Tips anyone?
Posted , 8 users are following.
For real... this not sleeping thing is taking a toll on me. I wake up at 4am with my stomach turning and my chest burning and I end up being wide awake. I am going to my doctors Thursday to see what he suggests. I don't need an increase... I have no major anxiety and haven't had a panic attack since. Anyone know anything I can do to stay asleep? To take away from my stomach pain and my racing mind. I know there is help for anything, but I can't get so much sleep between now and Thursday and face school.
0 likes, 37 replies
33cody kayleigh90874
Posted
The racing mind is a big part of anxiety, i also was not sleeping very well and feeling bad overall I was however getting headaches and worse foggy feeling, I know you said you don't want to increase but I saw the dr and explained all my symptoms and was honest about were I felt I was over and how the meds were effecting me and he increased me to 30 this evening is ny first dose of 30mg so we'll see how it goes I was gonna start at 25mg for a week or two but decided I mid as well go for it and take the full 30 to start with and just get the side effects over right off the bat if I have any at all. Which I don't expect to honestly as I feel I only had bad ones in the beginning because my anxiety was so bad and I think half the original side effects were mostly my anxiety after I sat and really thought about it. I'm hoping with this increase I'll be able to get my full sleep back and get the rest of the way I need to get where I want to be. Good luck
Haaz kayleigh90874
Posted
I'm just over a week in and waking around 1am and not able to get back to sleep. However, I was struggling with the same issue before I started the tablets so it may be that it is as much to do with anxiety (catastrophising) as it is the medicine so guess I just need to be patient whilst they kick in proper.
The doctor did prescribe some sleeping tablets but after 3 nights with absolutely no improvement in my sleep I gave up on them.
I have to say though that going from a solid 8 hours to only 3 hours for the past 3 weeks is taking its toll and i also know this will not be helping me recover from the anxiety and panic nor resolve the underlying issues that caused the problems in the first place,
tomhopeful kayleigh90874
Posted
Kayleigh
I don't think I would have survived the last three months on CIT without my kindle , I've never read so many books , when I wake up in the middle of the night I try breathing exercises first to try & get back to sleep then if that doesn't work I try not to stress , turn my kindle on & read a chapter or till I'm feeling tired again. Hypnotherapy or relaxation CDs are a good way to see you of to sleep in the first place. Good luck with it.
Haaz tomhopeful
Posted
Thanks tomhopeful. I know I am not supposed to keep laying there but I do. Can't face the thought of getting up as it is so cold and I try and convince myself sleep will come (which it doesn't). Perhaps the Kindle is the answer as it means I can stay in bed but have a distraction. I am doing a lot of breathing exercises as well and Mindfulness meditation which I think are/will help once I become a bit more accomplished.
kayleigh90874 tomhopeful
Posted
I know you said it took 12 weeks to really settle with you. Did your insomnia resolve? Last night I fell asleep on my own. Slept from 9pm until 2:30am with no interuptions. Fell back to sleep until 4:30 and tossed and turned until now. I just laid straight out, relaxed and watching tv until my boyfriend woke up. He's like me, he has an eternal alarm clock. I suffer acid reflux, so it is usually the pain in my chest I get that ends up keeping me awake. It was never a problem really before I started taking the meds.
tomhopeful kayleigh90874
Posted
Kayleigh
Mostly insomnia gone now only after reducing from 20 to 10mg , wake up occasionally at 4am , I go down stairs turn telly on , lie on couch & usually drift off again till 6:30 ish
kayleigh90874 tomhopeful
Posted
tomhopeful kayleigh90874
Posted
Kayleigh
No good as new after 24hrs , haven't felt so good in two years , 20mg always felt too high a dose , after 3 months couldn't hack the side effects any longer so reduced. Having said all that the meds must have been working in the background as things feel great now
kayleigh90874 tomhopeful
Posted
Did your doctor have any issue with reducing? I don't wanna go there Thursday and have him try and say I need an increase. With how it is making my stomach feel and no sleep, I couldn't imagine an increase.
tomhopeful kayleigh90874
Posted
The general consenus was that I should increase to 30mg as I did improve initially after 5 weeks on 20mg but things seemed to slip back down again, I was convinced most of my Simptons were to do with the cit so I requested to try reducing first. Lucky for me this worked a treat.
sarah24378 tomhopeful
Posted
My situation was similar to yours. I improved as I went onto cit but after about 6 weeks I slipped back. I was on 30 at the time. Unlike you I went along with advice and went up to 40. I was very up and down on 40 but had loads of side effects much worse than going on. After 4 weeks I went against advice and dropped to 30. I have still struggled on 30 and 6 days ago dropped to 20.
Not sure how I m doing. The side effects have reduced but I still do not feel anywhere near as good as I did in the early weeks on cit. I really hope I ve made the right choice. If I don t improve I don t think cit is for me although in those first 6 weeks I really thought it was......maybe it was a coincidence.
tomhopeful sarah24378
Posted
Sarah
I thought cit was making me worse after some initial improvement ( four weeks in ) after reducing to 10 mg ( 12 weeks in ) I can't believe the improvement , I'm thinking the meds were doing good work in the background as I've never felt this good in years but only been on meds for 18 weeks , don't give up , you might get lucky like me & find a dose that suits but the way I'm feeling I'm looking to cut back further , let us know how you get on .
sarah24378 tomhopeful
Posted
I ll stick at 20 and see whst happens.
tim38228 kayleigh90874
Posted
I must be very fortunate as I don't seem to get many side effects. I'm into week 5 but still waiting for the panic attacks to stop and for me not to feel so tense but I guess I need to give it more time..
kayleigh90874 tim38228
Posted
I actually purchased a book yesterday about mental health in general with 13 different steps... #13 "change doesn't happen overnight" and I have to keep reminding myself that it is my body and a huge adjustment I am making to it. The no sleep thing makes sense, but waiting sucks. Stick with it!