Real or psychosomatic or chance?

[Rajah]

I think probably psychosomatic, but I may be wrong.

As I told y'all earlier, I've been taking a low dose of nortriptyline for a couple of years now to help me sleep. I've noticed that even though it's the minimum dose available, it's helped me out with some minor depression symptoms as well in the past. I noticed that because I've had to come off of it for a few weeks for allergy testing and noticed an absolute increase in depression symptoms I didn't even know I'd had. Symptoms that went away after resuming the medication.

Talked to the Dr, she agreed with trying to double it, once in the morning and once in the evening. So this morning, I took one.

I did have a little bit of a headache for half the morning, but that's gone now. And I seem more "mellow" (in a good way) today. I don't think it's really possible to be having an effect that early, is it? Or is it possibly helping already after just one in the morning since I'm already on the medication?

Just curious. Because I notice a definite difference today.

 

[DemonLlama]

I did a quick search of the drug, and it takes a few weeks from initial dosage to reach full effect. However, if you've been taking it already, then I think the larger dose would have an immediate effect. With all the stress, I don't think you can be experiencing a true placebo effect, so I think the drug is doing its job. Enjoy the difference!

 

[WDWAurora]

My guess would be a large part of it, at least right now, is the placebo effect. You were pretty sure it would help, and you convinced yourself it would, so it helped. The placebo effect is not a bad thing in many many ways! I think it's great that the medicine is helping you, after reading your posts you definitely deserve some relief. Good luck continuing on the medication.

 

[minniepumpernickel]

Ugh, I'm going to jump in here, don't know if I should!

This is jut my opinion, and by no means is it a professional opinion.

I don't like the sleep aids, because they become addictive. Why have you been taking it for a year? You don't mean that you are taking it every night, do you?

If you suffer from clinical depression get a proper diagnosis. They will probably prescribe the right antidepressent. I like lexapro.

I also have no idea what your life situation is like. It helps to see someone really good.

good luck!

 

[Rajah]

It's not a sleep aid in the usual sense -- not one of those that puts you to sleep that you see advertised on TV, nor an over-the-counter thing. Instead, what this does, is relieves the stresses of the day and allows my mind to slow down enough so that I can relax and go to sleep. Before I started taking it, I'd lie awake for 2 hours or more every night running through the events of the day, worrying about anything I could worry about, etc, and I would usually have bad stressful dreams, sleep tense (ie: hands clenched in fists *every* night), and wake up stiff and sore and unrested. Since I started taking it (which, yes, is nightly) I very rarely have to wait 30 minutes once I head to bed before I'm able to slow down enough to sleep. At the same time, this doesn't *make* me sleepy. If I want to stay awake, I have absolutely no trouble doing so with the nortriptyline. It's made a huge difference in my outlook, energy levels, attitude, and ability to sleep.

And what do you mean by being "clinically diagnosed"? If the doctor has prescribed this specifically for the stuff I mentioned above, what more do you need to be "clinically diagnosed"? This isn't just me randomly taking something, it's a *prescribed* medicine that is commonly used at the lowest dosage for the reasons I've been taking it. So it's under Dr supervision, and not only the one doctor, but when I've mentioned it to 2 other doctors and the amount and why, they agreed with it. What more do you want?

BTW -- this has not been addictive that I've seen. The closest I've experienced to "withdrawl" during the 3 times I've had to stop taking it for 2 months at a time was having bad nightmares *one* night on *one* instance. That may or may not have been related. Other than that, I just notice that my sleep levels go back to what they *used* to be for a few weeks, and I become more likely to let things upset me. Which, again, was what I was doing *before* taking this.