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Feeling slightly better

Posted , 4 users are following.

tina89895
tina89895

Hi 

Just to update you all that helped me last week. I had a good meeting with my councillor today and I've a phone appointment with her again next week. I am feeling a lot calmer but still can't really think straight. Quite often feel as if I have a tight band squeezing my head, not sleeping that brillantly either. I assume this is yet another side effect of the cit. Dr on Thursday so she can be updated with everything thats been going on. 

Thanks again to everyone.

Tina x

3 likes, 6 replies

6 Replies

  • mark16290
    mark16290 tina89895

    Posted

    Hi Tina. 

    The tight band around your head describes exactly what I felt. It was like I could feel the drug working on changing things in my brain. I usually had that in the mornings, which developed into brain fog later in the afternoon.  Yes, it can definitely mess with your sleep since it surpresses REM sleep. At first I would always wake up at various times of the night feeling wide awake and then I would wake up an hour or so before I usually do and couldn't go back to sleep.  Your body will adjust to this. I'm 6 weeks in and I rarely have any dreams I can remember, but am sleeping better. 

    Sounds like you are making good progress. 

    • tina89895
      tina89895 mark16290

      Posted

      Hi Mark

      I been on cit for 11 weeks now 3 of them at 40mg. I've only recently noticed this tight band it seems to come and go. I had trouble getting to sleep but would then sleep for about 6 hours, but the past few weeks same as you wake at various times and can't get back to sleep for several hours. Which is a real pain as I am on a phased return back to work.

      Good that your sleeping better, good noghts sleep makes alot of difference.

      Tina  

    • mark16290
      mark16290 tina89895

      Posted

      If you are interested check out the website clinical-depression uk. They won't let me link in sites or I would have put the link. I've went through the learning path a couple times. It takes some time but I've found it helpful. But, if you don't want to go through the whole path check out the part on how over dreaming creates depression and how SSRIs stop dreaming. I found it very interesting and relavent.

      Hope you start sleeping better soon. 

    • loxie
      loxie mark16290

      Posted

      Mark you're right about the REM sleep.  The first time I was prescribed cit it was actually for a sleep disorder.  I was having what they called 'night terrors', where I'd be fighting something in my sleep and often hurt myself by hitting things in the night thrashing about.  I was on a low dose to be taking late in the evening.  It really worked but without REM sleep, I didnt feel like I'd gotten any deep sleep so it was easy to wake up during the night but I always managed to get back to sleep again.  That interrupted sleep was quite tiring but so much better than waking up feeling beaten up and exhausted as I was before.
  • katecogs
    katecogs tina89895

    Posted

    Hi Tina

    Glad to hear you're feeling some improvement.  Yes this is how the medication works - you'll feel calmer first, then the side effects will very gradually ease and your spirits will also gradually increase too.  It's quite a slow process.  Be prepared for the dips in your mood along the way - sometimes it feels like you've gone backwards - this is normal.

    The tight band around your head is probably a side effect, or could be tension due to not sleeping properly.  Both should ease in time.

    K xx

  • loxie
    loxie tina89895

    Posted

    A little tip that helps with getting off to sleep - it's a meditation technique called belly breathing.  You just focus on how your stomach is moving along with your breathing.  Don't control it or breathe any differently to normal, just concentrate on how it's moving your tummy.  I find I nod off really quickly doing this, it's very relaxing.
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