A little backstory: I was on Luvox for a couple years and recently found it not working/probably having negative side effects. For the past 6 months, I've been on Ambien. I've had sleeping problems where I just couldn't fall asleep until I was physically exhausted since I was 13. I'm 19 now. I've been on many meds, nothing's helped besides Ambien. It put me to sleep but it never felted like a full rested sleep. I'd wake up tired, groggy, etc which I know can be a side effect. I've also overslept a lot while on both Luvox and Ambien together. Anyways, I talked to my doctor and got taken off Luvox and put on Prozac. As SOON as I started taking these two, I get nice sleep, but wake up after about 6 hours of sleep. Is that sufficient? I might take more naps during the day but I'm afraid of ruining my sleep schedule. Anyways. Could the Prozac affect my sleeping patterns this way?
Maybe I'm wrong here, but wasn't Prozac that medicine that was debunked last year? It's basically placebo, right? Sorry, I'm not from USA, I only know about Prozac from movies Anyway, as a European, I'm very confused and actually appalled by what seems to be the practice in the USA of prescribing enormous amounts of medicine to teenagers. Especially these mind altering ones. But, I don't want to open that Pandora's box here, so I'll just comment on the part I can Six hours of sleep is definitely enough if you feel ok with that. In high school, so approximately at your age, I slept for five to six hours a night and never took naps. That was enough to me and that was what made me feel best in terms of alertness, lack of tiredness, freshness in the morning and so on. On the other hand, some of my friends even today say that they need at least ten hours a day (which to me is incredible). So, everyone's different. If you feel fresh after six hours, that's ok. The thing is, if six is your personal ideal, seven hours could make you feel worse
I'm not sure. I tried googling it but couldn't find anything on that, really. If it is, then these placebos are working wonders. I'd rather stay in this bliss than going back to how I felt before. Haha. And yeah. That's pretty much what they do here. Everything can be solved with medication and more medication. And yeah I feel this is working pretty well. I sleep a certain number of hours, wake up, stai up and I actually... for once in my life... feel tired by bedtime. Where sleep feels like the perfect thing. It used to feel dreadful because I could lay there for hours and not feel at all like I was going to get any rest. But I actually feel normal for once. Except this new tired feeling is kinda overwhelming almost. I'm not used to this. Haha.
i often function on very little sleep, i dont want to sleep, when im asleep i dont stay asleep very long maybe 30 mins to 6hrs most, its those lil naps that get me through. anyways u should be able to tell if it is enough sleep but your level of concentration and awareness, maybe thats just a me thing, i know when im underslept (is that a word spelllcheck not helping im too tired lol):sleep:
I recall a study that says 7 hours is the minimum recommended sleep time for a healthy long life. ie, people with less then 7 hours sleep tend to gain weight and have other health issues. But that being said, the most important thing is, DO YOU FEEL sleepy? The body naturally sleeps deeper to compensate for a loss in sleep hours. Ie, rather then sleep in or take naps when you've had a rough nights sleep, you should force yourself to stay awake until your "normal" bed time where you will then sleep deeper to recover. One way to tell is if you have access to a smart phone (like the iPhone), you can get sleep monitoring apps. You plug your phone charger in, start up the app and place it face down on your mattress (near, but NOT under the pillow). As you toss and turn through the night, it feels the movement and determines when you are in REM sleep (the body is paralysed and not moving) or light sleep (lots of movement). Most then graph when you were deep/light sleeping and the overall efficiency of your sleep. Some of these apps are free, others paid, but they all work about the same and can really help you work out your sleep patterns. You can also take it to your doctor so he/she may better help you.
last gentleman, being an avid android lover its amazing how i still learn about a new app now and then, i might try that one. lets see its wednesday, i slept maybe 15 hrs since the week started im so tired i can tell im gonna pass out but like usual i will be up 30 mins later 7 hrs? i usually function on my minimum 3 to 4hr a day(being that my sleep is comprised of short naps) it would be nice to get 7hrs a day all in one lay lol, does that sound funny enough to make anyone else giggle a lil?
What are these pills treating? Depression or OCD? Btw, I'd stay away from taking too much of Ambien, it could be slowly poisoning you. Instead opt for a natural supplement like melatonin, your body has a process that produces it and sleeping pills like Ambien can block that process. I have trouble sleeping too, sometimes getting as little as 5 or 6 hours but 7 or 8 hrs seems to be the goal.
I can second the melatonin suggestion. Melatonin's naturally produced in the brain, and you, or anyone, may find it helpful for sleep. There's also extended release melatonin, which may help if you need help staying asleep through the night, as well as actually falling asleep.
How long have you been on the medication? If it's only been about a week, that may just be your body getting used to it in your system. It's also important to think of other factors such as your sugar intake or the amount of sunlight you get daily. Both of these things have pretty significant effects on your sleep.
I've been on Ambien for about 6 months and I started Prozac about two or three weeks ago. Prozac was prescribed to me for both OCD and depression. I think it was more for depression though. And I've tried melatonin before; it did nothing noticeable. Took it for a couple weeks and it didn't have much of an effect. But as for Ambien, I'm hoping that my sleep regulates itself eventually. It seems to be helping to organize a set time to wake up/sleep and hopefully it won't be too long-term. The app idea actually sounds really good. Is there any recommended one that you know of?
I personally use Sleep Cycle as my "wake up" app. Set a time, and within half an hour of that time it'll look for a light sleep cycle and start to wake you up then. Ie, so you don't have some alarm clock beeping when you are in your deepest sleep. You can also add notes, which you can then check off when you start it monitoring. I have "ate late", "worked out", "stressful day", "busy day" and "drank Coke". It'll then graph these as to how they affect your sleep. Drinking coke hurts my sleep, but eating late DESTROYS my sleep. The other three help me sleep better.
All antidepressants affect sleep. Depression itself affects sleep. It's not uncommon for people who are depressed to complain of insomnia or of sleeping excessively- and in both situations, depressed people complain of being tired and having low energy. So, we expect antidepressants to affect sleep. The question is whether they're affecting sleep because they're correcting depression or whether they're affecting sleep because they monkey with the brain chemistry that is so important in sleep. That's a long time to be taking a sleep aid. Are you taking every night? Or just on nights when you can't fall asleep? The important thing is not how much sleep you're getting. The question is "Do you feel rested or do you feel sleepy during the day?". If you're feeling fine on 6 hours of sleep, then that's probably enough sleep for you. Everyone has a different "normal" for their sleep requirement. Some people sleep 4-5 hours at night and are fine. Other people sleep 8-10 hours because that is what they need. The question underlying all of this is whether you have insomnia or whether you're someone who just needs less sleep?
