Hi there,

So I have GAD and PAD, been diagnosed back in 2019. I have been taking anxiety meds that have worked well to help me keep my anxiety under control, with the most recent cocktail I had since beginning of 2021 really working well for me. I take Sertraline (Zoloft) and Bupropion (Wellbutrin), with Clonazepam (Klonopin) taken as needed for anxiety attacks. 

I was having really intense vivid dreams with the Sertraline, but I hadn’t had too many bad ones for a while. It used to be where I’d wake up crying and hyperventilating because a dream was so vivid, or I’d wake up feeling restless bc I was going thru so much in the dreams. But it eventually stopped for the most part

Fast forward to now, I’m at home recovering from a surgical procedure and was prescribed oxycodone for the pain. I usually only take 1-2 per day, often right before I go to sleep as the pills knock me out so I don’t feel the pain from the surgery. I have had 3 back to back nightmares between last night and this afternoon (as I take naps to rest and heal), and these were more intense than I’ve ever had. And they featured very traumatic bits from my subconscious fears and traumas as a teen. 

I plan on talking to my psych and therapist, and the surgeon about the new dreams as an effect. But I wanted to know if others here had similar issues from taking oxycodone or other strong narcotics for medical recoveries. I know anxiety/depression meds can sometimes cause some vivid dreams, but I had such vivid and intense dreams recently after taking the oxycodone and it’s like my whole body intensely reacts to the dreams as if they’re real, and they feel more real because they’re so connected to my personal traumas and not just random movie type nightmare stuff. 

Tl;dr: vivid dreams while taking oxycodone after a surgery and suffering intense psychological distress from the dreams. Anyone else experience the same problem before?