meds or no meds
 

hi Mari

getting enough sleep is more important than sleeping at night.

and it has sounded like you have not been getting enough sleep.

for the moment, can you allow yourself more time to sleep during the daytime - at least on some days and on the weekends?

~ waves ~

lunesta did not work for me but ambien did....I would take your ambien at 8am with your klonipin before you go to sleep (during the day) try it tomorrow.
bizi

Hello!
 

Mari,
I take ambien regular release and do not get headaches. I was on the extended release and that was just terrible for me. Felt all hung over and stuff! I agree with waves, you should try it on the weekend and see how you do! Good luck! I hope you get sleep with no side effects!

collinsc

HI,
I slept from 11:00 am to 4:00 pm.
So I got 5 hours of sleep.

M.

well that is 5 hours of sleep!
some sleep is better than no sleep.
bizi

Yes, Beth.
I feel relaxed today.
M.

hooray
bobby

Mari
I hope you can stay relaxed. Keep up sleeping.

Donna

assessment of Lexapro
 

HI,
I've taking three pills. This is my assessment so far:

First of all, I slept a lot today: eight hours and then a two hour nap.
I feel like a major slug. I have brain fog.

Worse: I have a headache and tingling.
I am going to wait until Monday to decide whether or not I am going to continue with the fourth pill.


M.

transition management
 

Dear Mari

those side efffects are most likely transitory ... 4-5 days may not be enough though. if running the gauntlet is not doable, perhaps you would consider a temporary dose reduction?

are the pills divisible? maybe you could drop to 5mg for the rest of the week until you feel less sedated. then go up to 10 on a friday so you can get more sleep over the weekend if need be.

it is good that you got all that sleep. sorry about the brain fog and the headache and tingling though. :o i did get a headache the last time i started Zoloft - at 50 mg. it dwindled to a trace after a week and disappeared after 10 days. but i bet if i had started with 25 mg i'd have been ok.

the smaller the dosage increment, the easier it is.

being sleep-deprived may also be contributing to these symptoms, and if that is the case, you may feel significantly better after another few doses of sleep. ;)

i hope that, by hook or by crook, you get to feel better soon. :hug:

~ waves ~

This is reassuring
 

Dear Waves,

I stayed away from web sites about side effects except I started to look for initial side effects and ran across one page of patient general complaints about GI probs and headaches. So I closed the page and then became concerned about my head.

I really don't think I could continue the medicine with parasthesia. I d/c ed Wellbutrin and Xanax because of parasthesia. It's weird to have tingling --especially when I already had a different version of it that I have not gotten straightened out with the docs or my own life style (maybe vits, supplements, yoga??).

If I could get motivated I could figure out how to go to the web site of my insurance company and find out if I can even get Lexapro.
I'll save that for tomorrow. I already made a phone call for today and I have to go to bed.

I'm hoping for the best.
The drug plan I was on was not working.
Lexapro could be what I need.

M.

I called insurance
 

Hi,

The drug insurance company plan wants prior authorization from the pdoc before they will give me the Lexapro.

If I do decide to stay on the med, I don't want any gaps with paperwork and phone calls. This stinks. He had samples when I saw him but it does not mean that he will have samples when I see him again in 3.5 weeks.

His office will have to take care of this for me.
I guess I will call the pdoc's office at some point and tell them what is going on.

M.

Dear Mari
 

you did really well on calling your insurance company! i totally DESPISE making those types of calls. find them utterly stressful. so good job! that is out of the way. now you know how to go forward.

i am sure your pdoc will be able to take care of you on the authorization, and can keep you in samples in between.

they are probably used to this insurance thing. i poked around some, and i see that other folks have run into this needing-auth bit, because Lexapro is essentially refined Celexa which is available in generic. but it was refined for good reason and with good results. Many folks are side-effect free after they adjust - not the case with Celexa. Your doc knows this, and is scripting Lexapro - i am sure he will fix it for you so you can have the Lexapro if it works out for you.

i really encourage you to give it a good go though, even if it means going to 5mg at first. :hug:

~ waves ~

Mari

I believe you can do this. Just keep working through it. I also now
that you are working very hard to continue taking your new medication.

I believe that at one point we had to reduce Devin to a every other
day because we were going to run out for a few days. So that was
what the doctor recommended to get through.

It worked okay for then. But I was careful not to make the mistake
again. Because at that point what had happened. Was the pharmacy
had to order the medicine to come in a couple of days later.

Donna:grouphug:

chest pains
 

Hi,

I took Lexapro for 4 days.
Now I have chest pains.
I'm not taking it today.
I will call the pdoc's office in the am.

I'm disappointed.
I'm also veeerrrry anxious right now.


M.

chest pains are not good if you are very stressed that is not good....can you take some extra klonipin?
bizi

Lexapro too activating for me
 

The chest pains are caused by the Lexapro.
I'm going to tell the pdoc on Wednesday that I can't take it.
M.

Sorry!!
 

Mari,
I am sorry to hear about the chest pain! I hope you feel better now that you are not taking the Lexapro! I was on lexapro for awhile but I didn't like how it made me feel! Hope you and Doc figure out a new drug that works for you!

collinsc:hug:

yuck.
 

i agree that is horrible Mari.

that is very disappointing. :hug::hug::hug:

do talk to your pdoc about this and in the meantime i agree suspending seems like a good idea, especially if you don't feel safe. if he says it is a transitory thing and that you are safe, then it would be up to you, if you wanted to try with a lower dose. but i don't know. do please call him to let him know what has happened.

while i have never had chest pain with an SSRI, nor with Wellbutrins SR, Wellbutrin XL gave me severe chest pain when i stepped up to 300mg (from 150). backing off on the dose to alternate days resulted in pain on alternate days - i stuck that out a couple of weeks - it did not subside, and pdoc agreed that i had to d/c.

your post title also said it was 'too activating' - that too is of concern, whether it is related to the chest pain or not.

~ waves ~

Dear C.,
I'm done.
I'm not trying new meds.
M.

Dear Waves,
I did feel that it was increasing anxiety (Maybe not exactly activating because I haven't had that since I was put on Verapamil.)
I was getting anxious and weird.
It was only only one day of this because I do not feel like continuing another day to see what will happen.

The usual dose of klonopin I take at night calmed me down a bit.

I'm feeling down.
'Have to see tdoc on Wed.

M.

this does not sound good. it is ok if you want to stop it period. you are the only one who experiences how the meds affect you, and you get to decide accordingly, what is allowed into your body. ;) :hug:

it is understandable. i so hope that tdoc will be helpful. i am glad you are going to meet with her.

~ waves ~

i just looked up lexapro and chest pains were one of the side effects but i know you and you already looked it up.
I know the feeling of not wanted to be experimented on....how in the world can you reduce stress in your environment.don't let your parents visit this year! say you have leprosy....
bobby

Dear Bobby and Waves,

No. I had not looked up the med. I went into this hoping for the best.
I told pdoc that I had a bad experience on Prozac and he said I would be fine with with Lexapro. :mad:

Prozac and Lexapro are almost the same freaking drug!
I asked hubby just now to try to explain to me the chemical formulas of Prozac and Lexapro --- wikipedia has good illustrations. They look very much the same to me. Hubby started talking about nitrogen atoms and I said, "Later, I'm going to bed."

I took Lexapro
1. Fri
2. Sat
3. Sun
4. Mon
By Tuesday I had chest pains and anxiety and Wednesday I still have them.

I like seeing tdoc when I am well so we can get work done. I hate when all we do is crisis management. I basically have to interrupt my sleep during the day, drive downtown in afternoon rush hour traffic to tell her I feel like garbage. We could just exchange pleasantries over the phone for five minutes and accomplish just as much for less driving

When I was in my 20s I must have had a lot of optimism and a lot of strength to go through those med changes that I did. Looking back I see I had a lot of courage. I'm not going through med changes like that again -- spend 4 or 5 years going through 20+ meds???

The leprosy comment made me laugh. It's a good idea. My mom is germaphobic -- except she understands Leprosy -- once told me about a book she read about Leprosy in Hawaii. She finds leprosy and its history fascinating.

M.

i am sorry Mari. :o

Meds!!
 

Mari,
Aren't they terrible? I take a lot of drugs a day! Maybe not as many as some but enough for me, 26 pills a day! I have done what you did in your 20's and am still doing it for the bipolar nonsense! I have also told you about my fainting spells that I go through, so I am on meds for that! None of them seem to work and only cause side effects but I keep taking what they give me in hopes that they will get the right combo for me! It is frustrating! We have an illness and it needs to be treated like any other illness!

When I was so ready to give up on the fainting stuff you were there saying that thing would get better! You commented on all of the test potentially being a good thing and you also said that Vanderbilt might have the answers! If you are telling me not to give up how can you?

I don't know everything that is or has gone on in your life but I do not feel that no more meds is a wise thought, but only you can answer that!

Just worried for you collinsc:hug:

Mari

I'm wondering also if you might be able to go up some on your
verapermil. I just recently went up to 300mg. From 240mg.
Because of my migraines returning.

It had started helping till both the tight muscles and the liptor.

I have by the way everyone started making sure I take the liptor.
Since I'm almost positive its the muscles not the medicine.

Donna:hug:

I am sorry
((((HUGS))))does that mean you are not going to try the 5mg ambien, wonder if that is breakable and could split that in half>>>hmmm????
bizi

Beth,
 

Hi. I don't need the ambien.
I can sleep. The problem is that I don't go to bed.

M.

tdoc
 

Hi,

I have a great deal of anger right now.

I am angry.


Tdoc told me that in the past when I was seeing my acupuncturist and seeing tdoc for meditation I was doing better. (I don't remember that I was ever doing better.)

I told her she is too much trouble to see what with having to drive to see her and not sleeping. She said we could do phone sessions. I said nothing and shook my head.

M.

Mari, I only suggested you use the ambien because you weren't getting enough sleep....you tried lunesta?


I am very sorry that your tdoc was not helpful to you....
she should be supportive to you....

bizi

Mari

I hope you can find a happy medium soon.

Donna

Hi, Bizi
 

Dear Bizi, :)
It's ok.
I have both ambien and lunesta. They both work. I don't take them because I don't need them. When I go to bed I sleep fine.

It's hard to explain. I stay up and don't go to bed. I watch tv, go on the computer, read, do anything except go to bed.

It's not logical, but that's been going on my whole adult life and getting worse.


M.

Hi,

I am sorry that my post was confusing.
I have anger from that horrible Lexapro or something.

Tdoc was fine but I was not in the mood to listen to her.
Hubby and I have an appt with her in mid-June.

M.

I understand your sleep issues, I wish I could help you figure this out.
I thought you were having a harder time getting to sleep during the day too....and that it was getting worse....I am sorry that the lexapro was not a good drug for you.
bizi

it really sounds like a hunger strike .....you want your own space and it is more important to you than physically feeliing good....i think there is logic in there somehow...before i thought you were keeping vigilance but maybe you aren't.
bobby

Dear Bizi,
You are right. I resist sleep at night and in the day now.
I'm sabotaging my self for some reason.

M.

Dear Bobby,
Yes, there is a vigilance aspect to not sleeping, but it is not the whole thing.
Can you tell me what you mean by hunger strike?

Sometimes I feel that part of it is a rebellion against something.

M.

a hunger strike is a rebellion against a higher principle usually....i wonder what you might be fighting. you mentioned a little while ago that at the time you hated your parents. you will still probably say yes to them even with leprosy when they invite themselves to visit you. Maybe if you start functioning on a two year old level and start saying no to everything even if you want to to define and assert yourself you may allow yourself to go off strike. a two year is oppositional because he is the process of defining at least who he is not
bobby

Mari

I have a wild type idea here too. I'm wondering if you are afraid to go
to sleep during the day now. Because of your stroke last year.

I'm wondering if its more that you are scared of not waking up.

I hope that you can continue to work through this.

Donna:grouphug: