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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 Kari on June 11, 2003, at 15:35:18
I have been on Celexa for a month and am now taking 30 mg. My problem is that I wake up after
about three hours of sleep and cannot fall asleep again. In the past I was on 40 mg and had no problems- the drug began working after a week, even at 10 mg I could sleep through the night- and I felt fine on it.
I have tried to add calcium and magnesium but they seem to worsen the insomnia. Taking mild benzos at night solve the problem but during the day they make me anxious and not focused.
Does anyone have any advice?
Thanks,
Kari.
Posted by Sabina on June 11, 2003, at 16:34:23
In reply to problems with sleep, posted by Kari on June 11, 2003, at 15:35:18
Kari, I don't know any details of your daytime schedule, but I've also had a lot of problems sleeping, especially over the last 7 months. I know you were probably asking folks about more med related suggestions, but...here's a link to a good sleep habits list. Perhaps there's one of them that might be helpful to you: http://sleephelpusa.com/habits.phtml
The best one for me was to use the bedroom as a sleeping place only. I had a bad habit of watching movies in bed when I couldn't sleep and I started associating the room too much with that activity. Also, taking a walk after dinner helped to wind me down a bit after the day. You know, try to enjoy the sunset and other hokey ways of looking at things. Of course that was on the few days when I wasn't a major basket case and could leave the house at all. I'm not saying it's a n easy fix. A hot bath with some lavender oil is nice as well. Good luck.
Posted by janejj on June 11, 2003, at 23:18:53
In reply to Re: problems with sleep, posted by Sabina on June 11, 2003, at 16:34:23
My doc precribed me trazodone, its an older antidepressant which causes sleepiness and gives you a very deep refreshing sleep. like you I was also on Celexa. I used to take benzos, but they are not the solution to a long term problem.
Janejj
Posted by Kari on June 12, 2003, at 14:11:04
In reply to problems with sleep, posted by Kari on June 11, 2003, at 15:35:18
Posted by utopizen on June 12, 2003, at 18:43:16
In reply to Thank you both, Sabina and Jane (nm), posted by Kari on June 12, 2003, at 14:11:04
Trazadone is nice. I just got it two days ago, and never tried a sleeping med before. It takes 2 1/2 hours to kick in. The problem for me is that I'd like to see it make me sleep for longer than 8 hours, since I'm still fatigued with 8, but at 6AM after going to sleep at 10PM, I wake up and can't go back to sleep.
One factor could be my metabolism. I am 6'3'' and have a very fast metabolism. When I wake in the morning, I weight 174 lbs, even though I weighed 180 before going to sleep and had a huge dinner.
It's very annoying to wake up to hunger pains, because this is the underlying cause of me waking up in the first place. At least with trazadone, I guarantee 8 hours for myself, which is progress from the typical 4-6 hours. But I wonder if there's something I could take that would slow down my metabolism? I've tried beta blockers, it didn't work.
I know it's not related to my thyroid, because that's been reviewed several times from blood tests.
Posted by Viridis on June 13, 2003, at 1:05:29
In reply to Trazadone nice, but my metabolism is too fast, posted by utopizen on June 12, 2003, at 18:43:18
I don't like Trazodone -- it makes me feel groggy in the morning. I find 1 mg of Xanax allows good sleep, but my pdoc says don't use it too often for this purpose, as it interferes with sleep architecture. However, for occasional insomnia, I find Xanax very useful. Luckily, with daily Klonopin, I don't experience insomnia very often any more -- mainly when I'm very focused on some problem or project.
This is the end of the thread.
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