Increased Anxiety before taking daily meds?

Thanks for the advice.  Why did you switch to evenings and how did you manage the change - morning dose one day and evening the next or gradually over time?  Did the evening dose alleviate your morning anxiety at all and do you feel it affects your sleep?  I am currently suffering from insomnia and like Pauliepie i wake at 3-4 am and rarely get back to sleep again.

 

Ive had no issues with sleeping it actually wad making me sleepy. So one morning i didnt take it and took it that evening around 8pm. I also made the switch during my first blip i was waking up anxious and with raising heart. I thought the meds werent working anymore. I stuck it out and 6 days later i was back on track. It is hard to go back to sleep once u wake up so i know the feeling. I also bought rescue remedy and that helped a lot. Soi. Recomend it.

I am waking several times a night and by 4am I rarely get back to sleep. Just lie there trying to calm down and relax but I haven't found an effective strategy to acheive that yet.  I am taking my dose in the morning - i wonder if an evening dose would improve my sleep?  When do you take your medication?  Thanks for sharing, the interaction through this forum is one of the few things keeping me going right now.

Totally with you on the "keeping you going" thing, Before I found this forum (yesterday) I felt like I'm the only one who was suffering (and I use the term "suffering" with absolute conviction, not just a turn of phrase)

I started taking my meds in the evening but this (for me) was worse, so my doctor suggested taking them in the morning, circa 7am, that way it tends to settle in your system during the day. For me personally I was worse when I was taking it in the evening because I just could not get to sleep for hours and hours and for me personally that was worse. I'm no GP but I'd say ride it out as you are as long as you can taking in the morning as a change can often make you worse. Just my take on it though.

Stay strong you are not alone.

Paul

Thanks so much for the words of encouragement Paul.

Tomorrow will be day 27, 6th day @50mg and I am hoping that within a few more days the side effects should lessen - really wish the heightend anxiety is the first to go!  I am going to stick with the morning dosage until I have given the 50mg 5 weeks to do its thing.

I hope you get some sleep tonight.  I am going to try rescue remedy drops that someone suggested i take when i wake in the night.  i'll let you know if they work. 

Please know that your support is greatly appreciated.

Dear Pauliepie,

The side effects will go. I take 50mg in the morning  and It took  4 weeks before the side effects ceased. I still wake in the night. What I do is put music on through a cd player with the headphones in my ear, Sounds crazy but that does work for me.You concentrate on the music and that certainly relaxes your mind. You take care.  Ann

 Anne and Paul

another night of wakefulness - I tried the rescue remedy however it didnt seen to make much difference.  I had a brief nap around 1pm yesterday (fell asleep while watching tv with my daughter) that lasted around 20 minutes and i think that may have contributed to the insomnia.  I got up and read for an hour and then was at least able to get back into bed to 'rest' but not really sleep.  I will try the music idea tonight Ann, thanks for the suggestion.

Hope you both fared better than i did last night.   CG

Hi CG & ANN and anyone else reading...

I went back to see my doctor this morning, I’m not ashamed to say I broke down in front of him. im only on day 7 and the anxiety is crippling me (i didn’t start taking this drug for anxiety incidentally, it was only for depression)  I know that might seem to some as being overdramatic, using the verb "crippling" but I don’t think it's until you’ve really experienced it for yourself you (one) can really understand just how bad this feels.

The lack of sleep i can cope with (pretty much) it reminds me of when my son was little! the banging headache all day long -no problem, the flu-like symptoms –any day, the lack of appetite -fine, the nausea the dizziness, the blurred vision, the shakes and the constant ringing in my ears, 'the trots' too - BRING IT ON! bring them all on, but the anxiety from the early hours to mid to late afternoon that is utterly debilitating. leaving what little respite there is for the late afternoon/early evening, when you are too tired to care and end up nodding off and missing it anyway!

For me personally I wake around 3 maybe 4am and that’s it, I can feel the anxiety creep in and that’s it for me, I know the chances of getting back to sleep are virtually impossible.  The trouble with this is by 2-3 in the afternoon you are yawning your head off. that in itself i have no problem with but this Anxiety i now feel: HORRENDOUS!  I tried last night watching some TV and reading in order to try to keep myself awake as long as possible to try to sleep longer in the mornings and thus avoid a few more hours of the darkness (i don’t mean darkness in the literal sense, i mean the terror that is anxiety) but it was to no avail.  I think today is the worst that I have ever felt, and its terrifying me what tomorrow has in store for me. I was fortunate enough to talk to a friend who has experienced exactly the same feelings and that I found “comforting” to just know I am not the only one feeling this bad, and hopefully given time it will pass.

My doctor has given me some diazepam 2mg tablets he said I could take in the early hours of the morning it it gets too unbearable, but I am a little scared to take one, sounds daft I know but just feel like its one drug to counteract another. But I’ll see how I go and try one if I get really desperate. I just keep clinging onto the fact that the general consensus is the first two weeks are the worst. 

It is entirely possible that I feel worse today because I feel guilty that this weekend just gone was my weekend with my son of 7 and we are always out and about doing things, here there and everywhere having fun non-stop. This weekend however, we left the house once to go to the park (and even that was a real struggle)  I know my child understands that I’m currently “poorly” and I’ve told him that when I am better I will make it up to him but the guilt is really weighing on me on top of everything else.

Anyhoo before this turns into War and Peace I shall leave it there, I must say though having this forum is really good to be able to see other peoples experiences and coping mechanisms (or lack thereof) and know you (one) are not alone and there ARE countless others going through exactly what YOU are going through.  I just wish I could convince my brain of this fact.

Hoping and praying that tomorrow is, if not better (as I’m not expecting miracles) but Its not worse than today. Apologies that post has ended up all me me me,  but sometimes it feels good to let it out.

 

Wishing everyone better days to come. Stay strong (says he with conviction! And more than a hint of irony)

Paul

PS apologies for the apparent blatant disregard for the correct use of any form of grammar, spelling or punctuation, but quite frankly I don’t care!

I dont think how u feel is wrong to deacribe as debilitating. Ive been there i still barely drive and i went through a year where i couldn't leave my house. My anxiety was so bad it caused derealization for a year where i felt i was living out of my body and in a dream. Zoloft was my last resort after 6 years of anxiety. I got better during my pregnancy and the first year of my daughters life but life events recently caused my anxiety to go into full blown panic and it hit me with a vengeance. So don't feel ashamed at how u feel. My daughter is 3 and i also always had fun filled days with her now its a daily strugle to get going and out of the house everyday. But the zoloft is making big changes. U just have to wait it out and stick with it. Those feelings will go away u just have to ride it out. I know its easier said than done. But 6 weeks ago i was you. And now i am doing so much better even driving more and being more active. I still have bad days. Today i woke up anxious but i ignored it and didnt focus on the feeling and within the hour i was fine. U will notice that happening more and more into the treatment. U will get a better handle on your anxiety. This medication is changing the receptors in your brain for seratonin. Thats a long process and thats why its such a rollercoaster. Rome wasnt built in a day and this cant work overnight. This is the time to be strong and grab the bull by the horns. You can do it.

Thank you for your responce, you poor thing you, what a dreadful experance you have had.

I'm glad you are now on the mend though. it seems such s long way off for me at the moment.. When you're really down it seems almost impossible to believe you will ever get back up again

Paul

Please believe that there IS a light at the end of the tunnel.  Today was a better day than yesterday for me, and I know that tomorrow will be however slightly better than today.  One step at a time.  In the wee hours of the morning when I am praying for sleep I just have to repeat to myself that each day is an improvement on the one before and that I have to give the meds time to do their work.  I worry that I didn't wait long enough at 25mg (3 weeks) before the Dr increased to 50mg - but i was getting no relief from the anxiety and 25 is such a minimal dose.  Tomorrow will be day 7 @ 50mg i'm just hoping for some sleep tonight so i can face the world in the morning.

Feel free to vent your feelings anytime.  I am here to listen.  It helps me deal with my own journey, and gives me a sense of belonging that I need right now.  CG