Thursday, August 21
My doctor was still unavailable, but I got in to see someone so that we could get on with whatever needs to be done.
She told me to quit taking the Xanax except for emergencies and put me on Citalopram, (Celexa) which is a long term anti-depressant. The idea is that it builds up in your system and changes the way your brain handles serotonin levels over time, and then you wean off of it.
Unfortunately, it doesn't help with anxiety for three to four weeks and one of the side affects can be increased anxiety, which will be the next post.
She also referred me to the part of the clinic that does counseling so I should expect a call soon.
Thursday Night, August 21
This was a really bad night. I ended up with a grand total of 3 1/2 hours of sleep. First night off the Xanax, and it didn't go so well. I'm used to being sedated plus the new stuff can cause sleep difficulties or sleepiness but apparently they don't know which. Anyhow I ended up being awake since 3:30 in the morning after going to bed around midnight.
At 3:30 when I woke up, my wife hadn't come to bed yet. She had been watching a show at her sister's house late that night so I was worried and went to check to see if her car was there. She was just wired and stayed up cleaning the house (just like I taught her) but the initial worry had triggered a fear response that kept adrenaline going in me for a while and I was never able to get back to sleep.
The plus side of no sleep is that I got some great shots of the sun rising over the lake this morning. They aren't ready yet, but be watching my flickr page around Christmas time when I get caught up on my pictures. My wife stayed up all night & wanted to exercise at Curves at 6:00 AM so we talked & watched the sun come up over the lake from 5AM to 6AM. We were both tired afterward, but we learned a valuable lesson about sleep. Actually not, but we were very tired.
My doctor was still unavailable, but I got in to see someone so that we could get on with whatever needs to be done.
She told me to quit taking the Xanax except for emergencies and put me on Citalopram, (Celexa) which is a long term anti-depressant. The idea is that it builds up in your system and changes the way your brain handles serotonin levels over time, and then you wean off of it.
Unfortunately, it doesn't help with anxiety for three to four weeks and one of the side affects can be increased anxiety, which will be the next post.
She also referred me to the part of the clinic that does counseling so I should expect a call soon.
Thursday Night, August 21
This was a really bad night. I ended up with a grand total of 3 1/2 hours of sleep. First night off the Xanax, and it didn't go so well. I'm used to being sedated plus the new stuff can cause sleep difficulties or sleepiness but apparently they don't know which. Anyhow I ended up being awake since 3:30 in the morning after going to bed around midnight.
At 3:30 when I woke up, my wife hadn't come to bed yet. She had been watching a show at her sister's house late that night so I was worried and went to check to see if her car was there. She was just wired and stayed up cleaning the house (just like I taught her) but the initial worry had triggered a fear response that kept adrenaline going in me for a while and I was never able to get back to sleep.
The plus side of no sleep is that I got some great shots of the sun rising over the lake this morning. They aren't ready yet, but be watching my flickr page around Christmas time when I get caught up on my pictures. My wife stayed up all night & wanted to exercise at Curves at 6:00 AM so we talked & watched the sun come up over the lake from 5AM to 6AM. We were both tired afterward, but we learned a valuable lesson about sleep. Actually not, but we were very tired.
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