Sleep Paralysis W/ Hallucinations (Page 2) (Top voted first)

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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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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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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This is the scariest thing ever. I haven't been able to sleep all night because as soon as I start to fall asleep I get these horribly real hallucination/dream/occurrences and I'm terrified. It's a Saturday morning and I'm at home alone with my kids and I don't drive. What am I supposed to do?!? I'm exhausted!

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I went thru all that! I recommend calling the on-call Dr. & requesting 2 (20 mg) Prozac so you can get 2 nites of normal sleep b4 seeing him/her Mon. am. This is the only way to stop the hallucinations (auditory & sleep paralysis). You need the SSRI. And stop the Vii as soon as you take the Prozac. BUT! If you are on 40 mg. Vii, I recommend going to the ER so they can give you Xanax or Ativan as well & monitor you. I suffered thru the discontinuation syndrome until I was down to about 15 mg. of Vii, before my Dr. said to take the Prozac. Prozac is easy to wean from. Vii is hell. Any SNRI med is hell to get off of. But Vii actually brings people into hell. It's the scariest drug ever. Hth!

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Ok So i don't take any meds and suffer from SP. I feel so alone in this since noone I know has even heard of it let alone relate to what I go through. I am part of the lucky ones that have Accompanying hallucinations too :/ From being held down and screamed in the ear to faceless figures 3cms from my face. Its hard to explain without seeming crazy :( I was hoping to find a chat room with other ppl that have SP?

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I have now been on Viibryd for 18 months and the benefits are FAR outweighing the initial side effects. When I first started taking Viibryd (at 10 mg) I thought WOW this is a miracle drug. I felt amazing, well rested, and happy with very little anxiety. I titrated up to 20 mg and the benefits were the same but I started experiencing sleep paralysis and though I was bothered, the benefits still outweighed the side effects. Fast forward to the titration up to 40 mg and I thought I was going insane. The sleep paralysis was happening multiple times per night and even during the day if I tried to nap. Sleep was becoming non-existent even with the mild sleep pill I was on. For 9 months my doctor and I went round and round until he finally titrated me back to 20 mg and prescribed Restoril 30 mg. After about 8 weeks, the sleep paralysis was nearly gone and I was sleeping soundly and feeling good again. Fast forward a couple of months and I was having some situation induced anxiety so we added a low dose of Xanax. The sleep paralysis came back with a vengeance. I suffered for a week before the doctor took me off the Xanax and again sleep returned to normal. Another few months passed and I reinjured my shoulder and got a prescription for Tramadol. You guessed it, sleep paralysis again. Decided to suffer out the pain and stopped the Tramadol and everything returned to normal. Several months have passed and I feel better than I have in MANY years. As it turns out there are several drugs out there that have serious reactions when used with Viibryd. I don't know now, how I made it through the months of issues with the reactions, but I'm so glad that I did. Viibryd has turned out to be MY miracle drug. This is not to say that sleep paralysis doesn't occur, because it DOES and it can get BAD, BUT I think with close monitoring of other drugs you are taking and avoiding too high of a dosage, the sleep paralysis can be avoided.

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Yes i had to go off it. The sleep peralisis has stopped but when i sleep i go in to a deep dream state and i think it stops my brain from sending the signals to my body to circulate the blood and when i wake up i have no blood circulating in my arms legs hands and some times stomach. its numb and painful and it doesn't come back till i start moving again.. I'm afraid it's damaging my limbs and brain. My memories seem to be being affected. i think this is a dangerous drug and should be removed from the market.

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Side effects I experienced:

*Explosive diarrhea
*Headaches—intermittent pre-migraines
*Lack of libido—started on day 2
*Brain zaps— I could see them in my head too….they went from right to left, then left to right and were purple with a blue inside. Sometimes fast zaps, mostly slow ones…..they kinda hurt too.
*Body jerks
*Felling something sitting on me when I slept, pressing down on my body, and couldn’t move, or speak…even with attempts to call out to Will (my husband).
*Auditory hallucinations (hearing them as they are real and right beside me)---at night…mean things said to me, hearing the rumbling of someone else’s stomach, hearing frightening laughter.
*Sleep Paralysis
*Very vivid frightening dreams
seeing gory, bloody faces in the windows, TV, which was off. And text scrolling in the windows that I couldn’t read, but looked very old
*Seeing a stack of papers being lifted up
*Seeing picture frames on the walls being lifted up and placed back without sound.
*Visual Hallucinations---at night---
*Bloody, gory images in my dreams
*Seeing demons beside my bed staring at me
*Hearing Shouts, screams, yells and wails from unknown sources…sounded like people being tortured.
*Constant state of being afraid to go to sleep, because I didn’t want to experience any of this.
*Every time I closed my eyes, it was like a never ending swirling interactive optical illusion in many colors with bloody gory jump scare images.
*Seeing things out of the corner of my eye, turning to look…nothing there
*Photos on the walls ---the faces would turn in to what all looked like demons, then would turn back when I clicked on the light.

Called to schedule an appointment with my Doctor to get off this horrible medication as soon as I can get in. This is AWFUL....DON'T TAKE IT!!

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Thank you so much for posting this question! I've had sleep paralysis in the past many times, but now that I'm taking Viibryd it's an every night occurrence, and it's very different from the sleep paralysis I used to experience. It started almost immediately, with the feeling of falling inside of my body while drifting off to sleep and the sudden jolting awake of my brain accompanied by a loud sound in my head. Sometimes when I'm not even trying to sleep I'll get that weird, familiar feeling that I'm about to slip into sleep paralysis. My head and neck will suddenly have that dizzy/lightheaded sensation while I'm sitting on the couch or the bed wide awake. My dreams luckily haven't been terrifying, but they do make me feel uncomfortable, and this whole situation is getting to be too much for me which really sucks because this medicine has done wonders for my anxiety!

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I am glad I'm not the only one having these side effects. I am up out of bed just because I can't handle the dreams and sleep paralysis that come with it.

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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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Yes, I am borderline Hyperthyroid & it's just something that they will watch. It just seems odd to me, because my mother is 'hyper' with many growths on her thryoid. Only my oncologist thought the hyperthyroid was a little odd. My family dr. dismissed it. Also, I am not going off the Wellbutrin (300mg). As much as I'd like to, it decreases my neuropathy foot pain a little, but not a cure. So that's really the only reason why I take it. The 'Xanax' is used sparingly, due to it being an addictive med. But since I've successfully taken it for going on 4 yrs. now, maybe 1 (.25)/day if even & going many mos. w/o it while taking Buspar (that drug is a joke & didn't do anything for me but make me feel weird & dizzy). Prior to Ambien, I had my share of nightmares & Ambien has actually helped with that. But the Viibryd is causing distressing nightmares when trying to sleep. Now that I've been on 20 mg. for almost 2 wks. now, I am having more consistant nightmare/sleep paralysis. But NOT bumping back up to 40 mg. No way. Are you also weaning off of it? I also read about 'going with the sensation' of heavy wave like/sleep paralysis feeling instead of fighting it. And so last night when I kept on feeling the crazy sensations a good 6 or so times, repeatedly, I would just relax, move my hands (because I could, the other day I couldn't move at all, & I had not taken Ambien) and I tried clenching my jaw & opening & closing my mouth...as talked about....maybe on youtube? I'd snap right back into feeling normal again. Tonight if it happens, I am going to try getting out of bed immediately to see what happens, because that is supposed to help? From what I can recall from last night, I don't think I could have jumped out of bed quickly enough, because I was in sort of a relaxed sleep state. I've been thru so much with my past cancer that scary images in my dreams do not scare me. In fact, I've noticed that in the past few mos. as these dreams intensified (I know it's from the Viibryd) that I have found myself really in control of my dreams and moving towards the scary image until I am face to face and then it goes away. That's why I feel like my dreams are almost 'Nightmare on Elmstreet' like w/o Freddy. I don't run from them. But Sun. night worst attack of total sleep paralysis had me so cocooned & frozen that I eventually was trying to wake up my husband by saying "help me." WTF. I cannot even believe I am talking about this happening to me. I already wrote the FDA. And to think that my family Dr. dismissed this, when it's all over the internet now! Thankfully, the drug has been out there long enough. I was his first guinea pig. I do not have severe depression or bipolar or anything of that nature. So to think that Viibryd can take a somewhat healthy brain & give such awful side effects if very frightning to me and I worry for everyone else now. :O

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Thank God the brain wave attack sensations went away and I haven't had any sleep paralysis attacks. But tonight I am dropping down to 10mg. Viibryd & a little concerned. I guess what I've noticed more since decreasing the Viibryd to 20 mg. is a definite increase in libido. 20 mg. might be the perfect dose. I might be more spontaneous in a good way & easier ticked off in a bad way. :) I'll post more on the 10 mg. dose soon. Hope I don't get emotional about something tomorrow? Like a Hallmark commercial? :)

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OMG! I thought I was the only one with this horrible sleep paralysis problem. I also have severe joint pain and insomnia. I have been taking Viibryd for about 4-5 months and these problems seem to be getting worse the longer I take it. I also have autoimmune thyroid disease and was perscribed Viibryd about the same time my thyroid med dosage was changed. I am so thankful for everyone's posts because I now know these side effects are all linked to Viibryd. Thank you, thank you. I will be asking my doc to help me wean off of this horrible drug. I must say, it has never really made a difference in my depression, anxiety or libido.

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I feel your pain! This med is horrible! I also had the lack of oxygen thing happen to me! I was dozing off for a nap and everytime I would start to fall asleep I would feel short of breath and have to make my body breathe ! I feel like if I would have fell asleep completely I would have stopped breathing! Absolutely terrifying... so finally after enduring this horrible sleep paralysis with hallucinations, the brain zaps, and the breathing thing I have decided to get off of this medicine! I'm down to 20mg from 40 and so far ive had no sleep paralysis from decreasing thank God! Have definitely noticed a increase in vivid dreams but they haven't been scary... I do wake up tired though! Overall, I would rather be depressed than on this medication!!!

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Maria,

Other than the sleep paralysis, does Vibryd do anything good for you? In reply 1, I placed a an article about sleep problems and also shared a little of my story. Although I have had this way before Vibryd, it was worse in the beginnnig of taking this med.

I understand how you feel about the hallucinations!! It is awful!!! I used to think I was nutso til I read about sleep disorders/sleep paralysis. I have also had things happen that you could make a movie about and no one would ever believe you saw and felt all those crazy things!!! Things running over my bed...ect...

I have a question. I read that if a person touches during the episodes that it would get you out of it. Has your husband tried to wake you? The last one I had I got up and walked around, cause everytime I moved to another position I would start going back into it...Then I slept with my arms on my dog and slept great!!!

You aren't alone in this and I am soooo sorry the med is doing this to you! They are sooooo scarey!!! It is soooooo real!!!

Anyway, the reason I asked if it is helping you other than that is because the longer you are on it the better it gets. My dreaming isn't even the same...I was having vivid dreams that I could changed at will...lol...but gosh so glad that has gone away!!

Oh...and looking at pics and worrying about it does make it worse...I know it is hard not to worry...believe me!! But it is best to do something positive before bedtime. Maybe read your Bible since it can keep you calmed down.....

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Googling that now. With SP can one stop breathing? This is fascinating to me. I just always thought it was some way the angels are trying to take me, after surviving cancer. I then began to worry a few mos. ago that taking Ambien (even 5 mg) was dangerous. There are probably not enough studies done to show that it's safe to take Vii, Ambien, 1 (.25) xanax (at the same time or hours earlier) & then Wellbutrin earlier in the day. I only started to take Vii at night, because I noticed the 'feeling' dozy 20 min. after taking. So what I do to combat my insomnia now, so I don't take Ambien is I will quickly get up to bed & try not to talk, if my husband is still up. I am frequently still up until 3am and up at 7:20am. Trying to force myself to get to bed before 12:30am, but it's tough. I like my quiet time at night, but need at least 6.5 hrs. of sleep. So sorry you've had the suffocating feeling too. Weird. Shaking head. Almost afraid to tell my Dr.

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I was wondering what that was called. I have been having these episodes since being on the 40mg of Viibryd. I will lay down to go to sleep and feel pressure in my head and see a flash of light and hear a pop sound. The other night, when I had the episode, I felt like I couldn't move my body and had to force myself to move my arm and say something out loud. Scary. I really want to wean off of this horrible medicine. I hope that you are doing better.

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Oh yes, the wonderful POP feeling in our heads from Viibryd. I seemed to have that only after trying to wean for the 2nd time. But it was off an on again & happened when I was due for the med. and sleepy. Like I said before, I had multiple PoP feelings and then once it felt like my kids threw a softball at my forehead, but of course it was just an awful pop sensation. So after all that, I said enough, & went back to 40 mg. for several mos. I was also having sleep paralysis & episodes of feeling frozen in my chair...tired at night, but my brain wasn't able to scream loud enough to my body to be able to just get out of the chair & take the Viibryd. I noticed that switching my dose to bedtime was a curse, but also eventually became a blessing. Because I was having all the bad side effects at 40 mg. on & off again, but I did start to feel more in control of this nasty drug. Yes, the sideways to the left sude of my head static wave feeling stopped, so that has been a blessing, but I've also been successfully able to wean down to 20 mg. at night. And the reason why 'I' recommend night, is because then I don't deal with any discontinuation symptoms at night. It seems that with SSRI's & sleep, there is usually a conflict. Hallucinations, etc. But with Viibryd & having such a short half life (not even long enough to keep a gnat 'feeling content' during their 1 day?! life cycle) I don't take any more chances. The drug is f'ed up & people need to start writing to the FDA. There are too many people out there today gnawing other people's flesh to assume that it's bath salts. Perhaps they are on Viibryd? (along with illegal drugs)!!! Debating on if I want to switch to 20 mg. or go off completely. Worried side effects will come back if off completely. Talk about a drug that keeps everyone hooked!

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Thank you so much for your kind words and so glad I helped ease your mind. I somehow successfully have weaned down to 20 mg. I just break the 40 in half. But a few nights ago, I so much as took tiny bit smaller half of the pill (maybe 15 mg!?) and while in my almost there sleep state, I felt the heavy wave of terror of sleep paralysis & mind control of some evil!? creature trapping me in my head/neck/shoulders. Arms constricted, my anger over the situation (there is no peaceful way to break out of it--it just takes time...and like 20 mini attacks of SP in 30-60 min?!) I began to hollar out internally, but it should have been externally...and am sure I do mutter some sounds as I can feel my husband shift in bed, but helpless, he isn't aware of the horrific cycle of nerve wracking horror that my body is enduring. But again, unlike nightmares, when it's over, I am relieved and sleep. F'ing Viiibryd. I haven't taken my 5 mg. of Ambien in a few nights, but since other's are having SP & not taking Ambien, it's probably in my best interest to take it. Goodnite! Sleep well everyone! :) PS--my dr. is fully aware of what i've been going thru...and he had his own personal blog about this med! I'll be seeing him soon.

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