Weird, F***ed up Dreams

[Nextdoor_guy]

hey guys so here's the deal

Lately I'm having very bad and weird dreams (if before was like 2/3 per week, now it's happening every night)
And my whole sleep if full of dreams, even if I wake up for peeing or something, when am back to sleep, again very bad dreams. Because of this I can barely wake up in the morning, and usually am tired all the day
My treatment is Kaletra-Combivir, but I know that this combination is not known for this kinda problems..

anyone experienced this kinda of stuff?
should I see a psychiatrist or my physician?

[wolfter]

I was on that combo for quite a while without having dream issues.  Probably because it made me so horribly sick that I never slept peacefully.  At least if you're dreaming, you're falling into a deep sleep.

I don't recall this combo having this side effect listed. 

Take Care.

Wolfie

[Miss Philicia]

If I'm really stressed out by anything I can easily have exceptionally vivid disturbing dreams. Like wolftie I was on those meds for eons, but I've also been on lots of other stuff, and there was no increase for me in nightmare issues while on that.

[newt]

All the above and AZT (in Combivir) has been reported to cause confusion, anxiety, and sleep disturbance, reason unknown, incidence less than 10%.

- matt

[spacebarsux]

Totally irrational advice (or maybe not so  ): Watch some hot porno, or something happy and jovial, right before you sleep. That way you could trick your mind into having intensely joyous, lustful dreams instead. It sounds a bit silly but give it a shot. Nothing to lose.

Disclaimer: I'm not on meds. Nor am I a psychologist.

[Matty the Damned]

Bad dreams are better than bad awakenings.

In the absence of a known physical cause (ie Atripla), you should have recourse to a skull jockey.

MtD

[Ann]

Are you on any other meds? If you are, it could be one of those, or perhaps a combination of other meds.

[elf]

I take 10-20 mg of melatonin each night, and no vivid dreams, not on your combo (Combivir+Kaletra), and not even on my current combo (Epzicom+Sustiva).

[TC]

Until a short while ago I was having weird dreams - but thankfully not traumatic or anything.

I used them to inspire my creativity with the photography that I do.
I am pleased that a number of them gained awards in major international photo competitions.

In some ways I miss having them in my cocktail of drugs - they were funky

[Raf]

I'm on that combo since my Dx, but since most of my life I dreamed most of the time, I didn't notice the difference..in fact, I actually enjoy dreaming...the only time that I forget about this damn bug.

[SANJUANDUDE]

I get messed up dreams since taking Atripla.

[mecch]

should I see a psychiatrist or my physician?

Tell your physician, he/she should know and can perhaps recommend a shrink, or not, depending on what you want and he/she thinks.
Might be a sleep specialist, rather than a shrink. Who knows.  You deserve and need restful sleep.

[SANJUANDUDE]

it's unreal, sometimes I look to it as an adventure when I go to sleep at night.  The most vivid and profound dreams.

[MitchMiller]

I'm no expert, but I've read that there is a deep sleep state beyond REM sleep.  It sounds like you're unable to enter deep sleep state and you cannot get beyond the dream state.  That's probably why you're tired.  I also am betting this is a side-effect of Sustiva, where one cannot enter deep sleep state and is stuck in REM sleep... the purgatory of a good night's rest!

There was a 60 minutes segment on sleep I believe a couple years ago that talked about this and demonstrated how small disturbances in one's sleep environment could prevent the subject from entering the deep sleep state. 
http://www.cbsnews.com/2100-18560_162-3939721.html

The sleep therapist would watch brain wave patterns to know when the subject was entering deep sleep state and inject some disturbance into the environment.  It was not enough to wake the subject up, but these disturbances would not allow deep sleep state to be entered.  I cannot now remember if the subject then reported feeling tired, but I'm pretty sure they performed at a lower standard than they did after sleeping normally.

One thing you may want to try is to improve your environment.  Run a fan to produce white noise or wear foam earplugs.  Black out your room entirely and cover all clocks and anything else emitting light or wear a blind fold that allows no light to sneak in.  Sleep alone with nobody else in the room.