TIME – If you’ve been having frequent disturbing dreams and there isn’t an obvious link to what’s happening in your waking life, it may be time to check your medicine cabinet. Many people aren’t aware that common medications can have a negative influence on their dreams.
Certain antidepressants, beta blockers to treat high blood pressure, statins to treat cholesterol abnormalities, psychostimulants for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, dopamine agonists for Parkinson’s disease, and acetylcholinesterase inhibitors to treat neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s are all among the medications that have been linked to causing or aggravating distressing dreams.
Unusually vivid dreams and nightmares are also recognized side effects of other prescription medications and even some over-the-counter drugs such as sedating antihistamines.
“There are a lot of medications that can cause nightmares or bad dreams,” says Dr. Clete Kushida, division chief and medical director of Stanford Sleep Medicine.
“Even melatonin and medications that are used for short-term insomnia such as Ambien, Sonata, and Lunesta can be associated with more bad dreams, but we don’t know the mechanisms.” The newer GLP-1 drugs (like Ozempic and Mounjaro) that are used to treat Type 2 diabetes or promote weight loss have also been linked to disturbing dream content, Kushida adds.
Why do some medications affect dreams?
When medications are associated with an increase in bad dreams or nightmares, the cause isn’t always clear.
In the case of some drugs like selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) antidepressants, the medications may change the levels of neurotransmitters, such as serotonin, in the brain, which can affect dreams and nightmares.
“SSRIs inhibit the reuptake of serotonin, a neurotransmitter that’s involved in sleep regulation, so more serotonin is floating around [in the brain],” Kushida says.
Research has found that while older tricyclic antidepressants “induce more positive dream emotions,” use of SSRIs and serotonin norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs) is associated with more intense dreaming …
