Fragmented Sleep / Sleep Maintenance Insomnia advice?
Posted , 6 users are following.
Hi everyone, I started suffering from the typical anxiety induced insomnia (along with the irrational fear of SFi) last December - waking up every 30 mins from vivid dreams etc.
My GP then prescribed me Citalopram for my anxiety which has genuinely helped. I'm 5 weeks in now and I believe my sleep has genuinely improved. I can fall asleep fine however I wake up every 90 mins to 2 hours and I get around 5/6 hours of fragmented sleep this way.
That time frame should surely be enough for a full sleep cycle each time before I wake up however how come its not as refreshing as sleeping through the full 6 hours?
I am definitely improving but I still wake up feeling very tired, almost fevery temperatures and experience daytime fatigue and headaches throughout the day. Is there anything I can do to improve or is it something I just accept until it goes?
1 like, 8 replies
lily65668 elijah123
Posted
Hi Elijah,
I'm glad you overcame your irrational fear and are now sleeping better.
No need to worry about waking every 90 mins or so. This is actually quite normal. Each sleep cycle lasts approximately 90 mins and there's always a degree of arousal between cycles. This is confirmed by sleep studies. Some people only half wake up and don't remember it the next morning, whereas others (me for example) are accustomed to waking fully for a minute or so between cycles. What's happening to you is that you've just started noticing you're waking up at regular intervals, probably due to your recent anxiety about sleep.
The daytime symptoms are also easy to explain, and are nothing to do with interrupted sleep. Did you not look up the side-effects of citalopram when it was prescribed? I'm afraid that if you want the permanent "security blanket" of this drug you're going to have to learn to live with the side-effects. Ditto for any substitute meds your doctor prescribes. All these medications come with a price-tag.
However, you should never stop taking citalopram abruptly as this can cause rebound anxiety, which is the last thing you need. If you want to stop or cut down, it would be better to discuss this with the doctor who prescribed it and ask him/her to suggest a suitable tapering regime.
elijah123 lily65668
Posted
Hi Lily thank you for that reply, yeah that would explain why I at times I underestimate how much I'm sleeping.
I was worried that I wasn't getting enough of the stage 3 deep sleep because I am still very tired when I wake/get up, even thought it may be sleep apnea so I record my snoring with my phone every night but my breathing/snoring doesn't seem out of the ordinary so these effects could genuinely just be caused by the antidepressant.
I did have a look at the side effects and one of them was insomnia which I thought was rather ironic aha but everything subsides after a while apparently. I'll have a chat with my GP and see if there's anything I can or should do, thanks again.
christine66659 elijah123
Posted
this has been me for last two mths..its perfectly normal..i was sleeping alternate nights last year..and now sleeping every night..solid 4/5 hrs..then wKing up every couple of hrs after...its a positive move forward..your ok x
elijah123 christine66659
Posted
Hi Christine, thank you for the reassurance 😃
christine66659 elijah123
Posted
your welcome..its improving..some nights i wake every couple of hrs..go straight back to sleep thou..so its all good..had real severe insomnia for 6 mths in my late 20s due to ptsd and never batted an eye lid just got on with it...i did nit sleep at all. just rested everynite.went to work..took my son to school..im 52 now and after last yrs little episode back on track...it is never the insomnia that is the problem..its the anxiety which i had and looks like we are on the right path moving forward 💕keep going,,,
elijah123 christine66659
Posted
Yeah waking up every couples is terrible but is definitely a lot better than total insomnia. That must have very been tough, I'm 21 and the first few weeks this happened I thought I was going crazy and felt very depressed. But yeah keep going, I'll keep that in mind, thanks again.
christine66659 elijah123
Posted
if your dropping off again like i do..no harm done..your doing well its normal..i slept 10 hrs last night and woke a few times..your getting better..most wakings happen during rem sleep..as lily said as well.its all ok
zeke41552 elijah123
Edited
Hi Elijah, are u still struggling with this problem. I have had excessive dreaming problems for like 9 months now and i wake up every 2-3 hours what seems to be from a dream. When i wake up, i feel tired as if i had not got quality sleep the night prior. I dont have problem falling asleep, just problems staying asleep. I am 21 years old, and feel the daytime fatigue/tiredness throughout the day and it disappears in the night. hope your doing well! Have u figured out what this is or a cure? Looking forward to hearing from you soon!