Posted by Joanne on December 12, 1999, at 9:20:59
Hello everyone,
I've only just discovered this site yesterday, and I'd first like to thank Dr. Bob and everyone out there who visits/contributes to this site. Depression is a very lonely illness, and in spite of some progress, there is still a major stigma attached to it. I've been on various anti-depressants for three years now (they have saved my life!), and I'm currently taking Wellbutrin. Although it was working well for me for several months with no major side effects, just recently I've had terrible insomnia. This has lasted almost three weeks. It's 7:15am, and I still haven't slept since the night before. I'm wide awake as I type this. On other nights, I fall asleep and then wake up 2-3 hours later and am unable to go back to sleep. I'm deliriously tired, lightheaded, eyes burning, the whole bit..all day, exhausted physically but unable to sleep. I take Ambien, which worked great in the beginning, but now they only work once in awhile, and I still wake up 3 hours later. I've tried taking an Ativan in addition to the Ambien out of desparation, and sometimes it works, but then I sleep 10-11+ hours a day. (I work evenings, by the way) Is there an alternative to Ambien that anyone knows of? I love the Ambien because it leaves your system after 7 hours, so there's no "hangover" feeling the next day. It used to work so wonderfully...within 10 minutes of taking it, I was asleep for the entire night. Help! The sun is now up, and I'm still wide awake. I guess I'll take one more Ambien, but I'm only allowed 30 per month by my doc, so I have to be careful not to run out. Any suggestions? Thanks. Sorry if this is such a long post. I could go on and on..(you should see my journals!) Joanne
poster:Joanne
thread:16750
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/19991212/msgs/16750.html