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☼ Astrilla: antipsychotic mess and sleep anxiety


astrilla

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16 hours ago, astrilla said:

I have been more stressed b/c of school lately. The next day 09/16, I decreased Lithium from 150mg to 75mg.

I had a really late night on Thursday and that threw me off. I have a yeast infection and those always drain me, and I am experiencing PMS so that can account for the low mood. I also get sleep disturbance every PMS time so that has been hard to deal with.

 

15 hours ago, astrilla said:

Before this feeling of busy mind and lowness set in, I had about 5-6 days last week where I felt good was getting some more solid sleep (5-6 hours) and I was listening to music again.

 

Sounds like you've got a lot going on in the way of stressors that can account for the symptom uptick, probably more so than the Lithium reductions. PMS can definitely cause issues during withdrawal.

 

PMS, PMDD, and menstrual cycle issues during withdrawal and after

 

17 hours ago, astrilla said:

12:00PM – mild headache

3:00PM – ate snack + headache feeling better

 

17 hours ago, astrilla said:

11:00AM – mild headache

3:00PM – ate snack + headache feeling better

 

How often are you eating, astrilla? You don't mention breakfast in your notes. From these excerpts from your symptom notes, it looks like you may be dealing with some symptoms of low blood sugar - once you eat, the headache goes away. Please eat healthy meals and snacks throughout the day. That will keep your blood sugar even. 

 

It's been 44 days since you started taking Lithium, so you're a bit past the 30 day dependency mark. You may want to see how you're feeling after the PMS symptoms pass and make a decision on how rapidly to reduce the rest of the Lithium.

 

Please post your thoughts. 

 

 

 

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Thank you for the information. Yes I haven't been eating regularly but still eating a lot at snack/lunch and dinner times. Sometimes I get really distracted and miss meals. I am feeling kind of insane today. I am doing homework all day to keep my mind busy. As soon as I am unoccupied my mind starts running like mad. All sorts of random thoughts like things I would say in scenarios, thinking about taking care of responsibilities, thinking about what to do about certain things, just everything. 

About Seroquel, I got smaller (100mg) tablets so easier to cut into 150mg. Maybe the uneven cuts on the 200mg tablets I previously had can account for the recent sleep difficulty, after I was doing well for a few days. I didn't have enough tablets to do over the bad cuts. I feel so raw, messed up and desperate again whenever I have more trouble sleeping (than I already do). Had trouble sleeping last night when I went to be at midnight, because my thoughts were racing. Today I woke up at 2 and 5 am with racing thoughts and I didn't fall asleep again after the second waking. 

1/3/2022 medication free 

I'm a different me than I used to be and that's ok, my eyes are open and so is my heart.

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I have to note that I feel SO on edge. Even just sitting in a chair feels so difficult and every second is going by so slow as I feel extreme, unwavering dread. Especially when alone at home, like I am right now.

1/3/2022 medication free 

I'm a different me than I used to be and that's ok, my eyes are open and so is my heart.

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Hang in there, astrilla. You've had a lot of drug changes recently, but you are making progress. Not getting dependent on lithium is a big deal in the long run. Hopefully these upticks in symptoms will pass soon. 

 

Try to eat more regularly and get as much rest as you can. Self-care is important. 

 

 

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Thank you for the encouragement Shep. How are you doing?

 

My partner has been waking me up around 5:30-5:45AM every morning which is 30-60 minutes earlier than I have been waking up for the past few weeks, and it's driving me up the wall. I assume they want to be intimate but I really can't do that right now given the Y.I., and PMS on top of that. I explained I'll be "out of commission" for about 9 days but they still persist.

 

I've told them I am starting to feel scared because I am mentally/emotionally low again. It's so frustrating, I don't know what to do, I don't want to hurt them and keep pushing them away every morning, but I need to sleep as late as possible. I want to lose it on my partner, they go to sleep around 9PM if not earlier. I wish I could be unconscious that long to escape my mind. For the past three days I have woken up at 5:30AM and laid in bed with my eyes closed but my mind racing for like 2-3 hours.

 

They have been trying to get me to buy a new a relatively inexpensive mattress as we are sleeping on a thick foam pad, but I have trouble making and purchases over $100 when I feel anxious like this. I have exams and big assignments pending and a lot of daily responsibilities with my child (who has also been really acting out) that I trying my damnedest to lose myself in. I try to workout at least 4 days a week for 45 minutes. Just suffering. Sorry for the rant and if any bit of it was TMI.

 

Maybe I will feel better over the weekend so I can cut Lithium again. I feel maybe 20% better than I did last weekend, when I was basically writhing in discomfort. It's becoming very challenging to eye ball the doses, I have to cut the powder from the capsule into a line (like one would cut coke) and then cut that into quarters. How do I determine when I could jump off?

 

9/19

5:40AM – woke up groggy and anxious

6:00AM – laid down, tossed and turned for a while

9:30AM – got up and ate breakfast

10:00AM – took Lithium 75mg

11:00AM - felt a little better mentally

4:00PM – had snack

7:00PM – had a big dinner

10:00PM – took Seroquel 150mg and Guanfacine 1mg

11:40PM – went to bed + fell asleep quickly

 

9/20

5:30AM - woke up very tired with a headache and anxiety

6:00AM – got out of bed

6:15AM – laid down for a couple hours, couldn’t sleep

9:30AM - took Lithium 75mg +ate breakfast

3:00PM – ate snack

8:15PM – ate dinner

10:00 PM – took Seroquel 150mg and Guanfacine 1mg

11:50 PM – went to bed + trouble falling asleep b/c mind racing

Middle of the night (unsure of time)-woke up twice to use bathroom, fell back asleep but took a while

 

9/21

5:40AM - woke up very tired and anxious

6:00AM – got out of bed

6:10AM – laid down for a couple hours, couldn’t sleep

9:30AM - took Lithium 75mg and ate breakfast

12:00PM - felt a little better mentally

2:00PM – ate lunch

8:15PM – ate dinner

10:00 PM – took Seroquel 150mg and Guanfacine 1mg

11:40 PM – went to bed + trouble falling asleep b/c mind racing

Middle of the night (unsure of time)-woke up to use bathroom, fell back asleep but took a while

 

9/22

5:30AM - woke up very tired

6:25AM – got out of bed

6:45AM – laid down for a couple hours, couldn’t sleep

8:30AM – ate breakfast

9:30AM - took Lithium 75mg

11:40AM – mild headache

3:00PM – ate snack

5:00PM – headache better

8:15PM – ate dinner

9:30 PM – took Seroquel 150mg and Guanfacine 1mg

11:20 PM – went to bed + trouble falling asleep b/c mind racing

Middle of the night (unsure of time)-woke up to use bathroom, fell back asleep but took a while

Edited by astrilla
typos

1/3/2022 medication free 

I'm a different me than I used to be and that's ok, my eyes are open and so is my heart.

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14 hours ago, astrilla said:

I've told them I am starting to feel scared because I am mentally/emotionally low again. It's so frustrating, I don't know what to do, I don't want to hurt them and keep pushing them away every morning, but I need to sleep as late as possible. I want to lose it on my partner, they go to sleep around 9PM if not earlier. I wish I could be unconscious that long to escape my mind. For the past three days I have woken up at 5:30AM and laid in bed with my eyes closed but my mind racing for like 2-3 hours.

 

You may want to have a read of some of the threads in the Relationship section. They may give you some ideas on how to talk to loved ones. Please see:

 

Helping family understand

 

14 hours ago, astrilla said:

Maybe I will feel better over the weekend so I can cut Lithium again. I feel maybe 20% better than I did last weekend, when I was basically writhing in discomfort. It's becoming very challenging to eye ball the doses, I have to cut the powder from the capsule into a line (like one would cut coke) and then cut that into quarters. How do I determine when I could jump off?

 

 

A 20% improvement is great, astrilla. Since you're a little beyond the one-month stopping point, you could reduce another 50% before stopping. Or even go a bit more gradually. It's up to you and how you feel about stopping at this point. 

 

You've been on lithium for a total of 48 days, so you may have developed some dependency, although on a lower dose at this point. The fact that you're feeling better during this rapid taper is a good sign, especially while dealing with PMS and other stressors in your life. 

 

 

 

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Hi, I cut the Lithium dose in half to 37.5mg on Sunday, and seem fine. No difference in how I feel. I forgot to take it yesterday, because I had a big exam and it just slipped my mind. Everyday I feel exhausted or very tired, low motivation, anhedonic and racing thoughts. By anhedonic I mean I have hours of free time especially when I first wake up or waiting for bed time but I can't figure out what to do with myself because nothing sounds appealing in the slightest. This leads to more feelings of depression and worthlessness, like I am wasting the time that I am alive even though this time is limited. My therapist said that while self-compassion is something I have been unable to grasp in life, it is essential in my healing and feeling better. She doesn't really give me pragmatic coping skills but rather does hypnosis stuff and tries to work on my unconscious mind. I don't understand most of it and am kind of thinking about seeking another therapist. 

 

Sleep is weird, I have been waking up twice to go to the bathroom lately. I was stopping fluids at 9PM but that doesn't seem to be helping now. I am thinking to get most of my water intake earlier in the day before 6PM and then limit myself to two glasses of water between 6PM and 9PM. Hopefully I don't become dehydrated. I have decided to stop laying down in the morning after waking up, because I feel it's a bad pattern to get into. Today is the second day of trying that an so far I am just exhausted most of the morning then tired all day. I really hope my sleep will consolidate more if I cut out that morning lie-in. 

 

Do you know if there is a thread for people who are going through CBTi on this website? I talk about it with people on reddit but sometimes it's hard because I am going through this medication tapering journey at the same time, while many on that site are looking for sleep medication. The insomnia I suffer from is not drug induced though, so that might be different from most others on this site. 

 

9/23

5:00AM – woke up and felt very spacey

9:00AM-ate breakfast

10:30AM -took Lithium 75mg

1:00PM – ate snack

5:30PM – ate dinner

10:00PM - took Seroquel 150mg and Guanfacine 1mg

11:40 PM – went to bed + trouble falling asleep b/c mind racing

 

9/24

5:20 AM – woke up and felt out of it

9:30AM-ate breakfast

10:30AM -took Lithium 75mg

1:30PM – ate lunch

6:30PM – ate dinner

10:00PM - took Seroquel 150mg and Guanfacine 1mg

11:20 PM – went to bed + trouble falling asleep b/c mind racing

Middle of the night (unsure of time)-woke up to use bathroom, fell back asleep but took a while

 

9/25

5:00AM – woke up and felt very tired

10:00AM – ate breakfast

10:30AM – took Lithium 75mg

2:30PM – ate lunch

7:00PM – ate dinner

11:00PM  - took Seroquel 150mg and Guanfacine 1mg

11:50 PM – went to bed + trouble falling asleep b/c mind racing

2:00AM - woke up to use bathroom, fell back asleep but took a while

 

9/26

6:00AM – woke up and felt very groggy

6:40AM – laid down in living room and fell asleep off and on for 3 hours

10:00AM – ate breakfast

10:30AM – took Lithium 75mg

3:30PM – ate lunch

7:00PM – ate dinner

11:00PM  - took Seroquel 150mg and Guanfacine 1mg

11:50 PM – went to bed + trouble falling asleep b/c mind racing

4:00AM - woke up to use bathroom, fell back asleep but took a while

 

9/28

6:20AM – woke up and felt very groggy

6:45AM – laid down in living room and slept on and off for 2 hours

10:00AM – ate breakfast

10:30AM – took Lithium 75mg

2:30PM – ate lunch

6:30PM – ate dinner

10:00PM – took Seroquel 150mg and Guanfacine 1mg

11:40PM – went to bed, took a long time to fall asleep

Middle of the night (unsure of time)-woke up to use bathroom, fell back asleep but took a while

 

9/27

6:00AM – woke up kind of groggy

7:00AM – got up, went to lay down in living for 3 hours

11:00AM – took Lithium 37.5mg +ate breakfast

3:30PM – ate lunch

6:30PM – ate dinner

10:30PM - took Seroquel 150mg and Guanfacine 1mg

11:40PM – went to bed with racing thoughts

Middle of the night (unsure of time)-woke up twice to use bathroom, fell back asleep but took a while

9/28

5:30AM – woke up kind of groggy

6:00AM – got up, went to lay down in living for 3 hours

10:00AM – took Lithium 37.5mg +ate breakfast

1:30PM – ate snack

7:00PM – ate dinner

10:30PM - took Seroquel 150mg and Guanfacine 1mg

11:40PM – went to bed and took a while to fall asleep

Middle of the night (unsure of time)-woke up twice to use bathroom, fell back asleep quickly

 

9/29

5:40AM – woke up kind of groggy

8:00AM – got up and had a snack

2:30PM – ate snack

7:00PM – ate dinner

10:45PM - took Seroquel 150mg and Guanfacine 1mg

11:40PM – went to bed, took a long time to fall asleep

Middle of the night (unsure of time)-woke up twice to use bathroom, fell back asleep but took a while

 

1/3/2022 medication free 

I'm a different me than I used to be and that's ok, my eyes are open and so is my heart.

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  • Moderator Emeritus
14 hours ago, astrilla said:

Hi, I cut the Lithium dose in half to 37.5mg on Sunday, and seem fine. No difference in how I feel. I forgot to take it yesterday, because I had a big exam and it just slipped my mind.

 

You could go ahead and stop the Lithium completely if you feel you're ready. 

 

14 hours ago, astrilla said:

Do you know if there is a thread for people who are going through CBTi on this website?

 

Please see:

 

Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT) for anxiety, depression, and withdrawal symptoms

 

CBT vs Psychodynamic, Pros and Cons

 

 

 

 

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Thank you Shep for your continued guidance and information. 

1/3/2022 medication free 

I'm a different me than I used to be and that's ok, my eyes are open and so is my heart.

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Here is my continued symptom diary. Feeling the same, depressed but I did enjoy some music on Saturday. It's nice not having to take Lithium everyday. I am looking forward to tapering off of Serqouel. My doctor said I might experience the same efficacy at a lower dose, given how the medication works. I have an automatically refilling script for 100mg tablets. Just been waking up so groggy, takes me two - three hours after waking to function properly. Still waking up too early at 5:30AM, not sure what to do about that.

 

9/30

5:40AM – woke up kind of groggy 

7:00AM – got up and had a snack

1:30PM – ate snack

6:00PM – ate dinner

10:20PM - took Seroquel 150mg and Guanfacine 1mg

11:30PM – went to bed, took a long time to fall asleep

Middle of the night (unsure of time)-woke up to use bathroom, fell back asleep but took a while

10/1

5:40AM – woke up kind of groggy

8:00AM – got up and had a snack

2:30PM – ate snack

7:00PM – ate dinner

10:40PM - took Seroquel 150mg and Guanfacine 1mg

11:20PM – went to bed, took a long time to fall asleep

Woke up many times throughout the night, half-sleep               

10/2

5:45AM – woke up kind of groggy

6:45AM – got up and had decaf

12:30PM – ate lunch

5:30PM – ate dinner

10:30PM - took Seroquel 150mg and Guanfacine 1mg

11:40PM – went to bed, took a long time to fall asleep

Middle of the night (unsure of time)-woke up to use bathroom, fell back asleep but took a while

10/3

5:25AM – woke up kind of groggy

6:00AM – got up and laid in living room, slept on and off 3 hours

10:00AM – ate breakfast

1:30PM – ate snack

6:00PM – ate dinner

10:40PM - took Seroquel 150mg and Guanfacine 1mg

11:30PM – went to bed, fell asleep quickly

 

1/3/2022 medication free 

I'm a different me than I used to be and that's ok, my eyes are open and so is my heart.

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7 hours ago, astrilla said:

My doctor said I might experience the same efficacy at a lower dose, given how the medication works.

 

You may get more sedation from a lower dose, as Seroquel affects histamine at lower doses. 

 

Please don't make any reductions yet. It's best to wait a month or so to make sure you're okay after coming off lithium. 

 

7 hours ago, astrilla said:

10:20PM - took Seroquel 150mg and Guanfacine 1mg

11:30PM – went to bed, took a long time to fall asleep

 

7 hours ago, astrilla said:

10:30PM - took Seroquel 150mg and Guanfacine 1mg

11:40PM – went to bed, took a long time to fall asleep

 

7 hours ago, astrilla said:

10:40PM - took Seroquel 150mg and Guanfacine 1mg

11:30PM – went to bed, fell asleep quickly

 

It looks like you're seeing some improvement in your ability to fall asleep quickly. Did anything different happen, such as not having as much stress during the day? Or was this just a random happening that your ability to fall asleep improved? 

 

Please keep everything the same for a couple of days and let's see if this trend continues. 

 

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hi there, things have been hectic as a close family member died last week. I haven't done symptom diary for a week.. I was out of town during that time and forgot to bring Guanfacine, so it's been 7-8 days since I took it. Feeling ok physically, no headaches.

 

My thoughts have been really loud lately and it's been affecting sleep in that if I wake up early, I can't sleep because the monologue in my head is running really fast.

 

It's been taking me a while to fall asleep during this time, maybe 30 minutes but that's not so bad. I am stressed with the current circumstances of my life. I think being mentally exhausted helps me fall asleep faster some nights.

 

While I was at my in-law's place, I was able to fall asleep again after waking at 5AM, and sleep until 8AM, but not at home. I think I am more on-edge at home and my mattress is not as comfortable.

1/3/2022 medication free 

I'm a different me than I used to be and that's ok, my eyes are open and so is my heart.

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I'm sorry for the loss of your family member, Astrilla. 

 

You may find guided meditations helpful for going to sleep faster, especially when you're dealing with a lot of intrusive thoughts. Here's one as an example (and there are tons more on YouTube):

 

Guided Meditation Deep sleep | anxiety and insomnia relief | relaxation before bedtime video (21 minutes)

 

 

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  • 3 weeks later...

Hi, it's been a while. Hope all is well with anyone on this thread. Sorry for my absence, I have been overwhelmed with responsibilities since my last post and needed a break from focusing on sleep issues and symptoms.

 

Mentally I have felt ok, just a lot on my plate. Raising a teenager, caring for a partner through grief and facing the fact that I have to get a job soon have been stressful.

 

Meds have been a mess. I had a psyc. med appt. on 10/16. After telling my psyc. doc. that I was so groggy in the AM that morning driving and productivity was impossible, my dose of Seroquel was lowered to 100mg. I think they are concerned about me being a road hazard or something of that sort. Well, I took 125mg for 1 week, and been taking 100mg since then. So far I am ok. I know that is way too fast for tapering but I feel at the mercy of my doctor. I came back to this site because I realized that the doctor could be leading me into a world of hurt and that I am going about it wrong by blindly following what they say. I just have so much trouble advocating for myself once the doctor gets stuck on some new medication protocol.

 

I don't feel much change with the decrease in Seroquel though. Since my partner's father's death almost a month ago, I had been having more trouble sleeping. This was before any dosage decreases. I think it could be mental/stress related. I started getting the loudish heart pounding in my ears some nights, racing thoughts, a little twitching or hypnic jerks again and the early awakening has continued. I rarely feel sleepy, only a couple times a week, and as soon as I get into the bed I am wide-awake again. Additionally, the time change associated with end of Daylight Saving Time really affected me, the night after the change I wasn't able to fall asleep until 1AM. I continue to wake up at 5AM. I try to be ok with the wakeup time because I guess it would be a nice 6AM wakeup time if not for the time change. I usually don't get out of bed for 30-60 minutes after I wake up because it is too cold and dark. What has changed since the dose decrease is that I am not usually groggy when I wake up now, just anxious and sometimes jittery. I still feel tired for most of the day but not sleepy at night time. 

 

All in all I think my system is stressed out with these life circumstances and medication changes. I hope I can just stabilize at 100mg. It's hard but can somewhat  deal with the amount of sleep I am getting right now and just trying to see if the twitchiness and constant anxiety calms down over time. 

 

 

1/3/2022 medication free 

I'm a different me than I used to be and that's ok, my eyes are open and so is my heart.

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On 11/5/2020 at 12:57 AM, astrilla said:

Meds have been a mess. I had a psyc. med appt. on 10/16. After telling my psyc. doc. that I was so groggy in the AM that morning driving and productivity was impossible, my dose of Seroquel was lowered to 100mg. I think they are concerned about me being a road hazard or something of that sort. Well, I took 125mg for 1 week, and been taking 100mg since then.

 

Astrilla, how much sleep were you getting at the higher dose?

 

Is it possible to gently increase the Seroquel a little to get a bit more sleep without causing grogginess the next day? 

 

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hi Shep, thank you for responding. I was sleeping about 6 hours a night last month in October but it seemed more satisfying than what I am getting right now. Starting to get song lyrics stuck in my head again endlessly and that makes it hard to fall asleep lately. My partner says he hears me snoring but I am aware of waking up frequently during the night and I've been really low energy all day for a few weeks because of it. Updosing could improve things.

I think my father-in-law's death must have really thrown me off. Or stress just has my system stimulated. I feel twitchy in the day time sometimes and at night my heart is pounding again. Constant night waking and I feel so anxious when I wake up. I just feel really tired, sleep deprived but overstimulated at the same time.

1/3/2022 medication free 

I'm a different me than I used to be and that's ok, my eyes are open and so is my heart.

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18 hours ago, astrilla said:

Updosing could improve things.

 

Please let us know more about how you've reduced since what's in your signature for Seroquel (Aug 18 2020 - Seroquel decreased to 200 mg).

 

Please add the reductions since then to your signature:

 

Account Settings - Create or Update Your Signature

 

18 hours ago, astrilla said:

I think my father-in-law's death must have really thrown me off. Or stress just has my system stimulated. I feel twitchy in the day time sometimes and at night my heart is pounding again. Constant night waking and I feel so anxious when I wake up. I just feel really tired, sleep deprived but overstimulated at the same time.

 

This kind of stress can stay with you for a long time. Please do as much self care as you can. 

 

If you feel a tiny updose in Seroquel will help, please make the adjustment. It looks like your last reduction was about 10 days or so ago, so it would be safe to bring it up a small amount. I hesitate to recommend an amount because I'm not sure if you went from 200 mg Seroquel down to 100 mg directly or if you'd made some reductions in between. Once you update your signature with this information, we can better guide you. 

 

 

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Before the changes in October, the last change to Seroquel was a decrease from 200mg to 150mg on September 1 2020. I have updated my signature. 

Thinking about trying to CBTi again eventually to help with sleep. I got really distracted from pursuing CBTi recently and have neglected it. Not sure what else to do, frustrated that this process takes time, and that Seroquel isn't really helping me sleep soundly but somehow I am still dependent on it to sleep at all. Last night I was up working on a project and didn't get home until 1AM. Wasn't sleepy one bit, not until an hour after I took Seroquel (around 2:15 AM).

1/3/2022 medication free 

I'm a different me than I used to be and that's ok, my eyes are open and so is my heart.

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1 hour ago, astrilla said:

Before the changes in October, the last change to Seroquel was a decrease from 200mg to 150mg on September 1 2020. I have updated my signature. 

Thinking about trying to CBTi again eventually to help with sleep. I got really distracted from pursuing CBTi recently and have neglected it. Not sure what else to do, frustrated that this process takes time, and that Seroquel isn't really helping me sleep soundly but somehow I am still dependent on it to sleep at all. Last night I was up working on a project and didn't get home until 1AM. Wasn't sleepy one bit, not until an hour after I took Seroquel (around 2:15 AM).

@astrilla, I think you can have a look about the Sleep Book written by Dr.Guy Meadows. It's a book about ACTi. It helped me cope with insomnia. Early this year, in January, I was so anxious that I was awake for 5 days straight with 0 sleep. I couldn't sleep because I was anxious and I was anxious because I couldn't sleep so I was stucked in a loop. What helped me is to realize that to be able to sleep again, I needed to act like a normal sleeper again. I accepted my anxious feeling and thoughts and I stopped my struggle against my own body and mind. From this day on, I was able to sleep like a normal human again. Humans don't need any drug to sleep even though it might help at the beginning but in the long term, the solution becomes part of the problem because you'll get poor quality of sleep once you start taking sleeping pills.

23rd of January 2020 - Started taking Lexapro at 5mg daily.

29th of January 2020 - Upped to 10mg of Lexapro daily.

9th of April 2020 - Reduced to 5mg of Lexapro daily.

23rd of April 2020 - Stopped Lexapro at 5mg daily.

Withdrawal since ~

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8 hours ago, astrilla said:

Before the changes in October, the last change to Seroquel was a decrease from 200mg to 150mg on September 1 2020. I have updated my signature. 

Thinking about trying to CBTi again eventually to help with sleep. I got really distracted from pursuing CBTi recently and have neglected it. Not sure what else to do, frustrated that this process takes time, and that Seroquel isn't really helping me sleep soundly but somehow I am still dependent on it to sleep at all. Last night I was up working on a project and didn't get home until 1AM. Wasn't sleepy one bit, not until an hour after I took Seroquel (around 2:15 AM).

 

Your reductions may have been too much, so you may wish to updose back to 125 mg if improving using CBT doesn't help. When insomnia comes from a too-fast taper, there's not much you can do to think your way out of it and if it's safe to updose to fix the rapid taper, that may be best.

 

Please post your thoughts because your decreases have been too much over the past month. You risk traumatizing your nervous system through kindling by removing this drug too quickly. 

 

 

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  • 1 year later...

Hello! I'm sorry I didn't continue my story here, it became very triggering to come to this site and any other associated with the anhedonia nightmare I was living. 

 

I continued tapering seroquel through 2021 until late summer. It's pretty hazy but I jumped off, and it was rough for minute. I'm sorry for the lack of details and as a researcher it sucks that I didn't keep track of my withdrawal data. I know I didn't sleep much for a month or two and I still live in fear of insomnia even though I rarely experience it. 

 

...now it's the beginning of 2022 and I am psyc med-free. I am in grad school, I have a really stressful student job, too. I still have to deal with emotional health issues, yet thankful I got into an effective  Dialectical Behavior Therapy program through school and re-diagnosed with Borderline, not Bipolar, so my new therapist doesn't try to prescribe me anything! I'm so grateful to know the feeling of being sleepy again...my brain isn't the same; I have to try so much harder than when I was in school previously, get mentally tired easily and so horrible at time management...my body is out of shape from being pretty sedentary for about a year (not my usual). Everything takes a little more mental effort than I remember...

 

But I'm so thankful I am where I am. I am so damn stressed by my daily life as a student and parent yet I am so grateful I can even do those things! I have a life, I can do stuff. Thank you @Shep and everyone who game me support. I wouldn't be here without you and SA. I might not be on this site much yet I always spread the word about the good work being done here. 

 

P.S. I acknowledge my journey isn't done...a setback might happen, I am not out of the woods...yet I feel I've walked through the "valley of shadow of death" with y'all by my side in a way, so I know I will always come out on the other side of that wave. 

1/3/2022 medication free 

I'm a different me than I used to be and that's ok, my eyes are open and so is my heart.

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  • Moderator Emeritus

Because you're feeling better, I added our cheerful "here comes the sun" symbol to the title of your Intro topic, to show you're recovering.

 

Please continue to let us know how you're doing. I hope you will add your story to our Recovery Success Stories eventually!

 

Please see this topic:  How to write your success story

* NO LONGER ACTIVE on SA *

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED:  (6 year taper)      0mg Pristiq  on 13th November 2021

ADs since ~1992:  25+ years - 1 unknown, Prozac (muscle weakness), Zoloft; citalopram (pooped out) CTed (very sick for 2.5 wks a few months after); Pristiq:  50mg 2012, 100mg beg 2013 (Serotonin Toxicity)  Tapering from Oct 2015 - 13 Nov 2021   LAST DOSE 0.0025mg

Post 0 updates start here    My tapering program     My Intro (goes to tapering graph)

 VIDEO:   Antidepressant Withdrawal Syndrome and its Management

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  • Moderator Emeritus
On 1/3/2022 at 6:01 PM, astrilla said:

I still have to deal with emotional health issues, yet thankful I got into an effective  Dialectical Behavior Therapy program through school and re-diagnosed with Borderline, not Bipolar, so my new therapist doesn't try to prescribe me anything!

 

I am so glad to read you're feeling better, astrilla. Just a tip - many people report the "borderline" label is not something you want on your medical records when you're seeing a doctor for medical reasons. A person with that label is generally regarded as being unstable, unreliable, and difficult. It can lead to you not being taken seriously, which can have disastrous health consequences if you're denied certain medical tests when a symptom is not taken seriously by a doctor. They may think you're being overly dramatic because of that "borderline" label.

 

In earlier versions of the DSM, "borderline" was called "hysteria." There are therapists speaking out about this and advocate changing their clients from being labeled "borderline personality" to being labeled with "PTSD". Might be something to consider if you need the label in order to get insurance reimbursement for therapy. The "PTSD" label is regarded as someone who is dealing with trauma and that label can get you a more empathic response. Unfortunately these psych labels follow us around. It's very hard to get them undone, so if you are in a position of being able to pick, please be strategic.

 

 

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