Question:
!7 days post-op and constant nightmares... anyone else?
The past three days, I have been having horrible nightmares, whether at night or during a recovery nap in the day. Common theme is immediate and obvious danger with no possibility of escape. I realize this surgery is major, but did anyone else get this as a side effect? — Karen F. (posted on June 6, 2002)
June 6, 2002
THe first 2 weeks I also had nightmares . I do not even know what they
was but i gave my husband a real scare when i woke him up screaming in my
sleep . I am now 2 months and doing fine :-) the night mares stoped
after the second week . I think it was just my minds way of letting out
all the fears I felt upto and after the surgery -- good luck
— sallie P.
June 6, 2002
If your taking any narcotic pain killers, they can cause bad/vivid dreams.
— DrQ
June 6, 2002
For me the narcotics were causing nightmares. As soon as I stopped taking
them the big, hairy, spider with three foot long fangs stopped visiting me
at night. Good Luck
— ShayZ
June 6, 2002
I had the same problem with the medication. It felt so real. My dreams were
my family was being killed and it was sooooooo scarey. After I stopped
taking the medicine the VIVID dreams stopped. If your still taking Pain Med
try to stop taking it and see if it helps.
— Yvonne C.
June 6, 2002
It's the pain meds
Something or someone chased me in my dreams for 6 weeks..lol
cut down on the pain med ...that will help
Kathy
— Kathleen M.
June 6, 2002
Pain meds!!! I took Percocet the first night after I came home from the
hospital, and I kept hearing and seeing things all night. It was horrible!
I don't know how people become addicted to those things because all they
do is scare me. Anyway, the very next morning, I called the doctor and got
a prescription for a different pain killer--hydrocodone. It killed the
pain without giving me hallucinations! If you're still taking pain meds,
consider changing them.
— Kristie B.
June 6, 2002
I to also had nightmare. Weird ones, violent ones. I didn't know what
they came from but after a while they went away.
— Chris9672
June 6, 2002
I also had really strange dreams and nightmares the first week or two, but
i think it was more a side effect of the pain meds than of the surgery
itself. I have had similiar occuranances when taking other strong pain meds
before.
— Dell H.
June 6, 2002
I stil have weird violent dreams and I'm 18 weeks post op. Sometimes I
dream that people are trying to give me back the weight I've lost since
"i didn't deserve to loose it" and other times I dream about
being invaded through my incision scar. The subconscious is a kooky thing
sometimes.
— Gremlin Q.
June 8, 2002
I too had nightmares and asked my visiting nurse about it. She said it was
a combination of my body recovering from the stressful surgery ( kinda like
a post traumatic experience) and the pain medication I was taking.(
Roxicet) They went away as soon as I was able to stop taking the pain
meds. Good Luck.
— Leah H.
June 9, 2002
I had nightmares pre-op because of my fear of the surgery. However, I also
had nightmares again beginning about 3 days post-op. Turns out that the
Tylenol with Codeine I was given gave me horrible headaches and nightmares.
AS soon as I stopped taking the Codeine, the nsightmares stopped too.
— Kathy J.
June 10, 2002
I think the combination of medications you have floating in your system and
the stresses.. don't forget even good things count as stress .. contribute
to the dreams your subconscious is trying to "geer down: from all the
stress.. I had wild dreams while I was still in the hospital no doubt the
noises and voices and Morphine contributed to that!!
— Kathy M.
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