Hi Cat,

I'm just wondering if it's due to medications. I had terrible night sweats taking anti-depressants, would wake up drenched through several times a night sometimes. They stopped when I came off them so couldn't put it down to anything else. Also had very vivid unpleasant dreams so not sure if the two didn't go hand in hand

Lack of sleep is so wearing, I am sorry you are going through this. I have no solutions as I am a pretty poor sleeper, but I have learned to simply accept it and not get in a state about not sleeping, cos it only exacerbated the cycle. I was advised not to nap for more than 15 mins during the day and to try avoid cafeine/ chocolate etc before betime, but you've probably done all that.



starfishy

Hi Cat
I had awful trouble staying asleep and was plagued by nightmares. What's helped me
was my P putting me on quetiapine as an adjunct to the prozac I've been on for a
couple of years. As soon as I started on a very low dose of quetiapine I miraculously
slept through the night. Still have bad dreams but can go back to sleep if they do
wake me.
I also have recorded my T reading a 3 minute meditation on my phone and play
that to calm myself down as needed. It's soothing to just hear her voice!
DDon't know if any of that is of any use to you, but please do know you are
not alone in struggling with sleep and anxiety!
Thinking of you and hope you manage to rest soon as sleep deprivation is torture!

I have nothing to offer except my sympathy cause I know exactly what you're going through (at least in regards to the anxiety/lack of sleep/nightmares)

This week in particular has been very sleepless. I even crawled into bed at like 8:30 last night, but was still wide awake and tossing and turning till well past midnight. I was just too tired to get up and do anything about it.

For me, meds definitely play a strong role in falling/staying asleep. I had great luck with seroquel (not the generic, that made me loopy) before bed as an add on to my other meds. The smallest does was a 25mg pill, but my Pdoc had me quarter it, so I was taking like 6.25 mg before bed, and that was the perfect amount to send me into slumber without the worry of waking up in that horrid fog in the morning.

As far as the nights sweats.... they get really bad when my anxiety is high. Which it has been a lot lately. Last night I finally got to the point where I turned on my fan and pointed at the foot of my bed. I have to have covers on at all times, even if I'm roasting (I know it makes no sense) and the fan helped a bit. It's worse in the winter, cause I'm freezing, yet soaking through my sheets

Hope that P had some good insight to help?

(((cat)))

Sorry I didn't respond to anyone sooner, I got this crazy one-hit-wonder of a flu and slept forever.

My P suggested some med changes I could do (I just got my generic switched back to the original manufacturer (which they changed again on me unexpectedly) so, I'm sure that will fix it. I don't know how I feel yet on account of being so sick but I hope maybe the past week I've just had some weird flu and am now better... I ended up in the most severe abdominal pain I've ever been in on Friday for about an hour while my whole body would not stop heaving and throwing up.. My feeling is it was likely a huge cyst rupture. I'm not sure if that would have anything to do with it. My body has been through hell this past month or so.

((fishy)) Ugh lack of sleep is the WORST. I'm sorry you are a poor sleeper too. That's a good idea about the naps... usually I just want sleep so much I will nap if it finds the opportunity (I love naps... I always wake up all warm and happy). Naps haven't been coming to me lately, but I will nix the chocolate (maybe). I've been on the same meds for a long while now and nothing has really happened but when they switch my generic my body freaks out it's so sensitive.

((Searching)) Aw, I'm sorry about your sleep troubles too (sounds like in the past though!? I hope so). My P suggested upping my anti-anxiety med that I take at night so I'm going to do that and see what it does. I have a meditation cd from my T too!! I haven't listened to it in forever... I will have to. Good suggestion! Thank you.

((R2G)) Hi there, I love hearing from you hope you are doing okay. I offer you my sympathy too my friend aw It's so rough not getting sleep - and I understand the too tired to get up and do anything about it feeling... I almost worry I'll get up at the ONE NANOSECOND my body was going to be able to sleep. I can't take anything in the same class as seroquel unfortunately, but I do have a long-lasting anxiety med that helps but I have to take it 2hrs before I go to bed... and if I exceed that time and stay up (sigh... which Cat does often because she is naturally drawn to being misbehaven) then I'm up forever. I'm thinking my night sweats are anxiety, too and my ED is a little unmanaged at the moment which makes my body anxious even if my brain isn't. I have to have covers all the time too I totally get that!

Thanks, guys!

PS: I'm not allowing myself Netflix past 10pm anymore that should help w/ the not staying up past my meds.