me. It is then that I realize he is actually next to me and not in the corner or standing over me. It disturbs him and me.
I plan on tapering off this drug for my pain. I was told, however, that it does not cause hallucinations. Has anyone else experienced hallucinations?

Yes, you are not alone. I have had the most vivid and bizarre dreams since I started this 'medication'. It is horrible and I fight sleep at night. I am going start tapering. It has not helped my anxiety, but has made it worse.