leadinglady Posted July 10, 2011 Share Posted July 10, 2011 I have HORRID insomnia. First I was taking Paxil/Seroquel/Benadryl. Couldn't get to sleep. Upped the Seroquel. Couldn't get to sleep. Took away Benadryl, added Ambien (thanks, Mr. smart-psychiatrist-who-knows-I-am-a-recovering-alcoholic-and-won't-prescribe-benzos-but-will-give-me-tons-of-Ambien), fell asleep okay but woke up 2 hours later revved to go and couldn't get back to sleep. Now I'm on 100 mg of Vistaril at night with 200 mg of Seroquel and 50 mg of Paxil and, again, no sleep. Oh, FWIW I've tried Neurontin at night for sleep too AND a Neurontin/Seroquel combination for sleep--which, made me have restless legs and didn't put me to sleep anyway. What gives?! Right now I went back to the Ambien, simply because at least I can initially GET to sleep on it, even if I don't sleep long. Anybody have any idea WTF is going on? I have anxiety, sure, but even people with anxiety need to sleep occasionally! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnneMarie Posted July 10, 2011 Share Posted July 10, 2011 Have you tried Ambien CR? Regular Ambien is about falling asleep. Ambien CR is longer acting and tends to keep people asleep thru the night... assuming it works for you. I too have horrid insomnia. Have been thru Seroquel, sleeping pills, benedryl (lol), and I'm sure at least something else. Haven't tried Vistaril but no one gives much hope for that. I'm actually responding to say that I take a benzo to help sleep, and that it doesn't work anymore. You are not missing much with this cure that is not any more effective than benedryl for me now. And it didn't take long to get here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AirMarshall Posted July 10, 2011 Share Posted July 10, 2011 Seroquel typically has a paradoxical effect of being sedating at the very lowest dosages, like 25/50mg and being less sedating at high dosages. I see you are taking your dosing at the opposite scheme. My pdoc originally intended to have me take 25mg at night and then a high dosage in the morning for anxiety. You might ask your pdoc about that. I think there is something more going on than just a little insomnia. Your pdoc needs to work on this. I reccomend you make it very clear to her how little sleep you are getting and about this 'revved up' feeling. a.m. p.s. You are doing all the good sleep hygiene things? -cut out caffiene, cigs, chocolate. (or at least no caffiene within 12hrs of bedtime!!) -No tv, computers for at least one hour before bed -Lower lights in the house at least an hour before bed -If you are waking up to urinate during the nite restrict fluid intake after supper -eat an earlier supper to allow digestion (and no snacking before bed) -No activities in the bedroom but sleep, sex, and light reading while falling asleep. -No tv, computers etc in the bedroom -Get 30-60minutes of excercise (walk, ride etc) each day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leadinglady Posted July 10, 2011 Author Share Posted July 10, 2011 Unfortunately I can't take extended-release medications because I've had gastric bypass so they don't metabolize effectively. Frustrating. I guess I will have to find more natural ways to try to get to sleep or just stay up until I absolutely drop. LOL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnneMarie Posted July 10, 2011 Share Posted July 10, 2011 a.m., I'm familiar with the paradoxical effect of Seroquel, but I don't think that applies to everyone. When it worked for me, it was more sedating going up to 150mg. Also, sometimes there aren't mood issues driving insomnia. I am stable by all accounts and by everyone's account. Still, the insomnia I have suffered since very early childhood remains. I think you have a good point that the OP should get checked out if she hasn't already, but it is possible she has straight insomnia. OP, depending on your old drug of choice, this might be relavent. Seroquel worked well for me as a sleep med until I went in the hospital and was on oxycodone for months. When I went back to Seroquel, nada. Sleep has sucked since then. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AirMarshall Posted July 10, 2011 Share Posted July 10, 2011 Hence the modifier "Typically", and the caveat to discuss this dosing idea with her pdoc. a.m. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leadinglady Posted July 10, 2011 Author Share Posted July 10, 2011 I remember many moons ago trying Seroquel for the first time and a single 50 mg pill dropped me like an elephant tranquilizer. My husband at the time quite literally had to keep me from hitting the floor and had to help me into bed for about 2 days so I went off of it. Now here I am at 300 mg and nada. Although that was before the gastric bypass so it could be I'm not absorbing this stuff. I've tried crushing it though and get no different response. I'm beginning to think that I'm hypomanic for the first time in my life. Grrr. I've been trying to avoid the bipolar diagnosis for so long! lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dedoubt Posted July 11, 2011 Share Posted July 11, 2011 Have you tried trazodone? Partner was using Ambien to get to sleep, with trazodone to keep him asleep. It worked really well, except he is one of the sleep-do'ers on Ambien, so it's not that safe for him to use it. 50 mg of trazodone usually knocks me out unless I am really revved up-- the only downside for me is that I have a hard time getting up in the morning, and feel hungover. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leadinglady Posted July 11, 2011 Author Share Posted July 11, 2011 I actually asked to go from Ambien to trazodone and that's when the psychiatrist's nurse called me back and said he had called in Vistaril/hydroxyzine. I have a pdoc appt on Wednesday so I will talk to him again about trazodone. I've tried it in the past and it didn't work but then again, Seroquel used to drop me and now does nothing. It's worth a shot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wemble Posted July 11, 2011 Share Posted July 11, 2011 trazodone works great for me. i take vistaril prn for anxiety and it doesn't make me sleepy at all - maybe a little tired the first few doses, but then nothing. seroquel knocked me out (and the higher the dose the more it did) but i was taking it for different reasons and went off. a friend in the hospital had terrible insomnia and after trying everything they gave her zyprexa. never heard of using it for that before, but it worked great for her. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crtclms Posted July 11, 2011 Share Posted July 11, 2011 I have tried ambien, trazadone, vistaril, and something that I thought was rohypnal, but wasn't because it was prescribed to me, and it isn't prescribable in the US. For a short period, anti-histamines worked, but after about a week, that was done. Melatonin *may* add a bit of sleepiness, but not enough to put me to sleep. I am very curious about Seroquel to the point of my planning to raise it in 10 days when next I see my p-doc. I figure he will explain if he thinks it is a bad idea, so I might as well ask. Sleep hygiene can bite me. It doesn't work for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
enlightened_plutonian Posted July 11, 2011 Share Posted July 11, 2011 I am one who Seroquel has helped loads with sleep. I'm not on it for sleep, and I only have a small amount of sedation at the dose I'm on (600mg - sleep doses are usually a lot lower than this, from what I have read on here). But when I first went on it I was completely knocked out for the first couple of weeks I guess, and then sedated enough but not overly sedated for the next couple of months. But in that time, my sleep pattern has returned to a much better state that I no longer need the sedative effect to sleep. I go to bed at around 12 (midnight) every day, after taking my meds at between 10:30 and 11pm (yeah I know I'm supposed to take them at the same time each day). Admittedly I have nights where I am plagued by what I call 'intrusive memories', but even then I do get enough sleep to keep me functioning (sleep deprivation makes my psychosis a lot worse). Sorry for the thread hijack, but I have noticed a few people mentioning different stories on Seroquel and sleep so I thought I'd add my experiences. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leadinglady Posted July 14, 2011 Author Share Posted July 14, 2011 I found out I'm not sleeping from the alcohol withdrawal. But the Seroquel is giving me the heebie jeebies (akasthesia) so he reduced it, which is good because I came home and my mouth started involuntarily puckering. Weird. He gave me trazodone for sleep. I'm skeptical. I've been on it before and it didn't help but this is double the dose I tried before so who knows. If that doesn't work for sleep he said to call him back. He suggested Ambien CR but because of my gastric bypass I can't really do that. I'm desperate though so who knows. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dedoubt Posted July 14, 2011 Share Posted July 14, 2011 Sorry to hear about the withdrawal, but congratulations for getting it done! From what I've had prescribed, and seen prescribed to friends, trazodone has a wide range of dosages that can help someone sleep. There have been times that 25 mg knocks me out, and others that I need to take 100 mg-- that's generally when I am zipping along into a manic psychosis, though, and a sledgehammer won't put me to sleep. My friend routinely takes 100, and I believe was given the go ahead to take more if necessary. As for the akasthisia-- is there any chance that it's because of the withdrawal, not the Seroquel? When I was tapering my daily clonazepam, I got major bug crawlies. I didn't believe it was the clonazepam at first because I had tapered so much by the time the akasthisia happened, but my pdoc was right. Once I was completely off the benzo for a couple of weeks, it went away. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leadinglady Posted July 15, 2011 Author Share Posted July 15, 2011 It could be the alcohol withdrawal. Last night I took 200 mg of trazodone and it knocked me out for 10 hours but that initial feeling when I first took it was awful. I got the bug crawlies and had to keep moving my limbs to get the feeling to go away. Once I did fall asleep, I was OUT. I could have slept 10 more. Not sure I like that. I can't find a happy medium between the instant relief I get with Ambien and the long term relief I get with trazodone. It's frustrating. Still puckering my mouth with the Seroquel too. I hate it! I'm sure I look like a weirdo everywhere I go. lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcjimjam Posted July 15, 2011 Share Posted July 15, 2011 Forgive me if I missed some but have you tried Remeron? I had insomnia resistant to Ambien, all benzos etc. and 15mg of Remeron completely knocked me out for long periods of time. I didn't develope a tolerance either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leadinglady Posted July 20, 2011 Author Share Posted July 20, 2011 I have tried Remeron before...along with amitriptyline and nortriptyline. Amitriptyline used to work at 25 mg but now it takes 100 mg. I heard it's hard on your liver so I'd like to avoid it. Can I take Ambien and trazodone together? To get the instant sleep/prolonged sleep together? Hmmm... Just wondering. lol Starting more and more to think my pdoc is more cuckoo than I am. Grrr. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoldCoin Posted July 20, 2011 Share Posted July 20, 2011 Have you tried Halcion? I used it for a little while and it put me to sleep. Bonus was there was no hangover the next day. I did become resistant to it relatively quickly so its just an idea. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dancesintherain Posted July 20, 2011 Share Posted July 20, 2011 Leadinglady, have you ever been on a mood stabilizer? (I can't see if it is in your signature) you have mentioned extremely treatment resistant depression, high levels of anxiety, and huge insomnia issues...are you sure its not something other than mdd? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laume Posted July 20, 2011 Share Posted July 20, 2011 How about lowering the trazodone? 50 mg worked for me and after a lot of monkeying around, that seemed to give me sleep without the need to sleep 24 hours. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leadinglady Posted July 21, 2011 Author Share Posted July 21, 2011 Oh yeah my diagnosis is Mood disorder, NOS (MDD Vs. BPD) and a chem dep counselor told me she thinks I'm borderline. I've been on lithium a couple of times (weird side effects), Neurontin (not a thing), Depakote (felt it worked but hair fell out), Zyprexa (worked for awhile but got side effects with larger dose), Risperdal (reduced anger but that's it), Lamictal (blurry vision and had to stop). I have also been on... are you ready? Cymbalta, Zoloft, Prozac, Wellbutrin, Lexapro, Celexa, Remeron, Elavil, Effexor, Ambien, Ativan, Xanax, Klonopin, Vistaril, Rozerem, Buspar, probably a handful more that I can't remember. I went to the county psych department and never saw the same person twice and they threw samples at me all the time of every different med on the moon but never diagnosed me. Nice. I definitely have tons of anxiety, social anxiety, insomnia, panic attacks, a touch of agoraphobia (was homebound for 2 years), major depression most days, black and white thinking, feeling like everybody is out to get me, feeling like nothing works for me, can't look people in the eye when I'm talking. Too weird. Alcoholism. Lots of issues! lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bpladybug Posted July 21, 2011 Share Posted July 21, 2011 restoril is temazepam, it is a benzo and i just filled a first prescription for it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas Posted July 21, 2011 Share Posted July 21, 2011 I've been on restoril for about 6 years now and it still helps me sleep (most of the time). Tommy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leadinglady Posted July 22, 2011 Author Share Posted July 22, 2011 They won't give me any type of benzo's because of the addiction. Sucks. I forgot Abilify. Akasthesia. lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcjimjam Posted August 4, 2011 Share Posted August 4, 2011 a.m., I'm familiar with the paradoxical effect of Seroquel, but I don't think that applies to everyone. When it worked for me, it was more sedating going up to 150mg. Also, sometimes there aren't mood issues driving insomnia. I am stable by all accounts and by everyone's account. Still, the insomnia I have suffered since very early childhood remains. I think you have a good point that the OP should get checked out if she hasn't already, but it is possible she has straight insomnia. OP, depending on your old drug of choice, this might be relavent. Seroquel worked well for me as a sleep med until I went in the hospital and was on oxycodone for months. When I went back to Seroquel, nada. Sleep has sucked since then. It doesn't work that way for me either. I was on 25mg, I stopped sleeping, upped to 50mg, slept, stopped sleeping, upped to 200mg and started sleeping again. That worked for months but now I'm having trouble again. If I take 200mg and can't sleep and then take another 200mg it knocks me out. Since I'm taking it every night and requiring higher and higher doses to sleep, if it were a benzo, I'd be worried. Seroquel is supposedly not addictive but if I miss a dose, I don't sleep. Simply don't sleep at all until I take it. So if I'm caught overnight somewhere without it, I'm up all night and until I do get to take it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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