Posted by Carol on February 8, 1999, at 12:52:23
In reply to Re: night terrors, posted by clare on February 8, 1999, at 11:59:17
Terry,
I would like to kindly disagree with Clare. I've been in treatment for depression for the last 15 years. I've tried with meds and without, but I've found I can't use the tools I've learned unless I have some effective meds to support me. There was a discussion here earlier this month about "success stories". My definition of success and successful treatment is to find a medication or mix of meds that allows me to be me. If some people can do this without the meds, congratulations, but that's just not possible for many of us.
I have not taken your meds, but I have always had night terrors, nightmares, and night sweats. I think the terrors that I get are a little different than yours. As I'm falling asleep, all of a sudden I feel like I'm falling, and then I tense up and jump, as if I'm trying to avoid falling into whatever I was falling in to. It takes a while to calm down enough to try to fall back asleep. I've had most of these since I was a child, and they don't seem to change much with meds.
The forgetfulness and trouble paying attention might be due more to your sleep patterns than the meds. If I'm tired, it's a lot more difficult to stay focused the next day. You might try varying your nighttime meds. I had tried some OTC melatonin for a couple of months in 1997, but it took me quite a while to figure out that this stuff was still in my system in the morning, and really didn't clear out of my head until 2 or 3 in the afternoon.
I'm doing reasonably well right now, but some of my sleep disturbances are related to what I've eaten since 4 PM (even for 11 PM bedtime). Try to stay away from caffeine after 4PM. Alcohol throws my sleep patterns off, too. Spicy foods or things with lots of onions or green peppers will have me vividly dreaming until I get up and take di-gel. I haven't tried Benadryl to sleep, but I will take "nyquil" liqui-tabs to help keep my head clear and help me to sleep. I've been back and forth with weight gain. One of my "best" sleep remedies is milk and poptarts. Yes, it's fattening, but the combination usually puts me out in around 15-20 minutes. You can try just milk at bedtime, but the carbo's seem to potentiate the milk's effect.
I am taking a low dose of lithium at night, and this seems to help me sleep, too. My overall meds:Wellbutrin SR 500 mg, Desyrel 150 mg hs, Eskalith CR 450 mg hs, plus unrelated blood pressure and headache meds.
My nightmares and night terrors also seem to be related to what's going on in the rest of my life. During the part of the year (like now) when my company does performance evaluations and trying to set performance guidelines for the next year, I often have recurring nightmares about school and graduate school in particular. I know that this is just "stress" related, but that doesn't help me sleep better.
I hope some of this helps.
Good Luck
Carol
poster:Carol
thread:2881
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/19990829/msgs/2886.html