Medication and sleep

HMP

HMP

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I'll be frank about this, as 'embarrassing' as it is, and it shouldnt be, but whatever.
Ive been prescribed an antidepressant by my doctor to help with my headaches.
No, Im not bummed out/depressed, but, honestly, it's embarrassing to say that Im taking one. I guess it's the societal taboo with it or something.

Ok, that's out of the way.
So, as stated, been prescribed to help with my headaches, and I think Im getting better, havent had a really painful headache in a week or so. One side effect is it makes you drowsy, typically take it around 6ish and by 9 Im ready for a good night's rest.

Last night I forgot.
It was the second time since the accident/seeing the doc that Ive forgotten.
I barely slept and when I did the dreams were frantic and scary. The other time was like that too. Fast paced, jumpy dreams. Barely slept for more than thirty minutes at a time until about 3am, that's when exhaustion kicked in

This scares the crap out of me.
I dont like medication, never have.
It scares me that maybe my brain is being changed by medication. Hell, it scares me that Ive had headaches for, literally, months now. But those have been getting better, I think. Now I have to worry about coming off of a medicine.
What a hell of a night.
Yall have a rad day.
 
Sorry to hear you’re going through this. Psychotropics can be very scary, many suicides and school/mass shootings were done by folks that came off them. A dr prescribed my son some as a test, he took one and said it took him to a very dark place.

I'm NO dr, have you tried Excedrin for the headaches? They've aspirin and caffeine, the combo works great for many types of headaches. If it helps, maybe melatonin + ginko might help you sleep. If’s I recall- Ginkgo supposedly opens brain capillaries like caffeine.
 
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I hope you can get it regulated soon. Headache issues are terrible, my daughter has some issues with them too.

I had a period that I went through where I couldn't sleep because I couldn't turn off my brain. Had a lot of stress with work and a VFD board I was on. It got me way down ,so be careful.
 
I am a sleep nut. I cannot sleep without medication. I've taken ambien for 10+ years around 5 years ago I still wasn't getting enough rest and the endocrinologist added in 10mg of melatonin which really helps. Not sure if your doctor checked but the added stress might be thyroid related at your age.
 
Work never hurts one but stress will kill you in various ways. For me it took years of pleasing everyone but myself to learn that number one has to look after number one first. You’re no good to anyone sick so learn to say no if it affects you in a negative way and whatever you do don’t think for one minute that drugs are the answer. Once you develop the ability to know you are not the answer to the world’s problem and relearn what you knew as a adolescent life becomes livable again. Also remember there is help from those that have made it through your plight so do as you’re doing now and continue to ask for help, life is too short to not enjoy it.
 
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HMP said:
I'll be frank about this, as 'embarrassing' as it is, and it shouldnt be, but whatever.
Ive been prescribed an antidepressant by my doctor to help with my headaches.
No, Im not bummed out/depressed, but, honestly, it's embarrassing to say that Im taking one. I guess it's the societal taboo with it or something.

Ok, that's out of the way.
So, as stated, been prescribed to help with my headaches, and I think Im getting better, havent had a really painful headache in a week or so. One side effect is it makes you drowsy, typically take it around 6ish and by 9 Im ready for a good night's rest.

Last night I forgot.
It was the second time since the accident/seeing the doc that Ive forgotten.
I barely slept and when I did the dreams were frantic and scary. The other time was like that too. Fast paced, jumpy dreams. Barely slept for more than thirty minutes at a time until about 3am, that's when exhaustion kicked in

This scares the crap out of me.
I dont like medication, never have.
It scares me that maybe my brain is being changed by medication. Hell, it scares me that Ive had headaches for, literally, months now. But those have been getting better, I think. Now I have to worry about coming off of a medicine.
What a hell of a night.
Yall have a rad day.
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My guess is its helping in other ways than just sleeping.

I was prescribed antidepressants for pain management. Took them for 3 months. Did absolutely nothing for pain or otherwise. But did have to ween off them.

I for one can tell a difference in the way and what you post on here the last few months.
 
I can’t speak for the headaches but another thing that helps me sleep better it to turn off the news, political stuff, etc that can make my mind think ... and turn on silly stuff like Hogans Heroes or such that let my mind calm down before I lay down. To me my worst sleep is after watching/reading/discussing the worst topics right before bedtime ... an hour or two buffer helps me sleep better. Mess in the shop for an hour or two before bed thinking about say dove season opening in November, even prepping brass, etc takes me to a calmer happy place and cuts the crap running thru my brain.
 
Dang man, sorry to hear this. I went through a spell where I was having trouble sleeping. My doctor tried several different medications, some of which had side effects that downright scared me. I finally told her I wasn't going to take them anymore. Only advice I know to give is maybe get second and third opinions. Hope you can get this resolved.
 
I would defiantly discuss your concerns with your doctor before stopping the medication. Like others have said above, cold turkey isn’t the way to go when it comes to this class of medications. You have not been taking the meds for a long period. I would not think you are experiencing any permanent side effects.


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Melatonin and meditation. Meditation saved me during chemo. (Meditation For Dummies book.)

I was on all kinds of crap during and for many years after the cancer adventure. Meds for pain, anxiety, depression, sleep.....
A few years after Mom died, I decided to see what life would be like off of all that. As you'd expect, I had pain, no sleep and anxiety! Lol.

I still don't sleep over 5 hours a night, but my brain is ok NOT on drugs. Calm your brain before trying to sleep, do the breathing from the book. I manage the pain with OTC meds. I know they're not good for your body in the long term, but I'm old and they work ok.

I will pray you can get back to how you were and get some good sleep and much less pain. Keep us up on progress?

Lots of good advice here.
 
Cowboy said:
I am a sleep nut. I cannot sleep without medication. I've taken ambien for 10+ years around 5 years ago I still wasn't getting enough rest and the endocrinologist added in 10mg of melatonin which really helps. Not sure if your doctor checked but the added stress might be thyroid related at your age.
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I take Ambien every night & have for 7-8 years. It's the only way I get about 5 hrs sleep a night.
 
HMP said:
I'll be frank about this, as 'embarrassing' as it is, and it shouldnt be, but whatever.
Ive been prescribed an antidepressant by my doctor to help with my headaches.
No, Im not bummed out/depressed, but, honestly, it's embarrassing to say that Im taking one. I guess it's the societal taboo with it or something.

Ok, that's out of the way.
So, as stated, been prescribed to help with my headaches, and I think Im getting better, havent had a really painful headache in a week or so. One side effect is it makes you drowsy, typically take it around 6ish and by 9 Im ready for a good night's rest.

Last night I forgot.
It was the second time since the accident/seeing the doc that Ive forgotten.
I barely slept and when I did the dreams were frantic and scary. The other time was like that too. Fast paced, jumpy dreams. Barely slept for more than thirty minutes at a time until about 3am, that's when exhaustion kicked in

This scares the crap out of me.
[I dont like medication, never have.
It scares me that maybe my brain is being changed by medication. Hell, it scares me that Ive had headaches for, literally, months now. But those have been getting better, I think. Now I have to worry about coming off of a medicine.
What a hell of a night.
Yall have a rad day.
Click to expand...


I know what you mean. Might be getting too deep here but

having been on powerful medications for a long time (since 2010), It’s DEFINITELY changed my neurochemistry and I can see it in several ways aside from just Physical dependence.

1) my temperature regulation is all screwed up. I’m heat sensitive. Not that I can’t handle being outside in the summer, More along the lines of its like I’m hot all the time.

2) It has definitely changed my brain’s reward system and made me just generally apathetic/indifferent. You could tell me I just won the powerball and I’d probably exhibit as much excitement as someone who found a quarter in the laundry. I do not experience the euphoria commonly associated with these medications and I have come to think it’s actually a myth or related to other factors In the persons life both physical and emotional

There’s more to it but it gets pretty deep and I’d rather leave it alone publicly at this point
 
Also @HMP I too started some kind of antidepressant or something at the beginning of the year. I fought going on something for awhile but had started to get claustrophobia in my wife's car. When I was driving it was ok because I was in control but riding I would get in and have anxiety. I just sent my regular dr a message and he said try this and prescribed me something. I take it once a day and have noticed a huge difference. That and I took the wife and got an SUV for her. Not sure which helped most. But I was to the point of thinking about riding to take my daughter to school the night before and dreading it. I don't do that anymore and I let my wife drive everywhere. Don't be embarrassed.
 
HMP said:
I barely slept and when I did the dreams were frantic and scary. The other time was like that too. Fast paced, jumpy dreams. Barely slept for more than thirty minutes at a time until about 3am, that's when exhaustion kicked in
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The medication is probably keeping you in a deeper level sleep and you're spending less time in the REM mode, which is when / where you dream. Without the med, you probably didn't get as much deep sleep and hence were catching up on the REMs. I too tend to have weird, often times scary dreams, so I understand that aspect.

Cowboy said:
I fought going on something for awhile but had started to get claustrophobia in my wife's car. When I was driving it was ok because I was in control but riding I would get in and have anxiety.
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I used to have a real problem riding in a car with someone else driving. It would give me butterflies and make me want to cringe, always afraid they wouldn't stop or other things that would get us in a crash. A lot of it being things like the feeling that I would be braking and slowing down by now, but they're NOT. Somehow, I've gotten better about it, possibly from riding in vehicles with a lot of other people at work, but my wife's driving still does it to me occasionally. I don't think it helps that she lacks natural depth perception.
 
I’ve never taken anything for depression or sleep but I never seem to sleep. Once I start to snore I wake myself up immediately. It goes on all night. My sleep happens in nap form after working for about fours while sitting in a recliner. I couldn’t ask a physician for something for anxiety or sleep after seeing what it did to my older sister. She was imagining all sorts of things including people taking over her phone conversations. She even went to the police wanting them to investigate a lady at work. She would call me about stuff and then one day her husband called me to talk to her. Although I felt for her I had to be very firm with her about getting off medication. She cried really hard here at the house but she quit taking the pills. Everything has been great since.
 
25 or so years ago I was prescribed an anti-depressant to help with weight loss. I guess the theory was I was eating out of depression? Anyway, it didn't help.

Speaking of sleep, I now take a muscle relaxer and Gabopenten before bed. It effectively shuts down my pain receptors long enough to get 5-7 hours of sleep a day. If I fall asleep before I take it I'll be up in two hours and miserable.

Tried the melatonin and my problem then was I couldn't get myself out of bed after.
 
JR reminded me, my wife has sleeping issues, she used to take 2 Benadryl to sleep. They make you slow then next morn. One of the listed lawyer warnings of regular use of Benadryl is urethra tumors/cancer.
She grew a 2.75” tumor, thankfully it was benign.
 
I was on 100 mg of Zoloft aday when I was on treatment for HepC & the several years I had stage 4 psorosis of the liver. About 8 years total. Once I finally gave in to my family to get another liver biopsy that said I was at stage 1 fibrosis of the liver I quit taking it. I kind of figured I'd beat psorois then depression was beat too.
 
Since you mentioned anti-depression meds and sleep, you might consider Saffron extract. Saffron is a common spice used in Indian food and has been proven in a few studies to be an effective anti-depressant similar to Prozac (SSRI). You can get saffron extract supplements on Amazon pretty cheap.
 
I have Zero point of reference to comment on this. Just wanted to let you know I'm thinking 'bout you. Come down here and sit on the porch a few days. Everybody that does says it helps. Thinkin bout you Pard!!! BOOMER
 
BatteryOaksBilly said:
I have Zero point of reference to comment on this. Just wanted to let you know I'm thinking 'bout you. Come down here and sit on the porch a few days. Everybody that does says it helps. Thinkin bout you Pard!!! BOOMER
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That porch is a nice place to sit and rest your brain, for sure.....
 
I am not a DR. So take this advice for what it’s worth. I don’t take anything unless it’s absolutely necessary. The one thing I learned before and after my surgery is that everything we take does something bad to us. Once I stopped taking all the crap they prescribed I started feeling and sleeping better. IMO most of our problems are caused by bad habits or diet. I sleep better when I exercise, eat well and don’t drink booze. I also believe TV and electronics before or while you are in bed aren’t helpful. I try to read or listen to music before bed. And I like to run a fan for so e noise while I sleep. Your mileage may vary. Good luck, lying awake sucks. I went through a lot of that before I stopped taking their junk.
 
HMP said:
I'll be frank about this, as 'embarrassing' as it is, and it shouldnt be, but whatever.
Ive been prescribed an antidepressant by my doctor to help with my headaches.
No, Im not bummed out/depressed, but, honestly, it's embarrassing to say that Im taking one. I guess it's the societal taboo with it or something.

Ok, that's out of the way.
So, as stated, been prescribed to help with my headaches, and I think Im getting better, havent had a really painful headache in a week or so. One side effect is it makes you drowsy, typically take it around 6ish and by 9 Im ready for a good night's rest.

Last night I forgot.
It was the second time since the accident/seeing the doc that Ive forgotten.
I barely slept and when I did the dreams were frantic and scary. The other time was like that too. Fast paced, jumpy dreams. Barely slept for more than thirty minutes at a time until about 3am, that's when exhaustion kicked in

This scares the crap out of me.
I dont like medication, never have.
It scares me that maybe my brain is being changed by medication. Hell, it scares me that Ive had headaches for, literally, months now. But those have been getting better, I think. Now I have to worry about coming off of a medicine.
What a hell of a night.
Yall have a rad day.
Click to expand...

What are you on? A lot of antidepressants are used off-label for other things, to which you alluded headaches and sleep.
 
@HMP you are probably fine with the meds now. I’m no doctor but the fact you have a fear of being on a chemical for headaches and can discuss it openly puts you ahead of anyone who is having abnormal reactions. If you had my dreams you would put yourself in a cage to sleep.
 
I didn't start having dreams until I started the melatonin with the ambien. My work schedule was all over the place two weeks first two weeks second and third shifts. I was all kinds of screwed up. Luckily that has changed more recently.
 
Ambien........Dr. just up and prescribed this for me..Really. Old folks don't sleep alot....well not at one sittin. I can go to sleep in 10 minutes, just don't stay asleep.
So, I'm takin this stuff ...cause He said to...and I start to realize that I'm at work, drinking my coffee, sitting at my desk and realize I have NO memory of coming to work! Not traffic, not going by McDicks for biscuit, not parking and coming in....Nutton!!! This was after about 3 weeks. Stopped immediately. Ain't been back...ain't Gonin back!
 
I was on antidepressants about ten years ago. I think it was a generic form of Prozac. After a few months I felt better and decided to stop taking them altogether. The dreams I had after stopping the meds weren’t nightmares per se. I didn’t dream something was trying to get me or that I’d fallen into a den of snakes or anything, but they were the most disturbingly vivid dreams I’ve ever experienced. They say we don’t dream in color, but I SWEAR I did. I mentioned what was going on to a doctor friend (not the doctor who’d prescribed the meds), and he said you should never stop taking antidepressants cold turkey. The dosage should be stepped down over a period of time. It seems odd that one missed dose would cause this, but I’m not a doctor. I just know that never want to have dreams like that again.
 
One thing I think I know about psych drugs: Everybody's different. What works for one won't necessarily work for another, effects and side effects can vary a lot from individual to individual. What calms one person down can make another agitated. Finding the right one can be a process, and as several have mentioned, if a prescription psych drug says it needs to be tapered rather than abruptly stopped to discontinue, take that seriously.
 
tbafile said:
They say we don’t dream in color, but I SWEAR I did.
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Really? My dreams are and have always been in color, real to life. Am I weird?
(Hush up, you know who you are....smarties!!)
 
Millie said:
Really? My dreams are and have always been in color, real to life. Am I weird?
(Hush up, you know who you are....smarties!!)
Click to expand...
Just what I’ve heard. I seldom remember my dreams, but when I was coming off those drugs dreams were the most exquisitely vivid I’ve ever had.
 
BatteryOaksBilly said:
Ambien........Dr. just up and prescribed this for me..Really. Old folks don't sleep alot....well not at one sittin. I can go to sleep in 10 minutes, just don't stay asleep.
So, I'm takin this stuff ...cause He said to...and I start to realize that I'm at work, drinking my coffee, sitting at my desk and realize I have NO memory of coming to work! Not traffic, not going by McDicks for biscuit, not parking and coming in....Nutton!!! This was after about 3 weeks. Stopped immediately. Ain't been back...ain't Gonin back!
Click to expand...
Sounds like they gave you the slow release stuff? Ask to try the normal dose and see if it helps. I tried to slow release stuff for a while and it just didn't work to make me fall asleep. I'll tell you what it did do was make me like a bull in the sack. Only problem was I wouldn't remember any of it. The ambien CR is also the stuff tiger woods would take and go party. The full 10mg at one time worked a lot better for me.
 
A suggestion that works for my wife is CBD oil (no THC).
CBD oil didn’t work for me, I get couple hours of sleep at night but since I work from home and in control of my schedule I take at least an hour nap in the afternoon.
 
Let me be clear - Im not depressed and never had issues sleeping before this.
I was prescribed this because of recurring headaches since my accident.
It sucks. I dont think I hit my head or anything, but for over two months Ive gotten the same headache. Same place, just droning on. Though, and i may have mentioned earlier, it's not been as bad the last week. Well, until this afternoon, but maybe that's due to last night's 'sleep'

Ive never had a prescription that lasted more than a week before, just stuff like tamiflu or a zpack etc
I dont like taking medicines

The medicine is Amitrip...something.
I just want to be normal again.
Reading much/for very long gives me a headache...I freaking love to read! I miss it.
I miss hockey.
 
tbafile said:
Just what I’ve heard. I seldom remember my dreams, but when I was coming off those drugs dreams were the most exquisitely vivid I’ve ever had.
Click to expand...
I don't remember mine all the time, but they've always been in color and mostly made sense.....
 
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