Anxiety insomnia then been prescribed Citalopram
Posted , 7 users are following.
I feel like my life is just a wreck right now.
I'm a 21 year old university student. Last December the stress of uni, caffeine and relationship problems got to me, for some reason for a single night i was terrified of the hypnic jerks as i was falling asleep which meant i had a single sleepless night.
Out of panic i had booked train tickets home. the next day, for 3 nights slept next to my girlfriend and slept like a baby.
after that i came back to uni and essentially got just a whole week of minimal sleep like an hour or so broken with very vivid dreams every night.
came back home and was fine for 2 weeks sleeping next to my gf, then i realised i then had a problem of sleeping alone as any time she wasn't around i couldnt sleep. i went to my gp and she prescribed me Citalopram and now im about a week into it and while it reduced my vivid dreams, im still having some terrible insomnia. I'm not even stressed or anxious when i go to bed anymore just can't seem to stay asleep and wake up and get stuck in this half awake half asleep state (i think).
I'm very tired, have massive bags under my eyes, has this happened to anyone and does it go away?
didn't help i had ocd and was terrified of sfi which i now know is stupid but its frustrating i used to sleep really well! the diazepam I was also given doesn't really help either
0 likes, 24 replies
elijah123
Posted
like my brain refuses to get any restful deep sleep!
marsh23433 elijah123
Posted
Hi Elijah.I am not surprised you feel stress out ,as you have managed to stress your body out.Now caffeine will keep you awake and also will change your sleep pattern.,that is why you are having nights of broken sleep pattern.Take the citrolopram that the doctor has prescribed ,what dosage has your gp told you too take.And please note that Citrolopram does not work straight away in your body,it may take 8/10 weeks for the ssri to build up in your body ,and whilst that is happening you will get some side effects ,like sleep patterns ,but when you take it for a period of time ,the medication will work and help you too relax.
elijah123 marsh23433
Posted
yeah that is what I thought about caffeine too but I cut it out completely after the first night it happened. I'm pretty sure these are symptoms are common with anxiety induced insomnia but genuinely not sure how much more I can take of this. I think the Citalopram has sorta kicked in as I physically can't cry at the moment but the lack of sleep or very broken sleep is just affecting my life too much. Guess ill just accept whatever happens next
dubry7605074 elijah123
Posted
hey young man, I too have been in your shoes a few weeks ago when i started Cirslopram. My first time on these meds. I thought for a couple days I was losing my marbles. These meds will really heighten your anxiety and depression. Surround yourself with family and friends. I have taken the Cit for 8 weeks now and feel like me again. I can niw laugh and enjoy being around family and friends.
You are a week in in the medicine, so you should start feeling better. They work very slowly. Remember to take same time each day. What is your dosage? Although you are early days, it does get better. The meds truly help. This forum has a few very seasoned veterans wjo are willing to help you. Good luck and hope you get to feeling better
elijah123 dubry7605074
Posted
Thank you for the reply, its only 10mg but I was half tempted to give them up a few days ago as I can normally cope with stress but lack of sleep is just too much. But its nice to hear they work after a while
marsh23433 elijah123
Posted
Hi Elijah,Glad you found my note interesting .How long have you been on Citrolopram..Just remember that this medication will take some time to work.Diazepam 5 mgs will also help you toop rel;ax,but only take when you really need them.
elijah123 marsh23433
Posted
about 9 days now but yeah i guess it will but at the moment just feels like they're actually making my sleep worse, probably best to see it through i guess
whodareswins elijah123
Posted
One of the most common side effects of taking A/D's is insomnia, very ironic when that is the reason your were prescribed them. Id say about 6-8 weeks. I could go out on a 50 mile bike ride and still not sleep but it does get better if you find the right med. I was originally on sertraline for approx 10 weeks and they just made it 10 times worse no matter i did. 9 days is very, very early days. Lack of sleep can literally send you insane, nobody knows how bad it is until they suffer with it. Obviously trying to get down to the root cause of the anxiety works best but sometimes thats not possible, educating yourself through therapy really worked for me. Like i mentioned, increasing your dose often kicks off the side effects again. Its a nightmare but honestly once you have found the right dose and med you will recover. Thinking/worrying about not sleeping can be enough. I got there in the end and so will you, it takes time, perseverance and hard work. Try not to play around with doses if you can and give each A/D a good try before you decide its not for you, hopefully citalopram is for you. One thing i do know from experience and reading plenty on here, the 2-4 weeks they say it takes for the meds to work isnt accurate imo, many take longer. You might find you start getting better then you have a blip, perfectly normal in my experience, the blips get less and less though. Zero stress if you can, have a look at the worry tree, do some reading, worry doesn't change anything and often its a complete waste of time. Re-train the brain.
elijah123 whodareswins
Posted
Yeah I honestly thought it was a joke that the medicine supposed to fix me was actually causing more insomnia aha, my GP actually gave me setraline for my OCD and anxiety as I'm not really depressed but just couldn't deal with it and only took it for 2 days.
Yeah I've noticed that as well, people seem to underestimate how to difficult it is to be extremely sleep deprived as its not really seen as an illness.
I had at least 3 hours a night in one go with Citalopram at the beginning and now its waking up every hour. you are right about worrying though it just makes me so much worse, thanks for the wise words 😃 just glad to know it does get better and I'm not dying
whodareswins elijah123
Posted
Insomnia is very common, I've suffered terribly with it on and off. Take your meds in the morning at the same time. Check out tips on sleeping, ie no mobiles, tv etc before bed. Exercise works but not too late in the evening but starting citalopram or changing your dose often causes sleepless nights on their own. It took ages to subside with myself. Therapy works well, don't smoke or drink until you are better they are stimulants. Therapy works well for stress if you get a good therapist, you refer yourself now through minds matter in the UK but due to the savage cuts to the NHS you may be waiting a while. Sleepeaze from boots work, they are not on prescription, they say take one an hour before bed but i find it takes more like 2-3 so i take mine at 8pm ish. Finally and this might take some persuasion at the doctors but get a 14 day supply of sleeping tablets (7.5mg zopiclone) a wonderful drug but they dont like dishing them out as they lose there effectiveness after a few weeks and can be addictive. I managed to get some by saying i just needed to sleep while i started my new meds. I cut them in half and made them last a month. I take 30mg of citalopram, works very well for me, not perfect, it needs a bit of work but it certainly helps. Good luck.
elijah123 whodareswins
Posted
cheers for the reply, yeah I've tried every bit of sleep hygiene and even bought magnesium supplements and such however they dont really work. I've also applied for CBT for insomnia but they haven't gotten back to me yet. I'm also using the herbal nytol but i swear its literally placebo for me, so I might give that sleepeaze a try. how long did it take before your sleeplessness subsided? it's affecting every aspect of my life atm
my GP was really reluctant to give me any actual sleeping pills so she gave my diazepam instead, i might request for that as well i guess.
lois95799 elijah123
Posted
have you try Benadryl with your diazepam combine .it worked for me when i had severe insomnia.
dubry7605074 elijah123
Posted
sleeplessness lasted about 12-15 days for me, but everyone is different. Like yourself i tried magnesium tabs and didnt help me either. CBT has probanly helped me more yhan anything. My hope is to recover on the cit and taper off slowly and ontinue therapy
elijah123 lois95799
Posted
might give that a try thanks 😃 I'm trying not to take diazepam every night though as i don't want to get dependent on it
elijah123 dubry7605074
Posted
Yeah CBT does sound like the best option but I'll persevere with this drug for another couple of weeks then as it sounds like it does improve 😃