Antidepressants & Sleeping All Day

[Alediv]

I have tried five antidepressants in the last ten months. I had to discontinue all of them because they caused me to sleep all day. I mean like waking up, having a strong black coffee, and then falling back to sleep two hours later.

The latest med is Zoloft. I am only on 50 mg a day, and it is already causing sleepiness. The psych said it's not even effective for most people until you hit 100 mg.

We had my thyroid checked, and it's normal. He has repeatedly said that this sleepiness I experience is not at all a common side effect of antidepressants.

Do you agree with that? How common in your experience is sleepiness from antidepressants? I really want to find a med that works for me.

 

[Jitaf]

What's the rest of your life like? Exercise, food, stress...stuff like that. Have you changed anything else in your life besides the antidepressant? Added any supplements/vitamins?

And before the meds - what was your usual level of energy like? Did it drop in response to the depression that got you on the meds in the first place?

 

[Sahon]

I have had sleepiness from SSRI antidepressants. In fact, it is their worst side effect for me.
Have you tried taking it at night instead of in the morning?
Currently I am on Prozac and it actually has a kick at first, so morning is the best time for me to take it but I do get a drag in the afternoon.
At one time I was taking just 10 mg of Paxil and I had to take it before bed or I was a zombie during the day.
Don't let the doc tell you what a "normal" reaction to any medicine is.
This stuff is so personalized its ridiculous.
Try taking the Zoloft at night before bed.
See if that helps.

 

[Alediv]

What's the rest of your life like? Exercise, food, stress...

Nothing's really changed. Also, when I have stopped an SSRI in this period, the drowsiness basically went away. It just started getting worse as I increased my Zoloft dosage.

My depression is nothing new. I've been struggling with it for years, and it never caused me to sleep all day.

Try taking the Zoloft at night before bed.
See if that helps.

I always do this. It doesn't help.

I mentioned Welbutrin to the psych. He is concerned that its activating affect could worsen my anxiety.

 

[Asive]

Honestly, five different antidepressants in six months? That leaves almost zero time for full effectiveness and adjustments. It took me, personally, at least six months to find a dose that worked and allowed my body to adjust to side effects, and that was just one antidepressant

 

[Alediv]

Honestly, five different antidepressants in six months?

I wrote five in ten months. I gave Prozac several months and the sleepiness just got worse. The others I tried for maybe a couple of weeks each. I have to get up and work everyday. I can't afford to ride out a side effect like 20 hours of sleep a day for longer than two weeks, let alone months.

 

[Ova]

I mentioned Welbutrin to the psych. He is concerned that its activating affect could worsen my Anxiety.

If you aren't naturally agitated, then it's worth a try. In other words, if your anxiety rarely interferes with your daily life, and if it follows predictable patterns related to known stressors or triggers...then you'd stand a good chance of tolerating a moderate dose of wellbutrin.

Are you doing anything else to help manage the depression, specifically (therapy-wise)?

 

[Rubiho]

I'm going to say something that you mightn't like to hear.

Antidepressants aren't for everyone. I haven't found one that's worth the suffering of the side effects. In fact I haven't even found one that works for me. They say antidepressants are effective for 60% of the population so 40%? Either give up before they find the "right one", discontinued due to side effects, or antidepressants simply don't work for them. It sucks but there's always another option.

While in depression CBT works well. After a depressive episode MBT (mindful based therapy) (mindful way through depression is a great book) works really well at about 60% but with antidepressants once you stop talking them you're likely to fall into depression again at some point.

 

[Alediv]

Are you doing anything else to help manage the depression, specifically (therapy-wise)?

I am in therapy, but she sucks. Don't tell me to find another one; I've already exhausted my very limited options.

While in depression CBT works well. After a depressive episode MBT (mindful based therapy) (mindful way through depression is a great book) works really well at about 60%

I practice meditation. It helps a little, but I'm battling chronic stressors and suicidal ideation on a daily basis. Mindfulness alone to fight these things is pretty uphill to say the least. I would like to find a med that does some of the work for me.

 

[Pugeba]

I haven't read all the replies but yes in my experience Zoloft made me very sleepy. I also looked stoned all the time apparently.
The Drs always want to put it up and up but I found Zoloft worked best for me if j broke the 50 in half and just had 25mg
But it's a horrible drug, so hard to wean myself off that - it took about 6 months!!
Meditation and exercise work better and have a better overall effect on your whole life.
I hate the way Drs put people on such high doses and totally minimise the effects even when their patient is telling them it's bad.
Im off ssri s for life

 

[Losa]

Here's a thought...have you been tested for sleep apnea? My psychiatrist has it, and he believes that when people don't respond "normally" to antidepressants l, they should be tested for it.

His speciality is not approved to order sleep studies, but he believes that MANY people have sleep apnea that goes untreated.

Before I started wearing my CPAP, I could fall asleep after loads and loads of coffee, with espresso....and NOTHING could keep me awake. I got sleepy after driving for 10 minutes.

If you have a primary doctor, see if they will order a sleep study. Mine showed that I NEVER even got close to REALLY sleeping. Even now, I can have 10-50 "events" per hour. Events, are when my oxygen level gets too low, or I stop breathing. The Continuous Positive Air Pressure is what keeps me alive.

It would explain why EVERY med that they try, makes you go to sleep. Having the lack of oxygen can cause depression, heart disease and a ton of other things.

If necessry, you can tell your dr that you have been told that you snore, and that you sometimes stop breathing for a few minutes.

My daughter is the one that told me. I slept alone, so didn't know that i snored, a LOT! She is a nurse, and wouldn't tell me that I would STOP breathing, but she was INSISTENT that I should ask for a sleep study. That is what i told my dr, so she ordered the test. THAT prived it all!

I feel SOOO much better! I can drive as far as i want and don't have to stop for a nap every hour, or less.

It is worth checking into!

 

[Alediv]

Here's a thought...have you been tested for sleep apnea? My psychiatrist has it, and he believes that when people don't respond "normally" to antidepressants l, they should be tested for it.

Thank you for this post, but I never had this problem with constantly falling asleep until I started taking antidepressants. If I have sleep apnea, wouldn't I have experienced this before the antidepressants?