12 Years of Insomnia
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12 Years of Insomnia

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Posted by THM on August 02, 2007 at 10:41:17:

Ever since my family physician first prescribed the anti-depressant Zoloft to me in 1994 for what he diagnosed as "slight chemical imbalance", I've struggled with severe bouts of insomnia. I only took the medication for about a year because I didn't like the way the medication made me feel; especially on the occasion that I had to miss a few doses due to some reason or another.

The drug was supposed to help me focus more while reducing my aggressive nature and quick temper with more emphasis on the latter, but I'm not sure any of the above were ever achieved as a result of the medication. Sure, I eventually chilled out quite a bit and brought my temper under control, but I think it had more to do with age and maturity than modern pharmacology. As for the ability to focus more on tasks at hand, I'm still working on that one.

Anyway, I slowly weaned myself off the Zoloft after about a year, but during the time I was actively taking the medication my physician also had to prescribe another drug to help with the sleep issues that seemed to result from the first drug and it worked like a charm. I called them magic triangles because of their triangular shape and their ability to render me fully unconscious within 20 minutes of consuming one tablet, but the brand name was actually Desyrel - yet another anti-depressant.

That seems to me like an awful lot of anti-depressants for one person to be taking; especially someone who's never suffered from depression their life, but hey, what do I know - I'm not a physician.

Meanwhile, even after I finally ceased taking the prescription for Zoloft, I continued taking the Desyrel because I found that I could not manage to get a good nights sleep without it. Eventually I discontinued the Desyrel as well, but that was after I turned 21 and unconsciously traded the effects of those magic little triangles for a different concoction: alcohol.

Eventually I started to settle down and the late nights of club-hopping started to slow and once again I found myself having trouble getting to sleep on my own. So, I turned to over-the-counter sleep aids and it's been a back and forth event between Sleep Gels (Diphenhydramine HCL) and 6-packs of Budweiser for the last several years. Of course, I didn't have the luxury of being able to purchase sleeping pills in China, so my level of alcohol consumption increased dramatically and eventually it became a point of contention between my wife and I. Not because I treated her like a jerk or anything, but because of the amount of money I was spending on the beer .

Needless to say, I managed to bring quite a beer belly back with me as a result of constructing those modern armies pictured in the link above and with the wife here to monitor my habits now, she's been nagging me to get back into shape (one that doesn't resemble a pear) while taking issue with my methods of acquiring a "good nights sleep". I made excuses for awhile, but eventually I had to admit that she actually had a point and now with only 20 days to go before classes resume, I'm going into detox mode in an attempt to free myself from the bonds of insomnia that have held me captive for too many years now. Four consecutive days are the longest I've ever gone without sleep. This is day Four and I've tried everything from physical exhaustion to relaxing music - I'm still awake.

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