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medication side effects and anxiety (quit smoking med)

15 years ago 0 +0 / -0 823

Hello again Steve, What you described about Slow Wave Sleep is true.............this is considered the stage of deepest sleep, right before REM sleep. Once you entere REM sleep your brain suddenly becomes much more active and dreams occuring in this stage are easily remembered whereas dreams occuring in non-REM (SWS) are not usually remembered. Also when you are sleep deprived for a long period of time, you will enter into REM sleep right away (once you fall asleep) and more intensely each time..............there are experiments out there that have shown this. You can regain SWS or deep sleep by practicing relaxation and meditation daily................these practices induce the body to turn off negative sleep thoughts and quiet the mind. This also elicits certain brain waves that are similar to what one would experience in deep sleep..........but it takes time and practice. I am glad you will be addressing these with the psychologist............inquire about progressive relaxation which is also an effective method. Good luck Steve and hope to see you on the non-smoking site soon also! Faryal, Health Educator

15 years ago 0 +0 / -0 778

Welcome here Steve

. Well done for giving the cigs up as well . Thats one of my later goals .

Havnt got any advice on the meds as have never tried anything . But do suffer from horrible dreams , have done since a child . You name it ive dreamed about it . Next day im always very anxious espically when i remember the dreams cos they can be quite sick . Before i suffered panic attacks just used to muddle through it but now i tend to dwell on them .

Agree sleep is so important just wish i could get a decent nights sleep , maybe then it would cut some anxiety .

Good luck with things , come here when you can . They are a pretty decent bunch here and very helpful .

15 years ago 0 +0 / -0 466

Welcome, Steve. Try a warm glass of milk, and a easy book. Where your mind is just before sleep, affects where your mind is during sleep. A vigorously followed sleep schedule can help as well. It takes time to take effect. Good luck, and stop by to let us know how your doing.

15 years ago 0 +0 / -0 5

Faryal,

Thanks again for responding! My sleep is obviously broken and disjointed from the dreams, it is also compounded by the fact that my sleep disturbance has existed for over twenty years while suffering from fybromyalgia. I do exercise regularly but must be careful not to overdue it as this creates worse muscle ache and sleep problems. My diet is good and I drink a minimal amount of caffeine, say one can of diet coke a day. I'll be working on the meditation and relaxation with the psychologist. My main worry continues to be the vivid dreams as that is where the anxiety begins. I read somewhere that I am actually skipping a sleep stage and launching right into R.E.M. sleep and the vivid dreams! The sleep stage I am missing is called Slow Wave Sleep which is also recuperative sleep, according to a blog in the U.S. for people suffering from Champix related problems. Is this true and is there a way to regain SWS?

Any insight is appreciated,

Steve

15 years ago 0 +0 / -0 823

Hi Steve, You are very welcome and thank you for elaborating on your dreams. My concern is that the vivid and disturbing dreams are causing your sleep to be disjointed, or broken which in itself has many detrimental consequences. Firstly, deep sleep is necessary for the body to repair, heal and rejuvenate and is also the only time when certain stress hormones are released because of their circadian rhythm. When this stage of sleep is disrupted, the body and mind do not have the chance to heal and recover. As a result, you wake up feeling unrested and unrefreshed, and more anxious.............this in turn probably transforms into difficulty concentrating and focusing on tasks at work and creating a sense of paranoia about you. Among these effects are the additional negative effects on the body itself which is still fatigued. I would like to suggest to you a couple of things to help you maintain your sleep........

Exercise - are you working out at the moment? Exercise releases endorphins and helps with depression, increases blood flow and normalizes hormones.
Avoid caffeine which act as stimulants and contribute to anxiety. It has been shown that caffeine also interferes with sleep patterns. Avoid alcohol also.
Eat foods high in Vitamin B and serotonin - grains, dark green leafies, cheese, turkey, cottage cheese, nuts, beans and eggs - as you may already know depression results from low serotonin levels in the brain
warm bath before bed
Deep breathing exercises whenever the anxiety creeps in and definitely as a meditative exercise before bed.

Hope some of this is helpful Steve. As you work through the cognitive aspects of the program you will find other strategies to challenge your mental processes in order to overcome this battle. Good luck and check back in soon! Faryal, Health Educator

15 years ago 0 +0 / -0 5

Thanks for replying Faryal,

When I first started to take Champix the dreams were just very vivid, not really nightmares. Upon discontinuing the drug the dreams remained vivid and nightmares became a frequent theme. Some were very violent, others were seemingly less harsh, but it came to a point where I would awake anywhere from 3 to 6 times per night startled and sweaty. The end of my nightly rest is often a final nightmare, and when I try to return to sleep as I am still fatigued, my mind begins to race about any number of things. The thoughts going through my head almost feel like a strobe light as they are very quick and can not be turned off.They are often about a certain topic such as how am I going to get something done later today, or what are others going to think about something I have done. The thoughts are very erratic and to be honest until I took this med, and had the dreams, I had never experienced any kind of anxiety similar to this. The most disturbing and troublesome part is that the anxiety remains with me the remainder of the day, which is why I am here to learn to try to lessen it, or turn it off. Recently the dreams have become less violent which I'm hoping is a good sign, but I still must deal with avoidance that has crept into my life and has never been a personality trait of mine.

I intend on joining the smoking cessation group as you recommended, as there are certainly others out there with similar experiences from champix. I've read some pretty severe cases of continuing side effects on blogs in the U.S. but found them to be more frightening than helpful. If I had known this side effect could be persistent I would never have used this medication, but only after taking it was I made aware through Health Canada warnings of it's dangers.

I do appreciate your response and will definitely follow the program. I've suffered from depression in the past so I know when my brain needs help, and this seems like an excellent program. I don't understand how the dreams manifest into anxiety in the mornings, but I'm hoping that by gradually reducing the anxiety I can re-establish a comfortable equilibrium in my life. For the last 5 1/2 months I have let this anxiety control my life, got little help from health professionals, and need to reclaim my own thoughts. Thanks again for responding,

Steve

15 years ago 0 +0 / -0 823

Hello Steve, Welcome to our support centre............you have reached the right place for great advice, support and encouragement. Please do take the time to review the program and the tools available to you. As you work through the program and sessions you will discover the benefits and will learn useful ways to challenge your thought patterns. It is a lot of work but is worth it if you stick to it. Champix has been shown to result in the side effects you mentioned. It is unfortunate that you suffered these with such intensity and that as a result you now still have nightmares and anxiety. Can you elaborate on what aspects of the vivid dreams are manifesting into morning anxiety...........what exactly are you anxious about? I also encourage you to join our sister site for smoking cessation on which I am sure you will be able to find other members who can share with you their experience on Champix and bad dreams. We are all here to support you through this journey. Please keep us posted on how you are doing and what the psychiatrist has to say. Faryal, Health Educator

15 years ago 0 +0 / -0 5

Hello to everyone,
I'm new to the site and so far have read many insightful posts which make it quite aparent I am not alone with my anxiety problem. In March/08 I began taking Champix to quit smoking. The usual length of treatment is at least 12 weeks of medication. For those not familiar you take the pills and after about 10 to 14 days you set a quit date and then stop smoking but continue to take the meds. I took the mediction for 24 days but was no longer able to handle the side effects which include vivid dreams(nightmares), nausea, cramps, diarhea, headaches etc... I did quit smoking and have not smoked since!

Where my problems arose are when I dicontinued the medication some of the side effects did not disappear. I still had cramps but the bigger problem was the perstistance of the extremely vivid dreams and nightmares, which eventually manifested into morning anxiety which either stayed about the same all day or got worse. On three occasions I had panic attacks.

I realized I needed to seek help when I began avoiding life in general, not because of fear of panic attacks but honestly because I didn't feel well and did not feel like "myself" the majority of the time.

My journey to get help sent me to a psychiatrist who gave me three different anxiety meds over a 3 week period, all of which I could not tolerate because of stomach side effects or allergic reaction, they also had no effect on the dreams. I am currently waiting to see a different psychiatric doctor and have started seeing a psychologist. I'm taking flurazapam to help with my sleep and prozac for depression.

I'm curious to know if anyone has had a similar reaction to Champix or suffers from anxiety in the morning brought on by dreams. Would love to hear some response and ideas on how to alleviate either the dreams or anxiety,

Thanks, Steve

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medication side effects and anxiety (quit smoking med)