hi starshine here, i usually post to depression,living with it, i have been struggling with depression for many years, my doc who knows her stuff changed me from celexa which pooped out after 11 years, to zoloft, wellbutrin, along with my usual klonopin and xanax. i have osteoarthritis, fibbromyalgia, ms, my offical diagnosis
has been severe major depression, ptsd, panic disorder, things have been great we stopped the wellbutrin as i was really jazzed up i couldnt stand that, but for the past 2 weeks i have had insomnia, when i dont sleep i begin to go into a deep depression, i was given halcion 0.25mg for sleep, it doesnt work, i also take pain medication when i need to hydomorphone (dilaudid) . 2mg every 6-8 hrs for pain
i have ben ok except the sleep thing, so my doc added lithium 1 300mg with breakfast, the 2 at bedtime.i never have highs i am very laid back unless the panic attacks begin i take klonopin for that 2mg every 6 hrs. my doc says i dont have the highs i dont feel agitated but this will help the depression as it is a mood stbilizer, i am limited to what i can take becaue of hep c from a transfusion in 1979. and i am diabetic so no seroquel. i feel scared, i have been under so much stress losing my mum in 2008, a brother who is abusive and has tried to take my inheritance which he cant, i have aa competant lawyer , and my brother is very well of no kids, wife , 6 figure income, but wont buy me out so the house is up for sale and he blames me for his troubles, he is very hurtful, he is now on paxil and tends to call me names like crazy because i see a therapist and stay away from him. my doc says the pattern of not sleep is an indicator that i have a mood disorder becasue first no sleep then the darkness comes, then the panic , then the horror. please tell me if i am alone in this deveoping what seems to me to be bi-polar 2 onset, i am compliant, i have a great medical team, i have other autoimmune illnesses i have been with my docs since the the 90's i am in therapy have been for a long time before i was diagnosied with anything trying to live in a disfuntional home where i was treated like a guest becasue i am bi-racial, my brother has another father and there is alot of stigma about mental illness even though it runs on my mothers side, she is deceased now but did suffer, she had bad moods, my dad would just stay at his office when she would rage, i was the target, then it would pass, her son , the same thing, i am not ashamed this is an illness it is awful but if i am bi-polar at least i can name it.
please anyone respond i feel very vunerablejust now, any experts to weigh in and any of you good people who know this disease. much peace, starshne
Hi, Starshine. I don't know a whole lot about bipolar, but I'm wondering about the combination of all these meds and if that might be affecting your sleep at all. I take 1 mg. of Klonopin at bedtime, so what you're taking is a lot, really, if you're taking 2 mg. at a time throughout the day - I would be out cold. I'm wondering if it could be the hydrocodone, too. I'm assuming your doctor is a psychiatrist - do you trust him? It sounds like you do. I wonder if maybe you should be in the hospital to get all of these meds regulated and checked out. You can develop resistance to Klonopin, I know, and require more and more of it to work - it does have a danger of addiction.
It does make sense to me that after going without sleep for a time, that you would develop depression, so I don't think it necessarily means you have bipolar. I take it that you've asked your doctor about this possibility and he doesn't think that it is. If I were you, I'd talk to him again and tell him how terrified you are and that you definitely need something different to help with sleep. You have a lot of stress going on there and that only makes things worse.
I hope you can soon find a solution, but I'm glad you're writing here. Maybe someone else will have some good insight on this or experience with it. Take care, I'll be thinking about you.
Hi Starshine, I understand not sleeping as I suffer insomnia, and have done for years, I need sleepers to help me. I also have Panic Disorder and PTSD and have various phobias. What I'm saying is, by nature I would be a nervous person and sensitive, so I need something [as in the Antidepressant] to have a sedative component to it. I couldnt take Zoloft as it shot me through the roof as did Prozac as they dont have a sedating effect. Many people suffer dreadful depression but dont suffer from Anxiety with it. Im that person and so are you, so we need a sedative during the day [i take same as you] and also a good sleeping tab at night. Also you need to go back regarding the antidepressant, Lexapro, any of the ones that have an anti-anxiety would be better than something thats g oing to make you jittery and not sleep. However, sometimes when youre put on a new SSRI it does jizz you up for a week so maybe give this a little time ? Best of luck anyway
thanks rosemarie, yes, our med profile sounds alike i have been on the zoloft for almost 3 months, we stoped wellbutrin, got me too jazzed up, last night i finally slept, i moved onto the sofa, took 2 xanax put in really old sherlock holmes movie and woke up at 3 to go to the bathroom, then went back to bed woke up at 7, that is normal for me so maybe things will begin to get better, thanks for writing,
starshine