Psycho-Babble Medication Thread 238799

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Anxiety Attacks - Especially at night

Posted by AAH on July 2, 2003, at 16:32:57

Anyone have any suggestions. At night when I go to bed I have the worst anxiety attacks. It takes me like two hours to fall asleep. I am tired because of the effexor I am on but the anxiety attack is stronger than the drowsiness. I do have random anxiety attacks during the day sometimes but nothing like at night everynight. I do have ambien but I don't like to take it all the time.

 

Additional Questions

Posted by KellyD on July 2, 2003, at 19:21:46

In reply to Anxiety Attacks - Especially at night, posted by AAH on July 2, 2003, at 16:32:57

Just a few questions:
1.Do you use any additional meds for anxiety or just the sleep med?
2.Are you male or female? Night sweats? If female - hormone related?
3.Did you notice this before the Effexor or since you've been using it?

My problem is Anxiety - I use to wake out of a sound sleep like being shot out of a cannon. Nasty stuff

 

Kelly D - Additional Questions

Posted by AAH on July 2, 2003, at 19:58:27

In reply to Additional Questions, posted by KellyD on July 2, 2003, at 19:21:46

> Just a few questions:
> 1.Do you use any additional meds for anxiety or just the sleep med?
> 2.Are you male or female? Night sweats? If female - hormone related?
> 3.Did you notice this before the Effexor or since you've been using it?
>
> My problem is Anxiety - I use to wake out of a sound sleep like being shot out of a cannon. Nasty stuff
>
>
hi
i'm a female. the real bad anxiety attacks started during my pregnancy, and never ended after my son was born (it's been 3 mths)my doctor is treating me for postpartum deppression (effexor) but i don't see how it can be postpartum if it was there before and during. oh well they got the degree right.
the only thing i take is the effexor, (also yasmin for birth control)i had some ativan for when i switched from celexa to effexor. they told me to take 1/2 to 1 i tried that i ended up taking two and no help at all, it did nothing. i don't have any night sweats but i do have alot of insomnia if i don't take ambien. it's like the only way i can fall asleep. any advice would be great
Thnx

 

Re: Kelly D - Additional Questions

Posted by KellyD on July 2, 2003, at 21:11:36

In reply to Kelly D - Additional Questions, posted by AAH on July 2, 2003, at 19:58:27

I feel for you. I think you may want to question and check your hormone levels, if they haven't checked those out already. Pregnancy can do a number on those ovaries and returning to normal can take a while. Did you first have the anxiety attacks with the onset of pregnancy?

I don't really have a depression problem - unless my anxiety isn't controlled. I couldn't tolerate ADs at all and I am on a low dose of Klonopin daily. Have been for a while. That works for me. Maybe you could benefit from something routinely taken for the anxiety - there are a few other choices to the Ativan, to include other benzo's, Buspar prehaps. I had really awful nights sweats with anxiety. I tried several things to regulate hormone "stuff" - soy, black cohosh. I'm not a candidate for HRT and kinda resist that anyway. Klonopin helped with those awful sweats, too.

I think you should have a frank and earnest discussion with your Dr.

Sorry I can't be of any real help. Things can work out once we get the combo of stuff we need. It did for me, at least, Thank God. I know it's stressful, with motherhood and feeling like a spun up top with no sleep. Good Luck, I'd like to know how you do.

 

Re: Kelly D - Additional Questions

Posted by Capri on July 2, 2003, at 21:24:37

In reply to Re: Kelly D - Additional Questions, posted by KellyD on July 2, 2003, at 21:11:36

Hi AHH,
I took Effexor for 5 weeks and couldn't sleep at night. Did you have the insominia before the Effexor? If not, it could definitely be the effexor.

Please keep us posted.
Capri

 

Re: Anxiety Attacks - Especially at night

Posted by worrier on July 7, 2003, at 22:08:07

In reply to Anxiety Attacks - Especially at night, posted by AAH on July 2, 2003, at 16:32:57

> Anyone have any suggestions. At night when I go to bed I have the worst anxiety attacks. It takes me like two hours to fall asleep. I am tired because of the effexor I am on but the anxiety attack is stronger than the drowsiness. I do have random anxiety attacks during the day sometimes but nothing like at night everynight. I do have ambien but I don't like to take it all the time.

>I don't really have any suggestions or answers, but I can relate,my panic attacks usually only happen at night when I'm trying to relax,sleep,read watch tv...whatever. The only thing you might consider is this. Did you have the anxiety attacks this badly before you started taking the effexor? I tried several SSRIs and they all made my anxiety/panic much worse. My pdoc says this is not unusual in some people whose main problem is anxiety. I'm taking xanax XR now and it really helps. Doesn't quite last all day so I usually take .25 or .5mg of regular xanax at night and have only the rare panic attack since. Good luck, I know how frustrating it is to suddenly get the holy terrors just at the time you should be the most relaxed. Worrier.

 

Re: Anxiety Attacks - Especially at night

Posted by jflange on July 8, 2003, at 19:20:54

In reply to Re: Anxiety Attacks - Especially at night, posted by worrier on July 7, 2003, at 22:08:07

Hi!

My pdoc claims that anxiety attacks are more common at night or at the end of the day, which was not helpful to me since I used to get anxiety attacks all day (and night) long.

The anxiety you are experiencing sounds like it is part of your (very common) SSRI/SNRI-insomnia syndrome. Start taking your pills as early in the day as you can. Also critical is to take a Cal/Mag supplement an hour or so before bed in order to calm. Then I would go straight to your pdoc and ask for either buspar or klonopin as an augmenting agent in order to deal with your anxiety. It may go away as you get used to your main med (Effexor?) or you may need to be on one of those things in order to deal with your SSRI - a common situation for anxiety sufferers. If all else fails, then you can try a different course of therapy (non-SSRI) but that's a different message.
Feel better!
jflange

 

Re: Anxiety Attacks - Especially at night

Posted by bookgurl99 on July 9, 2003, at 0:11:07

In reply to Anxiety Attacks - Especially at night, posted by AAH on July 2, 2003, at 16:32:57

hey worrier,

is there anything you could be doing at night that is causing this? for example, is there anything different that you're eating at night? (for example, when i was on Serzone, i got anxiety attacks after eating something fatty and something caffeinated together -- think an orville redenbacher cookie with a latte, or even just ice cream with chocolate bits in it.)

sometimes i think nighttime brings on anxiety because you aren't producing the serotonin from light touching the eyes. plus, it's nighttime. which can be creepy in itself.

i guess the one thing that's helped me with these attacks is doing the tapping exercise at http://www.mercola.com/forms/eftcourse2.htm .

hope you can get some help. remember, you're not crazy; your brain is just playing tricks on you. :D

 

Re: Anxiety Attacks - Especially at night

Posted by male34 on July 9, 2003, at 6:55:43

In reply to Re: Anxiety Attacks - Especially at night, posted by worrier on July 7, 2003, at 22:08:07

your bolood sugar level might be low due to fasting at night try a glass of juice before bed attacks come on during low blood sugar levels


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