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Gareth
05-07-05, 09:14
Hi there,

I have been sleeping pretty well for the past month or so - have been going to sleep at about 11, and sleeping right through to about 5:30 most mornings, which has been great as before I was waking up several times in the night and sleep was a big issue.

BUT, the last two nights I have barely slept a wink. I have gotten off to sleep and woken up again at around 2am, and then again every hour from then on.

The only change I have made recently is that I have started a course of St John's Wort. I have been taking them for 3 days. Does anyone think that this could be the cause?

I have started taking them because my anxiety seems to have developed into depression. I am not as anxious, but my mood is much lower, so I thought the SJW might help.

Thanks for any thoughts on this.
Gareth

*** I think, therefore I'm anxious ***

seh1980
05-07-05, 10:31
hi Gareth,

It probably is the SJW as it effects everyone in different ways. There are loads of side effects you can have with it at the beginning and I'm pretty sure that trouble sleeping is one of them. Hopefully it won't last too long..

Sarah :D

"Life is too important to take seriously" Corky Siegal

Gareth
05-07-05, 10:36
Thanks Sarah...

Do you know if this is a side effect that can wear off?

To be honest, I think they may have increased my anxiety a bit as well.

But I have started to become depressed so thought they were worth a try, but they're not if they make me feel this awful... so the gamble is, do I stick it out and see if the side effects wear off soon... because I know they do help a lot of people with depression.

cheers
Gareth

*** I think, therefore I'm anxious ***

clickaway
05-07-05, 10:50
Hi Gareth,

Don't know much about SJW, but it so happens that my insomnia seems to have come back in the last two or three days too.

I took quite a bit of exercise on Sunday but felt wide awake that night. Really Odd!

I'm wondering if staying up until 3am at a friend's house on Friday night was a factor.

Hope you turn a little corner soon my friend,

Ray



Don't wait around for other people to be happy for you. Any happiness you get you've got to make yourself.--Alice Walker

seh1980
05-07-05, 10:52
Gareth - the side effects should wear off within a few weeks. It's quite normal that they increase your anxiety at the beginning as well - just like anti-depressents can do for a while :D

"Life is too important to take seriously" Corky Siegal

trac67
05-07-05, 15:18
Hi Gareth,
My doctor told me that a lot of medication that is used for anxiety actually increases the anxious feelings for the first few days of taking it, before it helps to lower it.
I used to have the insomnia like you, and i found that if i got up out of bed and did something (i could be found ironing at 2am sometimes lol),i was soon feeling so tired i practically fell back into bed and had no trouble sleeping. The trouble with the waking in the night is, if you get into the habit of it, then your body gets used to it and it is like an alarm clock inside you, that starts to wake you at the same time every night. Try not to sleep during the day and be as busy as you can so that when you go to bed you are so tired, even an earthquake wouldnt wake you, it worked for me.
Take care
Trac:D

Meg
05-07-05, 16:13
Gareth,

If you're taking one near bedtime try taking it a bit earlier.

You're not on any other medication ?

I found that when I was in nomansland - not acute any more but by no means better - I got very sad as I was looking back at how awful it had all been and the marathon task ahead to keep perservering .. as progress maintained I found my good spirits again. I took SJW for a few weeks but was also on the pill so once saw the research I ditched it.

Hope it helps you and these symptoms pass.




Meg
www.anxietymanagementltd.com

Watch your thoughts, they become your words...
Watch your words, they become your actions... Watch your actions, they become your habits... Watch your habits, they become your character... Watch your character, it becomes your destiny...

bunsnpigs
05-07-05, 20:39
I haven't slept much the past two nights and that always makes things so much worse for me. I even took a half dose of a sleeping pill last night in addition to my nighttime chamomile tea with other nighttime herbals that I can't remember. I used lavender oil on my pulse points. No avail. Wide awake at 2 a.m. I can't go to work like this!!!

But.. I am also having quite a lot of other issues. I HOPE they will pass soon.. if not, I am going to jump out of my skin.

My biggest problem with sleeping is that my body shakes inside.. like tremors. Its doing it now, too. And its 3:40 in the afternoon here on the east coast of the US.



Judi L.

Meg
05-07-05, 22:23
The tremors are a by product of adrenaline. I used to walk it off -about 6 miles did it or lots of yoga also settled it down a bit.

Have you tried relaxation CD's etc


Meg
www.anxietymanagementltd.com

Your anxiety is the human representation of the pictures that you paint using your many vivid colours of revolving and reoccurring thoughts.
How big is your gallery ?

Gareth
06-07-05, 08:14
Thanks everyone for your replies. Meg - no I'm not taking any other medication at all.

Well, I think I can confirm that the St John's Wort was doing me no favours, so I have ditched it. Since starting to take it on Sunday I hadn't slept at all, my anxiety was through the roof, and a lot of my physical symptoms were back.

I didn't take any yesterday and found that last night I got off to sleep with no problem and had my longest sleep for ages - a whole glorious 7 hours!

I understand that St John's Wort would take a few weeks to settle, but I felt so awful on the stuff that I'm not prepared to go through it for the possible pay off of a relief of the low mood I am going through.

So... things have moved on... I now have this constant low mood, which I can only describe as a deep, constant sadness (I am loathe to call it "depression" as I don't want to believe that I have this to complicate my problems!)

The anxiety and racing thoughts are a little better but I still have this "awareness" all the time that kind of says "something's wrong, something's wrong" ad in finitum.... So I wonder if my strategy should change or I should continue with all the things I have been doing... i.e. relaxation CDs, lots of exercise, good diet, doing all the things in my life I would normally do?

I am thinking that Meg, you might be right, it is possible that my sadness is just a kind of exhaustion at how long it has all been going on, and an awareness that I know I have a long time to fight yet. I think the experience with St John's Wort knocked me back as it brought back horrible physical symptoms and some bad anxiety, so perhaps I am a little bit "in shock" from this.

I also have some SAM-e tablets, which I have read very good things about re depression alleviation. I will maybe try these as an alternative to the St John's Wort and alongside the B complex, vitamin C and Omega 3 supplements.

Anyway, here's hoping my mood improves as I begin to prove to myself once again that the anxiety can be tamed.

Thanks again,
Gareth

*** I think, therefore I'm anxious ***

Meg
06-07-05, 14:42
Gareth

It is exhaustive - but do keep hold of the progress you have made and keep it close.

The next thing I did was to take a pretty big leap of faith for where I was and go away for a short break. I had lots of 'shall I shan't I 'can I can't I ' stuff but to make a big step forward with no pressure of work and somewhere where it was just me and a friend in this country gave me a huge step forward and a mood lift too as I think I was getting cabin fever -= not that I was housebound at this point but everywhere I looked there were reminders of the last few months and to go to the mountains and seaside of Wales was great for the spirits

Meg
www.anxietymanagementltd.com

Your anxiety is the human representation of the pictures that you paint using your many vivid colours of revolving and reoccurring thoughts.
How big is your gallery ?