[jrrocco]

Hey Guys,

Well to say the last 4 days has been hell is an understatement..

Basically I went 96 hours on only 7 hours of sleep in an effort to build up some serotonin and get my internal clock back and track.. Finally Thursday night after practically needing toothpicks to keep my eyes open until 11:30 pm i crashed hard.. I got a full 6.5 hours of uninterrupted sleep.. Friday was an incredible day.. I felt alive alert and on the right path. I went to the gym, got some much needed cardio – ran for 2 miles followed by an hour workout – I left the gym feeling like I've done all i can do to make sure i stay on the path to regular sleep.

Well I guess it's not enough. Friday night got back to bed at 11:30 and as usual woke up after 4 hours of sleep..

The doctor tells me I'm burning to much serotonin during the day. .I'm still producing it but I have no reserves. He prescribed celexa. It's an anti depressant -even though i'm not depressed – just frustrated. He says this drug will help build up my serotonin and then after a few months he will take me off.. I told him about sleep deprivation therapy.. basically what i've been doing the last few days.. He says it could take a year on my own to right my ship.. I think I'm starting to believe him.. 🙁

Has anybody had any kind of experience with Celexa? I know it can cause impotence amonth other things, something i don't want to mess with down there..

Any feedback would be great.

Thanks so much. hope all you guys are finding some much needed sleep

Best,

Matt

[Martin Reed]

Matt

First, congratulations on getting one night of good sleep – that must have felt amazing. I can only imagine your frustration when your insomnia resumed business as normal the following night.

I know that Celexa has been mentioned a few times here in the forums; take a look at this thread for starters: http://www.insomnialand.com/topic/103-insomnia-medications/page__hl__Celexa

Hopefully some members who have used this medication will chime in on this thread and offer their opinions and experience, too. Also, don't be shy about sending members a private message if they mention they've used the drug – they will be more than happy to hear from you.

We're all in this together.

—

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The content of this post is provided for informational and educational purposes only. It is not medical advice and is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease, disorder, or medical condition. It should never replace any advice given to you by your physician or any other licensed healthcare provider. Insomnia Coach LLC offers coaching services only and does not provide therapy, counseling, medical advice, or medical treatment. All content is provided “as is” and without warranties, either express or implied.

[lowercasebecky1952]

Hi, again, Matt.

I'm sorry to say that my only experience with any sort of sleep aid is limited. Ambien and Lunesta are really the only ones I've tried, other than lorazepam (the only benzodiazapine drug I've ever taken that works is valium, years ago). Ambien and Lunesta fizzled out on me after about a half hour of tossing and turning. Lorazepam is another story. I no longer take it. If I'm not actively in the process of putting my feet into bed and lying down, it has dangerous consequences: If I take it and sit up for more than fifteen minutes, I can count of falling over, out of my chair! It's been more than a year since I took even .5mg, which did put me out…for 15 hours! My hsband was ready to pick up the phone and diall 911, when I finally woke up. If I am stupid enough, or desperate enough to take 1mg, I had better be already lying down. It causes the above dangerous consequences, and makes me sleep 18 to 24 hours…a deal breaker. I was once given 2mg in the hospital, in an IV, so that I didn't know what I was given until I woke up a day and a half later. Needles to say,I just don't take it any loner.

I mainly wanted to respond to let you know that I'm glad and relieved that you saw your doctor. I am also sorry to hear that you only got one good night sleep. But we take them where we find them, right? It's 4:30 am, and I'm still working on finding a few hours. I still have some work to do before I can crawl into bed. I think I'm going to give it a shot in a little while, when I get done the things I need to do before I try to crawl into bed and get a few hours. Yesterday mornng, I got into bed at about 4:30. I awoke two hours later with bad leg cramps! I was up long enough to take a dose of calcium and rub out the cramp. I went back to sleep for another two hous, before I had to get dressed to go shopping. I thught I might try again when I got home, because I had a bad headache, from lack of caffeine. A quick cup of instant coffee, which I normally despise, knocked the headache to the point that I could continue to function at an intelligent level.

Many times, maybe even more often than we think, we think ourselves out of a good night's sleep. I kow I do. Once I begin worrying about whether or not I will sleep once I lie down, I've already doomed myself to a sleepless night. I'm seeing my nurse practitioner Thursday. She is going to listen to me and I am going to insist that she help me find some sort of relief. A lot of the time, I am in a zombie-like state. I'm neiter asleep nor fully awake. If I'm spoken to in that frame of mind, I often don't remember what was said, and frequently don't remember being spoken to. I wish you luck getting a better night's sleep tonight.

Becky

[ExhaustedMichelle]

Hi Matt,

Just a real quick response to your question about the er, um, unpleasant unmentionable side effects of celexa.

I'm a chick, so obviously theres a difference in the importance of how satisfactorily my plumbing works, but just wanted to share that I have been on almost every SSRI on the market at one time or another, including celexa and lexapro. Out of all of them, I would rank it the second least interfering in that area, with my personal top choice being Effexor for the least sexual side effects. Everyone is different, however, and what works for me may not for you and vice, versa. I bet it will help with your seratonin levels. If you don't like it, you can always switch. Took me about ten years to finally find the right drug and dosage but I'm do glad I stuck it out, because I'm do much better off emotionally.

Good luck! Let me know how it turns out.

Michelle

[jrrocco]

'ExhaustedMichelle' wrote on '12:

Hi Matt,

Just a real quick response to your question about the er, um, unpleasant unmentionable side effects of celexa.

I'm a chick, so obviously theres a difference in the importance of how satisfactorily my plumbing works, but just wanted to share that I have been on almost every SSRI on the market at one time or another, including celexa and lexapro. Out of all of them, I would rank it the second least interfering in that area, with my personal top choice being Effexor for the least sexual side effects. Everyone is different, however, and what works for me may not for you and vice, versa. I bet it will help with your seratonin levels. If you don't like it, you can always switch. Took me about ten years to finally find the right drug and dosage but I'm do glad I stuck it out, because I'm do much better off emotionally.

Good luck! Let me know how it turns out.

Michelle

Hi Michelle,

Thanks for your input and welcome. I'm concerned though that the treatment hasn't worked for you.. The Doc said if he put me on celexa (which i haven't tried yet, but have the bottle) It would build up my serotonin in a few months and then I can wean off of it and go back on my own..

he says it should snap me out of my cycle.. I'm assuming this plan he has for me isn't working for you?

Thanks again – much appreciated

Matt

[Hamster]

'jrrocco' wrote on '12:

Hi Michelle,

Thanks for your input and welcome. I'm concerned though that the treatment hasn't worked for you.. The Doc said if he put me on celexa (which i haven't tried yet, but have the bottle) It would build up my serotonin in a few months and then I can wean off of it and go back on my own..

he says it should snap me out of my cycle.. I'm assuming this plan he has for me isn't working for you?

Thanks again – much appreciated

Matt

Hi,

My husband actually went on An SSRi drug ( either celexa or effexor) for a few months when he was having some anger issues. He does not have any sleep problems but his doc said the same thing about trying to get his serotonin up for a bit and retrain his brain to react differently. He was petrified of the side effects – those side effects- but ,well, he wasn't' get much anyway with him being a big crab as* all the time so he took the risk. He was fine but on a pretty low dosage and he had no problem getting off once he learned how to manage his outbursts. He swears it impeded his ability to sell tho- he is in sales- and blames the drug for his lack of commissions during that time- he said it made him lose his edge-

:huh: Probably more likely it was the stinky economy but whatever .

[Author]

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