Meds To Decrease Flashbacks And Nightmares?

[BOAG]

Hello,

I am new to this forum and not sure how much or how little info I need to share. Please excuse my ignorance.

I was wondering if people have found meds that have helped decrease flashbacks and nightmares.

I am currently on Effexor and Naltrexone (opioid blocker due to long history of drug addiction). My therapist has suggested going on Gabapentin, I have not talked to my shrink about it yet, thought I'd do some of my own research first. Any thoughts/experiences would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you

 

[Socha]

Hi BOAG,
I heard from some members here that Prazosin is helping them for nightmares. I'm sure you can find some threads about it here.

 

[joeylittle]

Hi @BOAG -

My first thought is to ask your doc about Clonidine. It lowers blood pressure, which helps with sleep. It's the same principal as Prazosin, which is another blood-pressure med that is often prescribed off-label for people with PTSD, to help with sleep/nightmares.

The advantage of Clonidine is that it's also used off-label as an opioid blocker. So, if your doctor had experience with clonidine, and thought that it would work as well for you as the naltrexone, you might take care of two issues with one med (which is always preferable, whenever possible).

Trazadone is often prescribed for PTSD sleep issues; however, it's most common side effect is vivid dreaming, and that's generally not good if you are dealing with nightmares. If it's recommended, you should specifically ask about that side effect.

Seroquel can create a deep sleep and have the added benefits of reducing overall daytime anxiety; however, combined with effexor you are potentially going to get a bigger 'drug hangover', and have trouble getting going in the morning.

Gabapentin can be great for sleep - I'm not sure if it combines well with naltrexone, though. Gabapentin actually has some popularity as a street drug in high doses, and I don't know that it would make sense for someone with an addiction history to turn in that direction for sleep, specifically - especially if you don't have any of the other issues that gabapentin is used for (neuropathic pain, restless leg syndrome).

While I know you said you weren't dealing with insomnia - the depth/quality of the sleep we get is what (most likely) influences whether or not we remember what we dream, and how far into the deep-dreaming phase of sleep we go. For me personally, my nightmares were very related to flashbacks - and so, it turned out that I needed to find the med that was going to help me sleep more deeply and make it harder for me to just jolt out of sleep. I think that's common for many people. But, sleep/dreams are still not thoroughly understood.

What are you doing for therapy? Managing the flashbacks will rely more on cognitive intervention for you, probably - the drugs generally prescribed to help with them are all in the benzo class, and depending on your specific addiction history, might not be advisable.

 

[SittingDuck]

I might be a little late to the game here, but I've found Prazosin to be very helpful with nightmares. I was having nightmares roughly 5-7 nights per week. I started out at 2mg of Prazosin before bed, which helped somewhat. I then increased to 3mg before bed, which has helped immensely. I would definitely recommend that anyone with nightmare issues give it a shot.

Flashbacks, on the other hand, are a completely different animal. I have yet to find a medication that makes a significant difference in that realm. I also have a history of opiate dependence, so benzos aren't the best option. I have found that Zoloft (Sertraline) helps a little, but beyond that, I think TF-CBT is the way to go.

Best of luck!

 

[BOAG]

Thank you so much for all the replies, I am truly very appreciative! Sorry it has taken me so long to get back here, but work has been insane. But I have the next 4 days off! YAY!!!

I will definitely look into the Prazosin, that sounds like the most benign, yet potentially effective, route. Although opioids have always been my drug of choice, I do not trust myself with any drug that could be abused, so I think Gabapentin may not be so good for me. I've never cared for benzos and have avoided them like the plague because I didn't want to add another addiction to the list and I've seen people go through benzo withdrawals (no thanks! I'd rather do heroin w/d's any day!)

I have been going to CBT off and on for the past 9 years. If I could just straight up deal with things, I think I would have been done with therapy long ago, but I guess it takes as much time as it takes until one is willing/able to confront their issues. After overdoses, time in the hospital/ICU, time in the psych ward, time in rehab... I do believe I am finally ready to face my demons and get on with this. The 2 greatest things I have going in my life are my fiancé (who has been so awesomely loving and supportive of me through some very bleak times, I don't know what I did to deserve such a person in my life), and my therapist (I know not all therapists are created equal, and I lucked out finding him many years ago through a google search, he has quite literally saved my life).

My therapist told me I had complex PTSD years ago, to which I thought, probably not, that is what war veterans go through and that does not pertain to me. I don't know how many times we've talked about PTSD, but in my head I would think, nah, I don't have it. It wasn't until recently when I started googling about PTSD... I am the freaking poster child for PTSD, lol. I think I have all the symptoms except the rage/irritabilty part. For some reason it just never clicked for me that all the issues and things that I have experienced and all the maladaptive coping mechanisms are all related to PTSD and that other people who have had similar traumas experience the same thing. I don't know why I had such a hard time accepting that. Maybe that's lame or maybe I'm not saying this in a way that makes sense. I felt more than a little bit of relief when I found this forum and figured out I'm not alone.

Anyway, today I am hopeful. I will give Prazosin a try.

Thanks for listening to me ramble. :)

 

[brittris]

I am currently taking Prazosin. While I do still have some nightmares at night, they are nowhere near as frequent or severe as they were before I started the Prazosin. I also take Quetiapine for sleep at night to help with my anxiety, and I personally think the two together do help me quite a bit.