CF Chat Groups and Transplant Chat Groups, Sleeping pills

CF Chat Groups and Transplant Chat Groups Online, Sleeping Pills

 

    Through AOL, I was able to find groups dedicated to CF. I made a lot of close friends and was glad to have other people to talk to about my experiences. I quickly found that many of the people I talked to were also depressed. Not only that, they tended to have insomnia and needed to take sleeping pills, like I did. I would later find out that it was common for people with Cystic Fibrosis to have a disrupted circadian rhythm. I was put on many different sleeping pills over the years, but the one I had most trouble with was Ambien. Some of the people I was talking to in the CF groups also took Ambien. It seemed to work for me at first. I would take it, hop into bed, and soon after I would fall asleep. After some time, it just made me feel euphoric and not very tired. I would write lots of emails to people, at night while under this influence. I would talk to people on the phone as well and fall asleep while talking. I gained a lot of weight as I would eat throughout the night like a zombie, often finding random pieces of food in my bed or in the kitchen the next morning. The combination of antidepressants and Ambien completely changed my personality and behaviors. I felt out of control. On top of all that, I was also drinking alcohol at this time to escape from my daily life. This only further amplified my problems. Again, I noticed other CFers also had a problem with drinking. I would keep in touch with many of the CF friends I made over the years but sadly, a large amount of these people would pass on. That was the hard part about getting close to people with CF. I continued making new CF friends and later found it quite helpful to join lung transplant groups as well, after I received my lungs. I had many questions and found it helpful to consult with others who had gone through similar experiences. CF before a transplant is a much different life than CF after a transplant. So, I was grateful to have both groups for the different phases of my life. I received a lot of amazing advice and learned about the most recent treatments and studies. I eventually would withdraw from these groups too after many people I got close to would pass away. I just couldn’t emotionally handle it. I eventually stopped drinking before getting my transplant, and I eventually got off of Ambien, all sleeping pills, and stopped taking antidepressants, some time after my transplant. Several years ago I started taking an antipsychotic and an antidepressant together which prevents me from getting hypo-mania and helps me sleep.