I can't sleep

[WildChinchilla]

Hi, last summer I developed a pretty bad case of health anxiety, which also included a hell of a lot of paranoia as well as depersonalization.

Thankfully, I'm on the mend.

However, my problem recently hasn't had much to do with health anxiety. Over the past fortnight I've had real trouble sleeping. Its not like I can't sleep because I'm worrying lots. Some of my thoughts get a bit deep and introspective but most of them are pretty trivial and benign. But my mind is very active, nevertheless.

I've recently started doing a fair bit of exercise, which I usually do a couple of hours after getting up. And I spend my evenings learning Spanish.

I currently take 10mg a day of citalopram, which I've been on since October.

What could be causing this? Any advice?

[Phuzella]

Have you tried meditation? Mindfulness is good for relaxation and cutting down the mind chatter. :)

[Freaked]

Well, antidepressants can do funny things to sleep, but it may not be that at all. I've gone through phases like this my whole life. Not worried or anxious, and very tired, just not 'sleepy'. Try not to worry about it. Listening to an interesting but not overly stimulating podcast while lying in bed can be helpful to drifting off.

If it continues, you could discuss it with your doc in case it might be the citalopram. It's very unlikely to be anything more serious if insomnia is your only new symptom, afaik.

But if you find that you aren't even tired after not sleeping and seem to have an awful lot of energy, then it might be worth seeing your doc and you'd probably get something to help. Out of psych student curiosity, was it a GP who prescribed the SSRI for your symptoms or a psychiatrist?

[Rennie1989]

It could be a whole manner of things. Are you eating or drinking caffeine late? How late are you doing your Spanish lessons? Is your mind full of worries at night? When are you taking your medication?

Try having a look at your routine and see what changed before you started having difficulty sleeping.