8 replies to this topic

[FSAS]

Hey,

So I've noticed a frustrating trend. I started taking 50mg of zinc a day a year ago, most days I'd only take 25mg though and sometimes I'd skip days if I forgot but I noted that I slept horribly whilst taking it the days I did and also had some truly disturbing, horrifying dreams. I didn't make the connection until I ran out of zinc and didnt get more for a while and I slept amazingly. Fell asleep right away and slept til morning with pleasent dreams.
It's been a while since I've been taking vitamins because they didnt have any noticable affect and I didnt have the money.

Yesterday I bought some more zinc in a powder form, its a good concentrate because I keep hearing how it's still good to take regardless and definitely good for those on the pill.
Took it last night, ended up waking up every single hour almost on the dot with honestly the most terrifying nightmares, every hour there was a new nightmare, it got to the point got up at 6am and forced myself to stay up becuase I was too scared to sleep. the nightmares affected me physically too, upon waking blood would rush to my limbs almost causing pain.

It's incredibly obvious that zinc is causing these dreams, I've looked it up before when i was concerned and other people have similar stories. I'm going to take this zinc in the morning right after food in hope it wont affect my dreams/sleep.

I wont stop taking it becuase of the benefits of zinc but is there an explaination as to why zinc induces horrible nightmares?

[ikucukkus]

I am not sure if that is the real cause behind those nightmares but I myself can say easily say that I didn't have such nightmares while I was taking 50 mg of zinc a day. However, if that's the case, I guess since zinc is a mineral, it may be interrupting with brain's running. You know, minerals, ions etc. are directly responsible for brain's operations in some aspects. So that might be the case I suppose.

[Green Gables]

You may be getting better quality of sleep, therefore more REM sleep = more dreams = more chance to wake up during and remember a dream

If you're experiencing moderate stress during the day it can induce nightmares at night. If you weren't getting enough REM sleep before, you would never have waken up during a dream cycle and wouldn't have noticed the nightmares.

I always notice more dreams when I have downtime and really get enough sleep every day. My circadian rhythms normalize and I have more energy during the day but my dreams are more VIVID, which can be good or bad. I've always had a fair amount of disturbing dreams, though, so maybe I'm used to dealing with "nightmares." I don't take zinc regularly.

Edited by Green Gables, 21 June 2012 - 10:05 PM.

[FSAS]

You may be getting better quality of sleep, therefore more REM sleep = more dreams = more chance to wake up during and remember a dream

If you're experiencing moderate stress during the day it can induce nightmares at night. If you weren't getting enough REM sleep before, you would never have waken up during a dream cycle and wouldn't have noticed the nightmares.

I always notice more dreams when I have downtime and really get enough sleep every day. My circadian rhythms normalize and I have more energy during the day but my dreams are more VIVID, which can be good or bad. I've always had a fair amount of disturbing dreams, though, so maybe I'm used to dealing with "nightmares." I don't take zinc regularly.

thanks for the reply.
I take it in the morning now and have noticed the nightmares dont happen if i do that. odd.
i've always slept wonderfully, every night luckily. i always awake in the morning very aware of my many vivid dreams. even if i get woken up in the middle of the night i can easily fall straight back to sleep and experience very vivid and realistic dreams, sometimes the random lucid dream.
but yeah i started taking zinc after the nutritionist did a test and said i showed results that meant i was very deficiant (despite a blood test that showed up fine >.>) but yeah im also taking it because apparently the bcp reduces zinc and 'all woman' should consider supplementing but i have read over these forums that people do suggest zinc and that it has helped many people with acne (never me but might as well take it).
I was talking however to another user and they said zinc increases testoserone so now im just like... i dont even know what to do any more :/

[Rawhide]

Zinc is a dopamine reuptake-inhibitor and also modulates serotonin and can therefore induce vivid dreams by the effect on these neurotransmitters. I've had some bizarre dreams lately when supplemented before sleep. Taking it in the morning may be a good idea.

[Omnivium]

Back when I first started zinc at 100mg a day, it helped me sleep, and my dreams were more vivid, but I didn't really get nightmares. Then it started making it harder to sleep, so I went down to 50, then 30, then 15, then 7.5mg. It's like my body was telling me to wean off of it. Zinc can give you more vivid dreams, which is a sign of better sleep, but I don't know why it would cause nightmares.

[whoartthou1]

bump. I can't sleep at all when i take zinc before bed. Or is it the vitamin d pills I am taking?

[Omnivium]

How much are you taking? It made it harder for me to sleep as well, so I had to keep decreasing it. I went all the way down to 7.5mg every other day at one point. Now it's not affecting my sleep at all, so I went back up to 15mg a day. You can try just taking a lot less of it. I take it in the morning, but I think how much I take is more important than when.

[itsoveryes]

If you are Christian go to confession. This happened to me for almost an entire year until I started going twice a week. The meaculpa pro app is also really good.

*Didn't realize this was a bumped thread, but I will leave my answer in case it helps anyone else

Edited by itsoveryes, 22 February 2013 - 11:40 PM.