Hey, guys...Um. I don't want to go on for too long so simply put, I have issues with OCD and depression and recently I've been prescribed anti-depressants. 20mg of Prozac daily. I was told to stick with it for about a month and then make another appointment to see how I'm coping. Some of the side-effects are hitting me pretty bad now and it's only day three. I'm having a hard time with nausea, headaches, loss of appetite and insomnia. I can sit through the nausea, eat when I don't feel like it, and ibuprofen helps with the headaches. But the insomnia is driving me nuts. I'm so tired. The first night I slept, tossed and turned and woke up five hours after I finally fell alseep. I was unable to sleep again for another four hours, and it was the most unrefreshing nap ever. (I took the prozac the night before). So I took it earlier the next day, and I did not sleep last night at all. Not at all. I just laid there in bed. No matter how tired I was, or how still I laid, or how comfortable I got, not a pinch of sleep. Not anything but lying there. So today I took it in the morning. (Still running on zero sleep). Dunno how this is going to turn out but I'm starting to fix my sleeping schedule now... I'm wondering if any of you have insomnia, or trouble sleeping. And what you do to deal with it? Also, if anyone's dealt with anti-depressants before, how it went for them overall? I'm really scared, lol. I've never taken a drug so invasive before, and I dislike it. :c [ Also, this isn't a departure thread or anything but I do want to say that until I feel better, I really...can't seem to find the will to be too active. I don't want to sit at my computer. I want to just collapse on my bed and cry. It's really hard to be up right now, and I don't like this feeling but...I'm going to spend most of my time waiting out these side effects in bed, or with family, and not on the Internet. I will be on KHV, though. On my iPod, mostly. I'll get on my laptop if something happens. If you need me on MSN or something, contact FuzzyBlueLights. I just...need time to adjust to this medication. I feel so sick. ]
Well, I sometimes have problems going to sleep, but I think that's normal for a lot of people every now and then. Anyway, since the other things didn't work, you could always try drinking a glass of nice, hot milk, getting under the covers, closing your eyes, and thinking some happy and peaceful thoughts until you finally fall asleep.
Well, I've never had insomnia from drugs before, but oh man have I had nights where I just could not sleep. I mean, these were bad. There was one night I would try to go to sleep, wake up an hour later, go back to sleep, wake up an hour and a half later, go back, wake up hour later, and so on. It was such a nightmare. Really, i guess you could try having warm milk, but I don't know if that even works. What works for me is literally just try and make my mind all black, because that's what it's like sleeping, so the blacker it is the more I feel like I'm sleeping. And it helps if you get into a comfortable position. Oh maybe not even comfortable. Like me, I find myself going to sleep much easier if I just curl up on my bed or something, with no pillows or anything under my head. But don't they say to ask your doctor if these things keep happening?
Oh man Sissy :( I have never had insomnia from drugs (since I don't take any) but what helps me falling asleep sometimes is just thinking happy things.... Like Fuzzy or the rest our crazy family :D xD Yea... I know... crappy advice but I'm sorry I can't anymore... Like Aqua said you might wanna talk to your doctor. Maybe that might help?
A couple months ago there was a period of time where I could not sleep no matter what I did. It did not matter if I was actually sleepy or not, I could not sleep. It lasted for a week or so, and in that week I probably got 5 hours worth of sleep from the tiny naps I miraculously managed to take. If you haven't already, I would recommend taking sleeping medication for a little bit. I started taking Unisom for a few nights, half an hour before bed and it really helped. I started getting full nights of sleep and fell asleep in maybe fifteen to thirty minutes.
Alright I've never suffered from Insomnia before but I know a few techniques which should improve your situation, if you keep to it. First off, whatever room you sleep in avoid it as much as possible (completely would be best) only go into that room to sleep. Second, you'll need to set a time you go to sleep at every night and keep it continuous. By this I mean if you go to bed at 11:00 at night, then do that every night, week after week whilst never deviating from it. Thirdly, this takes at least a week to take effect, but succeeded who have experience it for years have been helped by this method. As long as you follow those simple rules I can assure you that a difference will occur, without the need for further drugs to help you sleep.
Unless you're allergic or otherwise can't stand the smell of it, having some Lavender candles lit in the evening before you try to sleep might help somewhat. It tends to relax you, which is probably exactly what you need right now. I tend to have moderate sleeping issues myself (though not as a side-effect of any drugs since I never took anything during my depression) and the smell of lavender really helps. It still takes between ten minutes and half an hour of laying there to actually fall asleep, and it might not help much if waking up early is part of the problem, but unfortunately it's the only thing I know to suggest. Sorry I couldn't be much more help. I hope you feel better soon anyway.
I'm no on anti-depressants myself, but both my parents and one of my sisters are/have been. It takes about two or three weeks for your body to adjust to the drugs, so it's very likely you'll feel worse before getting better (you might feel more depressed, and unfortunately especially teens seem to have more suicidal thoughts in the first couple of weeks). If after a month you don't see any change in your mood, or you feel worse and the side-effects are still bothering you, your doctor should prescribe you an alternative anti-depressant. It sometimes takes a while to find the right drug for you specifically. I'm fairly sure most professionals would advise against this, but what I found to work best for me is to wait until I'm so tired I can't keep my eyes open before I actually try to go to sleep. I'll read a book, watch tv, surf the web (but not really interact with anyone after a certain time), and so on (the reading the book part is probably the most sensible thing out of those). If it's been an especially tiring day I crash pretty quickly, and fall asleep at about midnight. However, there is a very good chance if I get caught up in something that I'll stay up until 4-5am, even pull an all-nighter. This does happen to me once or twice every month, but personally I'm much more willing to endure a few sleepless nights every now and again in stead of tossing and turning in bed for hours without any sleep. But my brain seems to need a lot of stimulation, and doesn't like quiet moments, so this could just be my thing =p There's also the usual things, if you like caffeinated drinks, switch to decaf at around 5-6pm, air your room out about an hour before going to sleep if possible, make sure it isn't too hot or cold there, maybe have an herbal beverage (chamomile tea works best for me). When I still did yoga, I seemed to sleep better on the nights my class was in the evening, so try some relaxing stretches or even full out yoga an hour or two before going to bed, if possible.
Considering its medication causing this. That won't work. I have never been a fan of anti depressants due to them causing more harm than good. I would talk to your doctor about it and if you NEED to be on them then fine stay on them but if it isn't a major issue I would suggest going off of them, but of course talk to your doctor.
Hey sis, well, I've sorta talked to you about this already but yeah, that was brief at best, so... I've suffered from insomnia for the vast majority of my life. I must say I'm much better now than I once was... Although, I still have the occasional sleep trouble as you and a few others will know. Now, when things were bad for me and I was sleepless most nights... in all honesty, there isn't much you can do. It's horrible, but eventually after not getting enough sleep, you will just be so tired that your body will conk out, and then you will sleep for many hours. At least that's how I was. The rest of the nights, I would just lay in bed staring at the ceiling, if I did ever drop off, then I'd usually wake up pretty quickly, etc. Now, I can't say for sure with you since your insomnia is from the anti-depressants... but as your body becomes use to the drugs, you hopefully should start to see an improvement with your sleep patterns since the drugs are the root of the problem (where as with me, my insomnia was... well, not induced by that lol). It's horrible to say, but you may just have to bare it until that time comes, and if it shows no signs of getting better, then I'd suggest going to the doctor and seeing if he can do anything else for you. (Avoid sleeping pills though. Trust me.) Anyway... I hope things are swift for you.. I know you're having it pretty rough right now. So yeah. Much love to you my Soul-Sister.
Insomnia I have insomnia, but I didn't get it from drugs. The way I deal with it is by drinking some tea, or by doing something I like and get tired of it. It sounds weird but if you get tired of something you like doing you wanna do nothing but sleep. Try it have some nice hot tea then do what ever it is you enjoying doing for a very long time. Sooner or later you'll get tired of it. Its really not the best idea to do if you go to school because it doesn't always work fast enough depending on the mood. The tea should calm you down a lot though. If that doesn't work then... Then the other thing I do is do activities that tire me out even though I have no energy to begin with, this way I want to do nothing but sleep. There's still no guarantee it will work because I'm not sure about everyone else, but I some how get all my energy back.
Myy first suggestion is to stop taking the medication. I do not accept weaknesses in my emotional self, and I disregard what others might call chemical imbalances. While it may sound ignorant of me to say so, it is better for you to rough it on your own and rely on willpower than to suffer at the hands of some drug or another. Your mind is yours to control according to me. Not your body's.
I would go visit your doctor, they do say to return if you are suffering badly from side effects. They may prescribe some medication to help since insomnia is quite common. I would be worried that it would interfere with the prozac but there are probably many medications and there should be at least one that should work. Insomnia isn't helped by stress so avoid that as best as you can xD Just relax and take deep breaths while thinking of things that make you happy. Keep your eyes closed and relax your muscles, also get into a comfortable position while you do this. Maybe before have some hot milk/hot chocolate/horlicks or some warm drink that soothes you.
does warm milk even help? I've never actually tried it. I just have a normal glass of water and that sometimes helps.
Recently(as in last 4-5 months) I have started suffering from insomnia,though I never really could sleep anyway. But yeah... And as Bushy Brow said,it kinda does end up just waiting until your body actually gives up and you sleep for 10 hours or something. But say,like me,if you have school and stuff,the best thing I can advise you to do is try and take everything easy,and though it may not help some people at all I always found putting on a CD I love,or even listening to a talking book really helps me doze off after a while. Although this "while" is generally three or four hours later,but meh. Also,try not to let yourself get to worked up or worried about things,as,in my case at least,I got so worked up about not being able to sleep,I stayed awake for 3 full days(after which I all but collapsed from exhaustion). And as has been said by a good few other people,I might suggest going back to your doctor and telling him/her about your new sleeping probeblems and seeing what they advise? I hope you feel better soon my dear,as you are just to good a person to feel so bad about everything. And if you ever need to talk,or want to rant,or just need some random chat,myself and pretty much everyone here would be more than happy to listen to you. And you know we all love you <3 <3 <3
Thank you to everyone who took the time to reply, I appreciate it. <3 Last night I slept alright, but I still woke up way too early with nausea and nervouness. @Makaze/Luxord; I have to say, I think I agree at this point. As Chesterfield said, the drugs take a while to get into your system, but I feel like like crap--And once they do get into my system, I'm afraid of becoming dependent and not being able to stop taking them without some even more serious side-effects. I don't want to be on these forever. I've contacted my doctor as a few of you have suggested. When I was prescribed, she said she would set me up with therapy. Drugs for 'chemical imbalances' and actual therapy for whatever is lurking deep down in there. So I told her I would like to continue the therapy, but not-so-much the drugs. She said maybe this drug is just the wrong one for me, or the dosage needs to be lowered. Ehh. So anyway, I have another appointment with her to discuss alternatives and get help. I didn't take a pill today (my mom took the pills and hid them, anyways) and I'm hoping it won't affect me since I didn't take too many before stopping cold-turkey, but we'll see. I'm feeling antsy and nervous, so I am going to try some of the things you guys suggested. We have Lavender Candles, so I'll try that, along with some tea. I'm sure it'll still be hard to sleep, since it IS the drugs. But if I can at least fight some of the anxiety and the feeling like something terrible is going to happen...Well, calming things can't hurt that.
I'm glad you talked to your doctor about a different course of action or maybe a different dosage. My experience(not personal. Had a few friends that were on it.) with prozac is that it's ...kind of iffy as an anti-depressant. But then again, everyone is not the same and reacts differently to medication. You might just need a different dosage or a different medication altogether. And who knows, maybe this therapy will work better than the medication. The only time I get insomnia is when I get my monthly. Not to go into TMI territory here but one of the effects is that every muscle and joint hurts and I cannot get comfortable no matter what position I get into. So I usually just give up, prop myself up in bed and turn the tv on. Last time this occurred, I only got roughly 2 hours of sleep and had to go to work the next day. Luckily, it's only one or two nights a month this occurs. I really hope things get better for you.
Glad to see you saw a doctor about it. For the stress and anxiety I would talk to someone about it. It may help it or it may do nothing-- it all depends on you. As for the Insomnia I make sure to get as much sunlight as possible before going to bed. I also make sure to wind down before bed with a cool drink and music. I also do things on the computer which in retrospect isn't the best thing to do. I also take things for my Restless Leg Syndrome which caused the Insomnia. This helps a little with sleep but due to my a.d.h.d. it's a little difficult to sleep.
