Prescription Pills

[Goliath]

Originally Posted by Enkiadu

didn't read the thread but I will say. everyone wants some pill to cure their problems. unfortunately it's not going to cure shit just make you dependent on that pill to sleep. have you tried changing your diet? meditation or breathing exercises? do you relax before bed? if you want to do some drugs to help you sleep, smoke some bud. fuck prescription pills. I used to work for aarp and got calls all day from old fucks on 10 different pills. if you want that to be you, be my guest.

P.S. closing your eyes, taking a few deep breaths while waiting or expecting something to happen along with giving up after a couple minutes IS NOT MEDITATION OR BREATHING EXERCISES. if you really care about your sleep and relaxation then take some time to read a little. it will increase your overall health and well being so don't be a pussy

I love when people think they understand insomnia, or other illnesses. They think you can just do some magical change to your lifestyle and cure the problem. Sorry friend, real insomnia doesn't work like that. It doesn't matter what you do, it doesn't matter if you haven't slept for three days and are so tired you want to cut an arm off, you won't fall asleep or sleep well. There are actual things called chemical imbalances, and changing your diet is going to do much of anything to fix it. Sure, if you're lacking melatonin you can take melatonin pills for a while and be using a "natural" solution, but it won't always work, and plenty of people have insomnia without a lack of melatonin, so it does nothing.

Fact of the matter is, modern medicine is here for a reason, and while much of it may be corrupt, it's a damn fine machine that is very advanced.

P.S. Having insomnia is worse than having a serious flu every single day of your life. Not being able to fall asleep is one of the most miserable things a person can deal with. To say that you should "read before bed" or exercise is to not even begin to understand real insomnia, that's just being a healthy person...just in, lots of healthy people have insomnia.

Take my advice, from someone who has done it all. Get some fuckin' pills.

[jayrebb]

Seroquel is fine if you live a private life. But make no mistake, it is not a socially acceptable drug for any reason.

Make sure nobody finds it or they will assume you have some serious issues. No explanation will change their perception.

[Galgor]

Originally Posted by jayrebb

Make sure nobody finds it or they will assume you have some serious issues. No explanation will change their perception.

If this ever happened, I'd recommend that person get new friends. People have issues. The fact that they're treating it at all should comfort people.

[Azrayne]

The majority of people don't even know what seroquel is. It is fairly stigmatized though, with reason, given that it's prescribed generally for severe cases of psychosis or bipolar.

[Zeste]

I need some help. I started a new prescription of Celexa 20 mg on Tuesday. My anxiety and depression had flared up terribly bad the last month, and I hadn't been on any drugs for 4-5 months before that.

Well, yesterday I had no appetite and was pretty tired all day, but felt "okay". Then last night, I took my celxea (this is pill 5 since Tuesday). About an hour later, I suddenly break out in a extreme sweat, with sort of a light headed "pass out" feeling and shakey hands.

I went to bed and after a while, the sweating stopped and I just got really cold, and slept a few hours with blankets and a heating pad.

I probably slept from 10pm to 4am and have still just had moderate sweats and chills, and a general unwell feeling.

I've read all about serotonin syndrome and think I had a case of it, but I don't know what to do now. I really need these SSRIs to start working, but I am afraid to take it again tonight after the reaction i had.

It's Sunday so I can't call my psychiatrist. Should I skip tonight and talk to him tomorrow? Just take a half a pill, 10mg, tonight? Go to the on call instacare doctor?

Any suggestions would help, I'm in a bad way here. I don't have health Insurance so an ER visit would be a last resort.

[Azrayne]

Sounds like anxiety, serotonin syndrome is generally far more severe, but it can't hurt to play it safe and talk to your psychiatrist before taking any more of the meds.

[TheCutlery]

If you get that reaction from any kind of meds, stop it right away. If you can't talk to the doctor immediately, stop it until you can.

Originally Posted by DisgruntledOrangatang

I am pretty much the a perfect example of fucked up shizz. I drink no caffeine, I work out 3 times a week for 2 hours, I wake and sleep at the same time everyday roughly (and it isn't staying up late), don't drink alcohol (which actually just makes me sleep worse). And yet I can only sleep 5 maybe 6 if I am lucky hours, and that isn't even in a row, maybe 3 in a row then I wake up. I never ever feel that nice relaxed feeling when I wake up. That comfortable cozy feeling you get when you wake up from a good nights sleep? Haven't gotten that in 2.5 years despite all that stuff.

I finally figured out how to kick my insomnia. I haven't slept very well at all since I started on overnights almost 12 years ago. The trick was just beating my body down hard enough that now I sleep mostly out of necessity instead of actual desire to be normal and sleep for 8 hours. It took 10 years, but it finally worked. Can't sleep? Fuck it, stay up. It's overrated anyway. I figure if I need to sleep I will, and if I don't need to, then I won't. Just this past Wednesday I was up for 28 hours working and then ripping up carpet. Went to bed at 8:30, woke up at 11:48. Alright then.

Normal night for me? 5-6 hours. A "good" night? 7 or 8. Some people just ain't wired right to sleep. I found the less I worried about getting what's socially acceptable, the better I slept. I guess it's perspective too. I get so much more done than my wife does who spends 8-10 hours a night sleeping like a sucker.

[Gauss]

Originally Posted by TheCutlery

Normal night for me? 5-6 hours. A "good" night? 7 or 8. Some people just ain't wired right to sleep. I found the less I worried about getting what's socially acceptable, the better I slept. I guess it's perspective too. I get so much more done than my wife does who spends 8-10 hours a night sleeping like a sucker.

On some level, and without understanding all the bullshit you undoubtedly go through, I'm jealous. I'm one of those 8-10 hour a night sleepers and I get pretty pissed about it. I woke up at 9 this morning after going to bed around 12 but then I found out that my clock had fallen back an hour for some reason and it was actually 10 . It's not quality sleep either, as I feel just as groggy as if I had gotten 6.

I had a roommate once who took melatonin right before he went to sleep and he consistently went to bed around 1 and got up at 5 or 6 to go jogging and work in his office. I've always been curious about it, but at the same time I'm skeptical about the side effects (if there are any, hell if I know).

[BurnemWizfyre]

90 Minutes Sleep Cycle - Stepcase Lifehack

Waking up in the middle of a cycle tends to leave people groggy, not feeling rested, tired and generally speaking in a piss poor fucking mood. As far as actually getting to sleep, good fucking luck to each and everyone of you and do whatever works for you.

[Dinthug]

Was going to send this as a personal message, but I'll just throw it out there. Lots of this is probably said already, I haven't read the entire thread yet.





I started taking Zoloft about halfway thought the summer and it has changed my life drastically. Little prelude before I get back to that thought.

Went to a top 20 HS in the country, had good grades in advances classes, played EQ my final two years in HS for around 6-10 hours a day. Did not do any drugs at this point, drank very occasionally.

Kicked the EQ habit early in college since my internet made EQ unplayable, started smoking weed, stopped doing work and stayed up late, failed out. Worked shitty jobs in NYC, moved back to LI, parents sold house and I moved to PA. More shitty jobs, went back to college in PA after a few months, did shitty in school again, same story.

Before I go on, I should add that because of EQ, and my other gaming habits (poker, chess, competitive flash games, counter strike, etc.) and TV, drinking, last minute studying, last minute homework, and so forth I had pretty bad sleep patterns.

Between maybe late HS and halfway through my failure at my second college a very deep depression set in. Before my final semester over summer break I decided to try an antidepressant. I think I started with Lexapro or Wellbutrin, may have been something else, I've tried a bunch. Whatever I tried first shot my enthusiasm through the roof, but gave me very uncomfortable side effects (racing heart, jittery teeth, essentially the side effects of coke or speed). However, since I was in such a great mood I thought I could do without these drugs, that a change in my life had occurred and I didn't need them anymore. Back to college, failure, deeper depression.

Left school, got a stable job, I forget if I was using antidepressants at that point but I decided I needed to start over. Made small leaps in my routine, going to sleep earlier, waking up earlier, eating better, working out, etc. Eventually I stopped taking the antidepressants again after I lost 30 lbs and was feeling pretty good about myself. Not long after I lost that job because I felt I wasn't getting paid enough yadda yadda.

At this point I started to realize nothing was going to get better unless I stuck with a medication and I found the right one. I took the unemployment time to start working on my routine even more, started doing charity/favors (mostly work around my parents house, work for members of my community) and most importantly to find exactly what drug I needed to take to return to my former self.

Between talks with my parents, uncles, doctors, etc. I narrowed down that I needed an MAOI, not an SSRI (this might be backwards, but there is huge difference in how these drugs work on your body). For each drug I tried, I started off in low doses and slowly raised the dosage over a month, felt how they were affecting me and eventually ended up being very happy with a generic for Zoloft. It didn't make me look like I was hopped up on drugs all day, the best analogy I can make is it was more like an innate stat rather than a short lived intense buff (EQ) and the feeling was subtle but without a doubt doing something. Rather than feeling lazy, giving the ole "eh, I'll do it later," always feeling under confident, paranoid, and so forth, it was like I was reborn.

After moving from my home town area to another state, I met lots of shitty people that basically used me as a punching bag (emotionally, not physically, even though that happened occasionally, since I was so unsure about myself and somewhat awkward).

After I started taking the Zoloft, I decided I wasn't going to take any more shit. I've always been a nice, friendly guy and I put my foot down. Joking in one thing, berating is another. Best thing I ever did was to beat the living crap out of a few people I once called friends, burn the bridges that lead off cliffs and move on.

Now that I eliminated one of the reasons I felt like shit all the time I started working on myself, keeping a notepad with myself to take notes, especially when I'm drinking or smoking (PS: Zoloft completely changed how I feel high and drunk. I don't know if you do either, but the paranoia completely vanished when I started Zoloft. Only problem is that I care a little bit too little and annoy people more than I used to before Zoloft). I've been taking lots of photos so I have a visual means of progress, I chart my weight loss, eating, money, etc. I started getting back into old interests that took a back seat to getting high and drunk every day, hanging out with the "cool" kids (drawing, fishing, programming, reading in general, web design, graphic design, sculpting, carving, etc etc etc, I have a lot of interests). I have also reapplied for school, and since I am now what is called an "adult learner" I should be going to a good university for a good program (architecture, engineering, computer science or psychology, application is done, transcripts sent, still need to decide what major). I do not play and video games that require me to play every day, and the ones I do play I try to play for less than a few hours a week, if at all. I have a lot of big projects that I'm working on (community website, personal website, lots of concept drawings of what I want the outside of my parents house to look like, etc) that I plan on getting on the web soon, I've debated putting a rough draft on FoH to give me a little more of a kick in the ass to get moving on those projects.

I read a little above and I just wanted to point out that these drugs do work on their own, but they're not going to magically change everything. You need to be ready for changes in your life and be prepared to nail every one of them. Every time you do anything, even small, you're working toward the goal of changing everything that bad. Chores around house, doing small favors for people, working out (I have found that yard work is an amazing exercise (I've been grading a 12' slope into tiers for decorative retaining walls, pickaxe is a crazy workout) and again, progress you can see with your own eyes), eating healthy, etc.

One of the high thoughts that I've held on to is that it's funny that EQ was meant to imitate life, and it turns out that it is a great lesson about how you should live. You can go the hybrid route (my route, and coincidentally my first character was a Paladin) and master lots of small things, then hone in on one particular skill, or you can go the direct route and just become as good as possible with one set of skills. The fact is that you start off life as nothing and it is up to you to decide how powerful you want to get and what skills you want to develop.