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Has anyone had experience of overcoming sleepiness and lethargy in depression?
Are there medical specialists in this field that i can go to?
I'm in my 50s and have had depression for a few years now after a neurological condition, divorce and a difficult work situation pushed me over the edge.
The neurological condition is a form of Empty Nose Syndrome for which i take 200 mg Imipramine and 200 mg Neurontin/Gabapentin, with the Imipramine helping to fight the depression.
I have effectively taken early retirement and I generally keep the depression under control.
However, I have often-overwhelming sleepiness and lethargy that often makes doing the simplest thing a real effort. Its like having a lead blanket on my mind. I exercise to get/keep fit, sleep well (with the aid of a CPAP machine for low-level sleep apnea), eat well and am pretty trim and fit for my age. I take 100-200 mg Provigil that helps, albeit this seems to get less effective over time. Some days the weight is too much and I can waste whole days in playing card games or endlessly flicking through the internet news channels.
At times I get so tired of trying to deal with this that dying would be a relief. To be clear, I'm not in any way suicidal; I just want to give up trying.
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g.90572 StrivingOn
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StrivingOn
Posted
Thanks. I think I do the cards and Internet because I can just sit there where I don't have to struggle against the weight on me and they're great displacement activities.
There are loads of things that I could otherwise be doing such as revamping our house or my car project. I also feel awful over not doing something productive, which then makes things harder.
I know what I can do to stop wasting that time; I just need to put the effort in. I'm now about to start over again at attempts to just do something in the hope that I can get a beneficial circle of action and positive energy going.
StrivingOn
Posted
Oops, pressed the post button by mistake and I can't find an edit function on my phone.
I really want to find out if there is a specialist I could go to. My GP has done the usual blood tests and I don't know if I can get anything more out of an NHS system creaking at the seams when others have more pressing issues. I also want to stand on my own 2 feet and hate feeling or owning up to being helpless. I'd rather spend what money I have on my recovery than have a newer car or latest phone.
I did try reducing the Imipramine and Gabapentin, very gradually to minimise withdrawal effects, to see if my lethargy was a side effect of them. However, I had some very uncomfortable effects that pushed me back after reducing to 70% over 7 weeks.
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