Dreamy Feelings

[Guest]

Okkie dokkie first message that I have posted since joining like three seconds ago. I have persistent unreality feelings like feeling like your in a dream. I saw my therapist and psyc today who switched my lexapro which I was taking for anxiety and depression to cymbalta . I have heard that this drug is good just curious your thoughts. Also do the dreamy feelings go away pllleeeeeaaasssseee someone tell me they do i am so stuck behind a curtain i dunno what to do. I would love to feel complete again and happy and react aproperiatly at times.

 

[Guest]

I know about the dreamy feelings and I hate it! Usually, it happens to me if I have a high anxiety and take a xanax during the day and fall asleep for a short amount of time...not allowing my brain enough rest. When I wake up, it is like a soldier peeling himself off the ground. It is such a heavy feeling. My head feels horrible and I feel like I am, well...in a dream.


I have episodes of anxiety, not just 30 minute attacks. When I have an episode, I avoid all naps. That tends to control the feeling for me. The dream feeling is a symptom of my anxiety episodes, not the medication.

 

[cecejailer]

You're probably having a depersonalization/derealization attack. I had this for about 1 year and still have it (even though it's much better now.) I understand completely what you're feeling, it's like you're there but not really there, you're just an audience watching the familiar thing we call life. Talking and thinking can feel mechanic and social interactions are so difficult because you just don't feel real. I don't think this has to do with the medications you're taking, I take lexapro and clonazepam (which is really similar to xanax) as well and I had DPDR before I took them. DPDR is a symptom of anxiety and what worked for me was not staying in too long and getting used to the "real" world again. It's not easy but it can be done.

 

[simonsaysdifferent]

I was also on lexapro and had a really similar reaction. Just a general feeling that I was playing a part in any given situation without much control over it. It's almost like a dreamy apathy. It really started to make me nervous because it became a thin veil between myself and my life. After I went off lexapro that feeling lessened, but didn't go away completely.

 

[Alex]

Medication can have that affect on you and it affects everyone differently. It's hard when you feel you have no control over yourself and how you think and act. It will take a couple of weeks for the medication to get out of your system even if you change your medication, so give it time to see what side effects if there are any occur.


Sadly, it's trial and error to see what medication suits you, and it's hard to be rational when you are trying to use the medication to help heal the mind.

 

[MissTea]

It can be really disconcerting to be awake and yet feel that surreal feeling of being in a dreamlike state, and often you aren't even sure if you are reacting normally to the situations around you. I have never been on lexapro, so I cannot really offer much help, but I do agree with Alex that when it comes to your medication, it is a matter trial and error so that you can find the mix that suits you.

 

[Laneorexorcist]

I'm glad to hear that I'm not the only one with this issue... And I also told my therapist about it like a year ago but she said that it was really nothing. That I needed to focus a little bit more about my environment? If that makes any sense. That when I am feeling kind of dreamy it would be a good idea to stop myself for a while and realize where am I and what's really going on. It hasn't done wonders for me but sometimes it works, you should maybe give it a try.