Posted by Ritch on March 12, 2003, at 9:47:10
In reply to Re: SSRI insomnia--might bedtime dosing help? » Jaynee, posted by Tabitha on March 12, 2003, at 0:25:45
> Wow, it's so odd that the same med has opposite effects on different people. I got that 12-14 hour sleep effect from 600mg neurontin. Celexa has always been activating for me.
>
> I'm on 10mg celexa now and have been on it for years. I get both delayed sleep onset and early-morning-awakening type of insomnia from it. I've been fighting with it for years. Here are my results...
>
> Neurontin 200mg: no help with sleep onset but helps EMA, but too hard to get up in the morning. If I go to 100mg, it no longer works. I refuse to split capsules to get to 150mg.
>
> Benadryl, Unisom, Doxepin: helps both issues but too hard to get up in the morning, plus antihistamine effect all day long.
>
> Seroquel: helps both issues but severly constipated next day, plus I'm afraid to stay on an AP longterm.
>
> Melatonin, Ambien: helps sleep onset but not EMA. No hangover.
>
> Valerian, Magnesium: no effect.
>
> I've about had it with experimentation and trying to balance meds-- I think I'll switch to a non-activating antidepressant or lamictal. I'm just afraid, since activating SSRIs are the only ones that have worked well on my depression.
Tabitha, have you tried another short-acting but less sedating antihistamine (than Benadryl) such as Vistaril (hydroxyzine)? Also, could you take the 200mg of Neurontin a couple of hours sooner to avoid the zoned-out feelings in the morning? That might improve the sleep-onset effectiveness of it as well.
poster:Ritch
thread:207971
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20030310/msgs/208398.html