Anxiety and obsessive thoughts and insomnia

[Brently73]

I have always suffered from anxiety and panic attacks. For 10 years I was on Luvox with pretty good results.  After ten years I started having tinnitus and visual anomalies, like while driving down the road I couldn't look at the things passing by because it started to make me feel  dizzy.  Then one night after about a week of switching manufactures for my Luvox, I rolled over in bed and it seemed everything else came a second  later. Thinking it was the Luvox, I tapered off of it over several weeks. And for a year I was on nothing while going to my ENT for test ( for possible meneiers). Had several test that came back negative. My eardrums are protruding out so he wants to cut a little hole into each ear drum. To relive the pressure. During all this I started a new job and I would lay in bed at night and have bad anxiety and panic attacks and I could not sleep . I stated taking .5 alprazolam and it helped for a little while then nothing. My dr. Started me on ambien and lunesta with little relief from either drug. The I started 100mg of trazadone with my .5 alprazolam. I started with a quarter of the trazadone .25 and quickly went all the way up to 200. And still it was a coin toss if I was going to sleep or not. So I went down to 100mg of trazadone and .5 alprazolam. Some days I sleep ok and others I don't. My anxiety isn't as bad as it was but I still struggle with it everyday. I think the trazadone has helped a little with this as my dr said it is a mild  antidepressant. My question is if I think if I get the anxiety and OCD(thoughts) under control that my sleep would return. I am thinking about starting celexa in the morning and tapering off the trazadone at night. Is this the best way to to this. I know that they are prescribed together and that there is some risk for seritonin issues. My dr said I could start it if I want to or try seraquel at night instead of the trazadone. Just looking for guidance in which I should try first thanks  

[Paxiled]

If it was a year later it wasn't the Luvox.  Just was a thought.

[Brently73]

I tapered off over several weeks. Probably too fast. But the insomnia didn't start till a year after I stopped Luvox. I started a new job and I would have high anxiety, panic attacks and obsessive thinking and that's when u started having insomnia. The panic attacks and anxiety have leased probably due to the trazadone.  But sleeping is still a coin toss. Some nights I do fine then others like last night I can get out of bed at any time. It's rough and starting to take a toll on my life and family which I do not want. I began tapering the trazadone I was taking 100mg nightly but for the last 2 nights I have only been taking 75 along with a .5 alprazolam. Just wondering how low I should go before starting the celexa. I don't want to start having the panic attacks again. So just wondering when I start the celexa. My thoughts are that the insomnia didn't start until a year after the Luvox. And because if the anxiety. I wonder if I get the right med if that will help eliminate the anxiety and obsessive thoughts and then I can have a normal sleep pattern.  

[Paxiled]

Melatonin about 1mg is right for most.  Some need .5mg, some 1.5 or 2.  The biggest mistake people make is taking too much -- it works better with less.  Wouldn't want to use Benadryl for sleep for the same reason I wouldn't take any drug for sleep other than occasionally -- you get used to it and the insomnia gets worse.  Ashwagandha might help you, might not.  It's an Indian adaptogen that works on the adrenals.  However, there's one question not answered.  How quickly did you taper off the Luvox?  This is a very hard drug to stop taking, and you were on it a long time.  Insomnia is the most common long-term withdrawal side effect when stopping antidepressants.  Did you have insomnia before going on the Luvox?  Do you have new emotional problems now you didn't have then?  That could indicate you stopped taking the Luvox too quickly for you, even though you tapered off.  New drugs seldom help alleviate withdrawal problems if that's what it is since they don't exactly replicate what the old drug worked on and what the brain is trying to recover from so it can work naturally again, and this can take a long time.  Because Luvox is the shortest half-life ssri the brain can have a hard time recovering from long-term use.  As for seroquel, this drug has a side effect of causing sleepiness, but that's not its approved use, and it was marketed illegally for all sorts of things.  It's a serious drug, and it won't solve your sleep problem though it might help temporarily.  This might not be withdrawal, but it's something to discuss with your doc and research as you decide what to do next.

[Brently73]

Tried melatonin with little success not sure how much to take. Benadryl worked for a week then stopped. Never heard of ashwagandhal.

[allmymarbles]

For sleeping why not try ashwagandha, melatonin and Benadryl?