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What Causes Sleeplessness While On Effexor?
Question: I have been taking Effexor Xr 37.5 for about six weeks and I am sooo tired all the time, until it's bed time and then I can't sleep for more than an hour or two. Even ambien won't keep me down for long.
I felt more unmotivated and emotionally flat and removed the closer I got to 75 mgs, so I stayed at 37.5 and I added 10 mg vyvanse (a pro-drug to adderal) for alertness at first and I found that it combated a lot of the ruminative and obsessive thinking also. The two seemed to complement each other well.
I'm still really not sleeping but my cognitive skills have returned to good (I am studying for med school). So many others either make that worse or don't address the problem.
Anyway, this doesn't seem like a long-term solution. I am still dragging through the day and I feel like my immune system and other things are suffering from lack of sleep. I don't want to increase the vyvanse, although my dose is very low. I also feel like I'm more impatient with people than I would like.
Any suggestions for combating the Effexor tiredness/insomnia?
I felt more unmotivated and emotionally flat and removed the closer I got to 75 mgs, so I stayed at 37.5 and I added 10 mg vyvanse (a pro-drug to adderal) for alertness at first and I found that it combated a lot of the ruminative and obsessive thinking also. The two seemed to complement each other well.
I'm still really not sleeping but my cognitive skills have returned to good (I am studying for med school). So many others either make that worse or don't address the problem.
Anyway, this doesn't seem like a long-term solution. I am still dragging through the day and I feel like my immune system and other things are suffering from lack of sleep. I don't want to increase the vyvanse, although my dose is very low. I also feel like I'm more impatient with people than I would like.
Any suggestions for combating the Effexor tiredness/insomnia?
Brief Answer:
sleep hygiene with low dose benzodiazepine or replace the drug
Detailed Answer:
Hello XXXXXXX
Thanks for writing to us. I can understand your concern.
Insomnia is a common side effect of effexor.
In that case we can add benzodiazepine group of drug like clonazepam or lorazepam for sleep with 'sleep hygiene'.
You can find the same in below link.
sleepfoundation.org/ask-the-expert/sleep-hygiene
Drinking a cup of warm milk before going to bed helps in 30-40% of patients and they do not need medicines as per my clinical experience.
The other option is replace effexor with other medicine like mirtazapine or paroxetine.
Hope I have answered your query, I will be happy to help further.
Regards,
Dr.Chintan Solanki.
sleep hygiene with low dose benzodiazepine or replace the drug
Detailed Answer:
Hello XXXXXXX
Thanks for writing to us. I can understand your concern.
Insomnia is a common side effect of effexor.
In that case we can add benzodiazepine group of drug like clonazepam or lorazepam for sleep with 'sleep hygiene'.
You can find the same in below link.
sleepfoundation.org/ask-the-expert/sleep-hygiene
Drinking a cup of warm milk before going to bed helps in 30-40% of patients and they do not need medicines as per my clinical experience.
The other option is replace effexor with other medicine like mirtazapine or paroxetine.
Hope I have answered your query, I will be happy to help further.
Regards,
Dr.Chintan Solanki.
Note: For further guidance on mental health, Click here.
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
Answered by
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