The experiment
Messing with the medication dosage and timing this weekend didn’t go off like I’d hoped. The plan was to leverage the sleepiness the Cymbalta gave me during the day, and try to do without the the meds I’d been taking at bedtime.
Friday night I took only the 60mg of Cymbalta. I was awake until god knows when and when sleep did come, it was brittle, too short and completely unsatisfying.
Saturday was much the same, however three hours after turning in, I took 25mg of trazodone and headed for the couch. End result was the same, although I slept until mid-morning Sunday. And the fibromyalgia pain hovered around the edges of perception.
Sunday night I tried the melatonin instead. I didn’t get to sleep any earlier, but it was somewhat less brittle. Before finally nodding off, restless legs sent me to the couch. Mid-morning Monday I awoke with tons of fibromyalgia pain and was beginning to feel all dragged-out from three nights of unsatisfying sleep.
Monday night I went for both the traz and the melatonin right from the outset. While I fell asleep in much less time, the brittleness remained and I awoke several times. I got up at nearly noon finding myself on the couch and wondering how I’d ended up there. Fibromyalgia pain was present, but retreating.
Last night, I said fuck it. I didn’t take the Cymbalta, took the traz and melatonin and didn’t even bother with the bed, since the covers were already here on the couch and this is where I’ve been ending up anyway.
Boom. Goner right away, slept right through to mid-morning, awakening to moaning of the female persuasion and pre-recorded variety seeping through the wall from next door. Ugh. The choice seems to be either sex or Sex Pistols, and I’m leaning towards the latter.
I can’t tell how much of this morning’s pain is due to fibromyalgia and how much is due overuse. I walked home from work last night, the first time in months, and the snow and ice made for real tough going. I was sore before I was halfway home. I apparently developed “runner’s high” and felt really good, although with lots of muscle pain, when I got home.
Then my body went into full revolt. I wasn’t home five minutes before my little bunghole started to spasm. In very short order I decided to take some of the IBS meds before the spasm spread. It did so anyway, working its way up to the colon before the meds could kick in. Very strange for it to come on backwards like that.
I’m just waiting for the Cymbalta to kick in this morning to see what happens then. Meanwhile, the ADD seems to remain in control and, after clearing my head with several hours of waking up and a good, long, hot shower, the depression seems to remain controlled too. So there is that.
Update: Just spent ten minutes on the phone reporting this to my psychiatrist. He knew that this is exactly what would happen but let me learn it for myself anyway. Damn! I like this guy.
