Meds Meds Meds

Post Reply New Topic

About two weeks ago I went to my family doctor to get sleeping pills. My father accompanied me(even thought I could/should have been there by myself, I'm 25 after all) and when the doctor called my name, I told him that I didnt have any objection if he entered the doctor's office instead of staying in the waiting room. So he entered in the office with me.

I told the doctor that I had sleeping problems, but my father added that I had depressive behaviors too, such as lack of motivation in everything. As a result, the doctor prescribed me Celexa (anti-depressant) and Zyprexa (anti-psychotic), but no god-damnit sleeping pills. I took both of these meds some years ago when I was suffering from severe depression, but I just dont see how they could be of any use today... I'm not depressed and I'm not psychotic either. It seems to me she just prescribed me those to play it safe, and not be charged with any guilt if I commit suicide or any other wrongful acts.

So basically these days I'm suffering from all the secondary effects of those two medicines : terrible lack of concentration, loss of my lovely logical mind, high appetite, headaches, loss of sexual desire, muscular and cerebral fatigue and... *drumrolls*... WORST SLEEPING ISSUES THAN EVER! My parents both insist that I dont stop the medication until I see the doctor again by the end of the month and I agreed to do so, just so that they don't go on telling me that I'm messing up with my life.

Since today, I didnt post here as my lack of concentration and the loss of my logical edge makes it hard to get my ideas straight. I just can't wait to get to my aspie-self again and reply to your posts! I miss anormality so badly that it hurts... I prefer anormality to stupidity.

Until I ask my doctor to change my medication by the end of the month, I wish you all a wonderful month of November. I keep checking this site once every day, but I would just feel so bad posting knowing how stupid I can sound with those pills. Just writing those few lines was hard, and I'm not even kidding...

[edit] I've been thinking... during the time I'm on those pills and feeling so dumb, maybe I should catch the opportunity do some things that the most stupid of NTs like to do... like go to a club and brag about myself, watch Temptation Island, give fake smiles to my neighbours, listen to some poppy music and become a candidate for the next elections...

Last edited by Bigbang on 14 Nov 2007, 5:03 am, edited 1 time in total.

Wow, it must be pretty frustrating that your Dad hijacked your time with your doctor. Hopefully next time you see your Doc you can go alone and tell him/her the reality of the situation - i.e. you do not feel severely depressed and you just want sleeping tablets.

Also, the symptoms your Dad described, as well as being symptoms of mild depression are also symptoms of ......SLEEP DEPRIVATION!

I had a similar problem. I went to see my GP and told him I couldn't sleep and that I thought I was going crazy (hypochondria) and he prescribed me Zyprexa. I think a lot of doctors are very wary about prescribing sleeping pills as they are concerned about addiction and overdoses. Zyprexa is also stupidly expensive. I took it for one night and then threw the rest away as it made me feel like a brainless zombie. I went to a different doc and got zolpidem (Ambien) which at a low dose of 5 mg really helps me to relax and sleep. You have my sympathy, Zyprexa is unpleasant, plus the side-effect profile is disturbing.

What sort of dose are you taking? Did the doc just prescribe Zyprexa as a sleep aid?

Actually, I do have a lack of motivation in many aspects of my life, but this is not related to depression. For example, I don't wash my dishes or clean my appartement because no one ever drops by, so I just don't have any motivation at doing so. By the same token, I don't have any motivation at meeting new people because whenever I tried that I either got rejected or rejected others myself because they were sooo stupid and immoral. But as I said, the doctor didnt take any chance and prescribed me pills that make me just too dumb to simply think about suicide. She also said that those pills could make my sleep easier as they provoke drowsyness and take off my worries. But as a result, I feel drowsy all day long, but when I get in bed the fact of not actually having any worries scares my s**tless, and becomes the greatest worry. Strange but true...

I'm currently writing a letter to my parents explaining why I'm acting the way I do and why I think this is related with AS. This project is now in stand-by, for the same reasons that I don't post here as often as I did the last few months. They somehow think that some pills will make me act normal and get me motivated to embrace a healthy life... but this is like being confronted to a dog that does not want to sit and thinking that some pills will make him sit. The dog might become more agited, bite his tail or run in circles, but if he doesnt have any reason to sit (ie. a reward, as in my case), he's just not going to do so.

Bigbang,
sleeping tablets won't help greatly as they're not meant to be used long term,it's like with laxitives,the body can get used to relieing on them so they can mess up the sleep routine even more.

Until the next appointment,how about trying melatonin as it should be easy to find if it's licenced in Canada.

Also,nothing is wrong with having support in doctors appointments if it was wanted,lots of adults do including NT.

Last edited by KingdomOfRats on 14 Nov 2007, 5:29 am, edited 2 times in total.

Celexa = 20 mg, Zyprexa = 2.5 mg

I know this is not a great dosage ; one of my friend who is bipolar takes 10 mg of Zyprexa daily. But the side effects are present nonetheless. As I previously said, the doctor thought those two pills combined could help me sleep. By the way, my sleeping issues do not interfere with the number of hours of sleep I get, as I don't currently work or study. But I have a hard time falling asleep... I generally sleep from 4am to 1pm.

I used to have Imovan 7.5 mg to help me fall asleep and it was just perfect. That's what I wished the doctor prescribed me. No side effects, and the sleeping effect last only for about 8 hours, so I didnt have any loss of concentration or fatigue during the day. Plus I could take them only when needed, and Imovan is not knowed to create a dependancy.

The dose doesn't really matter, its how you respond to the dose that's important. Different people respond differently to psychotropic meds. I tend to be very sensitive to any side effects. When I took Zyprexa first, I felt like someone very large was sitting on my brain, even though it was supposed to be a low dose to help with my obsessional ruminating. I don't work or study either but I find sleeping at reasonable hours helps me feel more connected to people than if I just sleep when I feel like it.

I've also been on Imovane (zopiclone) and I got this terrible metallic taste the morning after and I was very drowsy during the day.

Apoligies in advance for the length of this post....Im dealing with similiar issues and want to provide you with a link that may help.

http://theeffexoractivist.org/forum/index.php


I realize your not taking Effexor but I believe it may still have some relevance to your med questions.


Sleeping....many aspies seem to share your sleep issue.There are many types of sleep problems and clinics that specialize in sleep because it is so important to our physical and mental wellbeing.If possible,try and convince your DR that you would like a referrel to a sleep clinic.They measure brain activity and might uncover some different brain-wave activitiy that would explain your sleep problems.The main issue doesn't sound like one of sleep problem but "sleep delay" that is causing a "problem" because society is not organized around your specific sleep cycle.

I have had this issue since I was a young kid(sneaking out of bed after my parents went to sleep t read or watch the late,late movies.)If I had been allowed to sleep as my natural arcadia rythems were designed....I would fall asleep at 2-4am and sleep until 10-12pm.I would get my normal 8 hours of sleep...but that is not how the world is organized(dang morning people)seem to have made the rules.I have had to rganize my life(as best I could)around my sleep delay.I would take afternoon,evening,weekend classes all through college and have been working the overnight shift for the past 15 years.Even at work,I still want to fall asleep at 4am and must force myself to stay awake until 10am...then go home and sleep until 7pm....It still isnt my "natural sleep cycle" but seems to work better then the morning jobs.


Anti-psychotics and anti-depressants appear to be the "drug of choice" no matte what the problem.Perhaps because they make the patient confussed and compliant?The problem is...these meds were not designed for aspies(minority)but NT's.Even for them it can cause some major problems,as you will see if you follow the link provided.The mentallity of the medical community seems to be that if you "complain of a problem"=unhappy=take a "happy pill".After all,a pill is easiier then fixing what is making you unhappy(for them)but it usually just creates new things to be unhappy about....(side effects)which they then want to treat with...more pills.It is tuely illogical,bad science and bad medicine.Welcome to big pharma....."A better world through chemistry"....there is now so much antidepressent-waste in our water systems(from "happy" urine)that our fish can't seem to stop smiling.

That said....I know that there have been lives saved by using anti-depressants.My problem isn't in their use for deppresion but their use for "everything" and then increased doses to solve the very problems that they create.I am speaking from personal experience,because the couple of times I have forced my self to see a DR for any issue...their first response is to increase m anti--depressant.(75mg Effexor).I am now contimplating trying to find a more holistic method of treating a depression issue(one I think is only a problem due to AS related stress of coping in an NT designed world...ie...job stress/social phobies.)I have been doing a lot of on-line research looking for my own answers because I dont trust the DR's to understand or give a crap(it's not their mind or body being effected...talk about lack of ToM).


If you wish to PM me about this,feel free.

Seems like I'm going to post more than I thought... sorry if I sound illogical or if my sentences are not gramatically perfect (ex. use of the word "but" or "because" three times in the same sentence). I just don't have the energy to be perfectionist on those pills.

First of all, thank you all for posting and caring about my issues. I wasnt really looking for any advice as I know things will get better by the end of the month when I change my medication. But I'm glad we can have a discussion about the negative effects of pills.

I'm not too sure why you brought up Effexor, but this is the worst pill I ever got prescribed. It might be great for others, but for me it was hell. It raised my blood pressure to dangerous high levels (180 when 110 is considered normal and 130 is considered risky). I had the worst headaches one can imagine while taking Effexor, and Celexa worked way better for me (back when I really was depressed).

One of the reasons why the doctor prescribed me Celexa and Zyprexa is because I responded fairly well to both of these when they were really needed. I don't know if you guys can relate to this, but I had times in my life when I was worried about something and could basically be absorbed in my thoughts to the point where I become highly disfounctionnal. Last time this happened was 2 years ago when I was working at night (12am-7am) and had a crush with a girl that worked with me. Being socially ackward (I actually never talked to her), I was thinking about her all day long instead of doing anything that could give me a chance to be with her. I would be thinking at home in catatonic style about different Carl Yung's theories, such as the anima (you can read about this concept on wikipedia). In addition to those "worries", I didnt get much sleep and was smoking pot about everyday. I ended up being totally messed up after a few months, and I had to quit my job. I thought my symptoms were related to schizophrenia, and back then Zyprexa helped me get to my normal self again.

My point is, I'm not really agaisnt the use of pills as I've seen some benefits from using them in the past, but when I'm doing well pills might just mess me up with their side-effects. This is similar to the saying don't fix what's not broken. Trying to fix your DVD player if it is working perfectly well might just mess it up.

The reason I brought up the Effexor is that it is the medication I am now on and trying to get off.I have also had a lot of headches,brain fog and other cognitive problesm that are effecting my job.On the other hand,it does keep me from crying,which was my main purpose of taking it.


I dont think it is unusual for some one with AS to have times when they are not functioning well.I feel like I am 'holding my breath or treading water" most of my life and eventually this will make you pretty tired.It's just like trying to run to many programs on the computer at the same time...eventually it is going to freeze up and stop working.Then I need to rebot.

Can you get melatonin without a prescription in Canada? I occasionally take 3 mg melatonin an hour or two before I go to bed when I've been staying up too late and need to get into an earlier sleep rhythm.

I think its stupid how some doctors like to prescribe medications that you have to take every day. If you take something to sleep every night your body will likely adjust to the effect and you will build up tolerance. But if you only take it every few days to adjust your sleep cycle you don't have to worry about it. I get tolerant to all sleeping pills including melatonin, so if I want them to work effectively I just don't take them every night. It's that simple. It's annoying how doctors are so rigid about prescribing things just because most people are not smart enough to know how to manage their own body.

Actually, if used correctly, the above should not be true. It is true that a sleep aid should not (in most circumstances) be used long-term. The ideal situation is to use them for ten nights or so and also have a bedtime ritual along with- same time every night regardleess of weeknight/weekend, quiet time, soft lighting, warm beverage, good but somewhat arcane book, no distractions in the sleep area (yawn) and that way the sleep aid will help to re-set the circadian rhythm so that once you are not using it anymore, you can continue the ritual and get to sleep without it. It will take some effort on your part, but will be worth it long-term.

What I would suggest is, bring this up with your doc that you are committed to changing habits and would like a ten or twelve-night trial of a sleep aid.

Also, in Canada do you have a similar law to our US "HIPPA" privacy laws? Here, unless you have been declared incapable of making your own decisions (by two docs), your parents are not able to make decisions for you, or know your private healthcare business, unless you choose to share. I feel bad that your letting your dad come int the room backfired like that. This seems like an ironic situation, since shouldn't your provider be helping you exercise your own autonomy?

i take effexor and it helps me immensely.

Zyprexa is what I call a "zombie drug"
I used to take that combined with Citalopram.

My sleeping ours are nocternal also.

Honestly, I can't really blame my father for saying he felt I was depressed, for 3 major reasons :

1) I'm the one that invited him in the doctor's office in the first place. He was kind enough to offer for me a lift with his car (mine has problems with steering), so I thought I'd be kind enough to let him meet my doctor instead of letting him alone in the waiting room for half an hour.

2) As I said in another post, I do have some external symptoms of depression, mainly lack of motivation, sleep problems and odd and disorganised eating habit (ie. not eating anything before 5 or 6pm). But believe me, I've been severely depressed in the past and I know this is not caused by depression. My mood is great.

3) Both of my parents have supported me when I was suffering from severe depression, and seing me just having the most basic symptoms of depression makes them scared as hell. I've been to the point where my thoughts were illogical, and I was wrongfully asking my relatives if it was O.K. with them if I commited suicide. The love of my relatives was the only thing that prevented me from commiting suicide, so I would try to convice my parents that suicide was a right decision for me. What loving and caring parents would allow their child to kill himself, no matter the "logical" arguments?

This episode made me realize I should keep a certain level of privacy in my life, so that my problems do not become theirs. It will be best for them, and it will most probably be best for me too. I'm living on my own (near my parents, but still), so that shouldnt be something too hard to accomplish.

Also, Melatonin might be an "interesting" pill to use if I ever encounter any issue with Imovane. But until then, I'll just stick with Imovane as it worked great for me in the past. My sleeping problems are far from being as worst as some other people. I don't have any sleep disturbance (unless my cats intentionally wake me up), I just have trouble falling asleep at normal hours.