Stubborn clock

[vaneramos]

I have not had a proper night's sleep since the end of Daylight Savings Time. My body has refused to acknowledge the extra hour. Normally I sleep from about 11:30 to 6:00, maybe 7:00 on weekends, but since the time change I have woken up shortly after 5:00 every morning with few aberrations. Twice I have been sleepy enough to go to bed and fall asleep by 10:30; both times I woke up at 3:30. Napping is impossible. My brain will not shut off during the day unless I am physically ill.

The deficit is visible around my eyes. Mostly I have not felt exhausted or depressed, just tired, impatient and worried. When will this nonsense correct itself? Sometimes looking after my brain feels like a battle to subdue a hydra.

Comments

[djjo.livejournal.com]

Hugs there love. Maybe using the lightbox will help things. Hope you get some good sleep soon.

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

I'm reluctant to start using the light box in absence of other depression symptoms because it's actually a stimulant. This medical site says it can cause insomnia and irritability as side effects. I've had the experience of it making me agitated. Considering I've had a few panic attacks lately (one woke me up yesterday morning), I'd like to hold off using the light box as long as I can.

I think this sleeplessness has to do with my body still getting used to the decrease in meds last spring. I used to hit the wall sooner with sleep disturbances. Then I would sleep a lot for a couple days and the problem would correct itself. I still hope that process will run its course.

xoxo

[artricia.livejournal.com]

I was going to say you might need a bump up in medication, perhaps seasonally. I know when I get low in serotonin, I don't fall asleep. For me, it's a monthly cycle, and it seems to respond to OTC 5-HTP (precursor to serotonin; I like it but would not recommend it to people on antidepressants).

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

It would really suck if I had to increase the dosage again. I always had in mind that I could do so seasonally, but after decreasing the dosage in May I was pretty shaky for two months, so that wouldn't be practical every year.

Overall I feel more lucid, purposeful and energetic on the lower dosage, and I have not experienced persistent depression this fall. So I really hope I can stay at this level.

If I continue to have sleep problems I will make a doctor's appointment.

[artricia.livejournal.com]

It might be worth asking the doctor about trying a short-term dose of 5-HTP or L-tryptophan; these don't (to my knowledge) have any side effects at all, and don't require that whole ramping up/ ramping down process. I've read that they can work in tandem with anti-depressants, but I wouldn't want to try it without a doctor's knowledge/guidance because of the possibility of overloading the body with too much serotonin.

It might be worth just trying to eat more foods rich in tryptophan for a while.

I'm with you on sometimes wanting to let the body just do its own thing, though. I do that a lot, especially when it comes to mood, and to be honest, it's mostly paid off. It's been a long, hard road though.

[smileyfish.livejournal.com]

I think we have similar brains. It takes me a month to convince my body clock to cope with Daylight Savings! I also can't sleep during the day and develop insomnia as soon as something is "off" in my life.

The search for decent sleep seems to be my life's mission. I wish you well.

Postscript

[smileyfish.livejournal.com]

...We all need to find the place where we are grounded in culture and community.

And this is why I get so homesick.

<3

Re: Postscript

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

As you probably know, Danny's household is talking about relocating to Vancouver. Ideally I would go, too. I don't think I can leave Ontario. It's a hard, hard question.

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

On mirtazapine I had sound, reliable sleep for the first time in my life, however after several years I felt my creativity had lost its edge. In May I reduced from 60 mg to 45 mg per day. Overall, it's better: I feel more lucid, purposeful and energetic. Ironically I am less prone to persistent depression, but more prone to anxiety and, of course, sleep disturbances. Being more focused, I think that over the long term I will be better able to address the problems that make me anxious. Then maybe I'll sleep better? At the moment, I think it's worth staying the course a while longer.

It does sound like our brains are similar. Thanks for mentioning it. It's comforting to find a point of empathy with such a sensitive brain.

[apel.livejournal.com]

Ugh, not being able to sleep is such a bummer. I get that too. It's particularly annoying if I am really tired from missing sleep the previous nights.

It's very counter-intuitive but having a mug of black tea (with caffeine) an hour before bedtime works for me in that situation. It's as if I tense up to stay awake and then I can't untense when it's time to sleep. The caffeine takes over keeping me awake so that I can relax. At least that's my theory.

I like the hydra metaphor. Matches my experience. "If it's not one thing, it's another" is what I usually say. Terribly negative but, yeah, sometimes that's how it feels.

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

I seldom have the experience of not being able to get to sleep (although that did happen once or twice this month). I very routinely start nodding off at my computer around 11:30, then I go to bed and fall asleep immediately. Evening drowsiness is a beneficial side-effect of the antidepressant I take, and usually it helps me sleep through the night. The recent trouble has been that I can't sleep long enough. Other than the antidepressant, pretty well anything I've tried to help me sleep more soundly (such as melatonin) ensures that I will sleep very soundly for four hours and then wake up.

This evening I had a mini-epiphany just recognizing some factors that have been at work over the past couple of weeks. Sometimes it just takes some things falling into place. I hope, hope, hope I might sleep more soundly tonight.

Be well. :)