Side effects - Prozac (Paroxetine) Causing Insomnia?

[200Ponies]

I have been prescribed prozac for depression (hence the lack of "SWIM") and have been taking it for about 2 weeks. Every night when I go to sleep I fail to do so untill It is time to wake up the next morning, luckily due to an injury and an insurance policy I don't have to work and can usually force a few hours of shuteye in the morning, but I am constantly tired. Before I was taking prozac I slept for about 9 - 15 hours a night, now Its a struggle to get any sleep atall. I spoke to my doctor and she said to take the Prozac before I go to bed, but so far that has not helped and I think it may have made the problem worse.
I know the simple solution is to get prescribed something to put me to sleep, but I would rather not have to take more pills. If all else fails would ketamine make a good (although costly) replacement to Prozac?

Thanks in advance for your help.
Tom xxxx

[tayo]

Originally Posted by 200Ponies

I know the simple solution is to get prescribed something to put me to sleep, but I would rather not have to take more pills. If all else fails would ketamine make a good (although costly) replacement to Prozac?

Well insomnia can be an indication that the dose is too high. What is it?-if you care to share.

Ketamine is a dissociative, it would not provide sleep, maybe an out of body experience.

I suggest try exercising in the mornings and consult the doctor about lowering the dose, if it is high. Anxiety and (seemingly false) excess energy are some side effects of SSRIs.

Hope that helps, and using the forum search engine is wonderful, I'm sure there is something on SSRI side effects.

[200Ponies]

The does is only 20mg per day, I went back to the doctor and he prescribed me Tamazepam so that I can sleep, he said that after this I will be prescribed an antidepresant that will make me more sedate. I do exercise in the morning a little, but there is a limit to what I can do as I have a broken wrist.

I sleep like a baby after a k-hole

Thanks again for your help xxxx

[Micklemouse]

Originally Posted by 200Ponies

I spoke to my doctor and she said to take the Prozac before I go to bed, but so far that has not helped and I think it may have made the problem worse.
I know the simple solution is to get prescribed something to put me to sleep, but I would rather not have to take more pills. If all else fails would ketamine make a good (although costly) replacement to Prozac?

Thanks in advance for your help.
Tom xxxx

Here indeed is your problem. My guess here is the timing of the dose. Prozac can be a rather stimulating med, so taking it at night is not usually recommended, especially early in treatment. Rather than throw an addicting medication like Temazepam at the problem it would be better to reassess the dosing regime, taking it in the morning rather than at bedtime. Prozac has quite a long half-life, so missing a dose in order to adjust the regime should not pose too much of a problem at this stage.

Bear in mind that a SSRI regime can last many months if not years. Using benzodiazepines to counter an unacceptable effect of poor prescribing & advice for this length of time would be not only against BNF & NICE guidelines, it would also be futile & dangerous, as the chances of temazepam being effective as a sleep aid go down with porlonged use, & the chances of problems when it is stopped go up.

I'd recommend talking to your doctor again, or better yet talking to another one as the present doc does not sem to have much of a clue about anti-depressant prescribing.

Ketamine would not make a good alternative I'm afraid. Although there have been promising results from the few small studies that have been done there is nothing conclusive as yet, & if I remember correctly the studies did not involve regular or prolonged use of ketamine. Not only that but it is also now a Controlled drug...

[200Ponies]

It was a diffrent doctor who prescribed me temazepam as my gp wasn't in on that particular day. I tried taking the prozac in the morning (this was what I was doing before I asked for advice about insomnia) and this didnt have any effect on my sleep, it is easyer to take it in the morning so I will start taking it at that time again. The temazepam works, but I can only sleep after taking it, when it wears off I wake again and am unable to sleep unless more temazepan is inside me. I have to take double the dose to have any effect although the doctor said this might be the case. I am still absolutly knackered from lack of sleep.

[RxPosterChild]

I would ask the doctor if you might want to try a different medication. I've heard stories of prozac being a very stimulating antidepressant. My mother had a terrible time with it, the stimulation caused her anxiety to become so bad she could no longer take it.

There's a few options here:
1. Take pills to sleep.
2. Lower the dosage.
3. Keep taking it, and hope it's a temporary side effect.
4. Switch medications

I would suggest the last one, for the reasons I stated before. Hope this was of some help. Good luck!

[200Ponies]

Swim is going to book an appointment today to see if swim can change meds.
Swim thanks everyone for their help.

[200Ponies]

Swim has scince been prescribed Zoloft, from what he can see it is almost no diffrent to Prozac. Would his insomnia be cured with Zoloft?
Swim has also run out of Temazepam.

[CHEMDUDE]

Originally Posted by tayo

Well insomnia can be an indication that the dose is too high. What is it?-if you care to share.

Ketamine is a dissociative, it would not provide sleep, maybe an out of body experience.

I suggest try exercising in the mornings and consult the doctor about lowering the dose, if it is high. Anxiety and (seemingly false) excess energy are some side effects of SSRIs.

Hope that helps, and using the forum search engine is wonderful, I'm sure there is something on SSRI side effects.

TAYO has hit the nail on the head with the exersize thing.swim is on 20mgs aday and if swim does not do anything during the day,then he don't sleep.obviously with the injuries swiY ou have sustained,exercise may be a problem,but try to do whatever swiYou can OR YA WON'T SLEEP...peace..c_d

[toe]

Flouxetine has a half life of > one week. My houseplants don't think changing the time of dosing would have much effect on somnolecense. My houseplants know SWIY needs to give it more time than this for adjustment- whether that be to see the effects from going on it or going off of it. The drug has a half life of IIRC ~9.3 days; the patient simply is NOT going to be able to observe any difference within a week.

[200Ponies]

SWIM has now been prescribed Mirtazapine 15mg per day. SWIM takes at night and it puts him to sleep. It also seems to work alot better than zoloft or prozac. SWIM personally reccomends it to anyone with a similar problem although it may interrupt SWIY's usual routine of driving/operating machinery.
Exercise dosn't help with SWIM's sleep, but SWIM enjoys it anyway.

[Nagognog2]

As an aside, if you look at the molecular structure of prozac (and it's cousins) you will find they are closely related to amphetamines (assuming you can read molecular structures - most people can't). I refer to them as bicyclic amphetamine derivatives.

[toe]

Originally Posted by 200Ponies

SWIM has now been prescribed Mirtazapine 15mg per day. SWIM takes at night and it puts him to sleep. It also seems to work alot better than zoloft or prozac. SWIM personally reccomends it to anyone with a similar problem although it may interrupt SWIY's usual routine of driving/operating machinery. Exercise dosn't help with SWIM's sleep, but SWIM enjoys it anyway.

That's a very good thing. Ponies will want to be staying in the races. Unless SWIY is a total anomaly, mirtazapine is going to have him on his hands and knees picking through the carpet looking for lost bits of rock. . . candy. It's pretty notorious for bringing on the sugar jones. That's one of the reasons my houseplants couldn't tolerate it- they have fertilizer issues.

[CHEMDUDE]

Originally Posted by 200Ponies

SWIM has now been prescribed Mirtazapine 15mg per day. SWIM takes at night and it puts him to sleep. It also seems to work alot better than zoloft or prozac. SWIM personally reccomends it to anyone with a similar problem although it may interrupt SWIY's usual routine of driving/operating machinery.
Exercise dosn't help with SWIM's sleep, but SWIM enjoys it anyway.

IF SWIYOU get any side effects,diaorea,lack of energy (like wearing a suit of led) or any other symptoms,GO SEE THE DOC,iswim did and they put me on prozac..much better chem,instead of sitting round with no nrg (which leads to not sleeping...swim loves the fucked up medicine system) now swim is hyper through the day,although it subsides within 4 weeks,at least swim is doing somthing to tire him out during the ay and can get some sleep at night.but as an anti-depressent,for swim it sucked..just a little advice from someone who's been there..peace`n`hope all is well with swiyou soon...

[200Ponies]

SWIM Suffers no adverse side effects as of yet, but will keep your post in mind.