Citalopram and Insomnia

[ricardo1]

Hi there

I'm relatively new to all of this however I'am now on day 17 of 10mg of citalopram for health anxiety / depression and the worst side effect is waking every night around 3.00am and being unable to get back to sleep.

Is this a common side effect and will it pass , the Doctor prescribed sleeping tablets however I have resisted taking them for fear of becoming addicted and I'm trying to persevere without them but its difficult.

In the middle of the night lying awake the health anxiety takes over and runs amok undoing any good achieved through the day or it least thats how it appears at the moment. Things also appear very much worse at night.

Any thoughts / ideas or suggestions ?

[Big Bird]

Hi,

I too suffer with this. The key is to try not to put up too much of a fight. Perhaps sort of saying to yourself - 'OK, I'm awake and I am not going back to sleep'. It has an adverse effect with me and I find myself dropping back into sleep again. I am sure it will pass anyway but I also hit the bed quite early and manage good quality sleep around it.
Hope that helps - good luck.

(roy)

[shakygirl]

I wake up at 4am everyday and to start with the panicky feelings would overwhelm me but now I find that I look at the clock think b***er 4am again and then doze back off (been taking the citalopram for 3 weeks). Lavender oil on a tissue by the bed helps and guided meditations on the ipod for when it is really tricky to nod off again.

I have to say even before i got anxiety I am one of these people who wakes up several times a night - sometimes for an hour at a time so may not be able to completely blame the drug!

[willp]

Hi,

I had the same thing when starting Citalopram. I found Phenergan helpful - it's an over-the-counter antihistamine which is sometimes also used to treat jet lag and insomnia as it makes you drowsy. Got to sleep no problem when taking a tablet half an hour before going to bed. You're not supposed to take it long-term though no-one's been able to tell me why. The pharmacist said it was fine to take for a few weeks while getting over side-effects. It's not addictive.

Alternatively valerian is supposed to be helpful too. You can get it from health food shops or in herbal sleeping remedies like Kalms.

Good luck.