Insomnia Support Group
Insomnia is a symptom, rather than a disease, and is characterized by inadequate quantity or quality of sleep. People with insomnia complain of difficulty falling or staying asleep, which results in significant impairment of daytime functioning. Insomnia is categorized as transient (shorter than one week), short-term (one to three weeks) or chronic (longer than three...
This stuff is poison to me!
My primary suggested an antidepressant about 1 year ago when I was experiencing severe, chronic insomnia. I didn't know much about antidepressants and I just trusted the doc (doc was well-meaning).
I also visited a sleep doc who lead me through CBT-I. Within about 1.5 months of CBT-i, I was able to sleep about 6 hours/night. The problem was that it seemed like sleep quality was VERY poor. Prior to the insomnia, 6 hours would be enough for me to feel mostly refreshed. I suspected the sleep-quality problems were due to paxil as I researched it and read that it can/does cause sleep disruption. But.....I stayed on it mostly because the docs encouraged me + on one occasion I did cut down on the paxil (went from 20mg straight to 10mg) and 3 days later I had horrible insomnia and other side effects.
Around this time I also had a sleep study done and I had near-severe sleep apnea. So I started CPAP.
So for the longest time I didn't really know if the sleep quality issues were the result of OSA (obstructive sleep apnea) or paxil or both. As a result I just stayed on the paxil.
My sleep has improved dramatically but NOT the quality. I have been sleeping about 7 hours/night for many months now but without the complete desired effect.
So about 45 days ago, I started down the journey of weaning off of paxil (took 20mg daily for about 1 year). My plan was to cut down 2.5mg every 2-3 weeks. I noticed that my sleep quality GREATLY IMPROVED!!!! I got down to 10mg and was feeling VIBRANT and REFRESHED by my sleep (not completely but leagues better than where I was at).
Alas...I got impatient!! I dropped from 10mg down to 5mg SUPER FAST (within 2 days). Lo and behold.....insomnia, nausea and other "head" issues kicked in about 3 days later.
So I'm just now back up to 10mg and will continue the slow weaning process. This stuff is poison to me!! Ever since I've been on it, sleep quality has been poor.......and now that I'm trying to get off it.....more poor sleep.
I suppose I'm writing this to vent but also to state how amazed I am by the influence of these drugs. They are VERY powerful. I can't live with it......and I can't seem to live without (not completely true as long as i taper down slowly).
I know that people react differently to antidepressants and that they do help many people........but I don't think I'll ever take one again as I never had any depression or significant anxiety (other than insomnia/sleep anxiety).
Slow and steady wins the race!! I'll be shouting from the roof-tops when I have finally gotten this poison out of my body!
My primary suggested an antidepressant about 1 year ago when I was experiencing severe, chronic insomnia. I didn't know much about antidepressants and I just trusted the doc (doc was well-meaning).
I also visited a sleep doc who lead me through CBT-I. Within about 1.5 months of CBT-i, I was able to sleep about 6 hours/night. The problem was that it seemed like sleep quality was VERY poor. Prior to the insomnia, 6 hours would be enough for me to feel mostly refreshed. I suspected the sleep-quality problems were due to paxil as I researched it and read that it can/does cause sleep disruption. But.....I stayed on it mostly because the docs encouraged me + on one occasion I did cut down on the paxil (went from 20mg straight to 10mg) and 3 days later I had horrible insomnia and other side effects.
Around this time I also had a sleep study done and I had near-severe sleep apnea. So I started CPAP.
So for the longest time I didn't really know if the sleep quality issues were the result of OSA (obstructive sleep apnea) or paxil or both. As a result I just stayed on the paxil.
My sleep has improved dramatically but NOT the quality. I have been sleeping about 7 hours/night for many months now but without the complete desired effect.
So about 45 days ago, I started down the journey of weaning off of paxil (took 20mg daily for about 1 year). My plan was to cut down 2.5mg every 2-3 weeks. I noticed that my sleep quality GREATLY IMPROVED!!!! I got down to 10mg and was feeling VIBRANT and REFRESHED by my sleep (not completely but leagues better than where I was at).
Alas...I got impatient!! I dropped from 10mg down to 5mg SUPER FAST (within 2 days). Lo and behold.....insomnia, nausea and other "head" issues kicked in about 3 days later.
So I'm just now back up to 10mg and will continue the slow weaning process. This stuff is poison to me!! Ever since I've been on it, sleep quality has been poor.......and now that I'm trying to get off it.....more poor sleep.
I suppose I'm writing this to vent but also to state how amazed I am by the influence of these drugs. They are VERY powerful. I can't live with it......and I can't seem to live without (not completely true as long as i taper down slowly).
I know that people react differently to antidepressants and that they do help many people........but I don't think I'll ever take one again as I never had any depression or significant anxiety (other than insomnia/sleep anxiety).
Slow and steady wins the race!! I'll be shouting from the roof-tops when I have finally gotten this poison out of my body!
I totally agree with you sentiments and after being off all antidepressants for 4 months now, let me say it is a very hard job getting off these meds. I used to get all the withdrawl symptoms when I upped or lowered my dosage. The last bit is the hardest by far, the first week of going off it altogether I was getting the brain zaps in the middle of the night. Some people come off it Ok and some suffer, I suppose the best bit of advice is not to go on them in the first place unless every other avenue has been tried and failed.
This is alo the same for sleep meds and not just antidepressants and if you take both, it's even worse.
As you've found, CBT is much more conservative, completely drug-free solution, with no side effects, and enables you to permanently get to the true roots of primary insomnia. That's what people should try first, before drugs. That's what the AASM recommends.
Good luck with this, I'm sure you will be successful.