Saturday, February 02, 2008

If It Wasn't For Ambien...

Here comes another hit and run post.

It's been a long time since I've been tired. If it wasn't for sleeping pills I'd probably go 36 to 48 hours between sleep sessions. Because of this, I NEVER get more than 6 hours of sleep a night, and usually 4 to 5. I've thought about taking Seroquel daily to bring me down a bit, but my memory loss has been significant over the last couple of years and I'm terrified of anything that might further accelerate that loss.

It reminds me of a time in the mid nineties when I went 6 months on no more than 3 hours a night. Things got a little nasty towards the end of that period.

I can't say I'm not enjoying the energy, but I'm a little nervous where this is headed.

6 comments:

Bleeding Heart said...

Lithium makes me very tired and makes me sleep soundly at night. I do wake up groggy though, but I do have a good night sleep from Lithium.

Doesn't Lithium make you tired, sleepy? This side effect is a constant as long as you are on it :)

Jon said...

Hey DW - It seems to make me slightly wired. But so did Risperdal, which makes me unusual in that regard. Maybe I'd be wired anyway, meds or not.

Anonymous said...

Roughly three years ago my doctor prescribed a low dose of Seroquel (100mgs before bed) as a sleeping aid and I've been getting 8-10 hours of sleep a night since... compared to an average of four during the previous eighteen years. Two months ago I dropped it to 75mgs and I'm wide awake after eight hours of sleep.

When I first started taking medications for the manic depression I wasn't taking a lot of notes, but a blogger with an excellent blog called "Experimental Chimp" has just started taking Seroquel and has been writing about the effects... if you're interested:
[experimentalchimp.wordpress.com/
2008/01/25/seroquel-day-3/]

Jon said...

Gabriel,

I've taken Seroquel in the past, and still take it from time to time. I NEVER have it more than an arms-length away as nothing works as well for my mania as Seroquel. But that being said it caused some significant memory loss for me in the past. Granted it was 800 mg a day, but I am terrified of my memory loss than I've already suffered. I agree it works well for sleep, when I can spend 8 hours in bed. But I like to work out in the morning, and hauling my ass to the gym at 5:00 AM is pretty much impossible when I've taken Seroquel the night before. But still, a person has to do what they have to do. So it may end up being Seroquel.

Thanks for your input.

Mark p.s.2 said...

thanks for posting this. i have insomnia or something from stress

dosage said...

Works great as a sleep aid. Taken as needed when situation exists that makes one sleep deprived. Try not to overuse -- I do cut the 10mg in half. At my age if I become addicted to 5mg -- do I care?