[health.sleep]

[wispfox]

I am _seriously_ disconcerted by the degree to which having taken the Ativan my new PCP perscribed (in response to my desire to have something to break me out of bad sleep cycles) improves my mood. I think I've slept better the last two night (need to ask my doc if it's ok if I take it regularly; I know it's ok for 5 days in a row, since that was her suggestion for breaking bad sleep patterns) than I can ever remember sleeping (I apparently slept fine as a baby and young child, so it did get worse as time passed). And once I get past the "don't wanna get up!" stage of the morning, my mood is _WAY_ better than it has been in months, and better than it usually is this time of year. (And I don't think my difficulty getting up is anything other than the fact that I've gone to bed two damn late both nights)

I'd almost say I'm worried that I'm being manic, except that I can compare with what I recell my mood as tending to be in mid-summer before I burned out on my job (my mental state has not recovered since then, although the month in mid-summer in Melbourne helped considerably, thus my decision to return to school after saving and taking a year off) and it seems that it's around that point. What I _actually_ am is _NORMAL_ for me, I think. Kinda scary that it's sufficiently unusual to disconcert me, though.

Good sleep pill. *pets it* Doesn't make me particularly drugged feeling, and doesn't seem to affect my mornings. _Does_ have addictive properties, thus me wanting to ask my doc if daily would be ok. But seriously. Sleeping well should _not_ be this foreign to me! (and the fact that my sleep difficulties are apparently degernative, according to both family members who also have them, does _not_ make me happy)

Yay, sleep! Yay being significantly less down than I had been! Trying to decide if I should hold of on trying the persc anti-depressant (for wintertime crap) until a bit later, since the sleep med has _such_ a dramatic mood effect.

Comments

[dancingwolfgrrl.livejournal.com]

I'm glad you hit on something that's helpful! Ativan is prescribed commonly to treat both insomnia and anxiety, so it seems totally reasonable that it might be affecting your mood directly, as well as indirectly via increased sleep.

[fourgates.livejournal.com]

Yay, sleep!
What do you suppose would happen if you took half the prescribed dose?

[wispfox.livejournal.com]

I don't know. The perscribed does is itself rather small (.5mg)...

[madbodger.livejournal.com]

Just remember that it's the sleep that's having the
dramatic mood effect, not the sleep med. Granted, that ain't
much advice if you have no other avenue open to you for getting
quality sleep. But I'm hoping that once you're not so overtired,
with a wrecked sleep schedule, you'll find it easier to obtain.
Or, with the ability for clearer thought, you'll come up with new
ways to get the sleep you need.

Sleep is almost magical in its usefulness. I'm burning through my
paid time off in an effort to get enough. If I run out and my job
situation continues to be like this, I will find another job. My health
is more important than this job.

[wispfox.livejournal.com]

*wry*

I know it's the sleep. Sleep is very fraught for me. Has been for as long as I can remember (although apparently not while I was a baby or very young). According to family members who also have this problem, it's a degenerative thing. I've had this problem for at least 10 years, and it's getting worse.

Sleep meds are likely going to be my only option for _good_ sleep, even though it is true that lower stress, summertime, and doing my best to stick to a reasonable sleep schedule do all help. It just means that I can get enough sleep to function, not that I'm getting _good_ sleep. (there is a reason that getting less sleep than normal hits me as hard as it does; I'm _always_ sleep depped)

[australian-joe.livejournal.com]

I'd want to know more about the addiction. Is it actually an addiction, with cravings, or just a biological dependence that requires care when weaning oneself off the drug? Also, is there any habituation/tolerance (ie. do you need to take more and more of it to achieve the same effect?)

If it is *solely* a matter of biological dependence and difficulty in easing off it, then I think I'd be ok with being on it routinely. Maybe not every damn day, but I'd think about something like every second day for a couple of weeks (to deal with sleep deficit and get back in better sleep habits) and maybe every third day after that.

I have no idea if that is sensible.

If there are cravings, or a problem with tolerance, then I'd want to be very sparing with it.

I do think it's a good idea to make one psychoactive change at a time. Remember it's a very good idea to taper the SAMe and 5-HTP before starting the SSRI, so realistically you're waiting at least one week before trying the Celexa anyway.

Also, most SSRIs are known for disturbing sleep, which is why they're almost always suggested as a morning dose. It would be useful to be stable on the Ativan before starting the Celexa, so you'd be better able to notice any sleep-related Celexa side effects. Starting one drug at a time makes it easier to detect all side effects, really.

And yes. Sleep alone is really critical to good mental health. Remember having fewer than 8 hours of sleep 3 days in a row is worth a huge -15 on IQ tests!! (So imagine how smart you'll be soon! 8-) )

[wispfox.livejournal.com]

[Ativan]
"This medication can cause dependense, especially if it has been used regularly for an extended time (more than 1-4 weeks), if it has been used in high doses, or if you have a history of alcoholism, drug abuse, or personality disorder. In such cases, if you suddenly stop this drug, withdrawal reactions may occur."

"When stopping extended, regular treatment with this drug, gradually reducing the dosage as directed will help prevent withdrawal reactions."

"When used for an extended time, this medication may not work as well and may require different dosing."

(above typed by jasra)

I will of course also ask my doctor tomorrow when I call.

[starting Celexa]
I was thinking about waiting longer than the week necessary to get off the SAMe and 5-HTP, though.

[getting stable on Ativan to be more easily able to tell what is causing what]
But being stable on the Ativan only makes sense if the doctor says that it's ok for daily taking of it. And I'm suspecting it will not be.

[Sleep being critical to good mental health]
It's not that I did not know this, it's that I did not fully realize just _how_ badly sleep deprived I was on a regular basis, until I actually got a reasonable night's sleep. Largely because the worstening of the sleep trouble has been gradual.

[australian-joe.livejournal.com]

Starting Celexa: One week *should* be enough. SAMe and 5-HTP both break down quickly. Waiting longer isn't a problem though.

Stable on Ativan: Getting to a stable point doesn't rely on whether you're taking it daily or not. Even if you take it only twice a week, waiting for, say, half a dozen doses before changing anything else will give you a better chance of noticing side effects.

Sleep: Makes sense. Yay for you sleeping properly!

[wispfox.livejournal.com]

So... it's been 2 or 3 days since I stopped taking SAMe and 5-HTP.

And I'm definitely feeling the distinct lack of seratonin. And I don't get to start the Celexa until Saturday.

This rather makes for a complicated experiment, when I start my sleep meds and stop my seratonin meds with a day of each other.

I. wanna. take. seratonin. NOW.

I can definitely feel my brain trying to get me to do _anything_ that involves uppers. This tends to happen as I get further into winter. And much more gradually. Also? I'm really fucking whiny! Just ask jasra.

I really don't want to wait until Saturday. And, you get to have one call with me on new sleep meds and while still taking SAMe and 5-HTP, and the next call will be right before I'm allowed to take Celexa. Talk about major mood shifts. Our call on Friday will be interesting.

Also, along with whiny and wanting uppers gets to go jittery and very restless. I have been saying "Ahhhhh!" a lot.

[send sanity! -jasra]

[australian-joe.livejournal.com]

It may not be necessary to wait that long.

In a way, fast withdrawal symptoms imply fast breakdown of the drugs. Which means you don't need as long before they're out of your system.

[wispfox.livejournal.com]

... ah.

But I have no idea how I will tell that it is sufficiently out (even though getting up this morning was _intensely_ difficult) to start the new meds.