Re: Advice to Help Insomnia from Lupron
From: holly (anonymous@obgyn.net)
Thu Mar 27 16:09:08 2003
i'm getting my third shot in two weeks. so far, i've had lots of hot
flashes, but they are tolerable. the insomnia really bugs me though. i
use the weekends to catch up on sleep. also i lie down for 30 minutes
right after work, no matter what. i set the alarm, so i'm not there all
evening. it does refresh me. even if i don't sleep, at least i'm
resting.
i was diagnosed with depression and OCD 3 years ago. the lack of
estrogen has really caused many problems with both. my doc raised my
zoloft dose, gave me wellbutrin, i'm seeing a counselor even. if i'm
not feeling better by next wednesday, my doc won't let me get my third
shot. he doesn't want to take any risks with my mental health. the
wellbutrin seems to be helping more than the zoloft. and the counseling
is going all right also. my counselor and my doc reminded me that i
went through "the change" in a few weeks compared to several years like
most women do. so that explains a lot of the emotions.
talk to your doc about getting addback. it's aygestin (norethindrone
acetate). it helps with the side effects. like i said, the hot flashes
are tolerable because of the aygestin.
also talk to your doc about the depression. wellbutrin actually is a
pretty good med. i felt horrible because i had to resort to meds to
help me, but they are telling me it's probably only going to last
throughout the lupron. then i probably won't need it.
i don't know if i helped or not. but i do want to encourage you.
At Thu, 27 Mar 2003, Juliette wrote:
>
>Hello...I am new to this forum. I was eagerly searching the web for
>some sort of message board of women and their experiences with endo and
>happened upon this site. I was diagnosed with endometriosis after a lap
>in December 2002 discovered Stage 4 endo. My doctor told me prior to
>the surgery that if endo was found that she would put me on Lupron. She
>said that it was a wonder drug and in her opinion one of the best drugs
>for treatment of any condition to come along in the past 50 years. I
>had read a lot of very negative things about Lupron on other web sites.
>But I figure that she is the Dr. and she knows best. And maybe she
>still does. But all I know is that this Lupron is going to drive me
>crazy, literally and figuratively. I just had my third shot at the
>beginning of March and am due for a fourth in a week or so. After the
>first shot I noticed absolutely nothing different. I thought that it
>was great and that I was one of the lucky ones who had evaded the
>dreaded side effects. Yet, some time after the 2nd shot, I began to
>have the hot flashes, and insomnia. I have not slept in over a month.
>Someone in my Dr.'s office suggested chamomile tea, valerian, and
>Benadryl. I think that I am going to overdose on Benadryl and it
>doesn't help me sleep. It just makes me feel groggy and drugged the
>next day. And Sleepytime tea and valerian do nothing to help. And now
>I am beginning to feel depressed. I suffered clinical depression a few
>years ago in college and so I know what it feels like and do not wish to
>experience it again. Also, I have memory loss, and confusion,
>irritability, anxiety, and drastic mood swings. I just started a
>demanding new job that I worked really hard to get and I don't want to
>mess it up with these emotional, physical, and mental problems. I am 26
>years old and single. I am not about to have children anytime soon. I
>am not involved in any relationship at the moment and my doctor said
>that I needed to get shopping for a man soon or else it would be too
>late to try to have kids and it may very well be too late now. I know
>this is extremely long. But I just wanted to post it in case anyone has
>any advice or just to put my experience out there. Thanks
![[ endo@obgyn.net ]](../../images/endo_at_obgyn.gif)