[dakotajo]

The following is an observation I have made due to my past 3 year experience. Its only my opinion and hopefully wont offend any body. Im convinced that dp/dr/anxiety/depression are all related to a serotonin imbalance(like most experts). Im also convinced that HEALTHY sleep is an extremely vital component in recovering from this mess. The problem is once you have low serotonin you become anxious/depressed(which makes sleep difficult) and your brain does not have enough serotonin(which converts to melatonin) to provide you with healthy sleep and as a result will not replenish your vital neurotransmitters. Its a very vicious cycle to fall into and very difficult to break out of. I believe this is where chronic dp/dr comes into play.

Drugs like alcohol and benzos may seem to help you sleep but its been proven they inhibit sleep stages and the sleep you receive is very unhealthy. Not to mention both of these drugs are "downers" and they also slow the output of vital neurotransmitters and make matters much,much worse. Ive been reading about ssris, and it seems these drugs also interfere with healthy sleep. I can see how these drugs could be ineffective for some people. What good is an ssri if there is no serotonin to boost.

Im convinced that what happend to me is I imbalanced my self with alcohol then went to a quack shrink who made matters much worse with benzos. (Im starting to wonder if this is what protracted benzo withdrawal is about). Once I got off my serotonin was so low that I could not sleep(for the first 1 year) then when I could sleep Im sure it was not deep healthy, replenishing sleep. I tried ssris but they only agitated me and disturbed my sleep which sent me backwards. Its taken me 3 years but my sleep is now so deep that an atomic bomb cant wake me up. I sleep a full 10 hours and wake up feeling energized. I no longer suffer from anxiety and depression and today I woke up dp/dr free.

Joe

 

[bat]

i'm really pleased to hear that joe

 

[dakotajo]

Hi pdr,

Thanks! I appreciate it!

 

[Kelson12]

Joe,

Sounds like your DP/Anxiety/Depression is related to mine. I too think I got mine from way too much alcohol. But I still have drank up until a little less than a month ago. I also am back on Zoloft. I just feel like I need something to help me with my depression.

I went med free from August-December and didn't see much of a change, though I was still drinking. I have vowed to stop any drinking and stay clean. I have vowed! My recent battle with this depression and DP is so bad right now, I don't see how I have any choice but to stay away from alcohol. As far as the Zoloft. It did really seem to help me the last time I was on it. I was feeling pretty much Depression/DP free from May-August when I was on Zoloft. But then I went off of it and slowly started to get worse again.

You don't drink anymore do you? When was the last time you drank alcohol?

Take care.

Kelson

 

[dakotajo]

Hi Kelson,

I havent had a drop of alcohol in over 3 years. I also quit caffeine and aspartame at the same time. Alcohol is what started the nightmare but the drug that really did me in tho was the klonopin.

If the zoloft is helping you then Id definitely stay on it. For me it just seemed that ssris worked a little in the beginning but just eventually caused me increased agitation and screwed up my sleep.

As an experiment, you might want to quit the alcohol all together and just see how you feel. I dont know if theres anything to it, but I read somewhere that 1 beer mildly alters your brain chemistry for up to 3 months. If you quit, it may take several weeks or months before you see any sort of change.

 

[Kelson12]

Joe,

Thanks for the reply. Oh I am definitely done with alcohol. I did hear that about alcohol remaining in your system for a while and messing with your brain chemistry. Besides a small champagne toast on NY Eve, I haven't touched alcohol in 4 weeks.
I am gonna try the Zoloft and see what it does. I am just losing hope that this will ever go away for good. It is controlling my life. There is not a second that I am awake where I am not thinking about how I feel, etc. It feels like my mind has taken over and I have no control over it.

Also, as far as sleep. I did get a sleep study done in the summer of 2003. Nothing out of the ordinary. Though I ALWAYS am dreaming. And this weekend got 10 hours of sleep both nights and during the week usually get about 7-8 and still am so sleepy at work. I hate it so much.

I just want out of this hell trap, because I don't wanna live my life like this anymore.

Kelson

 

[dakotajo]

Hey Kelson,

Just hang on. Sounds like youre on the right track. Give the ssri a trial. If it worked before it should work again. Keep in mind your dreaming will become intensely vivid when you are on this class of drug. Its a common side effect. Good luck.

Joe

 

[Kelson12]

Joe,

Thanks. I just feel like I am hangin by the thinnest thread ever.

I just can't stop thinking about feeling detached. Like when I am watching TV, I wonder how the people can do what they can do, cause I feel so horrible. Almost like "How can they go about doing all that? Don't they feel detached?" It sucks.

I can't walk without thinking about being detached. It sucks. This is the most horrible thing ever.

Kelson

 

[Guest]

I take melatonin supplements everyday, and i was on a fairly reasonable schedule. I didn't feel any ill effects either. I just realized I must take every supplement known to man at this point...and i'm going to have to add some yohimbe to that list after zoloft kills my weiner. Too bad those pills are 300 miles away and my sleep patterns are way out of wack again.

DHEA, Omega 3, Vitamin C & E, Centrum Multi, Melatonin, And some anti-oxidant i can't think of right now.

 

[stickdude]

Joe,

Thanks. I just feel like I am hangin by the thinnest thread ever.

I just can't stop thinking about feeling detached. Like when I am watching TV, I wonder how the people can do what they can do, cause I feel so horrible. Almost like "How can they go about doing all that? Don't they feel detached?" It sucks.

I can't walk without thinking about being detached. It sucks. This is the most horrible thing ever.

Kelson

i think this all the time, it's crazy. makes me feel a little less human.

As an experiment, you might want to quit the alcohol all together and just see how you feel. I dont know if theres anything to it, but I read somewhere that 1 beer mildly alters your brain chemistry for up to 3 months. If you quit, it may take several weeks or months before you see any sort of change.

i will be sure to control my alcohol intake after reading this post, which is really hard, because of just how normal i feel on it. also, i'll try to get better sleep. i usually feel a little less dp/dp after i wake up. as night comes, it gets worser though.