Question:
What drugs work for chronic sleep disorders? I am going through withdrawal
on Klonapin. Is there one with not many side effects?
Over the counter pills keep me wide awake. I am also on 20 mg Prozac a day
for depression and anxiety. I do not sleep much at all. I am now going to
a sleep doctor at UCI Medical Center. I am filling out a nightly sleep
chart but not sleeping. I will have more sessions in two weeks.
Answer:
You really need to get a diagnosis before you can decide what treatment
to try. For example, the treatments for Narcolepsy will generably be
completely wrong for someone with Restless Leg Syndrome. On the other
hand, Obstructive Sleep Apnea is generally treated mechanically rather
than with medication.
You can't really start treatment until you know what it is you are
trying to treat....
You can try checking out the American Sleep Disorders Association
web site at http://www.asda.org/
Mongo will also probably respond with his gigantic list of sleep
related web sites.
Here is a collection of sleep and sleep-disorder links that I have selected
from many
that I have seen because I think these are very useful for someone who is
starting to
look for information about sleep disorders. Section A is general
information that gives
an overview of various sleep disorders. Section B is about sleep apnea.
Section C is
about narcolepsy. Section D is about sleep related movement disorders, such
as restless
leg syndrome (RLS), periodic limb movement disorder (PLMD), sleep starts,
etc.
Section E is about sleep paralysis. Section F is about insomnia. Section G
is about
Delayed Sleep Phase Syndrome (DSPS). Section H is about night terrors
(pavor nocturnus),
sleep-walking, enuresis, etc.
I have severe periodic limb movement disorder. When I was first diagnosed the
sleep disorder specialist asked me if I had been on antidepressants. I told
him I had tried three, one of which was Prozac which kept me awake and made my
symptoms worse. He told me at that time that when antidepressants act in this
manner it is a sure sign of a sleep problem. I believe you should ask your
doctor if the Prozac could be causing your sleep problems.
