Its 2:36 am and once again I'm up due to nightmares. I'm taking 200 mg @ x a day. I itch which could be just dry skin, I have more headaches than ever and the past week or so the nightmares are pretty constant, anyone else have this problem? I can't not sleep, I'm loosing more sleep to these nightmares than I can handle.
The only other new things I'm taking is the restasis and the fml drops 2 x a day. Whatevers causing these has got to go. Loosing this much sleep is not a fair trade.
XOXO
Ldy
How long have you been on it? My nightmares disappeared after 6-8 months of being on it and I take one in morning and one at lunch instead of at night.
I hope you can sleep tomorrow!
I think 3 months now minus 1-2 weeks where I quit taking it. I do in the am and bedtime. Not sure I can take 4 more months of this, I mean I know I can but I'm not seeing any reason to. I stopped previously on my own because of these then after reading posts went back on it.
XOXO
Ldy
My Rheumy said I could take both at the same time in the morning once the stomach issues stopped.
so all 400 mg in the morning? If i'm gonna keep trying 400mg I have to get some sleep, preferably at night time. If I get any more run down with the holidays so close I know thats a prescription for flare up :'(
XOXO
Ldy
I take both pills together on a full stomach no problem. At first I had nightmares and weird dreams, but like others said, after a while they went away. I guess I would rather live with the temporary nightmares for a few months than the daily nightmare of the autoimmune disease... :P
It might help to take them in the morning rather than at night...however, once you are used to it, it probably won't be an issue - I take mine right before bedtime now and it's simply not an issue anymore.
Are you a very small person? It could be that you need 300mg instead of 400...I believe it's okay to break them in half, but ask your doctor first.
I'm sorry you are having such a problem with it...I didn't have a ton of nightmares, but the ones I had were pretty memorable, extremely unpleasant, and unlike any dreams I have ever had before or since! If they had continued indefinitely, I would probably have stopped the Plaquenil - but they did gradually stop after about 4-5 months.
It may help to do some reading about lucid dreaming and/or relaxation techniques you can use to calm anxiety when you go to bed, and also when you wake up from a bad dream. Sometimes the anxiety of anticipating the nightmares can help trigger them - it's a bad cycle.
I had absolutely no idea about nightmares & plaquenil....holy cow, no wonder I was troubled about this. I am so grateful for your discussion and sharing about it, thanks to all! I'm on 200 mg 2x a day....morning/evening. Certainly hope this goes away soon as I was already a Weird Dreamer.
I have an appt tomorrow with my rheumy so I'll be good till we see what he says. sort of
XOXO
Ldy
Just saw my rheumy today. I had been taking 200 mg in the am and 200 @ dinner. She said to take them both together in the AM as you get more bang for your buck. Come to think of it, I have had some weird dreams since I started plaquenil in late September. I can't label them as nightmares though (at least not yet).
Good luck with your dosaging.
Judy
I have been on plaquenil for about ten years and now I am having horrific nightmares....sometimes 6 or 7 a night. Anyone else have this problem
If I take Plaquenil in the evening I have violent nightmares, so I take it in the morning. No more nightmares.
I had some pretty wild dreams when I first started Plaquenil but these seemed to dissipate after 3 months. I often thought I should write them down they seemed look good inspiration for movies or novels. I believe this is a common side effect that often passes eith time. I could be wrong, but I thought Plaquenil builds up in your system so guess I don't understand the idea of taking it all in the morning. I thought keeping in your system at consistent levels would be best. I take it at breakfast and right after dinner. I would discuss this with you doctor before changing your dosing schedule.
Plaquenil has been extremely helpful in making my life more "normal". My overall quality of life has improved immensely. I encourage sticking with it if you can, but your doctor may be able to offers other options of this isn't working for you. I know it can be diificult recovering from such rough nights. I also avoid any scary or highly stressful/ emotional TV in the evening = no Walking Dead, Break Bad or other similar shows they totally mess with my dream fodder.
Hello, I would like to update this topic. I have been on Plaquenil for about one month and a half and in the last two weeks I have nightmares and very long and repetitive weird dreams. Other nights I am awakened and I can't sleep (like last night). I have never had sleeping problems.
Does it happen the same to you? I suppose I have reached levels on my blood and that is the reason why I have this adverse effect.
I am taking 200 mgr at breakfast and 200 mgr at dinner. I don't want to change this schedule because I have read it is the best way to reach uniform levels in blood.
Is it probably it will disappear in some months?
You could take 1 pill am and 1 pill at noon if you don't want to take both pills at once. I took mine both at the same time around 2 PM. Never had nightmares though. I quit the med for 10 months due to reflux that got much worse when I took the pills. I now restarting and will do one pill at a time twice a day.
You will have to play with the dosage and you are the only one who can make the decision to change dosage times or quit the drug. Could also take just one pill in the morning and see if that helps at all. Irish
I had to stop taking it at night b/c of bad dreams. But it also gave me anxiety and depression. I cut back to 200 once a day, so I am hoping it works for me. Good luck to you!
I don't take plaquenil (it gives me a horrible scalp reaction) but I have noticed since taking the generic mycophenolate that my sleep is disturbed and is filled with vivid, disjointed dreams - sometimes even nightmares. I don't like it at all but can't give up the meds to get the sleep I want...frustrating. I agree though that these drugs effect our sleep and brain chemistry which is scary.
I tried plaquenil twice and had to stop due to experiencing an array of side effects. I never had the itching, but had terrible headaches, had significant myoclonus (nighttime involuntary muscle jerking) and other issues. The nightmares, oh the nightmares, they were horrific (I could have outsold Steven King novels if I wrote them down and published them).
Good luck with this.
I've had the opposite happen to me. I was on Plaquenil from 2013 to March 2017. I never had any side-effects.
My Rheumatologist took me off the drug when I started Cellcept.
I got so many infections (sinusitis especially) on Cellcept, that I had to stop taking it.
So in November 2017, I was started on Plaquenil again because my overall health had dramatically deteriorated.
This time round, I started getting frightening nightmares. I was waking up shaking with fright, and was left profoundly disturbed.
The nightmares are identical to those found in PTSD and also Sleep apnea. Perhaps there is a common etiology.
So thank heavens that I looked on this forum, and started taking 400 mg in the morning.
Such a relief.
I had to stop taking Plaquenil due to a range of side effects, nightmares being one. I tried it twice for six months each time, Within weeks of stopping the side effects went away.