![[dr. bob]](/dr-bob-sm.gif)
Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 9 of 9. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by Babak on April 18, 2013, at 3:00:19
Hi,
I have a terrible problem sleeping.
I have no problem falling asleep at nights but I wake up feeling really refreshed after a very short time, e.g. one hour, feeling as if I had slept eight hours.
But within a very short time say after half an hour, I feel really tired but then I can't sleep agaun.
All day I keep nodding off, sometimes without even noticing it but if I try to sleep, I won't fall asleep. Unless after a few days when I am just too tired by then but then again the same cycle kicks in as I'll wake up after an hour or so.
I am so run down now that I am getting cold sores, colds, headaches and feel tired all the time.
I think it could be because of some sort cortisone imbalance but cortisone tests are very difficult to pin down.
Can some one explain what else it could be and/or what type of cortisone and adrenalin test method is the best.
Thanks.
Posted by rjlockhart37 on April 18, 2013, at 11:54:29
In reply to Awakening too soon aroused, posted by Babak on April 18, 2013, at 3:00:19
this happened to me couple months ago...I didn't sleep for days....got skin lecions and was in adrenal release the whole time. Zyprexa will get you to sleep, usally about 15-20mg will put a stop to this, you will sleep a lot more.
r
Posted by Babak on April 18, 2013, at 13:05:40
In reply to Re: Awakening too soon aroused, posted by rjlockhart37 on April 18, 2013, at 11:54:29
Yes, well I was on Zyprexa for four years and it did make me sleep but it also had so many bad side effects including asthenia, absolute apathy, andhedonia, excruciating fatigue and a lot worse. I didn't realize that it was Zyprexia which was doing it to me because initially it worked like a dream and none of the damn pdocs guessed at why my depression was made so much worse. Until I stopped it as part of an exercise of elimination and within two weeks I was much better but it took ages for the anhedonia and apathy to go away. It was having a paradoxical effect on me and no one noticed it for four year. I know it will definately help me sleep but I won't risk the hell I went through. I could be that I have developed an imbalance because of Zypraxa which is yet another possible long term effect of it.
Thanks any way.
Posted by rjlockhart37 on April 18, 2013, at 19:14:53
In reply to Re: Awakening too soon aroused, posted by Babak on April 18, 2013, at 13:05:40
have you considered Seroquel? well, lol that does have its own side effects in itself, but I would recommened something like Ativan, but doctors usally don't think of that quick one for dependence issues, still there's some who write it happily.
You sound like you need something to keep you from having anxiety for a while. You may just need something for a while to get you proper sleep...then go back to normal. Lower the blood pressure and reduce some electrical activity...tegretol, trileptal, but still those may not work and its silly to use them for sleep...Klonopin?? that would be great option... I'm not a doctor lol so.....im just giving non doctor suggestions....
keep me updated, every have like wine or something to relax the nerves?
Posted by Babak on April 19, 2013, at 1:54:33
In reply to Re: Awakening too soon aroused, posted by rjlockhart37 on April 18, 2013, at 11:54:29
Yes, well I was on Zyprexa for four years and it did make me sleep but it also had so many bad side effects including asthenia, absolute apathy, andhedonia, excruciating fatigue and a lot worse. I didn't realize that it was Zyprexia which was doing it to me because initially it worked like a dream and none of the damn pdocs guessed at why my depression was made so much worse. Until I stopped it as part of an exercise of elimination and within two weeks I was much better but it took ages for the anhedonia and apathy to go away. It was having a paradoxical effect on me and no one noticed it for four year. I know it will definately help me sleep but I won't risk the hell I went through. I could be that I have developed an imbalance because of Zypraxa which is yet another possible long term effect of it.
Thanks any way.
Posted by Babak on April 19, 2013, at 2:13:13
In reply to Re: Awakening too soon aroused, posted by rjlockhart37 on April 18, 2013, at 19:14:53
I don't understand how my last post got submitted twice.
Anyway, I have been using diazepam but I am having to use more and more of it and still tired all day. Mirtazapine also works but again I feel zombified all day and after a few days I start putting on weight which considering my current weight I will be pushed well into obesity.
The feeling like a zombie does get better with Mirtazapine but only to a certain degree. It also makes me really hungry which of course is at least partially why I put on weight.
I have problems concentrating anyway which won't be helped with benzos.
I have three litigations going and I have to prepare submission for all of them. The first one within the next three days. So I can't afford to be tired or zonked out all day. Off course this means that I am under even more stress now and I don't tolerate stress very well which is why I suspect some sort of hormone imbalance.
Posted by rjlockhart37 on April 19, 2013, at 13:35:47
In reply to Re: Awakening too soon aroused, posted by Babak on April 19, 2013, at 2:13:13
have you considered Provigil for day time fatigue, well Nuvigil, its much less expensive than provies, but I take nuvigil and it helps times with day time fatigue, it will give you energy, not like the way Adderall, and ritilin do....but it will certainly help. Right now it sounds like you need something for waking up in the mornings to keep you from being so tired, and then at night to have something like Klonopin to inciate sleep, I know upper and downer combiations arnt the best but this sounds like it would help in the case....
see what your doctor will say.....also getting on a activating antidepressant would help this a lot, avoid wellbutrin, maybe something like Effexor or TCA ad....
Posted by Babak on April 23, 2013, at 15:00:04
In reply to Re: Awakening too soon aroused, posted by rjlockhart37 on April 19, 2013, at 13:35:47
Thanks and sorry for the late response.
The problem with my doctors are that my ADHD has remained undiagnosed. I have recently managed to get a referral to a specialist but meanwhile I also tried Modafinil which wasn't too bad but it didn't help that much either.
The other problem is that it my symptoms are not constant probably because of my hypersensitivity they keep changing in severity.
I have difficulty concentrating and I get very tired very quickly when I try. Sometimes if I am irritable I don't feel sleepy at all but then my night time insomnia gets even worse. I am tired of fighting with it as well. So recently I just stopped trying to concentrate for more than an hour after which I just lie down. Sometimes I fall asleep for a little while but then I feel even more sleepy when I wake up.
But as nights I always wake up after one or at most one and half hour and can't go back to sleep again unless I get up and move around.
Mirtazapine is the one which is most effective but the next day I feel foggy and then working is even more difficult plus weight gain for which I have no room to spare since I am borderline obese anyway.
I really don't have much tolerance for stress and I think this is why I am all over the place and don't seem to be able to stabilise. My thyroid test are normal.
I was on Venlafaxine for years but after the age of 50 and then my heart operation I came off it and I am now on Paroxetine without which I become unbearably irritable.
I think I must have cortisone imbalance but doctors run a mile at the mention of it. I have had tests which were inconclusive but then I think it is not as if I have Addison's so that is why some days I am slightly too low and some days I am normal or even slightly too high.
I have tried just about all the antidepressants there are and the only two which I can tolerate on regular basis were Paroxetine and Venlafaxine all the rests either didn't do much or the side effects were too much. Even Venlafaxine was difficult to put up with without additinals pain killers for tension headaches but it did help with feeling too lethargic more than Paroxetine.
Meanwhile I need to get things done because I don't have any support.
I try to avoid Benzos because I know my tolerance builds up very quickly on Benzos and I hate to get used to them which will only confirm the doctors constant abuse potential objections but foolishly they leave little choice.
So I just keep going round the same circle and complaining about the same issues and everyone including myself are bored with it but then who will do all this things need doing which left undone will quickly pile up and cause even more stress?
Posted by rjlockhart37 on April 24, 2013, at 15:43:19
In reply to Re: Awakening too soon aroused, posted by rjlockhart37 on April 19, 2013, at 13:35:47
the one thing that I can recommend for ittibility is zyprexa and lamictal, but they also slow down mental functions. There is a old non narcotic medication called Aterax, its a antihistamine. Also something like Lyrica would be vary good to add, works similar to nuerontin. There are TCA's like Vivicil but they are rarely used with modern doctors. Nuvigil would really help you.
don't force yourself to concentrate because I've realized from myself that it can cause irrtibility because of forced stimulation....just go with the flow, and find coffee, maybe a mild form of gensing, nothing that would cause anxiety. I'm telling you at night, zyprexa would b good.
Depakote is also a good thing for mood changes, it effects GABA indirectly.
r
This is the end of the thread.
Psycho-Babble Medication | Extras | FAQ
Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.org
Script revised: February 4, 2008
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/cgi-bin/pb/mget.pl
Copyright 2006-17 Robert Hsiung.
Owned and operated by Dr. Bob LLC and not the University of Chicago.