Backsliding

[Liberalynn]

I had to call the psychiatrist and ask her to write me a prescription for Hydroxizine which I haven't had to take in the past 2 years.

The Effexor had been holding both the Depression/Anxiety at bay pretty well but now I am waking up in the middle of the night ruminating and worrying so much that I can't get back to sleep. The Hydroxizine is supposed to boost the effects of the Effexor particularly in terms of controlling the anxiety. It's worked before but the Doctor has said if it doesn't she wants me to call her in three days and start me on Abilify. I am not to wild about that idea,because the primary care doctor already told me I am pre diabetic. The Abilify ad says it can cause blood sugar increases and a whole lot more bad side effects.

I am exhausted, I am crying at the drop of a hat, all things that had been improving albeit slowly. Now I feel like I am backsliding.

Part of it is worry about my German Shepherd Dog who is twelve and really starting to show the ill affects of aging so I won't have her much longer, and then on top of it all this economic insecurity mess the Pukes have caused.

My sister keeps saying it's going to be alright, that she will keep us going and help me as much as she possibly can, but that's not fair to her either, and it's not just me I am worried about. What about all those people out there who don't have anyone to help?

[libodem]

1. I've had that waking up

Thing before and it sucks. I don't know much about Abilify except what I see advertised. I may be wrong so check this theory before you run with it but something about the trade name on this reminds me of Resperidal. I think it might have been reformulated It maybe a reworked antipsychotic. I have always had a healthy respect for medication this strong. If one needs it, one needs it. I just wonder if a sleeper wouldn't work? If you aren't having a thought disorder, hallucinations, voices, emotional liability,I don't know if you need it. This just an opinion and not intended to be medical advice. That really is your Dr's domain. But they have drug reps who are paid to come in and push their damn profit making patent snakeoil.

[Liberalynn]

2. I have Chronic Depression and Anxiety Disorder

which have never fully gone into remission. There are times when they both are like 75 percent under my control and then other times when I still just bottom out to the lowest end of the scale. That has in the past led me to not being able to function properly and in the worse case scenarios to full blown major depressive episodes. The Drs. and therapists have pretty much helped me recognize when I am starting to go towards the lower half of the scale, and told me to let them know when that is happening, and I am starting to see and feel the signs now. They hope they can intervene to keep me out of the MDE stage.

Luckily I don't get auditory or visual hallucinations. What happens instead is I get so anxious and worried about things that I can't concentrate on anything else and it affects my ability to get anything done and my sleep patterns. I can get to sleep but then I wake up scared and start worrying and can't get back to sleep. Then after so many nights of this I just get so physically and mentally exhausted I start crying, I isolate myself, loose my appetite, my interests, and pretty much just curl myself up into a non functioning ball.

The Doc said they have found that when you are already on an Anti Depressant, but you still feel significantly depressed that sometimes a really small dose of Abilify can get you over the remaining hump and keep you from sliding all the way back down and in some cases have caused full remission. I just am afraid of all the side effects they mention in their commercial. She says the dose I would be getting is minimal so it shouldn't really cause any of those.

The Hydroxizine though has helped me sleep better in the past though and it always made me very drowsy, so I am hoping I can just take it at night and get a full night's rest, so maybe I can get the fear and the sadness back under control again and then the Abilify option won't need to be considered. The Doc agrees it might work so I am crossing my fingers that it does. I have been off of it now for two years because I was doing pretty good on just the Effexor, but not so much anymore.

Thank you for posting back to me.

[libodem]

3. I'm glad to listen

And be here to hear you. I have a feeling that even writing everything out is rather theraputic, just like talking to someone. If you do end up on the Abilify, maybe you can get a glucose monitoring system and just check your sugar once a week.

I wonder about low doses of the 'pam' drugs. There is always a chance of misuse or dependency. Is it clonapin, that people take, now? I'm not sure? My pharmacology may be very dated by now.

Sometimes a new drug comes along and it really gets hyped. They hold back on other stuff because of it's reputation. You hardly every hear of anyone getting Xanax, any more and certainly not Valium. Maybe, that is it, if you can prevent the massive anxiety you wouldn't need a PRN antianxiety or a sleep med.

Best of luck.

[HereSince1628]

4. I have lots of issues with bad dreams and wakeful nights

In addition to seeking meds, I'd urge you to pay attention to things you control re sleep hygiene.

I fight the urge to sleep at 7:30 pm. Nothing in life illuminates my evenings and carries me to 10 pm.
As a consequence, I'm in bed by 8 pm and I wake 7 hours later--in the middle of the night, usually with a memory of
a dream that illustrates in exquisite detail just how badly I've screwed up my life.

And being fully rested, I have nothing to help me deal with an inability to fall back to sleep.

[Liberalynn]

5. Sorry to hear you are having issues with sleep as well.

Controlling what I can around sleep hygiene is good advice. I have been trying not to watch anything on TV or read anything that fuels the worries I have further right before I go to bed. Since this whole Shutdown mess started though I have been breaking that rule.

Starting with last night, I am trying to re-establish the successful pattern I had before. Now I know the experts recommend sleeping with all the lights off and the tv off but I have found that actually helps me. If I listen to things that are soothing like for instance a documentary about the solar system, I actually fall asleep faster, because it comforts me to think of all that vastness.

The pill did help last night. The dog woke me up because she was restless but I fell right back to sleep.

Thanks for replying and I hope you are able to work out your sleeping issues as well.

[mopinko]

11. sleep is all.

if i had a magic wand, everyone in the psyche ward would get a sleep test while they are there. i believe much depression is sleep related/sleep triggered. anxiety is also common in the sleep deprived.
ask for a sleep study.

[Liberalynn]

12. I agree

If I don't get enough sleep I am a literal basket case. I don't think right, I can't concentrate, I cry at the drop of a hat, I get negative etc.

One therapist shared this acronym and said while there is no way to avoid these states all the time, I should at least be aware of prolonged patterns of them and call for help because otherwise I might be at risk for falling into Severe Depression.

The Acronym is SALT. Sad, Angry, Lonely and Tired.

[mopinko]

13. me too.

when i get like that i shut my mouth and head to bed. i know nothing but despair is going to come out of my mouth.

but your sleep may be not really helping to boot. if you can't get a study there are phone apps and fitness apps that tell you how peacefully you sleep.

[fizzgig]

6. visualization helps me when i can't sleep

i think about my "happy place", starting with the overall and going down to the smallest detail. if that doesn't work, i grab an ativan.

a hot bath before bed is also a wonderful thing for relaxation.

good luck to you and i hope you're able to get it sorted out

[Liberalynn]

7. Thank you. The hot bath sounds like a great idea.

So does the visualization. I like to take walks in the field behind my house especially this time of year so maybe I will try and picture that tonight before going to bed.

Thanks for replying.

[fizzgig]

8. i get the lavender scented baby bubble bath

it is very soothing

[TexasBushwhacker]

9. I use hydroxyzine also

I've had sleep issues for a long time with my depression and anxiety. After limited success with clonazepam, I used to take hydroxyzine and Seroquel at night to help me sleep. That worked, but Seroquel made me put on a lot of weight.

I decided I needed to find something other than Seroquel and I wanted to find something natural. I found out about GABA. It's a natural amino acid. I get mine through Vitacost. I take 500 mg or 1000 mg depending on how keyed up I am. It helps me to sleep through the night.

http://www.vitacost.com/vitacost-gaba-gamma-aminobutyric-acid-1000-mg-per-serving-200-capsules

You can get 750 mg GABA capsules at GNC, but they are more expensive than Vitacost.

[Liberalynn]

10. I will look into that as well.

So far the hydroxyzine has been helping me to stay asleep. It's also helping on cutting down on the obssesive thinking which was causing the wakefulness. The only thing bad is it is harder to wake up when I actually need to wake up and I feel more sleepy during the day which is the reason I quit taking it in the first place.

I think once my overall enviroment quits being so stressful, assuming that does eventually happen of course, I hope I can go back to not needing it again.