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dwinsor52
USA
81 Posts |
 Posted - 12/28/2006 : 09:51:03
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I haven't had a need to post for a while but here is my situation.... I have been pain free for a long time thanks to Dr. Sarno. I am a total believer in TMS. I had been on Cymbalta for 2 years and finished tapering off about 2 months ago. I had also been on Remeron for sleep and tapered off that, too. I was off Remeron for about a month. I tapered over a VERY long period of time, months and months. Here's the problem. I am having terrible insomnia now and restarted the remeron a few days ago. I feel very hungover on it, even though I am taking a tiny, tiny dose. In addition, I spent last night tossing and turning despite the pill. I am in a place where I am questioning my decision to go off Cymbalta, too - because I am reacting with panic to every single negative emotion or mood swing I might have. It all of a sudden occurred to me that my TMS gremlin could be trying to find a way in! Also, I am in recovery for alcholism (30 years) but have had a tremendous psychological addiction to anything mood altering, including antidepressants. So I have a complicated and problematic relationship with ANY kind of pill that might improve my mood. I am wondering if it is possible that my current symptom imperative is my brain telling me I need to go back on drugs. I was feeling pretty well until I stopped sleeping. Now I have driven my doctor crazy because I ask for meds back and then throw them out. I am so amazed that I have been cured of pain and am very open to feedback. I think I already know the answer but could use support.
Debby |
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JohnO
USA
63 Posts |
Posted - 12/28/2006 : 13:51:49
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| I had insomnia for a long time. I take Tylenol PM and it works great. You don't need perscription drugs plus perscription drugs feed into TMS. |
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Littlebird
USA
391 Posts |
Posted - 12/28/2006 : 14:17:29
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Hi Debby,
I've been up and down with getting off medications that help me sleep too. I was taking both Neurontin and Elavil for insomnia, pain and mental symptoms. I tapered all the way off of Neurontin, which was causing me a lot of daytime fogginess, and began having more problems sleeping well. I've cut down the Elavil and that has also aggravated the sleep problems, partly because Elavil also helps my bladder symptoms so that I'm not getting up every hour or two to use the bathroom. I ended up going back to taking a very small dose of Neurontin--not an accurately measured amount because I pour out most of the smallest size capsule, which has helped me sleep and I went back up a little on the Elavil this week, but not to the full dose. I'm having a little more daytime fog again, but I also can't think clearly when I don't sleep well enough, so it's a toss-up which affects me more. I can really empathize with your frustrations!
In the past, before using prescription meds, I used something like Tylenol PM to help me sleep. It's actually cheaper to buy just the antihistamine that is in Tylenol PM, which is the same thing as Benadryl. The generic is much cheaper, but I got to a point where it stopped helping me sleep and actually began to make me feel really wired, like I'd had way too much caffeine. I now use Melatonin and 5HTP in addition to the prescription meds to help me sleep. I've also considered trying light box therapy, but right now I can't afford a light box.
My plan is to continue trying to slowly wean off the meds, but if I find that I need to take small amounts to be able to function then I'll probably end up resigning myself to doing that long-term. Hope you'll find a solution that works well for you! Let us know how it goes.
Corey |
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Struggling about antidepressant decision
