Good morning
I would like to turn to venlafaxine about sleep and adaptation, because it is difficult for me to understand whether my situation is still in the adaptation stage, or already a sign that the drug is not suitable for me in terms of sleep.
Currently:
- 56 days after starting venlafaxine
- Day 34 on 150 mg
- I take hydroxyzine at night
- periodically add 1 mg of melatonin
I will briefly describe the course.
From the very beginning of the therapy, the main problem was sleep:
- falling asleep for a long time,
- early awakenings,
- inability to fall asleep again,
- feeling of an "active brain" at night even when you are very tired.
At the beginning of treatment, there were awakenings around 3:00–5:00 in the morning and the inability to "fall asleep" again.
Hydroxyzine began to really help only at a dose of 100 mg. Previously, at doses of 25–75 mg, sleep was still very poor.
With 100 mg of hydroxyzine and the addition of 1 mg of melatonin, the first good nights of sleep appeared:
- 45th day from the start of treatment — sleep around 11:30 p.m. – 8:00 a.m.
- Day 46 — sleep around 11:30 p.m. – 7:30 a.m.
- Day 47 — sleep around 11:40 p.m. – 9:20 a.m.
So a full-fledged dream has appeared, which gives me hope that adaptation can continue to progress.
However, when trying to reduce hydroxyzine again to 75 mg, sleep became shallow again:
- it is difficult to fall asleep,
- early awakenings occur,
- I have the impression that the brain "activates" at night,
- Even after a few hours of sleep, I can't fall asleep again.
Especially in recent days, I notice that if during the day there was severe stress or overstimulation, then I wake up around 4:00–5:00 in the morning precisely because of the overload of thoughts and inner arousal, after which sleep becomes practically impossible.
During the day, I also can't fall asleep, even if I'm very tired.
I have the impression that my brain "does not allow" me to fall asleep.
At this stage, I am concerned that I have been taking hydroxyzine for almost 2 months now and there is still no tendency to reduce the dose.
Therefore, I would like to ask for your opinion:
does it still make sense in my situation to wait for further adaptation to venlafaxine,
Or can such a picture already indicate that the drug is not suitable for me in terms of sleep and activation of the nervous system?
I will be very grateful for your opinion and recommendations.