Dw123345: Prozac withdrawal and reinstatement

[Dw123345]

Hello, I’m new to the site, and unfortunately have to be here. To start I was on Paxil from 2017 to 2021. I don’t even remember my dosages but came off easy over a couple week taper. 6 months later I was put on Zoloft for a “relapse” of my OCD and i was on for 2 months in July 2021. Was emergency tapered to prozac and was on 10mg of prozac for 2 years. I increased to 20mg once in July 2022 for a couple months but it didn’t help so back down to 10mg in September 2022. Stayed on 10mg until June 2021 after a panic attack and than I increased to 20mg for 2 weeks. Had a horrible reaction this time because of the panic attack and developed agoraphobia and had to go back down to 10mg for a week, and than was off completely. A month later I was feeling better, and got into therapy but still had panic attacks, and started getting full emotion back. For the next month I was having bad mood swings, heightened anxiety, still some agoraphobia but felt I was making improvements naturally exercising and going to therapy. 2.5 months since my last down I had a horrible crash. Almost out of nowhere I became very depressed, crying, SI, intense panic and fear, and overall sickness. This happened 2 weeks ago. A couple days later I reinstated prozac at 1mg via liquid and 5 days later up to 2mg. It’s been a week since I’ve been on 2mg and haven’t seen much improvement at all. I’m completely disabled, I can’t be alone, I can’t drive, I’m off work, and I don’t know what to do. I’m seeing a psychiatrist because my family is making me, and I’m scared to death that it’s gonna make me worse. I’ve been encouraged to go up to 5mg because I haven’t really felt worse being back on the Prozac, but I’m not seeing much improvement either other than maybe sleeping a bit better. I could use any advice I can get.

[LotusRising]

Hi @Dw123345 and welcome to SA,

 

Could you please help us out by providing a drug signature. See How to Create a Signature.

 

21 hours ago, Dw123345 said:

6 months later I was put on Zoloft for a “relapse” of my OCD

 

It sounds like you're aware this could be related to coming off prozac too quickly?

 

 

21 hours ago, Dw123345 said:

For the next month I was having bad mood swings, heightened anxiety, still some agoraphobia but felt I was making improvements naturally exercising and going to therapy. 2.5 months since my last down I had a horrible crash. Almost out of nowhere I became very depressed, crying, SI, intense panic and fear, and overall sickness.

 

It sounds like you may be experiencing waves and windows, during which time symptoms can emerge, go away, come back or change over time. See:

 

The Windows and Waves Pattern of Stabilization

 

It takes time for prozac to build up in your system again. Have you read the topic on Reinstating and Stabilizing?

 

21 hours ago, Dw123345 said:

A couple days later I reinstated prozac at 1mg via liquid and 5 days later up to 2mg. It’s been a week since I’ve been on 2mg and haven’t seen much improvement at all.

When did you stop taking prozac this last time, just prior to your reinstatement at 1mg, and how much were you taking at that time?

 

[Dw123345]

27 minutes ago, LotusRising said:

Hi @Dw123345 and welcome to SA,

 

Could you please help us out by providing a drug signature. See How to Create a Signature.

 

 

It sounds like you're aware this could be related to coming off prozac too quickly?

 

 

 

It sounds like you may be experiencing waves and windows, during which time symptoms can emerge, go away, come back or change over time. See:

 

The Windows and Waves Pattern of Stabilization

 

It takes time for prozac to build up in your system again. Have you read the topic on Reinstating and Stabilizing?

 

When did you stop taking prozac this last time, just prior to your reinstatement at 1mg, and how much were you taking at that time?

 

Hello, thanks for taking the time to respond. To your first quote, I was put on Zoloft 6 months after stopping Paxil, not from prozac. The Prozac came later.

 

i have read up on reinstating and the windows and waves pattern as well. I spoke to a psychiatrist who obviously didn’t believe a word I said but wants me to work up to 5mg and I’m wondering how to do this safely. Prior to reinstatement I was off Prozac for 2.5 months, and I was on 10mg at the time I stopped taking it.

[LotusRising]

@Dw123345

 

Thanks so much for creating your drug signature.

 

1 hour ago, Dw123345 said:

I was on 10mg at the time I stopped taking it.

 

How did you feel while on the 10mg? Did you taper at all when you came off, in what looks like July?

 

Have you noticed any change at all in your symptom pattern since reinstating two weeks ago, for better or worse? Keep in mind that prozac has a very long half-life, so it will take time to notice the full effect of any increases.

 

 

[Dw123345]

6 minutes ago, LotusRising said:

@Dw123345

 

Thanks so much for creating your drug signature.

 

 

How did you feel while on the 10mg? Did you taper at all when you came off, in what looks like July?

 

Have you noticed any change at all in your symptom pattern since reinstating two weeks ago, for better or worse? Keep in mind that prozac has a very long half-life, so it will take time to notice the full effect of any increases.

 

 

While on 10mg for the majority of the time I still had anxiety but it was manageable. I had one panic attack while on 10mg and I started getting very anxious so that’s why I jumped to 20mg, but 20mg I felt worse and it scared me so instead of waiting for it to work I jumped back down to 10mg for a week and than stopped 10mg CT because my doctor said it’s the lowest dose and not even a therapeutic one so it would be okay. 2.5 months from stopping 10mg CT I reinstated at 1mg. Since reinstating 2 weeks ago I’ve seen some minor improvements. I’ve had a couple crashes but the crashes seem less severe each time compared to the first crash. I’m also starting to sleep a little better, but still not even close to where I was before the main crash happened. I’m okay with the windows and waves thing but I really gotta stop the waves because it’s put my life on pause and I need to be able to function which is why I got back on the meds. I need to stabilize for awhile so I can function and than taper when I’m ready so I don’t lose my job, my fiancé, and all of my friends.

[ekdas]

What i would suggest is from my experience, the anxiety is linked to increase of heat from liver(due to chemical imbalance), and sweet coconut water can bring down heat and hence anxiety, maybe you can try please.

[Dw123345]

As of a week ago I’ve increased to 3mg of Prozac. I’ve still had little to no improvements. I’ve had one almost whole day where I almost felt back to normal, just to crash again the next day. I’ve been given conflicting advice on whether to increase my dose again or not. 

[LotusRising]

On 10/11/2023 at 7:22 PM, Dw123345 said:

I’ve had a couple crashes but the crashes seem less severe each time compared to the first crash. I’m also starting to sleep a little better

 

11 hours ago, Dw123345 said:

I’ve had one almost whole day where I almost felt back to normal, just to crash again the next day

These initial improvements are a good sign and suggest that you might be starting to stabilize. But, since prozac has such a long half-life, I wonder if it might take a bit longer to feel the full effects of the increases. I will confer with the other mods.

[Dw123345]

1 hour ago, LotusRising said:

 

These initial improvements are a good sign and suggest that you might be starting to stabilize. But, since prozac has such a long half-life, I wonder if it might take a bit longer to feel the full effects of the increases. I will confer with the other mods.

That’s what I’m curious about too. I just know I’m going to have to increase again soon, or try a different medication because I’m getting desperate for some normalcy in my life. Thank you!

[Altostrata]

It will take more than 2 weeks for a daily fluoxetine dose of 1mg to take full effect. Very likely you'll have waves and windows as it reaches steady-state. It is premature to increase the dosage. You'll need to be patient. See

What is withdrawal syndrome? 
 
About reinstating and stabilizing to reduce withdrawal symptoms 
 
The Windows and Waves Pattern of Stabilization 

[Dw123345]

24 minutes ago, Altostrata said:

It will take more than 2 weeks for a daily fluoxetine dose of 1mg to take full effect. Very likely you'll have waves and windows as it reaches steady-state. It is premature to increase the dosage. You'll need to be patient. See

What is withdrawal syndrome? 
 
About reinstating and stabilizing to reduce withdrawal symptoms 
 
The Windows and Waves Pattern of Stabilization 

I appreciate you coming to my post. I’ve been giving each dose 1 week before increasing because I thought that was what I needed to do. I’ve been on 3mg now for just over a week, and been reinstated for just over 3.5 weeks. Should I just hold here at 3mg for a little while? Now I’m worried I’m gonna get worse because I went too fast. If anything I’d say for the most part I’ve seen improvement so far but definitely not near baseline yet.

[Altostrata]

23 minutes ago, Dw123345 said:

Should I just hold here at 3mg for a little while?

 

Good idea.

 

How has your symptom pattern changed since September 27?

[Dw123345]

Just now, Altostrata said:

 

Good idea.

 

How has your symptom pattern changed since September 27?

I’d say that day was my “crash” in the month prior I started experiencing more panic attacks, and anxiety, and also OCD thoughts began to increase. These were things I’ve suffered in the past prior to meds but never to this severity. About a week prior to the crash I started feeling depressed for virtually no reason. I went out drinking with friends and smoked weed for the first time in almost 2 years a few days later at a golf outing. The next day was horrible but I ended up recovering fine the following day. The rest of the week still felt a little depressed like the week prior and than the “crash” happened. I reinstated probably 3 days after the “crash”.
 

I became horribly depressed, crying almost all day for 2 days straight, SI, horrible panic and inner restlessness that I couldn’t calm down, couldn’t be alone for even a minute, developed tinnitus in my right ear, horrible brain fog, DP/DR, could barely sleep more than a few hours and I’d wake up in a panic or adrenaline rush, couldn’t fall asleep sometimes, racing obsessive thoughts, sinus issues, severe GI issues and loss of appetite to wear i could hardly eat, couldn’t drive I was so light headed and dizzy, light and sound sensitivity, couldn’t leave my bed or couch etc., sexual dysfunction such as ED, couldn’t even get up to take care of hygiene or make myself meals, non stop doom scrolling the internet and these forums.

 

It’s hard to judge how the reinstatement has made me feel on a day to day basis because it’s been 3.5 weeks, but as of right now compared to when I was at my worst the tinnitus has lessened in intensity, the brain fog and lightheadedness has lessened in severity and rarely is non existent, the sinus issues have cleared up quite a bit, the light and sound sensitivity seems to come in waves, my stomach issues are hit or miss most days but I’ve been eating fairly consistently again with windows of being starving opposed to no appetite at all, ive only had a few days in the past 3.5 weeks where I’ve been depressed enough to cry and have it last all day, now it usually just happens for a few hours and goes away but I do still have a pretty constant level of depression and anhedonia but this situation in general is depressing and once in a blue moon even that eases up for a couple hours or so, less frequent panic attacks but they do still occur but now I seem to be able to manage them better than a few weeks ago, instead of a 24/7 constant anxiety it’s lessened to waves and windows of it, I still have vivid dreams but I can get close to 8 hours of sleep and the vivid dreaming might only occur in half of those 8 hours, I don’t always wake up with an adrenaline rush but i still do periodically but it’s dependent on what happens in my dream prior to waking up, the DP/DR seems to only occur now If I’m having a bad day or I get a panic attack or high anxiety, my stress threshold is still extremely low and a simple argument with my fiancé will send me to full blown DP/DR for awhile, I’m still pretty agoraphobic and bedbound most of the day but I have been able to get up and do things for a little bit at a time compared to when I couldn’t leave the bed, my OCD intrusive thoughts and compulsively scrolling the internet is still pretty bad but I’ve even had windows of being able to engage in a game, or tv, my social skills still suck but once in awhile are okay. I have yet to go back to work, school, or hangout with friends because I’m still not where I need to be yet to be able to do those things successfully without full blown DP/DR or panic.

[Dw123345]

1 minute ago, Dw123345 said:

I’d say that day was my “crash” in the month prior I started experiencing more panic attacks, and anxiety, and also OCD thoughts began to increase. These were things I’ve suffered in the past prior to meds but never to this severity. About a week prior to the crash I started feeling depressed for virtually no reason. I went out drinking with friends and smoked weed for the first time in almost 2 years a few days later at a golf outing. The next day was horrible but I ended up recovering fine the following day. The rest of the week still felt a little depressed like the week prior and than the “crash” happened. I reinstated probably 3 days after the “crash”.
 

I became horribly depressed, crying almost all day for 2 days straight, SI, horrible panic and inner restlessness that I couldn’t calm down, couldn’t be alone for even a minute, developed tinnitus in my right ear, horrible brain fog, DP/DR, could barely sleep more than a few hours and I’d wake up in a panic or adrenaline rush, couldn’t fall asleep sometimes, racing obsessive thoughts, sinus issues, severe GI issues and loss of appetite to wear i could hardly eat, couldn’t drive I was so light headed and dizzy, light and sound sensitivity, couldn’t leave my bed or couch etc., sexual dysfunction such as ED, couldn’t even get up to take care of hygiene or make myself meals, non stop doom scrolling the internet and these forums.

 

It’s hard to judge how the reinstatement has made me feel on a day to day basis because it’s been 3.5 weeks, but as of right now compared to when I was at my worst the tinnitus has lessened in intensity, the brain fog and lightheadedness has lessened in severity and rarely is non existent, the sinus issues have cleared up quite a bit, the light and sound sensitivity seems to come in waves, my stomach issues are hit or miss most days but I’ve been eating fairly consistently again with windows of being starving opposed to no appetite at all, ive only had a few days in the past 3.5 weeks where I’ve been depressed enough to cry and have it last all day, now it usually just happens for a few hours and goes away but I do still have a pretty constant level of depression and anhedonia but this situation in general is depressing and once in a blue moon even that eases up for a couple hours or so, less frequent panic attacks but they do still occur but now I seem to be able to manage them better than a few weeks ago, instead of a 24/7 constant anxiety it’s lessened to waves and windows of it, I still have vivid dreams but I can get close to 8 hours of sleep and the vivid dreaming might only occur in half of those 8 hours, I don’t always wake up with an adrenaline rush but i still do periodically but it’s dependent on what happens in my dream prior to waking up, the DP/DR seems to only occur now If I’m having a bad day or I get a panic attack or high anxiety, my stress threshold is still extremely low and a simple argument with my fiancé will send me to full blown DP/DR for awhile, I’m still pretty agoraphobic and bedbound most of the day but I have been able to get up and do things for a little bit at a time compared to when I couldn’t leave the bed, my OCD intrusive thoughts and compulsively scrolling the internet is still pretty bad but I’ve even had windows of being able to engage in a game, or tv, my social skills still suck but once in awhile are okay. I have yet to go back to work, school, or hangout with friends because I’m still not where I need to be yet to be able to do those things successfully without full blown DP/DR or panic.

Sorry this was so long but I don’t want to leave any details out and I may have even forgotten some. I will say even on these low doses of prozac I have had side effects as well that started after taking it. Very jittery or restless which has lessened in severity over the past few weeks and would usually occur a couple hours after taking my dose and lower as the day went on, this is now less frequent, and I’ve also developed cold feet. Like my feet will be freezing cold a couple hours after my dose but today is actually the first day it hasn’t happened since I started back on the Prozac.

[Altostrata]

7 minutes ago, Dw123345 said:

It’s hard to judge how the reinstatement has made me feel on a day to day basis because it’s been 3.5 weeks, but as of right now compared to when I was at my worst the tinnitus has lessened in intensity, the brain fog and lightheadedness has lessened in severity and rarely is non existent, the sinus issues have cleared up quite a bit, the light and sound sensitivity seems to come in waves, my stomach issues are hit or miss most days but I’ve been eating fairly consistently again with windows of being starving opposed to no appetite at all, ive only had a few days in the past 3.5 weeks where I’ve been depressed enough to cry and have it last all day, now it usually just happens for a few hours and goes away but I do still have a pretty constant level of depression and anhedonia but this situation in general is depressing and once in a blue moon even that eases up for a couple hours or so, less frequent panic attacks but they do still occur but now I seem to be able to manage them better than a few weeks ago, instead of a 24/7 constant anxiety it’s lessened to waves and windows of it, I still have vivid dreams but I can get close to 8 hours of sleep and the vivid dreaming might only occur in half of those 8 hours, I don’t always wake up with an adrenaline rush but i still do periodically but it’s dependent on what happens in my dream prior to waking up, the DP/DR seems to only occur now If I’m having a bad day or I get a panic attack or high anxiety, my stress threshold is still extremely low and a simple argument with my fiancé will send me to full blown DP/DR for awhile, I’m still pretty agoraphobic and bedbound most of the day but I have been able to get up and do things for a little bit at a time compared to when I couldn’t leave the bed, my OCD intrusive thoughts and compulsively scrolling the internet is still pretty bad but I’ve even had windows of being able to engage in a game, or tv, my social skills still suck but once in awhile are okay. I have yet to go back to work, school, or hangout with friends because I’m still not where I need to be yet to be able to do those things successfully without full blown DP/DR or panic.

 

This is what's called "improvement".

 

We expect recovery from withdrawal syndrome to be gradual, frustratingly slow, and often in The Windows and Waves Pattern of Stabilization

 

We have also seen that as a general rule, drinking alcohol can cause major setbacks in recovery from withdrawal syndrome. If you continue to drink, you will continue to have withdrawal symptoms and worse.

 

[Dw123345]

22 minutes ago, Altostrata said:

 

This is what's called "improvement".

 

We expect recovery from withdrawal syndrome to be gradual, frustratingly slow, and often in 

The Windows and Waves Pattern of Stabilization

 

We have also seen that as a general rule, drinking alcohol can cause major setbacks in recovery from withdrawal syndrome. If you continue to drink, you will continue to have withdrawal symptoms and worse.

 

Thank you for the insight. Even tho I’m not better, and back to my old self yet, I am very grateful that I found this website and other peer support groups about withdrawal before just going back to the doctor. I saw a psych a week after my crash and told him I felt I went into withdrawal and never came out and he laughed at me. Said “prozac only stays In your system for a week and you were on 10mg, you can’t have withdrawal after 2.5 months” and wanted me to jump back up to 10mg and go up to 20mg after a week. He told me being on 2mg of Prozac is like dropping a tic tac in a well and that it can’t possibly be doing anything to me. So thankfully my family doctor is a family friend and listened to me and prescribed me the liquid solution of prozac before I saw this psych. He told me to go to 5mg but told me I can go at my own pace to get there with is why I’ve increased so slowly and started as low as I did. I don’t plan on drinking at all. Once I feel consistently like my old self maybe I’ll try one drink to see how I feel but as of right now all i care about is getting back to being functional so I can return to work and school and plan my wedding.

[Dw123345]

44 minutes ago, Altostrata said:

 

This is what's called "improvement".

 

We expect recovery from withdrawal syndrome to be gradual, frustratingly slow, and often in 

The Windows and Waves Pattern of Stabilization

 

We have also seen that as a general rule, drinking alcohol can cause major setbacks in recovery from withdrawal syndrome. If you continue to drink, you will continue to have withdrawal symptoms and worse.

 

Sorry to post again, but was wondering in your opinion when I should increase my dose again if at all? Is there an indicator to know when im due for an increase?

[LotusRising]

2 hours ago, Altostrata said:

It will take more than 2 weeks for a daily fluoxetine dose of 1mg to take full effect. Very likely you'll have waves and windows as it reaches steady-state. It is premature to increase the dosage. You'll need to be patient. See

You will need to judge by your symptoms. It sounds like you've had a lot of improvement already. Personally, I would wait a few weeks for the cumulative dosage increases to take effect. In addition to rereading the above links, you could also try connecting with others on the site that have reinstated prozac. You can search the site with a simple google search prozac:survivingantidepressants.

[Dw123345]

On 10/20/2023 at 11:12 PM, LotusRising said:

You will need to judge by your symptoms. It sounds like you've had a lot of improvement already. Personally, I would wait a few weeks for the cumulative dosage increases to take effect. In addition to rereading the above links, you could also try connecting with others on the site that have reinstated prozac. You can search the site with a simple google search prozac:survivingantidepressants.

I’m gonna wait a couple weeks but the past couple days have been really bad. The past 2 nights I’ve had the Akathisia inner restlessness and terror that I first experienced before I reinstated. It seems to come in waves and can be made worse by ruminating and scrolling online. Was wondering on the opinions of probiotics? My gut has been destroyed since all of this started and it makes eating difficult. My doctor recommended I try a probiotic but since I’m sensitive to supplements I wanted to see what you guys thought first.

[Altostrata]

Do you feel better or worse after you take your Prozac dose?

 

33 minutes ago, Dw123345 said:

The past 2 nights I’ve had the Akathisia inner restlessness and terror that I first experienced before I reinstated.

 

How often does this happen? How long does it last?

 

It's probably best not to doomscroll at night and make yourself anxious.

[Dw123345]

24 minutes ago, Altostrata said:

Do you feel better or worse after you take your Prozac dose?

 

 

How often does this happen? How long does it last?

 

It's probably best not to doomscroll at night and make yourself anxious.

I don’t really feel better or worse necessarily. When I first reinstated my feet would get real cold after I took my dose which still happens occasionally, and goes away as the day goes on, and in the beginning i felt really  activated and jittery for like 6-7 hours after taking my dose but that has also gone away quite a bit over the past few weeks. 
 

I’d say it’s happened a total of 4-5 times since I had my big crash and when it happens it feels like intense terror. Like a panic attack that doesn’t end and sometimes dysphoria and is accompanied by DP/DR. It’s happened the last 2 nights but last night was more severe than the night before as far as the terror goes. It usually starts and lasts 2-3 hours and than calms down and i can sleep, but my sleep is awful because I just dream the entire time, but it’s still sleep. It’s like a panic attack that doesn’t go away no matter what I do. I still get hit with waves of deep depression too once in awhile and that happens more often than the intense terror and panic. It’s absolutely unbearable when it happens but it never lasts more than a few hours. I feel like my stomach plays a big role in it as well because my stomach always feels awful when it occurs and sometimes I notice my stomach is a mess before it happens.
 

Usually when it happens I tend to doomscroll Akathisia websites and pages and it definitely doesn’t help me. I can’t even be sure it’s true Akathisia either as I’ve always suffered severe anxiety, OCD, and panic disorder, but it definitely feels like Akathisia but I have no movements or pacing and very rarely feel itching or burning under my skin or pain really.

[ekdas]

On 10/12/2023 at 8:58 PM, ekdas said:

What i would suggest is from my experience, the anxiety is linked to increase of heat from liver(due to chemical imbalance), and sweet coconut water can bring down heat and hence anxiety, maybe you can try please.

Please try this in small qty. Hope it helps.

[Dw123345]

34 minutes ago, ekdas said:

Please try this in small qty. Hope it helps.

I tried this and it didn’t help.

[LotusRising]

3 hours ago, Dw123345 said:

My gut has been destroyed since all of this started and it makes eating difficult. My doctor recommended I try a probiotic but since I’m sensitive to supplements I wanted to see what you guys thought first.

If you're sensitive to supplements, you could try kefir or yogurt first.

[Altostrata]

Hello, @ekdas Thank you for sharing a folk remedy. We need to be careful about these, because sometimes people in withdrawal are very sensitive to herbs, etc.

 

@Dw123345 what time of night does this wave occur? We would want to see if it is consistent over a number of nights.

 

 

 

[Dw123345]

12 minutes ago, LotusRising said:

If you're sensitive to supplements, you could try kefir or yogurt first.

I’m not sure if I’m that sensitive or not, I just kind of assumed I am. I started taking a daily multivitamin and have been fine 

[Dw123345]

12 minutes ago, Altostrata said:

Hello, @ekdas Thank you for sharing a folk remedy. We need to be careful about these, because sometimes people in withdrawal are very sensitive to herbs, etc.

 

@Dw123345 what time of night does this wave occur? We would want to see if it is consistent over a number of nights.

 

 

 

The last couple of nights it’s been starting around 8-9pm and lasting til close to 1am, but the other times it’s been starting at 1pm and lasting til 6pm. It hasn’t been very consistent for some reason 

[Altostrata]

It may take some time for the effect of the increased Prozac to even out.

[Dw123345]

13 minutes ago, Altostrata said:

It may take some time for the effect of the increased Prozac to even out.

It sucks because I know it’s not gonna last, but today has been a good day. When i woke up the first couple of hours were rough, but i cut the grass, and I laughed, got chills from seeing my baby nephew laugh at me, I was able to leave the house and have dinner with my in laws. This wouldn’t have been possible a couple weeks ago and even if it was I would’ve been in a constant depression or anxiety the entire time. Even tho last night was just as bad as ever, Surely that has to be a good sign that my body is slowly starting to get itself together right? 

[Altostrata]

This is what is called a window. It's a good sign.

[Dw123345]

18 hours ago, Altostrata said:

This is what is called a window. It's a good sign.

Alright so I’m sorry to post again, but really need advice. This has been happening on and off but the last few nights it’s been worse. I’m assuming it’s due to the Prozac. Ever since I’ve gotten off I’ve had really vivid dreams when sleeping and would wake up every 3-4 hours and fall back asleep. The last few nights tho it’s been even worse and I’m now taking an hour or so to fall asleep and when I do fall asleep the longest I can stay asleep is 2 hours and usually I’m waking up every hour. I went to bed at 2am last night and didn’t actually get out of bed until 1pm because I was just trying to sleep. I probably got 7 hours of sleep but it wasn’t good sleep and it was a lot of work and a lot of time to even get that much sleep. Is there anything I can do to get better sleep? I don’t want to take another antidepressant or an antipsychotic to fall asleep but I need to get better sleep.

[Altostrata]

2 hours ago, Dw123345 said:

I went to bed at 2am last night

 

Why did you go to bed at 2 a.m.?

 

To strengthen your sleep, follow these tips:

 

 

What is the sleep cycle?

 

Waking with panic or anxiety -- managing the morning cortisol spike

 

Tips to help sleep -- so many of us have that awful withdrawal insomnia

 

Path to Better Sleep FREE online for everyone from the US Veterans Administration

 

Music for self-care: Calms hyperalertness, anxiety, aids relaxation and sleep

 

White noise devices for sleep

 

Melatonin for sleep: Many people find it helpful

 

TV or computer use in evening can disrupt sleep: Bright light signals the brain that it's daytime

[Dw123345]

1 minute ago, Altostrata said:

 

Why did you go to bed at 2 a.m.?

 

To strengthen your sleep, follow these tips:

 

 

What is the sleep cycle?

 

Waking with panic or anxiety -- managing the morning cortisol spike

 

Tips to help sleep -- so many of us have that awful withdrawal insomnia

 

Path to Better Sleep FREE online for everyone from the US Veterans Administration

 

Music for self-care: Calms hyperalertness, anxiety, aids relaxation and sleep

 

White noise devices for sleep

 

Melatonin for sleep: Many people find it helpful

 

TV or computer use in evening can disrupt sleep: Bright light signals the brain that it's daytime

For some reason since this all started to get very severe I started going to bed later and later. I’ve been having to stay at my grandmas a lot just so I’m not alone and she goes to bed at 2am so when I’d stay with her I wouldn’t go to bed until 2am, so I’ve just kinda gotten used to it. I think it’s also because I’ve been sleeping in until 12pm-1pm to get a decent amount of sleep so it’s harder to go to bed earlier than that. I also tend to feel better at night usually aside from the past couple nights so I’d stay up later to enjoy the feeling of freedom from anxiety and depression

[Altostrata]

It's better to work with a normal circadian schedule, waking up at the same time in the morning and going to bed at the same time at night. If you are using electronic devices until 2 a.m., you might be stimulating your nervous system too much for sleep.

[Dw123345]

2 minutes ago, Altostrata said:

It's better to work with a normal circadian schedule, waking up at the same time in the morning and going to bed at the same time at night. If you are using electronic devices until 2 a.m., you might be stimulating your nervous system too much for sleep.

Yeah I’m typically on my phone, or watching tv until 1am, and than usually falling asleep by 2am. I really need to go back to work and school soon so I don’t lose my entire life from all of this and my work schedule is 5am-3pm so my sleep schedule right now is not gonna cut it at all.

[Dw123345]

Figured I’d just do an update after I had that good day on Sunday. Monday was pretty rough. Very anxious the entire day, ended up back at my grandmas just because it’s a “safe” place for me, and my fiancé was gonna be gone the next few days anyway and I didn’t wanna be alone. Yesterday was okay, just mostly numb. Today has also been the same just mostly numb today. So I haven’t crashed hard again in awhile but im very anhedonic now.