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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 6 of 6. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by toodlebug on November 27, 2002, at 12:46:23
I have been taking AD's off and on for the last few years and want to quit taking them. Currently, I am taking Prozac (I've weaned myself from 20 mg/day to 20 mg/every other day) and Trazodone (150 mg, but this causes drowsiness). I don't seem to be getting much benefit from them anymore and I don't like the side effects -- flat affect, weight gain, etc. I am going to start taking an Omega 3 supplement as I have read a lot of good things about that.
However, I am worried that if I quit these drugs I will have worse insomnia. That is because the last time I tried to quit taking ADs (about a year ago), the insomnia (awakening after 3-4 hours' sleep) which had originally been caused by Celexa/Effexor/Wellbutrin (I've taken them all!) got worse. While taking these AD's, I also took trazodone (50 mg) to combat the insomnia. When I quit taking them I started needing more and more trazodone to stay asleep through the night, up to 400 mg. If I took enough trazodone to sleep through the night, I would be unbearably groggy the next day. So I also tried restoril, ambien, seroquel, prosom, elavil, ativan, but none worked as well as the trazodone. This went on for about 3 months before I gave in and started taking Prozac. This time, as I have started to wean myself off the Prozac, I am needing proportionately more Trazodone to sleep. (At 20 mg/day of Prozac, 50 mg/night Trazodone worked.)
Is there anything I can take that will help me transition back to a med-free state? Since I will have so much time off in Dec. (I work at a university), I will have time to experiment then, but I need to be fully functional by Jan. My psychiatrist is willing to try new drugs, but he is baffled by my problem. I hope someone here has had a similar experience and can offer some advice! (Although I am really sorry if you have, because this is awful.)
Posted by Mr Cushing on November 27, 2002, at 13:24:08
In reply to insomnia/getting off meds/help please!, posted by toodlebug on November 27, 2002, at 12:46:23
I've suffered from insomnia pretty much since I was born. The one drug that has always helped me was Clonazepam (Klonopin). If I take somewhere between .5 and .75mg every night, I sleep like a baby.I'm Bi-Polar so Trazadone, though it helped me sleep at first, would eventually have me hypomanic and in no way wanting to sleep. I've tried a number of different benzos but the one that I found that would give me like 7-8 hours of sleep was Clonazepam. It doesn't really "knock you out" if that's what you're looking for though. It basically just stops the racing thoughts (having your mind wandering all over the place except trying to sleep) which constantly kept me up all night. It also has a half-life of like 8 hours so it should keep you under long enough to get a full night's sleep.
My PDoc also is trying to book me an appointment at a Sleep Clinic (?? Don't even know what happens here) to try and see what the underlying cause of my insomnia is. I've been recently diagnosed as being Bi-Polar, however, I can seem to trace my insomnia back a LOT further than I can my mood cycling. In fact, my Dad claims that I never could sleep as I used to keep him and my Mom up all night every night when I was like just 2 years old.
Posted by toodlebug on December 2, 2002, at 18:18:50
In reply to Re: insomnia/getting off meds/help please!, posted by Mr Cushing on November 27, 2002, at 13:24:08
Thank you for the suggestion, but I have already tried Klonopin. (I can't believe I forgot to mention it!) It does help me fall asleep when I have racing thoughts, but it does not help me *stay* asleep which is the problem. (I have totally baffled my doctors.) I also have had problems with insomnia since I was a very young child, so this has been pretty much a life-long battle with me. However, until I started taking Celexa two years ago I never had problems staying asleep, just initiating sleep.
Fortunately, this problem may not be as bad as I thought. In the past week I was able to work myself down from 150 mg. trazodone to 50 mg. I am so excited! And very surprised after my previous experiences, esp. since I had so much trouble in Oct and Nov. Maybe by Christmas I will be drug-free!
I think the worst of my depression is over (hard to say while I still have prozac in my system though) and I am going to try to keep it at bay with lots of fish oil and exercise. I just think all the side effects I have had to cope with are worse than depression. That is, unless I get in a really bad way, but I rarely have depression that bad.
>
> I've suffered from insomnia pretty much since I was born. The one drug that has always helped me was Clonazepam (Klonopin). If I take somewhere between .5 and .75mg every night, I sleep like a baby.
>
> I'm Bi-Polar so Trazadone, though it helped me sleep at first, would eventually have me hypomanic and in no way wanting to sleep. I've tried a number of different benzos but the one that I found that would give me like 7-8 hours of sleep was Clonazepam. It doesn't really "knock you out" if that's what you're looking for though. It basically just stops the racing thoughts (having your mind wandering all over the place except trying to sleep) which constantly kept me up all night. It also has a half-life of like 8 hours so it should keep you under long enough to get a full night's sleep.
>
> My PDoc also is trying to book me an appointment at a Sleep Clinic (?? Don't even know what happens here) to try and see what the underlying cause of my insomnia is. I've been recently diagnosed as being Bi-Polar, however, I can seem to trace my insomnia back a LOT further than I can my mood cycling. In fact, my Dad claims that I never could sleep as I used to keep him and my Mom up all night every night when I was like just 2 years old.
Posted by Mr Cushing on December 2, 2002, at 18:29:43
In reply to Re: insomnia/getting off meds/help please!, posted by toodlebug on December 2, 2002, at 18:18:50
Hey, did you ever think that maybe the reason why you were having so much trouble sleeping is because you were taking such a large dose of SSRIs every day? In people like myself (Bi-Polar) this is a definite way to push us into hypomania where we don't sleep at all. Maybe in "normal" people, on a large enough dose of SSRIs, it causes the same problem?
Posted by sjb on December 3, 2002, at 8:53:27
In reply to Re: insomnia/getting off meds/help please!, posted by toodlebug on December 2, 2002, at 18:18:50
toodlebug,
I wish you all the best. I am in a similar situation, trying to go drug free. The last drug I took was Lexapro at 20mg on 11/13. I'm experimenting with all the other supplements recommended here and want so much to remain drug free. The first real test will be my next menstrual period. Holding my fingers. I'm also trying to commit to NO BOOZE at all.As for excercise, I always do quite a bit of that.
Posted by Saragram on December 4, 2002, at 13:01:54
In reply to insomnia/getting off meds/help please!, posted by toodlebug on November 27, 2002, at 12:46:23
toodlebug,
I can empathize because insomnia is one of the main reasons I seek help when I have a bout of depression, and Prozac, Welbutrin, and now Lexapro have all seemed to make that symptom worse. I am not having as much trouble as I was (I'm 8 weeks into 10 mg Lexapro per day) but when I need something, I take .5 mg xanax and one or two of a drugstore-brand of Unisom, which is doxalymine succinate, an antihistamine. If I have any minor aches, pains or itches I'll add a couple of ibuprofen. Sometimes I'll split the xanax pill and save half of it and one of the Unisoms until I wake up to use the bathroom in the middle of the night and then take them to help get back to sleep.
With this mix I usually fall asleep reading within 45 minutes of lying down and drop back off allright after a bathroom visit. I'm sometimes a little foggy-headed the next morning, but I've never been a morning person and I've seen people post here that that's a symptom of Lexapro alone for them.
Good luck
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