dancesintherain Posted December 18, 2016 Share Posted December 18, 2016 So this is the second day in a row (and second weekend in a row) where I woke up around 7am, took medication shortly thereafter, and then around 8am had to lay down to sleep some more and usually didn't wake until 10:30ish. This is after a full night's sleep--broken up in segments a bit, which is annoying, but still enough to count as a full night. I don't know if I'd do the same thing during the work week if I had the opportunity--on the rare opportunities that I've had uber take me all the way into work (abour 45 minutes to an hour, but I do it as a pool so it's about $14), I've been nodding off a bit but not actually falling asleep. On the normal days (pre broken foot) when I'd drive to the metro station and then take the train in, I'd get a bit sleepy on the train, but I'd force myself awake...I think partially because of safety. I don't want my purse unprotected while I'm asleep. Anyway...that's a long way of saying that I'm having issues with morning sedation on weekends and probably to some degree during the work week if I had the opportunity. It makes me wonder if it's medication related and lithium seems like the possible culprit. I take only three medications in the morning (everything else in my signature is in the evening). I take 88mcg of synthroid, I take my clarinex, and I take 450 mg of lithium. So...has anyone experienced sedation from lithium? is it possible that that's what's going on? anyone have other ideas? the only other possibility I was coming up with was the fact that my depression hasn't completely cleared up, but it's a lot better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teh Gaben Posted December 18, 2016 Share Posted December 18, 2016 When I first started taking lithium around 15 years ago it used to sedate me, but not any more. That went on for around 3-6 weeks. I haven't experienced sedation from it since that I can recall, I take 800mg am and none pm. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dancesintherain Posted December 18, 2016 Author Share Posted December 18, 2016 thinking about it from that perspective, I have been taking a morning dose/split dose since the hospital stay in september. so it would be odd to be the cause of sudden tiredness. but i haven't had major med changes in the past month which is what makes me think it's something I'm taking in the morning. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
netsavy006 Posted December 18, 2016 Share Posted December 18, 2016 3 hours ago, dancesintherain said: ... It makes me wonder if it's medication related and lithium seems like the possible culprit. I take only three medications in the morning (everything else in my signature is in the evening). I take 88mcg of synthroid, I take my clarinex, and I take 450 mg of lithium. So...has anyone experienced sedation from lithium? is it possible that that's what's going on? anyone have other ideas? the only other possibility I was coming up with was the fact that my depression hasn't completely cleared up, but it's a lot better. I take Lithium myself, been on it since 2008. As far as I can tell, I don't get any sedation from the lithium. I understand you say you only take those 3 medications in the morning, and It's possible that the lithium could be making you sleepy in the mornings, but could it also be possible that maybe the sedation from one of your night pills might be carrying over into the morning? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dancesintherain Posted December 18, 2016 Author Share Posted December 18, 2016 14 minutes ago, netsavy006 said: I take Lithium myself, been on it since 2008. As far as I can tell, I don't get any sedation from the lithium. I understand you say you only take those 3 medications in the morning, and It's possible that the lithium could be making you sleepy in the mornings, but could it also be possible that maybe the sedation from one of your night pills might be carrying over into the morning? It's a possibility. The reason it feels like morning is I get up, I'm fine for a little bit, and then I take morning medication and within an hour I'm laying down having to sleep for two to three hours. Now maybe it's coincidence or I never completely was as awake as I thought. Or maybe it's just the weekend blues since it's not as noticeable on weekdays, but I have to force caffeine into me to help out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snarkykitten Posted December 20, 2016 Share Posted December 20, 2016 I've taken lithium for about 4 years now. It used to make me tired. It doesn't anymore. There's extended release and regular, I think ... so maybe talk to your doc and try the other? I always took it at night. This is just me, but I usually give meds about 2 weeks before I'm like "Ok, these aren't just initial side effects" -- if they don't get ANY better. Everyone is different. Lithium has been really great for me. I hope it benefits you as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dancesintherain Posted December 21, 2016 Author Share Posted December 21, 2016 It's been good to me as anti-manic mostly. The days after I posted this I had the opposite sleep problem (waking up at 4am then crashing until 5 and then until 6:30 and then until 7:30). So I think dysregulated sleep would be the best version of what's going on. I left work early to try to sleep though, so it's messy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dtac Posted December 22, 2016 Share Posted December 22, 2016 Lithium used to sedate the hell out of me for several hours in the morning. I would take it between 7-8am for my morning dose and still be sleepy at 1pm. I would go nap on my lunch break every day at work. However, my mid-day and PM doses didn't cause the sedation. Usually. Some days I was tired all day. I was on klonopin at the time too, and sometimes I wonder if the long half-life of the klonopin was adding to the sedating effect. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alien Navel Cord Posted January 9, 2017 Share Posted January 9, 2017 On 12/22/2016 at 9:38 AM, dtac said: Lithium used to sedate the hell out of me for several hours in the morning. I would take it between 7-8am for my morning dose and still be sleepy at 1pm. I would go nap on my lunch break every day at work. However, my mid-day and PM doses didn't cause the sedation. Usually. Some days I was tired all day. I was on klonopin at the time too, and sometimes I wonder if the long half-life of the klonopin was adding to the sedating effect. It could've been the klonz... that stuff makes me extremely tired after about 6 hours after taking it. For the first 6 hours it just relaxes me but then it turns into genuine sleepiness, so that could be what was making you sedated, just a thought. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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