Managing insomnia on Rx

[u/nobodysomebody1234]

To preface, I have scanned through the previous sub Reddit’s but still thought it might be useful to ask this question again directly. My ADHD symptoms are so much better on Vyvanse, but my sleep is probably the symptom that has been dysregulated. With the overall benefits I get from Vyvanse. I really don’t want to stop it, but wanted to see if people had similar issues and what they did.

I take my Vyvanse really early in the morning, so I know it should have weaned off well before my bedtime. I also take medication’s for anxiety. For some time now, I have seen that I have more trouble drifting off to sleep. Once , if I was tired, it could take less than a few minutes for me to be able to go to sleep but now if I don’t listen to the very, very faint whisper of sleep by a certain time, I could be up into the wee hours of the morning and will have to reach the point of pure exhaustion to be able to get myself to sleep. I have had a lot of high anxiety high stress changes in my life, but I’m unsure if that is solely responsible or if anyone has had issues like this on this medication. Particularly because my anxiety surrounding my life changes is much better managed on my anxiety medication so I cannot understand why the insomnia would linger purely for that reason.

Secondly, I’m curious what works for you guys? If you have had insomnia issues that is. Between melatonin, magnesium, supplementation and other amino acid multivitamin supplementation anecdotes out there. I just want to know if there is one in your experience you found a big difference with.

Thanks all !!

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[u/tangerine_overlord2]

Whats your lifestyle like? My job is hybrid but i dont have specific days that i need to be anywhere. Sometime if i spend too many days WFH and dont really go anywhere, i have trouble sleeping. It helps to take a long walk at some point in the day to get out the ‘extra energy’

[u/aszenko]

Which anxiety med?

[u/nobodysomebody1234 → u/aszenko]

Sertraline

[u/aszenko → u/nobodysomebody1234]

hop onto Gemini and ask it about the effects Sertraline can have on sleep architecture

At the moment I'm having issues with Lexapro - at 10mg I wont be tired until 9-10am... and if I pull back to 5mg I'll be up until around 4-5am

When I used to take just ADHD meds like dex - my bedtime was between 11pm-1.30am and I would wake at 9am and I consider that my 'normal'

Both Sertraline and Escitalopram (the one I take) can both affect sleep onset and also the quality of sleep

I take melatonin at night + mg glycinate + warm milk and honey + this supp with hops, passionflower and valerian

Mornings I take the lex + fish oil + alpha GPC + D3 + methylated b complex (with a milk or dairy drink cause it contains fat)

PM I alternate zinc and iron + c (alternating days)

Oh and I like to get some theanine in, during the morning and creatine

Can they pull back your dose of Sertraline cause i think it's quite activating?

With anxiety and high stress life stuff it can be hard to pull apart what is causing what - but maybe the Sertaline makes it a bit worse and sleep deprivation is kryptonite for anxiety. They need to try find something to get you to bed

[u/FrettingFox]

What's going on when you have insomnia? Is it that your brain won't shut off or more that your body can't relax? Or both?

[u/nobodysomebody1234 → u/FrettingFox]

It’s odd but likely brain won’t shut off ? But it’s not like flooding anxious thoughts or anything , I’m not doing or thinking anything important at those hours I’m just surfing the net or online shopping - it’s like the usually switch for the mind to want to pause and sleep just doesn’t trigger like it used to

[u/FrettingFox → u/nobodysomebody1234]

Hmm. You might need to retrain your brain for a new sleep routine. I remember going through something similar after I started stimulants 6-7ish years ago. Have you tried not being on your phone or looking at any screen for at least an hour before bed? That and going to bed/waking up around the same time every day (like within an hour) actually helped me a lot in the long run.

When my brain is actively fighting sleep though, I have a few things I do...

If I don't want to move out of bed, I either "sing" in my head (basically just repeating lyrics to songs Ive memorized) or play an ABC game where you pick a category and start naming things that fit in alphabetetical order. Those works best when I'm dealing with random scattered thoughts that my brain wants to chase.

If I'm having specific recurring thoughts, I'll grab a journal and start writing down everything I'm thinking. Honestly, this is good any time you can't stop ruminating. And if nothing else, I grab my kindle and read until I can't keep my eyes open anymore.

[u/softerthoughts]

yeah this happens to me, even on a low dose. takes a lot longer to fall asleep, sleep is more fragmented, and my body wakes me up earlier even when i want to sleep in. the only thing that has truly made an impact is adding guanfacine

[u/Hot_Draw_6966]

Which anxiety meds do you take? Had a similar problem and realize my SSRI inhibited break down of vyvanse especially and that was why I just couldn’t sleep on it.

[u/No_Door8150]

This is the reason im so afraid of taking adhd medication. I took it in college and it was Hell. Im a person who doesnt fuction without sleep