I’ve been on gabapentin for two days and I am experiencing the worst vivid nightmares I’ve ever had I wake up and I’m not even awake I’m just in another dream almost having trouble distinguishing from being awake to the dream is anybody else experiencing this does it subside thank you
I am on gabapentin for the last two days I have had the most vivid nightmares I’ve ever had I wake
Question posted by Stripper50 on 29 Jan 2018
Last updated on 20 July 2025
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No. Sadly I have been on it for months and they don't go away. Sometimes they are nightmares and sometimes they are just weird dreams. The other night for instance I dreamt thai I was pregnant and was on a bus with my brother and the driver wouldn't stop so I could use the bathroom so I cussed at her and told her to go to hell then got off . As soon as I got off the earth opened up and swallowed the bus and closed up again.
I’ve been on gabapentin for about 6 months or more and just increased the dose to 200 mg per day.My nightmares are so bad I have to get out of bed, go into another room and keep telling myself it’s just a dream until I fully wake up. I stay in constant prayer and that isn't helping. I don't understand why it's not listed as a side effect. This is crazy. It helps with headaches but the nightmares trump it. I have to stop Asap.
Don't stop praying. My pastor always says you can pray 100 times and it might not work but keep praying and one day GOD will answer your prayers. I will be praying for you too. GOD BLESS YOU SISTER.
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 also wanted to mention the dreams were so bad I woke up crying everyday
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!!
Hi ladyclayer. My doctor prescribed me Cymbalta/Duloxetine for chronic nerve pain. Many people say that it’s helped them; until it didn’t and then their doctor upped their dosage until it stopped working again and their doctor upped their dosage again until they got to the maximum dosage and it stopped working and then they ended up having to taper off slowly. It can take a long time to taper off Cymbalta/Duloxetine safely. It never helped me but I did have many horrible side effects. Like anxiety, depression and suicidal thoughts. And exhaustion, dizziness, confusion and then I started forgetting words. I had a hard time finishing my sentences. I was in like a brain fog. I started having muscle pain and weakness and then muscle loss. My joints were swollen and achy. My stomach was bloated and my face, hands and feet were swollen. Some days I found it hard to walk. I lost interest in everything and everyone. I ended up not being able to have an orgasm.
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
Hi margieskater. There is an interaction between Gabapentin and Ambien. Hopefully you are not having drowsiness, confusion and difficulty with concentration among other problems. My doctor had me on medications that not only had interactions but also had multiple side effects. I’m tapering off slowly now and I can see a huge difference in the way I feel. Take care. Cindy
Hi Cindy. Thank you for caring. I haven't had any side effects with gabapentin and ambien. I wake up feeling refreshed and alert. I'm 69 year's old and still ice skate☺
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 started gabapentin, 7.5 mg, yesterday. I am to take this med twice a day. Shortly after I took this first dose, I must have fallen asleep, It was my usual nap time. I had one of the worst, if not the worst nightmare I ever had!!! When I woke, I was drenched with sweat, could not stop the dream for quite awhile, even awake. When I finally got myself to be fully awake, my first rational thought was I am never taking this med again! I had no idea that dream disturbances were a side effect, especially when first starting this med. When I first stated mirtazapine, to be used as an anti depressant, I had one nightmare. Then I had several dreams which were not terrible, having familiar emotions I could recognize. Within 2 weeks, the dreams stopped. With this gabapentin, also prescribed as an anti depressant, even though I am so desperate to help myself not to be so depressed, I am too frightened to even take a second dose tonight because of having another nightmare!!! I am in a quandary.
Related topics
anxiety, insomnia, nightmares, gabapentin, dreams
Further information
- Gabapentin uses and safety info
- Gabapentin prescribing info & package insert (for Health Professionals)
- Side effects of Gabapentin (detailed)
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