Posted by sid on February 3, 2002, at 11:57:21
Hello all,
when depressed, unlike the majority of depressive people, I sleep too much and eat too much carbs. When I say sleep too much, I mean 10 hours+. If there is no disruption, I could sleep 16 hours nonstop. And during my major depresison, I never remembered a dream, as if I didn't dream. I'd wake up groggy and feel sleepy for a few more hours, no matter how many hours I had slept (8 vs. 16).
That got better as the major depression lifted, but I still tended to sleep a lot (10 hours if no disruption, 8 otherwise; less than 8 hours, I had trouble functioning), and I never remembered a dream.
Now I'm on Effexor XR for dysthymia and anxiety, although I am still at a low dose - unsure if it's effective yet. One of the side effects I've experienced (the most enduring one) is insomnia. I sleep less, sometimes having trouble to sleep at all. And I remember more dreams when I wake up, or perhaps I dream more altogether?
Does anyone know what happened when I slept so much during the major depression, and why I seem to remember more dreams these days? I don't want to get back to the sleepy head I used to be, but I do need to sleep more than I have lately if I want to keep my job. And I don't understand what is going on. Gravol seems to help some nights (thanks IsoM for the suggestion), but not always. Basically, I'd like to understand better why my sleep pattern is so intricately linked to my depression history and now to my medical treatment.
Thanks in advance.
- sid
poster:sid
thread:92702
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20020131/msgs/92702.html