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One sleepless night can rapidly reverse depression for several days in mice

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Re: One sleepless night can rapidly reverse depression for several days in mice

#161

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just a side note for anyone reading: you can get an SSRI prescription from your GP (general practitioner i.e. normal doctor) you don’t need to go through a psychiatrist. This is especially true if you are at risk for withdrawal, they will want to prevent that.

any medical doctor of any specialization can legally prescribe anything. that doesn't make it a good idea. a piece of supporting evidence is that the doctor's malpractice insurance may not cover any "cowboy" prescribing tendencies.

As other comments said, GPs routinely prescribe SSRIs. Moreover, it's not remotely cowboy to ensure continuity of care arising from exigent circumstances.

Re: One sleepless night can rapidly reverse depression for several days in mice

#162
post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Tapering off very slowly (over weeks or months) will probably work better than cold turkey.

I’m just now sure how to taper off. They don’t come in smaller doses than 5mg and that’s where I’m at.

Hang on, is it working? Didn't you say you take 5mg and it's been working for years at that level? I'd rank that as a win...

Re: One sleepless night can rapidly reverse depression for several days in mice

#164

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just a side note for anyone reading: you can get an SSRI prescription from your GP (general practitioner i.e. normal doctor) you don’t need to go through a psychiatrist. This is especially true if you are at risk for withdrawal, they will want to prevent that.

any medical doctor of any specialization can legally prescribe anything. that doesn't make it a good idea. a piece of supporting evidence is that the doctor's malpractice insurance may not cover any "cowboy" prescribing tendencies.

[flagged]

Re: One sleepless night can rapidly reverse depression for several days in mice

#165
post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I went several years more or less depressed and observed this phenomenon and utilized it. Night of Kerbal Space Program and next day the world is much better. For a while. Also, a lot fuzzier. And I couldn't code very well (just good enough to do my job so everyone was happy but I could feel slipping). Therapy and SSRI:s worked much better in the end. But, for sure in a pinch it does alleviate unbearable darkness. Th…

> Therapy and SSRI:s worked much better in the end. How did you find that therapy helped you? I've started therapy a few months back and so far I can't find all that much value in it. They can't fix any of the stuff that is making me depressed, so it mostly feels like I'm mainly getting self help style advice.

I've been in therapy over six years, and also did it for a shorter spell in the early 1990s.

A few months is really the start of the relationship - it usually takes that long for most people to establish trust with their therapist. That doesn't mean you have the right therapist, but it is hard to know this early on.

Re: One sleepless night can rapidly reverse depression for several days in mice

#166
post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So I feel like you exactly identified the long term problem in the same paragraph. I learned years ago that any chemical that helps you sleep ensures that you can't sleep without it. I've used everything from thc to Benadryl to lavender and everything in between. It all had the same effects: slowly degrading effectiveness and sleeplessness without it. Pro-tip: find the source of your insomnia. Is it chemical or is it…

Yeah. I’ve tried. My problem is that 3-4 days of no sleep and I’m just about ready to sign off from this life. I’ve managed with 5mg THC pills for years. Never had to increase the dosage. I’ve never ever slept well. But back before kids it was easier to just sleep in if I had to. As best as I can tell, the cause is my adhd or related. My brain will simply. Not. Stop. Racing.

See my profile if you'd like to create a tiny support group. I have had horrifically bad insomnia for half a century. At the moment I'm having luck with 600mg gabapentin + 20mg Belsomra but that's only a couple weeks gold.

Re: One sleepless night can rapidly reverse depression for several days in mice

#167

I used to love Mondays, I would work hard during the week studying and working, then Friday I would stay up until sunrise with friends drinking or gaming. I kept this up while working in the corporate world and thought "this is what people mean by feeling refreshed" It wasn't until I met someone who bent me to be on her schedule, early to bed early to rise on the weekends, where I started feeling depressed by the end…

Same. I'm completely anhedonic by Friday when I box myself into a schedule like this, which makes enjoying the weekend feel like a chore.

Re: One sleepless night can rapidly reverse depression for several days in mice

#168
The impact of sleep restriction on depression has been known for decades (though most of the research I'm seeing is from late 2010s on [1], this link says "from the beginning of the last century [2])

However, sleep deprivation as a treatment needs to be balanced with the health impact of sleep deprivation itself.

A single night of lost sleep can have significantly detrimental impact on long-term health. Insulin response tanks, cortisol levels increase, HRV decreases, and this becomes a viscious cycle. In addition to increased beta-amyloid deposits associated with Alzheimers [3].

[1] https://www.pennmedicine.org/news/news-releases/2017/septemb... [2] https://www.minervamedica.it/en/journals/minerva-psychiatry/... [3] https://www.nih.gov/news-events/nih-research-matters/sleep-d...

Re: One sleepless night can rapidly reverse depression for several days in mice

#169

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just a side note for anyone reading: you can get an SSRI prescription from your GP (general practitioner i.e. normal doctor) you don’t need to go through a psychiatrist. This is especially true if you are at risk for withdrawal, they will want to prevent that.

any medical doctor of any specialization can legally prescribe anything. that doesn't make it a good idea. a piece of supporting evidence is that the doctor's malpractice insurance may not cover any "cowboy" prescribing tendencies.

If all you need is a refill on a prescription you’ve been taking for 10 years, how is that “cowboy” prescribing? Also, these are trained professionals with years of education we’re talking about, not some random dude off the street.
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