Posted by MSM on February 25, 2001, at 14:40:52
In reply to Insomnia and depression, posted by Richie on February 25, 2001, at 2:46:53
> I have had insomnia for years which I used to solve by drinking and smoking marijuana, both of which I have stopped for over two months and now I can not sleep. I was given scrips for Sonata and then Ambien but find I need more than one to get to sleep. The doc started to prescribe anti depressants: Wellbutrin, Celexa and now Effexor 37.5mg), to help with anxiety and sleeplessness, but I have found they just keep me awake. I started to take the Effexor yesterday, and am not sure if it will help my insomnia. He told me to stop taking the Celexa with the Effexor, and the Wellbutrin definitely does not help. He doesn't want to prescribe Trazadone or Remeron because they are narcotics, but I have tried to go off everything and nothing helps to get me to sleep. Melatonin, Valerian, warm milk, turkey, etc. I will spend twelve hours in bed and sleep less than two hours. Any ideas on what I can ask the doc to prescribe to help me sleep? Thanks for any input.
Wow.....it's good to hear your story. I quit using marijuana and alcohol 12 weeks ago and have gone through exactly what you have. I could not sleep for more than an hour or so at a time and would wake up in a pool of sweat. I was getting three hours sleep a night at most, I was a wreck all day from lack of sleep. I tried every thing you mentioned and nothing helped. I was begining to believe that using was better than not.I tried Zoloft for depression but couldn't handle the side effects. My therapist suggested that I try Remeron. I have been taking it for 3 weeks now and am sleeping better than i've slept in years. Remeron is not a narcotic, it's a relatively new anti-depressant caterogized as an NASSA. Discontinuing use is much easier than discontinuing most SSRI's. I am beginning to feel less depressed and less stressed, my experience so far has been a very good one. There is plenty of information about Remeron on this site and others, I would suggest that you do some reading and perhaps print out some information from this site, the Remeron home site and others, many Medical Universitys have good information on their sites, and take the information to your doctor and ask him, or her, to reconsider. There are two theories about doctors, one is that they don't know everything, the other is that they don't know anyth.......errrr. Well maybe this isn't the best place to theorize about doctors.
I have also done some reading on the rebound effects of quitting marijuana after long term use. It is not uncommon for your body to take 3 to 6 months or even up to a year
to readjust.
Just curious, are you attending any fellowships to help you with your abstinence?Good luck,
Mark
poster:MSM
thread:13781
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20010221/msgs/54807.html