Atripla Dreams.....suggestions on what to do.

[DaBear]

Well I have now been on Atripla since January 5, 2009. My viral load is undetectable and I am happy with that. I have worked thru the dizziness and the rash but the dreams are not getting any better. I have not had a night without dreams since I started the med. If I take an Ambien CR I sleep and feel somewhat rested but I still get the dreams.

The dreams are always vivid and can range from mild to extreme.  Last night in my dream I was planning my own funeral  while on a reality show. Some nights the dreams are so vivid that sometimes their content creeps into my waking hours. For example, one night I dreamed of giant centipedes and several days later at the gym I thought about not wanting to sleep in the bed because of their were centipedes...it took me a moment to realize that there were NO centipedes, that it was a dream.

Is this how the rest of my life is going to go?  I am depressed just want to have a normal, non sleeping pill night of sleep without those damn dreams.

Suggestions??

Thanks for listening.

[freaky_dream]

If it's been a few months since you have been on it more then likely the dreams won't ever go away. Most people tend to settle into it after a month or two and the side effects subside. You may want to start discussing alternatives with your ID or try taking it during the morning as some have done here. A new pill called Quad which doesn't have the same nervous system effects will be out in a few years which will most likely replace Atripla but that isnt happening for another 3 years. So the future isn't that bad.

[franfrog]

I was on the combivir+sustiva and now the atipla and get those dreams.  I have been on these meds since diagnosed 4 years ago.  They still have not gone away and I do not plan that they will.  I hav learned to live with them and some of them affect me hard but for the most part, I can bypass them once I wake up.

[newt]

It is not necessarily your life, you have choices.

If the dreams don't fade and you decide you can't hack them then a discussion with your doc about a different combo is in order. There are many management strategies which sometimes help, eg timing, food/no food, evening exercise, ambien and the like.

My questions to myself (if I were in your shoes) from time to time would be is this enough? or shall i give it a bit longer?

Personally I take a strong line on this sleep/dreams thing, like if they ain't settled after 6 months a change of meds is in order. But then I know people who have had them lessen and lessen to nothing over 2-3 years. It's a personal thing where to draw the line.

But no, in short, it don't have to be like this for the rest of your life. 

- matt

[simon695]

Your Right the dreams can be to much,
but now after 10 months they are not
constant .I can have normal nights even
if the sleep pattern is irregular, I hate ambien
That is a really mood altering drug.