February 14th, 2006

Filed under:
Mixed Bag
45 Comments »

Does Advil Give Anybody Else Crazy Dreams?

I’m feeling under the weather again. I’m certainly not a pleasure delayer, but I am traditionally a big illness delayer. Now that Northern Voice is more or less wrapped up, I’ve got a little time to be sick. Of course, I probably just caught it from one of the hundred-odd hands I shook on Friday and Saturday.

I was reminded, about four hours too late, that Advil gives me insane dreams. I’ll spare you details–nothing is more boring than hearing about other people’s dreams–but suffice it to say they were Carollesque in their technicolor weirdness.

I don’t drink or take drugs, so maybe Advil is sufficiently mind-altering for my relatively virgin system. Does Advil affect anybody else this way?

Comments: 45 Responses so far

Jody
February 14th, 2006
4:58 pm

Advil doesn’t bother me, but Neo Citran does a number on me. In my late teens I took a dose before bed, than in the middle of the night started sleeping walking, hugging my mother so tightly I started to hurt her. My brother had to help get me off. I remember all of it but had no control. I woke up soon after in a daze. Fun stuff. I haven’t tried it since.

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Rob
February 14th, 2006
7:08 pm

I take advil like vitamins, so I haven’t experienced that. Like Jody, I get some weird effects from NeoCitran, but it could be the mix of Tylenol cold and flu, NeoCitran and a few homeopathic things I take. It sure works though.

Go to the Fare and get some Oscillo. Trust me on this one.

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Rach
February 14th, 2006
11:05 pm

Yup! Advil does that to me too.

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Gwen
February 15th, 2006
4:53 am

I haven’t noticed the dreams (I have weird ones anyway) but it does make me feel like I’m three sheets to the wind *before* I go to bed (dizzy, nauseous, etc.) so the dreams are probably somewhat weirder than usual. Head pain in general gives me insane dreams, though (ah, those hair curler-induced nightmares).

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BB
February 15th, 2006
8:57 am

An alternative explanation: I’ve always read that people think certain kinds of foods give them strange dreams, when, in reality, it’s the digestion of those foods that drags them now and them out of deep sleep, enabling them to remember the weird dreams that they otherwise have but forget in the smooth transition between REM sleep and waking. Might it be that the illness for which you’re taking the advil is screwing with your sleep pattern and waking you up to the things your mind normally does at night?

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Chris
February 15th, 2006
11:01 am

Just so you know, Advil pills don’t have happy faces or peace signs on them ;)

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Randy Poling
March 1st, 2006
6:12 pm

Good thing I found this page. Advil gives me the weirdest dreams! I was just talking about this with my brother and it has given me really scary and strange dreams!

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Mark
April 3rd, 2006
10:10 am

Yes, I have experienced the most bizarre and disturbingly graphic dreams after taking Advil. Even after being woke up by the dream, my mind seems to continue with very bad thoughts, and I don’t know if I am awake, or dreaming again. After what I experienced two nights ago, I will never take that stuff again before bedtime. But if those thoughts do occur while I’m awake, maybe I’ll just do without…

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Minnie
April 16th, 2006
4:23 pm

Advil is the only med that makes me very sleepy and lethargic. It is the best sleeping pill in the world for “me”..

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Sara
September 7th, 2006
5:23 pm

Man,advil gives me the most insane dreams ever.

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Jose
December 11th, 2006
12:00 pm

YES advil pm gives me incredibly insane dreams. most of them are frightening and unpleasant. they feel very real too.

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Rob
January 4th, 2007
8:09 am

Yes, I have multiple often somewhat scary dreams whenever I take Advil before bed.

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Sarah
January 4th, 2007
5:39 pm

Oh God I have only taken Advil once before sleeping and I will never do it again! I had the most vidid, frightening and unpleasant dreams. They were extremely realistic. I kept thinking I was waking up but I wasn’t; I would “wake up” and everything in the room was identical but I couldn’t move, couldn’t speak then something crazy would happen. At one point I thought I woke up to my dog licking my hand. I started to roll over when I felt it change to a chew and it was getting hard and starting to hurt. I looked over and there was a huge, black wolf chewing on my hand. In this part the room was all very realisting. Next I thought I woke up again and started screaming for help because I couldn’t move. I felt literally like I was screaming to the point of pain, but my friend sleeping just up the stairs said I didn’t make a sound. When I finially did wake up it took me about two hours to finially realize I really was awake, and my hand seemed to hurt from being chewed.

Really, really fucking weird!

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skip
January 7th, 2007
10:00 pm

So maby its not the advil creating the bad dreams but in all actuality its working, doing what its designed to assist in sleeping and due to being relaxeed here come the dreams?

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Becca
January 31st, 2008
10:09 pm

yeah..sorta

whenever i take advil before bed, i do have very vivid dreams.. theyre not usually bad though. Just very real.

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amy
March 2nd, 2008
1:33 pm

just wanted to tell you that whenever i take advil pm…i ALWAYS have crazy really vivid dreams, sometimes nightmares, like last night when i dreamed the government made a giant (like 30 foot) trex-godzilla like robot…weird dreams…glad im not the only one!!!

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BobB
March 30th, 2008
4:20 pm

yes, Advil causes me to have obsessive disturbing dreams that you can’t get out of. It’s almost like the dream state has become grooved. Very scary. Needless, to say, I avoid the drug.

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goat man
April 8th, 2008
12:20 pm

thats odd im studing dreams right now i wonder y that happens…

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Dennie
September 3rd, 2008
10:37 am

The medicine ibuprofen I have taken for years without any dreams, until I picked up my last prescription (800mg). Every time since, it doesn’t matter if it’s a whole one or a half of one, the dreams are scary and bizarre. What the heck is going on??!!!

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brad Reply:
December 27th, 2009 at 10:08 pm

if it made you have vivid dreams i am sure it would say it on the bottle i bet you have never smoked pot even before you have no clue what you talking about

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ass
September 6th, 2008
4:56 pm

well after i took advil one night, i went to sleep, and then i “felt” like i was a wake, but i couldnt move and then i started thinking for some reason “devil” and then i heard a satan laugh, after that, i NEVER took advil, ever again, it scared me shitless, and i thought i was screaming, but i couldn’t even make a sound

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bezo
September 16th, 2008
8:47 pm

man i just took advil for the first time yesterday and i had the scariest dream i eva had..and it seem so real and its like i think i wokke up but im still dreaming. i thought i was finaly waking up like 6 times but i was still dreaming and the dream had to do with the DEVIL as well. I dont know where that came from..I do not have nightmares or anything like that so this was shocking to me. I WILL NEVER TAKE ADVIL AGAIN.

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senguin
September 30th, 2008
6:59 pm

I have taken Advil previously but recently I took a single Advil gel tab and had the worst, most vivid dream ever. I seriously have never been so afraid to go back to sleep.

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pippy
January 9th, 2009
8:02 am

I thought I was the only crazy one to think taking Advil last night right before sleeping was a possible cause of all the weird and crazy dreams. Until I googled it. Man some crazy dreams!!! No more advil before sleeping ..

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sickcity
March 9th, 2009
7:42 pm

I’ve found out T3’s do it for me. In my research, it seems like I’m experiencing Sleep Paralysis (sounds like some of the other posters here are too) Yes, the episodes where you seem to be awake in your proper surroundings, but something is just “off”…..then you realize your still dreaming, and you panic to wake yourself up, but you cant move or make a sound, even though you are trying your hardest to do both. Then you wake up with a spinning headache and need to fight to stay awake, or its just going to happen again.

While i’m sitting up writing this…….ive just had a different type of dream and had to get up because i feel nauseus (sp?) In the dream I felt drunk, and I remember saying to the people I was with “at the bar” that ‘Ive only had 3 drinks, but im wasted. Im worried’………then I woke up with the exact same feeling in real life….nauseus and no balance. I didn’t want to go back to bed until the feeling wore off, cuz I know exactly what is going to happen. this sucks.

feel free to email me, anyone. i’d like to find someone to talk to this about with similar symptoms

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sickcity
March 9th, 2009
7:43 pm

^^^

aroncadin AT shaw DOT ca

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ron Reply:
March 25th, 2009 at 4:28 pm

I have experienced Sleep Paralysis after taking Advil. My nightmare is that I am having a heart attack and my heart is skipping and wants to stop. I cannot get myself to awaken as I am paralized, but I groan loadly until my wife awakes and wakes me. I awake with a rapid heartbeat and fear of going back to sleep. This has occuring about once a month for over 15 years! I always thought it was something I ate. I have been taking Advil for over the same time period because of lower back pain. I’m thankful that I found this blog.

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Eric
June 5th, 2009
7:04 pm

I never commented on anything before. But my nightmares have become so overwhemingly scary that I’m afraid to try to sleep. I have been stressed alot lately and have been taken Advil pm to sleep. What a mistake. I can’t believe some of the comments I read, all of which are scaringly similar. At night I don’t know if I’m awake or asleep. I also won’t bore anyone with the datails but holyshit. I’m in bed this second and dreading falling asleep. Now I will never take Advil or Tylenol pm’sy

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Evelyn
July 12th, 2009
5:38 pm

I just started taking Advil PM for the past two nights, and each night, had at least 2-3 bad dreams. They were very real and very disturbing. Last night, I dreamt that my yorkie died. When I woke up, I actually reached over to where my yorkie was in my bed, and was so happy to find that she was alive. These pills are now in the garbage. Never again.

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Amanda Driscoll
July 27th, 2009
9:02 pm

i just woke up from the worst nightmare of my life! i was crying and terrified- i still thought i was dreaming, i wouldn’t even let my boyfriend touch me. i was too scared to go back to sleep so i sat up thinking about why this happened- and i am so glad i googled this. i am at ease now, knowing that after 2 years people are still commenting on this blog and that advil is probably doing this and im not possessed- what my dream was leading me to believe!

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Serge V
August 15th, 2009
2:26 pm

I normally never dream, that is to say, I never remember dreaming. However, when I take Advil PM, I always have really messed up, really vivid, realistic dreams. The dreams usually go way past the point where a normal dream would wake you up. Afterwards, I always wake up confused and disoriented because the dreams are so realistic.

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Mmhmm
September 9th, 2009
7:31 am

Amanda, you should’t let your boyfriend touch you in the first place. That’s what marriage is for, you tramp.

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Doug
September 15th, 2009
11:04 am

650mg of aspirin and I have had dreams of God, singing Angels, global calamity so vivid I wake up in awe, the most memorable dream I was surrounded by people with there arms up to the sky singing to God…I don’t remember what they were singing it was so beautiful I was in tears.
I never dream like this, only when I take aspirin so I quit taking aspirin before bed, because of the end of the world dreams…to scary!
Usually my dreams of the end of the world involves a tilt of the worlds axis and the destruction of our atmosphere exposing the stars….very intense dreams.

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jen
September 20th, 2009
6:03 am

Its really weird taking advil tylenol neo citran anything that makes ya drowsy I always felt like I wasn’t sleeping right or that I’m awake watching myself sleep its exauasting I wake up feeling like I didn’t get a good nights rest

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Brenda
September 29th, 2009
12:38 pm

Yes, they give me crazy dreams also. I noticed it right away when I started taking Advil. I don’t have that reaction to any other pain relief medication and thought that it was just me! I’m glad to hear that I’m not the only one who ends up feeling like they have been tripping on some crazy 70’s drug when they wake up the next day. Wow, the dreams are wild and I try to stay away from Advil for that very reason. I have enough crazy things going on in my life that I don’t need it enhanced at bedtime :)

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Evan
October 16th, 2009
3:05 am

I am always fine with Neo-Citran, but Advil and ibuprofen give me whacked out dreams. Not really nightmares like some people have, just nutty. Tylenol doesn’t do it either.

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Brandon
October 21st, 2009
7:41 am

wOW..

Sleep Paralysis is SO SCARY!
after taking advil and having a nap, i woke up in the same environment (on my couch) looking at a window and i saw could have SWORN i saw the Exorcist (hat and all) stalking towards me in the most threatening manor POSSIBLE! felt like he was coming to rid me of a demon or something lol

then i managed to turn my head to the left.. and then i saw my gf (who wasnt there) and i asked her for help and she responds by turning towards with Yellow Cat-like eyes and growls at me… more like hiss…

Then i looked forward again (not sure if my head is actually moving in reality) and the stalking exorcist is moving FASTER (his bobbing head in the window is quickening) and then suddenly its Over… Wake up.. and calm down..

the experience lasted .. probabl;y 2 minutes.

WOW!!!!

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brad
December 27th, 2009
10:05 pm

really its advil its a pain relief drug they have done many studies on this drug and it can only cause stomach irritation. thats like saying i swallowed a mint before i went to bed and i had weird dreams. when you goto bed your brain produces a chemical DMT and it makes you trip when you sleep. DMT can be extracted from grass and frogs, etc and it is illegal even though it causes no harm and lasts for 10 min when taken by smoking

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Keith
January 21st, 2010
8:47 pm

Yes. I found this post by searching “ibuprofen dreams”. One pill gives me vivid dreams. Two pills give me insanely violent dreams. Not the helpless kind where somebody is chasing me. More like somebody is chasing me, and I kill them. Pretty interesting.

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Justin
January 22nd, 2010
2:55 am

I’ve been taking 400mg’s of Advil every four hours for the past 3 or 4 days to control pain. But I stopped taking it yesterday. And then tonight I had such strange, intense dreams, one after another. It’s now 3:45 in the morning and I’m sitting at my computer after waking up from the third very creepy dream and so I googled “bad dreams advil” and this page was at the top of the search list. I’m thinking maybe it was either that I experienced withdrawl symptoms after stopping taking the pills and this caused the dreams, or, after taking so many advils over the course of 3-4 days that the drug built up in my system enough after a number of days to cause the dreams, even though I had stopped taking them already. I don’t know which theory is correct, but either way, advil was responsible for the dreams, I’m sure of it.

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Chris
January 26th, 2010
7:33 am

If been taking the extra strength “no name” equivalent of Neo-Citran a few nights in row.It has pheniramine, a sedative in it and knocks me right out. I’ve had crazy dreams on it but I always figured they just made for good stories. But this morning I couldn’t get up, I remembered stopping my alarm but each time I’d wake up to a similar room to my own but with a different change to it each time I.e a Skylight. This kept happening until I missed my first one hour class.. not doing this again I was obviously shook up enough to look this up on google and write about this, major case of the Heebe-Jeebies!

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alexs
January 27th, 2010
12:46 pm

lol im going to try advil at night today.wish me luck=]

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Cody
January 28th, 2010
7:54 am

Advil and ibuprofin have always given me weird dreams, mostly bad and/or voilent. Sometimes, as in last night, I forget and take a couple right before bedtime to ease some back pain. The bad dream woke me up in the middle of the night. I am sure I will do it again in a few months.

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Cameron Ehren
February 8th, 2010
6:53 pm

Weird because ive been taking advil before i go to bed and it really helps me wake up in the morning almost like ive an extra hour or two but i do get the occasional awkward dream not sure if its from advil tho. Anybody else experiencing sleeping problems and dont want to use advil try a table spoon of honey and its great because its side effect free

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lupe
February 10th, 2010
5:54 pm

YES, absolutely, I just googled this, thinking I was nuts….but now I feel I’m not the only one reacting weirdly to one of the components of this medicine…just that, now is too late for me, I just popped one pill, and I’m about to go to sleep….if I have a nightmare tonight, those pills are going right to the garbage!!!!

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