EveHarrington
VIP Member
My doc told me that Prazosin isn’t for sleep, just for nightmares. Your sleep will be better because it helps with nightmares, but it’s not a med that directly helps with sleep. (Why daytime dosing is also possible.)
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For the sufferers of nightmares
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My doc told me that Prazosin isn’t for sleep, just for nightmares. Your sleep will be better because it helps with nightmares, but it’s not a med that directly helps with sleep. (Why daytime dosing is also possible.)
joeylittle
Sponsor
Your doctor is kind of explaining this oddly...
Prazosin is definitely not a sleep med. It lowers blood pressure, that’s its job. When taking it for managing BP, one takes multiple doses in a day - thereby having a regulated, lowered blood pressure.
When it’s used only in low-level nighttime dosing, it will lower your blood pressure temporarily (in essence), and that causes two things: drowsiness, and deeper sleep.
Deeper sleep gives one a much better shot at a more peaceful sleep - and also, a fully-realized sleep cycle.
When ones sleep cycle works as it should, one doesn’t really recall dreams (or nightmares) in great detail. Certainly, not vividly enough to be accelerated up through the waking side of the cycle, which will tend to result in the phenomena known as ‘waking up from a nightmare’.
And that is how having ones blood pressure lowered during sleep, for the duration of the sleep period, leads to a perceived decrease in nightmares.
Or, long answer short: you may still be having them, but they aren’t interfering with your sleep cycles - and because you are going through the wake process correctly, you aren’t remembering whether you had them or not.
Not like anyone asked for (or wanted) that long winded explanation...just putting it out there. I think it’s super interesting, that’s all.
Gamereign555
Diamond Member
When mine were bad I resorted to temazepam which worked for a great while. I also have sleep apnea which I wasn’t managing which was exacerbating everything. Startle response it was creating was doing all sorts of weird things like causing me to wake up and realize I was sitting up and sometimes I would wake up as I was falling backward into the wall or back onto the bed. Drugs like zolpidem did not help and I would wake up standing on my bed throwing my blankets around.
Only after managing my anxiety and coming off of meds completely my nightmares and sleep disturbances go away. But then if I’m not managing it well it all comes back slowly but surely. Oddly many of the drugs designed to help with the nightmares and sleep disturbances were actually causing some of them.
Only after managing my anxiety and coming off of meds completely my nightmares and sleep disturbances go away. But then if I’m not managing it well it all comes back slowly but surely. Oddly many of the drugs designed to help with the nightmares and sleep disturbances were actually causing some of them.
Yeah I see some on here saying it works great for their anxiety as well. It has made mine worse today.
Thank you for that
Right its definitely not one size fits all
I realized that while the prazosin probably made me a little groggy in the morning, the sick and dizzy feeling were due to weaning off Effexor. OMG this sucks. He gave me one days worth of Prozac to help with the brain zaps smh. Why would it be for one day I have no idea. I have some diazepam and it helps a little. Nightmares are still hangin out though. Maybe he will increase the dose and it will help without making it impossible to wake up and feed my toddler.
EveHarrington
VIP Member
Effexor is very hard for many people to wean off of. It can make you feel like you have the flu. It is one antidepressant I will never try again, even though it worked well for me.
I suggest giving the Prazosin another try. I kid you not when I say I now wake up every morning SMILING! I know I’m having good dreams. When I first went from 1mg to 2mg I had horrible side effects so I backed down. I went up again and the second time I was able to tolerate the increase. I’m now in 2mg to see how well it works and determine if I may need to bump up to 3mg.
Cyberluddite
Silver Member
Prozac carries a moderately high risk of addiction, along with Xanax and similar anti-depressant medications. Additionally, as it's an SSRI (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor), there's a potential risk of anticholinergic side effects. These health issues have also been found with tricyclic antidepressants, which are used to treat mood disorders and compulsive behaviors.
If a patient's medical history includes at least two to three TBIs, and/or a history of using diphenhydramine-like antihistamine medicines (such as Benadryl), that's something doctors are keeping a closer eye on these days. These medications were only designed to be a temporary tool, not a permanent solution. Rarely used, they won't likely cause a major issue many years down the road.
One of the most effective countermeasures against the degenerative effects of SSRIs and tricyclic antidepressants is to consume choline, either in supplement form or through animal-based protein (meats, cheeses, eggs, and other forms of dairy). When you're weaning off of atypical antipsychotics like Effexor, Olanzapine, Risperidone, Geodone, etc., your brain will experience insufficient serotonin production levels; it adapted to operating with a suppressed neurotransmitter intake. This can lead to insomnia, nightmares and night terrors, "brain fog", irritability and digestive issues... which can be managed with serotonin supplements or foods that are able to boost your body's production of it.
Neither one are "silver bullets", but they can help considerably when the withdrawals and terrors get really bad. One thing you may also notice is that you need a higher intake of protein, to handle the physical effects of PTSD; you might also want to consider switching to unbleached bread flour, as it has a higher gluten/protein content than the all-purpose stuff. These can be annoying at times, but you have to remember your body's trying to recover from being on drugs (even if it's the legal stuff.)
(Effexor was originally released as an "atypical antipsychotic", but many drugs in that class can also be used as an off-label medication to help with mood disorders, depression and anxiety.)
An important thing to remember, critically important, is that your health is a team effort. If you want to know why your doctor only prescribed one day's worth, ask him; a well-informed patient saves everyone time, money, and medical resources. And if your doctor throws a hissy fit, thinking you questioned his expertise... contact your insurance company and get a new referral ASAP, because he ain't keeping his Oath.
Sources:
Committee on Sports-Related Concussions in Youth; Board on Children, Youth, and Families; Institute of Medicine; National Research Council; Graham R, Rivara FP, Ford MA, et al., editors. (2014 Feb 4) "Consequences of Repetitive Head Impacts and Multiple Concussions." Washington D.C., National Academies Press.
Drugs.com "Tricyclic Antidepressants"
Merz, B. (2015, Jan 28) "Common anticholinergic drugs like Benadryl linked to increased dementia risk." Harvard Medical School; Harvard Health Publishing.
Volpi-Abadie, Jacqueline, Adam M. Kaye, and Alan David Kaye. “Serotonin Syndrome.” The Ochsner Journal 13.4 (2013): 533–540.
Zeisel, Steven H., and Kerry-Ann da Costa. “Choline: An Essential Nutrient for Public Health.” Nutrition reviews 67.11 (2009): 615–623. PMC. Web. 28 Dec. 2017.
If a patient's medical history includes at least two to three TBIs, and/or a history of using diphenhydramine-like antihistamine medicines (such as Benadryl), that's something doctors are keeping a closer eye on these days. These medications were only designed to be a temporary tool, not a permanent solution. Rarely used, they won't likely cause a major issue many years down the road.
One of the most effective countermeasures against the degenerative effects of SSRIs and tricyclic antidepressants is to consume choline, either in supplement form or through animal-based protein (meats, cheeses, eggs, and other forms of dairy). When you're weaning off of atypical antipsychotics like Effexor, Olanzapine, Risperidone, Geodone, etc., your brain will experience insufficient serotonin production levels; it adapted to operating with a suppressed neurotransmitter intake. This can lead to insomnia, nightmares and night terrors, "brain fog", irritability and digestive issues... which can be managed with serotonin supplements or foods that are able to boost your body's production of it.
Neither one are "silver bullets", but they can help considerably when the withdrawals and terrors get really bad. One thing you may also notice is that you need a higher intake of protein, to handle the physical effects of PTSD; you might also want to consider switching to unbleached bread flour, as it has a higher gluten/protein content than the all-purpose stuff. These can be annoying at times, but you have to remember your body's trying to recover from being on drugs (even if it's the legal stuff.)
(Effexor was originally released as an "atypical antipsychotic", but many drugs in that class can also be used as an off-label medication to help with mood disorders, depression and anxiety.)
An important thing to remember, critically important, is that your health is a team effort. If you want to know why your doctor only prescribed one day's worth, ask him; a well-informed patient saves everyone time, money, and medical resources. And if your doctor throws a hissy fit, thinking you questioned his expertise... contact your insurance company and get a new referral ASAP, because he ain't keeping his Oath.
Sources:
Committee on Sports-Related Concussions in Youth; Board on Children, Youth, and Families; Institute of Medicine; National Research Council; Graham R, Rivara FP, Ford MA, et al., editors. (2014 Feb 4) "Consequences of Repetitive Head Impacts and Multiple Concussions." Washington D.C., National Academies Press.
Drugs.com "Tricyclic Antidepressants"
Merz, B. (2015, Jan 28) "Common anticholinergic drugs like Benadryl linked to increased dementia risk." Harvard Medical School; Harvard Health Publishing.
Volpi-Abadie, Jacqueline, Adam M. Kaye, and Alan David Kaye. “Serotonin Syndrome.” The Ochsner Journal 13.4 (2013): 533–540.
Zeisel, Steven H., and Kerry-Ann da Costa. “Choline: An Essential Nutrient for Public Health.” Nutrition reviews 67.11 (2009): 615–623. PMC. Web. 28 Dec. 2017.
EveHarrington
VIP Member
Whew.
Your post is riddled with inaccuracies.
You’re confusing dependency with addiction.
Effexor is not an atypical antipsychotic. It’s an antidepressant. It wasn’t originally released as an atypical antipsychotic. Lol. They don’t switch med categories like that! Effexor is an SNRI.
I understand you’re trying to educate people, but you’re spreading so much misinformation.
Gamereign555
Diamond Member
Yes I questioned that as well I had never heard of Prozac being addictive. I don’t see any evidence that Effexor was originally an antipsychotic. However I have heard that in some people it has caused a psychotic episode, or that occasionally antipsychotics are prescribed with it to get rid of panic…
Cyberluddite
Silver Member
I'll double-check, just in case I may have it wrong. Back in early 1997, I had to voluntarily stay at a hospital for a short time because Risperidone stopped working six months prior and it was starting to raise questions. My folks needed to put me on something, to mask the symptoms of long-term abuse; the first drug they had the doctors try was Effexor. Everything else was considered too strong, even Seroquel.
Within three days, it caused uncontrolled muscle spasms so bad that my mom immediately had them put me on Olanzapine.
This was back when I was still misdiagnosed with a severe form of adult-onset schizophrenia. So I will definitely double-check because there may be a strong chance I could be wrong.
That would be a huge relief.
Cyberluddite
Silver Member
@gamereign555 ... I have to go to the public library, in order to do archive research for the answer as the Internet is wibbly-wobbly with rankings. A bit of a pain to do things old-school, but when sources like Wikipedia are peer-consensus instead of peer-reviewed, it's necessary.
However, I did at least find something of interest for the time being. You're correct in saying antidepressants and antipsychotics can cause depression and/or psychotic episodes.
Effexor XR (Venlafaxine) Extended-Release: Antidepressant drugs, Side Effects, Interaction, Warning & Dosage
Andrea Yates is a perfect example. Will continue digging, thanks for helping me make sure I give correct information. Much love and peace!
However, I did at least find something of interest for the time being. You're correct in saying antidepressants and antipsychotics can cause depression and/or psychotic episodes.
Effexor XR (Venlafaxine) Extended-Release: Antidepressant drugs, Side Effects, Interaction, Warning & Dosage
Andrea Yates is a perfect example. Will continue digging, thanks for helping me make sure I give correct information. Much love and peace!
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