I was prescribed 20mg of Citalopram some 10 years ago when I had an accident at work, apart from it stopping me from enjoying any (almost all) of my hobbies, I was told I could and would, never work again, for a guy who loved his job and was working 11+ hours a day, it was a huge jolt to my psyche. Going from flat out to a complete stop did me no favours at all and did my head in. So, my doctor prescribed CItalopram, while these were fine for a while, the pains in my back got worse, so I was put on Duloxetine, these are to help block the pain receptors in the brain and so stop me feeling as much discomfort. But, they turned out to be horrendous, the side effect were scary and not condusive to sleep. A further visit to the doctor was called for, Sertraline was the next in line, but, according to my doctor, the side effects were lessened, oh, how wrong she was, I was only sleeping properly, one night in four and twice I fell out of bed, trying to escape a bulldozer that was trying to kill me.

I stopped them and went back to 20mg of Citalopram, but I wasn’t coping, last Monday, my doctor offered me, 15mg of Mirtazapine, as per the doctors suggestion, I took one an hour before I went to bed (11pm), I knew nothing else untill I was woken by my dog, clawing at me to go for a walk, it was almost 4am. I very drowsilly took him out and upon my return, went to bed. I woke up at 2.30pm, bathed in sweat and shaking like a leaf. I managed to get in the shower and cooled off. I’ve felt drowsy, vague and off colour since, still not sleeping, my appetite is very poor and I know, that I’m not right.  I’ve kept off the Mirtazapine and the Citalopram, I’m suffering greatly, not getting back to myself and it’s very worrying.

I’m having to think about what I’m doing, I’m very cautious, not able to anything spontaniously like I normally do, like make a drink or the like, I really do not know what to do and I’m feeling very puzzled.

Apart from allowing the medications to leave my system, what else can I do?

Alan.

<b>T</b>ry Melatonin. I got some  to help with sleep as I work shifts.  Advice I got from here funnily enough.

I use 3mg. Bought on line as a health supplement

Cbd oil. Seriously, the impact it’s had on me is astounding (Seriously want cannabis legalised now). A couple of drops before I go to bed and I sleep like a baby.

Lots of options. Different drugs have different side effect profiles, and different people have different sensitivities to those side effects.

First and foremost (and speaking as a longterm insomniac who would find my own following advice patronising, so forgive me…) work on your sleep hygiene. Loads of info on this on the web.

Melatonin works for some but isn’t a universal sleep panacea.

Re prescribed medications, antidepressants can help sleep depending on their action – some are more arousing than sedative. Any medication like an SSRI (eg citalopram) needs to be given a good couple of weeks to get up to therapeutic dosage in your bloodstream…you may find that side effects reduce over time if you can work through them.

Taking drugs for sleep isn’t generally thought to be great, although I resort to antihistamines and have a z-drug for really bad periods. I don’t like taking them as  whilst they can get, and keep, you under, sleep quality is affected.

If sleep is an issue – and personally I think it should be an priority for everyone – then I’d recommend reading up on it: Matthew Walker : Why We Sleep is good.

Hope you get a good night’s rest soon and that your daytime grogginess clears.

Obviously I should have prefaced my comments: talk to your GP!

This all sounds a bit complicated, Willy.  I wonder to what extent the depression (and insomnia) is a direct result of the pain medication, rather than the enforced lifestyle changes?  Could you get a referral to a Pain Management Clinic?  Otherwise, you might be looking for tablets to deal with the side effects of other tablets.

Also . . . is the current heatwave making things worse?  Are you managing to stay cool?

Speak to your GP before altering your meds.

Sertraline user here, first six weeks was tough, after 3 months mostly ok. A year in, all good.

All the SSRI’s seem to take a while to work and certainly for me the process of going onto sertraline and citopralim was a pretty rough ride.

Thank you all for the replies and suggestions, I’ve tried the CBD oil, it never gave me anything at all, nothing. As for the Pain Clinic, that’s in the pipeline, but I’m awaiting an appointment, but I could be in for a long wait.  The reson for the anit-depressants was to counter the low mood and feeling of uselessness following my accident. 18 months ago, I was taking 13 different medications on a morning for all kinds of issues, BP, anti-stroke medication, pain meds, anti-depressants, weight loss tablets and other stuff, but what was causing me the most problems, was my ex and the reason I was taking so many meds. I’m now on my own and have dropped 3 stone and I’m down to 5 medication types per day, this has boosted me no end.  I have been getting counselling, but the contract my counsellor had expired, so I’m now on the list to see another.  I agree that the current “warm spell” we’re having doesn’t help, it is beating the shit out of me, I’ve never been a fan of this kind of weather, even as a kid, if it got to bright or warm, I used to stay in doors, I was blonde and I do have very fair skin, so, I do take care that way. I never go on holiday anywhere, unless it’s late or early in the year, when cooler conditions prevail.

I’m currently sat in the front room, the patio doors are wide open, as is the kitchen window, bathroom window and the bedroom window, the slightest of breeze is drifting through, but I’m only wearing a pair of shorts, I’m sat in a puddle of sweat and it’s having no effect, I could almost ring out my settee.

It’s a no win situation at the minute, but I’ll just live with it and hope and answer can be found shortly, please, pretty please.

Take advice from medical experts rather than us.

I’ve been on 20mg of citalopram for over two years now, currently being weaned off it. Having some spectacular vivid dreams but otherwise ok.

I’ve just been put on Duloxetine for my back pain (broke my spine a few years ago). I’ve just had the most horrendous week getting used to it – been off work and in bed. Really dizzy and feeling sick (in my throat rather than stomach) and I didn’t eat for 6 days. Lost 4kgs.

Fortunately, I’m coming out the other side of it now and it is working for the pain.

I once had 1 tablet of mirtazipine and it put me virtually into a coma for 48 hours. Horrible stuff and would never touch it again.

Valdoxan is quite a new antidepressant. I took it for a while. It didn’t have a startling effect on my depression but I had no side effects so I should’ve tried the higher dose. It is similar to melatonin so is thought to help with sleep.

Fluoxetine has been working quite well for me. After the first couple of weeks, I found my sleep to be massively improved. I’ve had a lot of trouble with sleep despite following sleep hygiene advice.

I’ve been taking mirtazapine for ages to help me to sleep. Only side effect i’ve noticed is an increase in appetite. I usually come off the mirtazapine after a month or so, because they have a reduced effect after a while, take a break  for a few days before restarting again.

I’ve tried various medications over the years and sertraline certainly made my lifelong insomnia worse. I would like to try mirtazipine for sleep benefit but it’s notorious for weight gain. Recently  tried melatonin and had some effect but nothing miraculous even on 10mg and certainly made me feel somewhat rough the next day and lost it’s power with time. Also sedating antihistamines as sleep aid which help at higher than recommended dosage but again bit rough /dry mouth etc and known to cause problems with anticholinergenic effect over time .Don’t know whether you’ve tried Lyrica/Pregabalin which is anti anxiety and often prescribed for pain also.Had  initial strong side effects but settled down and helped more than anything I’ve tried with sleep. unfortunately for some reason combined with effexor/venlafaxine  I developed intermittent double vision after 6 months use which was a nightmare . The docs insisted it wasn’t the meds but I thought different. Stopped both 6 months later and 85% better now ..Put on sertraline at 100mg but now weened down to 25mg with no problems  . Good luck and remember brain chemistry changes often make you feel very Odd until the body gets used to it which can take ages ..likewise with withdrawing. .My  best med now is  as much exercise as I can do but still don’t sleep well even after a full days riding devon hills!

CBD oil really helps me sleep, and I’m a terrible insomniac. I use the good stuff from lovecbd not the stuff from holland and barret or whatever, taken properly.