Sleep Paralysis W/ Hallucinations (Page 3)
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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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If I had not had the same type of experience I would never believed what you wrote. Thanks for sharing your experience with this nasty med!! I have never felt so awful in my entire life!! I've had severe depression for several years and these last several months on the viibryd has been the worst time of my life. I thought it was all related to being hypothyroid due to thyroid cancer and thyroidectomy in August but I am so sure its the viibryd. Thanks again I thought I was going to end up dead from the paralysis and breathing problems falling asleep.

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I took viibryd for only three weeks when I out of the blue had a seizure in the shower. I never had one before in my life. So after EKG and MRI and EEG the determined it had to be the viibryd. On top of the major seizure I also experience. Seizures in my sleep the brain zaps that everyone's talking about and hallucinations for a week straight all the while never missing a single dose until I got so concerned out lasting effects and not being able to go to work because of the seizures I just quit taking them all together now I'm free of all side effects.

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I used to miss doses w/o a problem, just so I could figure out the best time to take it. But then one nite, the SP hit. It was horrific. Up until that night...maybe 3 mos. on the (40mg) med, I had some frightful dreams while napping & some auditory hallucinations at times.

I've been off of Vii since Spring of '12.

I had to wean off Viii w/ Prozac. It saved me. I've been off the Pro. & on Cymbalta for a few mos. I've had 2 very strange auditory hallucinations while experimenting w/ Wellbutrin w/ the Cym. Funny ones (?!) though....imagine sleeping & an atomic bomb goes off in your brain & you see orange & red. Then the other times its a strong male voice out of nowhere shouting my name or something unintelligible straight into my ears, while napping. I ran out of the lower dose Wellbutrin & not going to take it on Cym. because I badly need Cym. to cover anxiety & WB causes anx.

That could be why so many have problems w/ Vii. But if they were to change the formula, then they've lost their perfect AD. I wonder if I am pre-disposed to auditory hallucin. now after surviving the horrible Vii weaning process.

Sweet dreams everyone! :)

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I have been taking this medication for a month and missed a dose a few weeks ago. It was horrible and the strangest thing ever! Wasn't sure if it was from missing a dose until last night. Missed another dose and had it again! I've never been on an antidepressant before and this concerns me...

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Yes this happened to me and really freaked me out. When I told my doctor she had never heard of such a side effect (getting those awful brain zaps and not being able to move.) since she had never heard of it I didn't know what the cause was. With the combo of the brain explosion feeling and vivid nightmares I freaked myself out that it was some kind of psychic attack. Sounds crazy but it all felt very real. Anyways I immediately switched to a low dose of Zoloft to avoid the antidepressant withdrawal thing. No problems since but I still get a slight ear ringing sensation. I think viibryd should seriously be taken off the market ASAP. PS I noticed the bad side effects would happen when I wasn't consistent taking the med at the same exact time everyday.

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Missed a dose, terrible sleep paralysis with hallucinations. Just one dose so I could switch from night 2 day 'cause of the side effects. I had one night of hell, demons, ghost, killings, and it just was not right. No-one will understand the trauma unless they experience fist hand, everything feels so real, and there is no way 2 escape ur own mind.

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That's horrible! I did have one where i knew there was an intruder hiding on the ground next to my side of the bed and not being able to move. I couldnt get back to sleep after that one. I never plan on giving up this drug. The misery I felt without it and knowing that my husband and five daughters were miserable with me was far worse. For years i had taken prozac or Lexapro and stuck with Zoloft for a long time....loved it but as i neared 40 years old...it wasnt working anymore because me own levels of seratonin wasnt mixing well with it anymore. I did get my own brand of hell when I first started taking Vii. This was July of 2012 and the starter pack after taking the 20mg I was feeling better but I wasnt quite myself yet. A couple days after taking 40mg.... Weird things started happening.... I would wake up feeling tingly and dizzy... And my face was like itchy like I was compelled to rub my hands all over my face like all the time. Then a few days after that I had the worst day ever. I was asleep so deeply that it felt like a coma almost.... You had to shake me awake for about a minute. I was feeling very tingly all over and was sweating badly but was very cold. And i felt like i was walking around in a dream. Like everything I was doing and saying I wasnt really doing or saying. I took a bath and when I got out I didnt know if I just took a bath. I couldnt remember or something. I was very easily enraged...like all of my senses were x10. I was ready to pounce on everyone... And then next second I would start balling. I told my oldest I thought I was going crazy. Keep in mind, I dont call a dr or go to the ER unless my limbs start falling off... And even then I would question the decision:). My sis is an ER doctor and makes fun of the people that come in with a cold... So I always doubleguess an emergent situation. But i thought this was enough to call my doctor after hours.... The nurse called me back and said Do NOT take the pill tonight instead cut it in half and see me first thing in the morning... She kept asking if I was ok and if I needed to go to the ER. The next morning he told me it was Seratonin Poisoning(or syndrome). Just too much seratonin in my system. I told him I was scared to keep taking it. He assured me it was the dryg but just the dosage was too much. So we mixed 150mg Welbutrin with 20mg of Viibryd and it's that mixture for me that works wonderfully!!
Also - I meant to tell ... The sleep paralysis seems to be triggered when I am completely exhausted. If I go a week with little sleep... You can bet I will have an episode about then.

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Oh wow...and you're still on Vii? (lol) You are very brave or tolerant of fear. Would you stay on it if you were raped by a demon & could feel the pain? Or had the grim reaper type demon standing next to your bed? I wish I could get all those horrific images out of my head, including the demon that swatted my feet & laughed as he vanished out of the room. This was my final terror episode, when I had made a plan to tell them demon to GET OUT and it pulled & tugged inside my body, pulling my soul---and I was stronger & the little gray green f***** had to slap at my feet with joy. My husbands too, but he didn't feel it. Whew. So just curious what it would take for you to give up Vii?

Keep us all posted! :)

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Holly - I know what you are going through. I cant tell you that the episodes do get less frequent. I have been on Viibryd now for 15 months. At first it was like 2 times a week. And i could always tell when it was going to happen..seconds before I would doze off, i would hear a loud quick buzz in my ear, almost like a bee flew close to my ear. This combined with a weird sensation almost of falling. And it kicks u awake. Weird! When that happens I fill with dread. What happens is instead of going thru all 5 stages of sleep, your brain goes from stage immediately into stage 5 where your brain turns iff your motor functions. I think since we are so lightly asleep and still aware that it incorporates the worst reasoning behind not being able to move into your dream. Mine often times are I am being smothered or crushed by someone. It feels like hallucinations because we are not in a deep sleep. My very first episode I will never forget. I was completely aware that my husband was next to me in bed and I could even see the Kentucky basketball game inTv and all of a sudden about ten hands came out of my mattress all around my body And grabbed my legs and arms and held me down! And I swear I could actually feel the warmth of the hands on my legs. It terrified me. Now i can control the dreams a little more to where its not as scary and I relax and kick myself out of it. Weird I know.

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Trix, I can agree with the bad taste. Almost like zinc. And the sleepy zaps were a sure sign of a night of terrors or long semi-conscious dreaming.

However, as posted below I switched to morning dosage with food and its has been a 180 degree switch from night time. I feel so much more normal.

Maybe give it a shot?

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Thanks for the heads up Marie!

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I was on the Viibryd for months. Then Prozac....and along came really bad acid reflux. The 1st time it hit (I do take my AD at nite), I sprang out of bed because it felt like a spray bottle of acid shooting up my whole esophagus. I even tried going back to Prozac yesterday & same thing. Could've thrown up. Never had that w/ other meds. So laying down & having a funny taste, my guess that is acid reflux. I used a large fluffy comforter in kind of a U shape & 2 pillows to sleep. Worried about esophageal cancer for me or needing surgery. I feel like taking Prilosec type drugs would make the AD's not work as well. Def. ask your Dr. Is it a metallic taste? You can also raise the head of your bed. Keep us posted! :)

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I have been taking Viibryd since it first came out. I have had my issues with it off and on but I would say it has really helped me a great deal. I find the tricks are:
1.) don't take too high a dose -- at one point I was up to 40mg and while I had tons of energy I had some sleep paralysis (which is unbearable!) and those brain zaps when I was trying to fall asleep
2.) take it with food especially some nice complex carbs (toast, oatmeal etc.) It really makes a difference is blunting the crazy side effects
3. ) have a sleep aid on hand for when you're just not falling asleep
Having said all that I still get weird kind of brain zaps right as I'm falling asleep accompanied by a nasty taste in my mouth -- it wakes me up and I have to shake it off before I start to fall asleep again. Does anyone else experience this?

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Hi Ade8,

Just an FYI, all you have to do is post a comment & you can address people or hit reply once on someone's post & ask your ?. Otherwise it comes up multiple times. :) I love this format because I get an auto email when there's a post. So just incase you don't have your settings like that, check it out. :)

As far as the increasing dose pack goes...I recommend giving it a shot & see how you feel. But keep in mind that almost everyone?! has night terrors & sleep paralysis. Auditory hallucinations & horrific side effects from discontinuation syndrome while cutting back on the dose. I don't want to scare you away from the drug, but you've read the other posts, & like just mentioned, I also feel it's the Devil's drug. But thank God I wasn't alone in this.

So ask your Dr. what he/she thinks about the med. I doubt they will give you a straight answer & you'll be brushed off. Which is pretty risky being that all this info is out there, going back to 2011. The media hasn't been informed about this med., but all we can do is continue supporting others.

Btw....Forest Labs sold the drug to another co? Or names changed to some LLC? Suspicious. Husband works in health ins. We have decided recently after reading recent stories that we would include ourselves in a class action lawsuit against the makers of Viibryd.

Anyone know how that process is done? Is there a law suit already pending? How do we track this? Thx!

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Hi everyone!

I am currently looking to take Viibryd but am trying to follow up with people who have passed the introductory phase. If you don't mind me asking, how has it been going? Thanks and so much appreciated :).

Thank you,
Dom

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Ok, I have an update if it helps anyone.

Take WITH a solid food BREAKFAST

Try that for 3 days... so far so good with me.

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I'am a 20 year old male and, I used Viibryd for 2 weeks in august and had these reactions IMMEDIATELY, and was told to stop cold turkey by my doctor. I was terrified to fall asleep, i didn't sleep for 42 hours after missing a dose. this drug is 100% BAD NEWS, I've personally dubbed it the devil drug.

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:( ...so many suffering w/ SP side effects. There's nothing worse, IMO.

Just wanted to mention that all is still well on the Cymbalta. Look it up, but I think it works the most similar to Viibryd, w/o the scary side effects. I started on it for nerve pain, but my nerve damage/pain is bad enough that only narcotics (which I don't take) will touch the pain.

I have relief from back + neck + sinus pain on the Cymbalta. It's the weirdest thing. How could an AD nearly cure someone from those chronic conditions for me?!

I can't even say that Vii lifted back & neck pain for me. I don't recall noticing, so prob. not, but daytime energy was higher & I had a somewhat normal libido on Vii.

Cymbalta is made by Lilly(Lily?) & has been around awhile. Walgreens recently had 1 left. Guessing popular! I do pay $55/mo.

I do not want to go back on the Wellbutrin, for energy...because I feel like it will cancel out the calming benefits of the Cymbalta.

So it's possible---& this is based on my experience only--that taking Wellbutrin with Vii is unnecessary. Because Vii seemed to give me more energy alone.

I've mentioned this way back, but Wellbutrin & Buspar made my libido 17 again. Yet, Buspar alone, for anxiety, falls about as flat as taking Gabapentin & hoping for nerve pain relief.

Prozac made me feel like I needed to bite down really hard/major jaw clenching...but only when 1st starting the med...so I could've chewed thru an over the counter $30 teeth guard. None of that sensation on Cymbalta.

Lastly, being that Cymbalta & Vii both have a lengthy d/c syndrome side effects, take that into consideration when talking to your Dr. about trying CYM.

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I think I have. I'm on a higher dose than I've been on and every once in awhile if I miss one or maybe take one before bed I have auditory hallucinations and what I think is some form of sleep paralysis. It is horrible. It's 7AM, I haven't slept because this keeps happening every time I start to fall asleep. I am calling my doctor today and getting off this medication.

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Thanks Marie, I did not have any more terrors, but I did have the loooooong never ending dream. I can remember most of it if I close my eyes (which are dry and heavy right now).

My analysis has led me down to 2 things. Either time of day or lack of food. So first is to try taking it every morning with breakfast and see from there. Will let you know what I find.

I appreciate the assistance and good luck to everyone.

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