Posted by JohnKeats on January 9, 2006, at 23:55:43
In reply to Treatment-resistant insomnia and I'm sick of it!, posted by vbAgent on January 8, 2006, at 1:37:03
> Well, it's safe to say that Lunesta 2mg has completely lost it's sleep-promoting effect. I'm totally sick of it. Insomnia sucks. I just don't know what to do...I've gone from Lunesta to Ambien CR back to Lunesta, and now I'm immune to thier hypnotic effect.
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> Any good psychiatrist would probably correctly suspect that insomnia isn't my primary disorder; I also have adult ADD for which I now take 15mg/day of Adderall. He/she will want to prescribe either an antidepressant or antipsychotic to augment the sleep-aid to treat some underlying anxiety and/or depression. I do NOT want that to happen. I have never experienced relief or benefit from an AD. Seroquel was very helpful but I'm extremely uncomfortable taking such a powerful drug solely for treating insomnia. Maybe I should just suck it up and do what has to be done. Sometimes I think I need a mood stabilizer. I just don't know...I'm plagued with indecision and irritation. I just want to cry...I want to punch a hole in my computer monitor. So frustrated...so very frustrated. I just want a regular sleep schedule!!!Hey vbAgent,
I feel you, insomnia is something that has a huge negative impact on your life. It (literally) screws up your whole day and makes whatever underlying condition you have much worse. With my insomnia I used to lie in bed and stare at the ceiling until 6 A.M. Then when it was time to go to work I would have to: 1. Go in to work without sleep (dozing in my chair, stealing 30min naps in the washroom.) 2. Go in to work at 2PM (everybody looking at me like I'm crazy.) 3. Not go in to work at all (manager calling me in for "talks" evey week.) This went on for almost a year and my sleep/wake cycle became totally out of whack. Like you, I felt like crying every time I just could not bloody fall asleep. None of the conventional insomnia meds did anything. So my depression and anxiety kept me from sleeping, and because of insomnia my job performance was really bad so I felt even more depressed and anxious. This is a good example of the ubiquitous "vicious cycle" in psych diseases.I know you don't want to take an psych drug just to fall asleep but I've come to believe that quality of life is more important than playing by the rules. I used to be pretty anti-psych med but personally I've never had a drug exert a "powerful" effect that made me somehow lose control or be somebody I'm not.
Right now I take amitriptyline (Elavil) at night - it's an older TCA antidepressant that's not as fashionable as the SSRIs and has a lot more potential side-effects (make SURE you get the complete side-effect profile for TCAs if you decide to try it.) But it's been a life saver for me. I still have a long way to go but being able to sleep whenever I want is a blessing. So if you can find a psych drug that can give you a regular night sleep I'd say go for it. Getting a good night's sleep is a big part of getting better. Once your sleep cycle is regulated and you no longer have the "pressure" to fall asleep, you can look at more mainstream therapy for getting the sleep you need. Take care and good luck.
poster:JohnKeats
thread:596465
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20060108/msgs/597415.html