Antid's which help with sleep

[Jay]

Hi I'm on Mirtazipine, but they are causing weight gain and aching joints/muscles.

Does anyone know of any other antid's which help with sleep and anxiety etc, but which don't have these side effects?

Its the sleep effect I need the most, but not Dosulepin as I have had these before also.

Thanks
Jay x

[winegirl]

I am back off to my GP today for a repeat prescription of the cipralex so i will ask him while i am there hun x

[winegirl]

Hi Jay

I did ask but he wouldnt answer! I will do some research hun and try to find out for you x

[rachelk]

Hi,
I am new to this site - so this is my first message. Can I ask why you don't want to take Dosulepin as I have been prescribed that?

[Jay]

Hi Rachelk

Don't worry about Dosulepin. I actually found these to be wonderful, and helped me a lot.

My only problem was that I started to get a lot of problems, and the post traumatic stress I suffer with became such a problem that my dose of Dosulepin went right up to top level, as the more downhill I went. And it was only when seeking help for my problems that they changed me to something else.

I happily took dosulepin for a lot of years and it was my life saver, mainly for its help with sleeping.
So don't worry about them.
If they work for you- then go for them.

Just a thought - how about joining up properly to the site, then you can freely talk to people and write a diary. Make some friends along the way. Its somewhere to just rant and get stuff off your chest.
Its somewhere to come when you need a bit of comfort.
And people here don't judge, they just understand, which makes things feel better.

Hope talking about the Dosulepin helped. Ask anything you like.

Take care
Jay xx

[RachelK]

Thanks for that. Very reassuring. I have joined the site, but my username and password keep coming back as invalid. Will keep trying as I think this is just what I need! I have a four month old son (as well as a four year old) and am suffering pretty badly with pnd. I have been prescribed Dosulepin which is helping with my sleep, but my mood seems to have deteriorated dramatically over xmas. On Xmas day I had my first ever panic attack which was absolutely terrifying. My husband was working from 7am till 2pm and I was on my own with 2 kids! I felt like someone had drugged me - shaking, dry mouth, sick, disorientated, feeling like I was on another planet. It scared me so much that I honestly felt for the first time like I may end up in hospital! I don't ever want to experience that again. Now I just feel numb and it has taken a lot out of me. I just want to be happy again and am finding this all very very hard.

Rant over.................

[Jay]

Hi Rachelk

It sounds very familiar your panic attack, I have them too. They are awful and as you say they leave you feeling rotten, warn out and shakey. And also worried about when or if another one will come.

Winegirl on here is very nice, she also is an anxiety sufferer, and she has panic attacks. I expect she will find you and talk soon. I will pm her to see if she can help with your log in problem.

What dose of Dosulepin are you on?
I am wondering if the gp up'sed the dose a bit if it would help.
Do you find it makes you thirsty?

I don't think many of the ladies on here got on very well over Chrsitmas. It is soooooooooooooooo stressful and something we can do without. I shall be glad to get next week over, and start again. Back to normality, or as normal as our illness will let us be!!!!

Between us, and with a bit, or a lot of help, we will get there.

I just really need to sleep, which my new meds do not help with. I've been up since 2am. Then I find it a struggle to manage to do things.

Speak when every you like,
Take care
Jay xx

[winegirl]

Hi RachelK

Welcome to the site x Have you managed to sort the log in thing out yet? What username did you register with and i will have a look for you. If all else fails we can always register you again with a different log in and password.

I know exactly how you feel with your symptoms. The anxiety causes me to feel sick, shakey, dizzy, spaced out and a whole host of other symptoms too. It really is the hardest thing to go through and i really wouldnt wish it on anyone!

My LO is 19 months now and i am only just recoverin, but that is because i didnt receive treatment till recently so my meds are only just starting to kick in now. It honestly does get better and you will be free of this! It can just take quite a bit of time in some women.

I really hope you will come back and talk and I will have a look into your log in problem for you xx

Take Care
WG x

[rachelk]

Hi there,
I (Rachel K) am back and have sorted out my log in problem. My dose of Dosulepin is 50mg but I reckon GP will up it to 75 at my next visit. It doesn't have any neg side effects for me and helps me get to sleep soooo well. The first three weeks it made me feel like I had a hang over and the night feeds (baby) were hard (walked into a door once cos I was so spaced), but that soon passed. I would recommend it to help with sleep.

It is good to hear from you all. I really do need to speak to people about this. I have supportive family, but I find it hard to get them to understand. I think they think I'm just tired etc....

Anyway, I am going back to docs to explain about panic attack tomorrow. Do you take anything to help with this. I know someone who has diazipam for panic attacks, but I wuld be scared of becoming dependant.

[rachelk]

Winegirl,
Is it OK if I ask you a few questions about your pni? You say your baby is 19 months old. Whn did you start to feel depressed? When did panic attacks start? When did you seek help? Do you have any 'talking therapies' or jus meds?

Quick background to me...I have a four year old son. All fine after his birth. But when I got pregnant with my second son I was sooo depressed all through my pregnancy. I used to think abou killing myself (god knows why) but was so unhappy. I thought it would all be OK when he was born...and it was till he was 3 months old. But then I went seriously downhill. I sought help immediately and have been on meds for about 5 weeks. I just wish I could start to enjoy my baby as he is such a gem.

I always thought pni meant you had neg feelings towards your baby, but I don't. I adore him. It's just me I hate!

Speak soon

x

[Veritee]

Dear Rachel

I hope you do not mind me replying too?

I felt when I had PNI that it was me that I hated and that I deserved this too!!

I think PNI is often misunderstood by many - until you have it or are close to someone who does !!

Certainly not everyone has negative feelings about their baby/children when they have PNI, some do but by no means all or even the majority and often they are not actually negative feelings as such - but negative thoughts - which are different

It is possible to have what we call negative thoughts - often obsessive - but to still love your baby fiercely. And it is possible to have negative feelings at times ( because you are feeling so ill and being a mother feels such an uphill struggle ) and still love your children.

Some with PNI do have problems with bonding etc but so do many without PNI so I would not see this as a specific symptom of PNI at all - and if you suffer this it may be unrelated, or one of many other symptoms you have with PNI.

I totally loved my baby in every way but still I suffered intrusive and horrible thoughts about myself AND my baby, but at the same time I loved her so much that I would have defended her with my life, had any one threatened her

It is also very common to hate yourself and wish to run away because you fell that your family would be better off without you and that their only problem is you!!

I certainly felt like this and got very close to just disappearing out of my families life - but I stuck with it and my 'baby' is now nearly 19 years old and I am still happily with her dad. I suffered PNI very badly with my daughter and did have intrusive negative thoughts about myself and unfortunately her..


but I always did - and still do - adore my daughter.

PNI can be a bit of a slog to get through - but you will get through it.

Please try to remember how much you love your family, and they you!!! - I know that sometimes it is hard to beleve this, but they would rather have you with them as you are than you not be with them, I am pretty sure about this!!

and take it one day, one hour and one minute at a time - in little chunks.
You will get better

But in the meantime please feel you can use this forum

Love Veritee

[winegirl]

Hi Rachel

Yes I was the same. I thought PNI meant that you didnt love your baby, and i got so mad the first time it was suggested to me that this might be the problem as I have always loved my little girl more than anything in the world, so just couldnt get my head around it.

For me it started when she was about 6 weeks old. I started having dizzy spells, bouts of nausea and headaches. The dr's kept putting it down to me having a virus, as basically they didnt know what was wrong with me. I always felt alot worse when i was out of the house. But then it started happening before going out of the house then just randomly throughout the day. I then started to have panics. I would wake every morning with the strangest feeling of adrenalin going through my body and all shaky etc..

It was only in June last year that i was finally sent for treatment. i started on an anxiety management course as i was struggling to get out of the house (even though i was back at work full time), it didnt seem to work for me so in september i started a course of fluoxetine. Unfrtunately i didnt take too well to this drug (everyone is differene) so in October started on Cipralex. Since startimg on this drug i have upped the dose three times and am finally starting to get the panics under control. I still have a way to go, but the improvement in me is amazing!

i have taken Diazepam on occasions, and still have a supply in my handbag for emergencies, but dont really like to take them as they seem to make my head feel even foggier. But they have been a bit of a life line on one or two occasions.

There are some alternative remedies that I find help too. Bach Rescue Remedy and the bach flower remedies aspen and rock rose. They are no miracle cure but they do seem to take the edge of things.

Anyway, hope that is enough infor for you for now. If you need to ask anything else or just need to chat feel free to PM me anytime x

Take Care

WG x

[monica]

Hi Jay

I took citalopram and they did wonders for me for both sleeping and anxiety. In fact I was more chilled out once they'd kicked in that before PNI! I think my sleep problems were due to anxiety so once this was sorted I found I slept v well. I know some antids are better for somethings but don't know what they are, I'm afraid. I found I might have put on a bit of weight but it wasnt' much (I noticed I lost weight when I came off them).

YOIU mentioend achy joints - I had this but put it down to PNI rather than the meds. I got it really badly when having a blip and alos once I came of the meds. I took evening primrose with cod liver oil and this seemd to work for me.

Rachelk - welcome.

I'm sorry your'e going through a diffiuclt time. A bit like you I was fine after my first child but ended up with PNI after my seocnd. It's a horrible illness with a huge range of symptoms both emotional and physical. I found I loved my son to bits and had no probs bonding with him but was plagues with weird physical symptoms that lead to anxiety.

Take care

Monica