Sleep Paralysis W/ Hallucinations (Page 13)
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Has anyone else experienced sleep paralysis accompanied by hallucinations since starting viibryd? I have been on the medicine for about 4 months now and for the last 2 1/2 months have had several very scary episodes of sleep paralysis... I have never been on a anti-depressant before and never experienced sleep paralysis until i started this medicine. I am a 23 year old female and i take no other meds except a daily multi-vitamin. Ive noticed that if i accidentally miss a viibryd pill i have sleep paralysis... but have also had it on occasions of not missing a pill. It occurs about once a week... its to the point where i dread going to sleep at night in fear of sleep paralysis, but the hallucinations that come along with it are what I dread the most. Has anyone else had a similar experience with this medicine?

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Maria,

Why are you going off your Wellbutrin? Just curious, I take both well, and vii....and also xanyx. I understand the sleep paralysis as I have said and had a bout last week...I hate it... but I heard something, or read something that said if someone touches you, you come out of it....so...after not being able to go to sleep without it starting over, I reached over and held my dog and went back to sleep..guess they were right...or maybe a coinsidence, don't know.

When I started vii, I tried to go off the Well, and felt awful!! Maybe you shouldn't go off both of them at once.....

But this has still been the best combo of meds for me. Hope you get better soon!!!

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The waves of pressure vibrating up and towards the left side of my head started in the week I went from 300 mg to 150 mg. of Wellburtrin & cut my 40 mg. dose of Viibryd to about 30 mg. I thought maybe it was the brain zaps everyone talks about. But this was definitely a huge WAVE sensation. And actually, it reminds me of LABOR pains. I can almost hear it coming on, starts from far away, and goes right thru my brain. And this is the most nauseating thing to talk about, other than my sleep paralysis thanks to Viibryd. Last week I was dozing in the afternoon & I started having brain zaps? for the 1st time. But one of them actually felt like I was hit right on the top front part of my head with a softball. I felt an explosion like feeling, some pain, it was quick, I woke up & knew my kids would not throw a ball at my head & was too embarrassed to ask them as they'd look at me like I was nuts. That sensation was freaky. I even had an MRI of my brain, & the results are normal. Thankfully. Wondering what is in store tonight?! Taking 5mg. of Ambien too, so the Viibryd won't have a chance to play mind games with me.

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THANK GOD I JUST FOUND THIS BOARD! I firmly believe that Viibryd should be yanked from the shelves. I have never in my life experienced terrifying sleep paralysis until trying to wean off the Viibryd that I've been on for 7 months. It's like waking to being trapped in a dark cocoon with horrible sensations, trying to move feels like seizures, my voice is small & unheard by my sleeping husband next to me & my repeated requests AGAIN for him to wake me by saying "HELP ME" over and over again went ignored, because A. he couldn't hear me or B. my audible voice was only in my head. WTF is in this medication!? It actually led to an MRI of my brain, which is normal, because I told my oncologist, neurologist, & family dr. ALL about the wave like sensations hitting my head causing dizziness when trying to wean off Viibryd. If this is sometimes typical for SSRI's, then there are a lot of screwed up people in this world. I wish I could sue the F out of Forest Lab. for pain & suffering. Yes, I did have back pain from what felt like trying to shake violently to wake myself up. I felt pain during sleep & the next day. And now I am afraid to sleep. I posted my 1st ordeal on Chipur. I was the 1st guinea pig to take this med. from my family dr. I've been thru a lot & do not feel I am overly sensitive to meds. but something isn't right with this med. My family dr. sounded baffled by my symptoms & has referred me to a psychiatrist. Yet, my neurologist was very clear these are nasty symptoms from discontinuation syndrome. She very gladly gave me 2 sample packs of 14 days of 20 mg. and 14 days of 10 mg. I have 3 days left of the 20 mg. and I've had a few sleep paralysis attacks since I've started weaning off. Also, my neuro. dr. (i see her for neuropathy from chemo) said that viibryd & effexor are similar. That kind of freaked me out, because a few years ago when starting Wellbutrin (I am taking 300 mg. w/o issues) my pharamacist accidentally gave me 150 mg. extended release of Effexor, instead of 75 mg. of Wellbutrin. Well, I took the Effexor not knowing it wasn't Wellbutrin, got in the shower, and suddenly felt like the walls were closing in & dizzy. I'll never forget the pharmacist apologizing on the phone, telling me it's too late, it's already in my system. I tried vomiting, taking benedryl and sleeping it off for 2 days. I had terrifying hallucinations, while stuck in bed, for a solid day. So after recently hearing about Effexor being similar to Viibryd, it all makes sense now. I can't even tell you how many times I've had dozing off periods where I wake up what feels like every 30 sec. & slip right back into the nightmares again. It took me until 3:45am the other night to pick myself up to go up to bed! Do not take this med!!!! Also, the 1st mo. I was on it, was weird with the sexual/boost in libido. I swear there is viagra (for women too) in this pill!

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Yea... I dont usually eat breakfast... And due to my work schedule I have dinner around 9... So I do take the pill with a good meal still. And I feel your pain!! Was exhausted after work last night so I crashes on the couch in hopes of relaxing, dozed off and began to go into sleep paralysis.. So I got up, made dinner and took my pill... And thank God I had a peaceful nights sleep after that!! Lol and I do agree... I love everything about this pill besides the sleep paralysis and the weird feeling I start having a few hours before I'm due for my pill.

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Is there a reason that yall don't take it in the morning with a good breakfast? Eating with it is suppose to make a big difference.....don't know about the sleep paralysis, cause it happened again last night...gee I hate that!!!!! But still love this med!!!

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Hi Rick,
I usually take mine at around 9 also! And I actually start getting that waves of pressure feeling a 2-3 hours before that sometimes... I know with that feeling that if I were to sleep before my pill I will have sleep paralysis... So if it's really bad I'll go ahead and take the pill to make that annoying feeling go away!! Can't believe how close our symptoms are! Soon after I take my pill the feeling goes away... I would say 30 mins or so... Have you talked to your dr about this? Wondering what other people's dr has told them... Thanks soo much!

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I actually have the exact same thing happen to me as you are describing. If I miss a dose, even if its the next evening and I havent taken it yet (I usually take it around 9 PM.) and I take a nap after work, right as I'm falling asleep it will feel like a waves of pressure inside my head along with sleep paralysis. Let me know if you find any solutions to this.

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Holly,

Believe me I understand and it does sound crazy to other people!!...lol...I really didn't know what I had all these years til I read the article I posted. My kids have had a couple of episodes and they don't even like to talk about it! I know how horrible it can be!! And scarey!!! The hallucinations that I have had were like horror stories you see in the movies. They had stopped for the most part and I was only having them every once in a while....like months and months apart. When I started on Viibryd they came back but they have gone pretty much away. I try to sleep in a position that I know I can get out of more easily if it happens. Some people say to just lay there, but I can't do that...lol.. Vernon is right thogh, it IS just a dream and not real....I hope that helps you some!!

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Thank you soo much! I have done a lot of research online and haven't found much to help! It actually does help to know that I'm not alone and that this might actually get better!!! I feel like I can't talk about this with family or friends because they've never experienced anything like this and sometimes I get the feeling they think I'm crazy! They just don't understand....

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Have you consulted your doctor?

It is possible for these SSRI antidepressants to cause this type of vivid dreaming, as side effect, in some people. While it may be terrifying, what you have to remember is that the paralysis and hallucinations are actually just dreams and not really anything else.

https:/­/­rxchat.com/­wiki/­Viibryd/­

However, if they are causing you a severe problem, then you should contact your doctor, as this may not be the right medication for you.

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I posted a reply that I hope will help if they let it through! I had the same problems but have gotten through it. It gets better as the months go by!!

ls

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Holly,

I have had sleep paralysis on and off for years, but with Vii I did experience dream craziness for several months and some sleep paralysis episodes and crazy ones (with halluciations) too. As the months went on the dreaming got easier and though I still have weird dreams it is nothing like sleep paralysis that I was having! Believe me I know, sleep paralysis is awful and scarey when a long with hallucinations!! Chipur also has a good article he wrote (you can google it). You can get through it!! I do understand though!!!

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