Night time sweats/insomnia/dreams

[Guest]

Night time sweats/insomnia/dreams

Re: Night time sweats/insomnia/dreams

Rails,

I didn't start Topa until my third week of not drinking, so my early side effects were purely related to alcohol withdrawal, and my later side effects related to Topa. The BT (before Topa) side effects, beyond insomnia and night sweats, only included irritability. Crabby is probably the best word to describe it. I wasn't horrible, but I wasn't exactly the most pleasant person to be around.

My Topa-related side effects haven't been too bad. On 25 mg. and to some extent 50 mg. I battled the sleepies, but found that taking l-glutamine with my dosage really helped to counteract that. On 50 mg. the tingling of the extremities started to kick in. Nothing unpleasant, but a little persistent. As someone joked, it would be great if the tingling chose to strategically manifest itself in certain parts of the anatomy, but alas, that isn't the case. I'm now on 75 mg. and am beginning to get a little bit of what is affectionately referred to as the TopaDopa effect. I am having a little bit of trouble finding the correct words sometimes and have a little bit of trouble pulling up some names occasionally. But, I was at a political rally tonight and saw a lot of old friends (some of whom I haven't seen for a while) and did just fine, so I guess I can't be that bad off! All in all, the side effects of the drug really are very manageable. You notice them, but they are very easily dismissed.

Amy

[Guest]

Night time sweats/insomnia/dreams

Rails,

Whenever I cut back markedly, I know I will have at least four nights of amazing sweats. I just put out a small pile of sleeveless t-shirts, and change them in the night, since I have to get up to pee every couple of hours anyway! Everything in my bed is soaked. Honestly, there is no dignity! And where does all this water come from? But I think in a way this is a good thing, like the body is getting rid of things it doesn't need as it adjusts to less or no alcohol.

Also, the dreams are intense, because while drinking, your brain is deprived of REM or dream sleep. When you stop or cut back, your brain goes into dream overdrive. You may know this already-I did, too, but was rather stunned by the reality of it. My dreams are very odd, neither good nor bad, last night was something about a dinosaur chasing a newt which jumped into my mouth, and I had to pry it out. Yuck.

But anyway, my doctor today told me that our brains need a certain amount of REM sleep. When you get it, you may feel a little foggy, but if you are like me, there is a sense that a certain amount of pressure is off your brain.

I suppose it will even out, and Benadryl might indeed be helpful!

Ann

[Guest]

Night time sweats/insomnia/dreams

Ann/Amy,

Thanks for your replys, I don't fell so "loony" now. Gosh, what a ride this is. All good though. I really appreciate your feedback, I don't know what I'd do if there weren't people out there telling me this was all "normal" in our situations.

[Guest]

Night time sweats/insomnia/dreams

Hi Rails,

Other side effects are major irritability from alcohol withdrawal and sleepiness from topamax.

I am in the US. (California)

Oh, I know what you mean about having one child and managing. That is when my drinking got very bad. I just had my second child three months ago...and it's not easy. We arranged to put my two year old in preschool to make it easier though...and help my drinking issue. I know my triggers.

It's good to see you on here. What's your name?

[Guest]

Night time sweats/insomnia/dreams

Hi Jen,

This may be really stupid but all my work colleagues are out of the US and anybody can read these posts. My name is REALLY unique so I'd rather not say. Is there anyway we can contact eachother outside this message board. I'm not too familiar how it works. I can set up a temporary email account?

I would like to share more details, however don't feel really comfortable doing it here.

[Guest]

Night time sweats/insomnia/dreams

Hi Rails,

I sent a message to your ezbox. If you get it, send me one back, and I'll write more.

Jen

[Guest]

Night time sweats/insomnia/dreams

Hey Jen,

Replied to your message, did you receive it?

[Guest]

Night time sweats/insomnia/dreams

Hi there..just replied..sorry for the delay!

[Sweet Cheeks]

Night time sweats/insomnia/dreams

Hi I'm a newbie but was actually getting terrible night sweats more when I was drinking.

This is my third alcohol free day and although it took me a while to get to sleep last night I did sleep well. I'm not taking anything else at the moment, but thanks for the advice as I may do if it gets unbearable. I too have had some vivid dreams - not quite hallucinations, but I certainly woke up thinking how real they were.

My real problem is that my face is on fire - it's red all of the time and is becoming quite an embarrasment. Don't know whether it's anything to do with the drink, but has anybody had this experience? I also feel as if I'm hot inside - hard to explain, but it's mainly around the stomach area.

Any thoughts would be welcome and good luck on sticking it out guys.
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