• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Home
  • About
  • Mental Health Resources
    • Depression Resources
  • Blog
    • Coping
    • Medication
    • Self Care
    • Stress and Anxiety
    • Unhelpful thinking
      • Coulda, Woulda, Shoulda
      • Fortune-Telling
      • Guilt and Shame
      • Time Travel
    • Sleep Issues
    • Depression
    • Covid19
    • Suicide & Self-Harm
    • Wellness Tools
      • SMART – Self Management And Recovery Training
      • WRAP (Wellness Recovery Action Plan)
      • Change Triangle
  • Contact

“I Suffer From Depression.” Here’s What I Am Learning.

End Child Anxiety
You are here: Home / Medication / I Feel That I Am Missing Something Important

I Feel That I Am Missing Something Important

March 14, 2023 by Depression Is Not My Boss Leave a Comment

Am I missing something about my medication that keeps me from waking up in the morning?

Photo by Pierre Bamin on Unsplash

Is it just the time of year, or am I beginning to descend into a depression cycle?

Can I just push through this or do I need additional resources? I know that every day is different, and I should not expect rainbows and unicorns each day. Besides, where would I keep all the unicorns? I only have 5 acres of property. Of course, this would be the least of my problems if my life was that grand. I am reminded of the goal established by SMART recovery.

My plan is to lead a balanced life with my depression.

So here it is. Once again, I am back to having trouble getting out of bed. Part of this may be due to the fact that I am not getting any solid sleep until 3 or 4 AM. So, when the alarm goes off at 6:30 or 7:00 AM, I am finally in deep sleep.

I am thinking about the changes I have made in the past month or so.

This was when my getting out of bed became a noticeable issue. I have had less than idyllic sleep for years, but this is even more invasive. My goal is to be in bed around 10 PM. And this part works most of the time. Of course, the nights I am at work until 9 PM, my bedtime is pushed back. On those nights, I often get in bed between 11 PM and 11:45 PM. After up to 30 minutes of word games and solitaire, the light goes off.

And then the waking sessions begin.

These now start about 1 ½ hours after I go to bed. So my 10 PM bedtime sees me awake at 11:30, 1 PM, 2 or 2:15 AM, and finally, I wake around 4 AM. These days, after the 4 AM wake-up, I finally fall into a deeper sleep. This last until 7 or 7:30 AM.

Now it becomes a hostage negotiation situation.

My body is holding me, hostage, as I negotiate with myself. I know what my morning to-do list looks like, and this can sometimes help sway the vote, allowing me to go ahead and get up. And I always get up to go to work. I can be up at 6 AM, to be in the building at 8 AM.

However, If I am going to work at 12 noon, there is often much snooze button pushing.

And this getting out of bed problem is recent. Or at least it hasn’t happened in the past year or so. Even if I am off, I still expect to get up between 7 AM and 7:30 AM. I take my daily Wellbutrin and then head to the kitchen to put on a pot of coffee. If the temperature has dropped overnight, I start a fire in the wood stove. I empty the dishwasher and put all the clean dishes in their designated places. Now I can take my coffee mug and look at any text messages from work.

So, the point of this exercise is to remember that I am having more and more trouble getting out of bed in the morning.

Looking at what has changed, there are two things. First, it is now daylight savings time. We sprang ahead and lost an hour that we will not get back until November. This has made the mornings bright, and the evenings are getting markedly longer. I just don’t believe that this has anything to do with my not being able to get out of bed.

This leaves me with medication.

I had dropped from 450 mg of Wellbutrin XL every morning, to 300 mg daily. My peer advocate reminded me that this medication has a ½ life. It took a few weeks for my body to get back to operating on the 300mg. In between, I had a false sense that nothing had changed.

When I realized that things had changed, I reverted back to the 450MG, with my psychiatrist’s blessing.

So, perhaps this would have explained the morning slowness. But the timing doesn’t match up to the medicine changes. There was a bit of overlap, but I am still having sleep issues and I have been fully back on the 450 mg dose for close to two weeks.

Now I am back to door number two, my new Flomax prescription.

My GP prescribed this after I had mentioned that I have been taking Saw Palmetto every day for years. This was my GP’s recommendation when I first suggested that I was slowing down. I told him that I produce as much as I did before, it just takes me a lot longer to get it all out.

He stated that there are many products on the market for this condition, so if this wasn’t working properly, he could switch me to a different prescription. The first side effect I noticed was dizziness when I stood up. It has been many years since I experienced that and now suddenly, it’s happening sometimes two or three times a day.

The addition of a morning dose of Flomax seems to coincide with the return of my sleep issues.

My GP moved his practice to be under the umbrella of a hospital group. So to reach him, I can send a private email through “my chart.” Four days into the new medication, I emailed my doctor about the side effect. And he hasn’t gotten back to me yet.

I have called a few times since then, but my timing is off, and I have not gotten a message to him.

I do not go to work until noon tomorrow. My plan is to start calling just before they open and keep calling until I speak with my doctor or his nurse. He needs to find an alternative to what I am taking. The results of the medication are wonderful. I am back to my old self.

And even if the medication isn’t related to my sleep issues, it most certainly is causing dizzy spells when I get up.

So, I will let you know after tomorrow what happens. If I cannot resolve this on the phone, I will drive to his office to get this fixed. I wonder what the length of the ½ life of this medication is.

Filed Under: Depression, Facts and myths about mental illness, Featured Home, Medication, Mental Health, My Depression, Sleep Issues, Unhelpful thinking Tagged With: depression, mental health, mental health awareness, no sleep, sleep, sleepiness, Unhelpful thinking

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

I write My Concealed Depression to create Mental Health AwarenessHello, I am Joel. I have Major Depressive Disorder.  I am genuinely determined to figure out my personal relationship with depression. With 40+ years of living with concealed depression, I write my blog to find answers. 

I once got so carried away searching for answers that I even earned a  certification in  SMART Recovery. 

https://myconcealeddepression.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/my-concealed-depression-intro.mp4

Get my latest posts, (your email is never sold or rented)

I developed a 38 Page Mental Health Tools Flipbook. Complete the Form and Get Your Free Copy Now.

Privacy Policy

Discover Self-Care, Coping Strategies, Understand Anxiety, Track your Triggers, Mood, and Sleep; Recap Therapy Sessions, and more.

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Pinterest

More to See

The startling truth about coping statements for anxiety and depression

The Startling Truth About Coping Statements For Anxiety and Depression

October 28, 2020 By Depression Is Not My Boss

My 101 Coping Strategies for Anxiety

My 101 Best Coping Statements For Anxiety and Depression

October 18, 2020 By Depression Is Not My Boss

Depression is making me gain weight or is it?

I’m Gaining Weight – Can I Blame My Depression?

March 20, 2023 By Depression Is Not My Boss

Depression has me catastrophizing instead of celebrating my CPAP results

My Depression Has Me Catastrophizing Instead of Fixing My Sleep Problem

March 19, 2023 By Depression Is Not My Boss

You Never Pay More, Yet Clicking These Links And Making a Purchase Helps Fund My Blog

PureFormulas.com-Pure Healthy Goodness, Highest-Grade Natural Supplements! Fast, Free Shipping!
Mosaic 250x250
Blog Meets Brand
Your Page Title
Best Self Improvement & Personal Development Blogs - OnToplist.com
RSS Search
sitepromotiondirectory.com latest-links

Blog posts that go back to my 5 East time almost 4 years ago

  • March 2023
  • February 2023
  • January 2023
  • December 2022
  • November 2022
  • October 2022
  • September 2022
  • July 2022
  • June 2022
  • May 2022
  • April 2022
  • March 2022
  • February 2022
  • January 2022
  • December 2021
  • November 2021
  • October 2021
  • September 2021
  • August 2021
  • July 2021
  • June 2021
  • April 2021
  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019

Footer

Contact

Email:  my.concealed.depression@gmail.com

Privacy Policy

Recent

  • I Took a Self-Care Day and I Don’t Feel Guilty
  • I’m Gaining Weight – Can I Blame My Depression?
  • My Depression Has Me Catastrophizing Instead of Fixing My Sleep Problem
  • Why Am I Having Trouble Getting Out of Bed Again?
  • I Feel That I Am Missing Something Important

Search

© Copyright 2020 · My Concealed Depression · All Rights Reserved · Designed by The Marketing Momma