Posted by Ame Sans Vie on April 22, 2003, at 15:47:31
In reply to Re: Vistaril » Ame Sans Vie, posted by TrevorC on April 22, 2003, at 14:48:20
> > Hi again, my gp says she wants to see if the Vistaril would help me more for insomnia. I have a hard time falling asleep and staying asleep. Over the years, I started off at 1 milligram of Ativan, then 2 and started 3 milligrams last week and it's not doing anything for me. My gp believes I have built up tolerance to the medication, not quite sure what that means. I have never been on any antidepressants before because I was diagnosed with more of a situational/mild depression. WHat do you mean when you say *orthodox* manners-like visualiztion, or music? Is Ambien a sleep aid, I'm sorry-I'm new to all this. I have never heard of some of the mediations you described.
> I need to ask my gp what she thinks would help me, and giver my symptoms I guess. I really hope she will know what to do. What does YMMV mean?Sorry, a lot of us here tend to know all about these medications, having tried most of them out ourselves. I should have explained a little better. By the way, YMMV= your mileage may vary.
As far as the Ativan is concerned, you didn't mention if it has *ever* helped you, so I'm going to assume that it didn't. This being the case, I'd have to say there are two possibilities--1. your dose was too low, or 2. Ativan simply isn't the right medication for you. Even 3mg Ativan is a fairly low dose, and that's if you take it all at once. I'm assuming your dose is spread out over the course of the day? However, I'd venture to think your GP may be reluctant to raise the dose high enough for you to respond, judging from her assessment that you've developed "tolerance" to it (which most experts agree, by the way, doesn't happen with benzodiazepines; or if so, it happens over the course of many years and the increases in dose are very small). There are other benzodiazepines you may be better suited to. Xanax is a good one, though it lasts for only a few hours (about the same amount of time as Ativan). But they're releasing a new version, called Xanax-XR (extended-release), next month which supposedly last about 12 hours. There are also longer-acting benzos like Klonopin, which has helped a great many people on this board, myself included.
When I spoke of more "orthodox" methods to control your symptoms, I was assuming the Vistaril was going to be used for anxiety. As a sleep-aid, I suppose it's not so unorthodox. But what I was referring to was more common ways to handle anxiety, such as the other benzodiazepines and antidepressants (which are also good for anxiety in most people, not just depression). I already listed some benzodiazepines that may help, but some antidepressants you may benefit from would include Effexor, Prozac, Remeron (which is also a great sleep-aid), and Zoloft. Since you said your depression is mild and situational, maybe a less potent antidepressant like Remeron could kill two birds with one stone? It's extremely sedating--I've taken it myself, and one dose would knock me out and have me asleep all night.
Yes, Ambien is a sleep-aid--I believe they still run ads for it on TV. It's similar to a benzodiazepine in the way it acts, but it more specifically targets the receptors in your brain that can help to bring on sleep.
poster:Ame Sans Vie
thread:221446
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20030417/msgs/221510.html