Sleeping Pills Advice?

[Wolfears]

Hi... I'm currently going through complete hell as I'm not sleeping.
Was prescribed amitriptyline (I take 2x 10mg pills) which works sometimes, but about one out of 3 attempts.

Was also prescribed Trazodone 50mg which did not work for me at all, although I admit I only tried it once.

Now my doctor wants me to take both at the same time...I searched the net and generally it seems to be a bad idea...I don't trust his judgement...even the pharmacist said it's kind of unusual, but yesterday I took my usual 20mg of Amitriptyline and had pretty much a 10 hour anxiety attack as I was scared of not being able to sleep.

I need some advice from the experienced sleeping pill users here...I'm pretty much desperate at this point...please help, any advice would be appreciated.

I'm about 180 lbs, 44 years old and no other problems...before this nightmare I would hesitate to take even Advil as I don't like prescription meds and to be honest they scare me.

 

[BobDigi]

I'm not even gonna get into advising on prescription medcation as I am a window cleaner, so nowhere near medically trained.
But have you tried the sleep hygeine techniques such as no TV before bed, cool temperature room, only getting into bed for sleep and reading for an hour etc?
I've always used nytol (I live in the UK) for a few nights when I'm having trouble with sleep.
Sorry if my advise sounds trivial, but I can't advise on medication. It's all I can recommend!
If you are having anxiety about not sleeping, you are probably caught in a vicious cycle. What about not trying to sleep and just stay awake untill you just drop off.
Sorry if I haven't been much help! I sense I haven't lol.

 

[Wolfears]

I'm not even gonna get into advising on prescription medcation as I am a window cleaner, so nowhere near medically trained.
But have you tried the sleep hygeine techniques such as no TV before bed, cool temperature room, only getting into bed for sleep and reading for an hour etc?
I've always used nytol (I live in the UK) for a few nights when I'm having trouble with sleep.
Sorry if my advise sounds trivial, but I can't advise on medication. It's all I can recommend!
If you are having anxiety about not sleeping, you are probably caught in a vicious cycle. What about not trying to sleep and just stay awake untill you just drop off.
Sorry if I haven't been much help! I sense I haven't lol.

Yes I already do that and more...drink nighttime herbal tea blend, walk a bit, than do some reading, even use some essential oils such as lavander etc..
My sleep hygiene is pretty tight but its not doing much for me.

 

[Jack Barnes]

Benadryl does the trick for me when anxiety is keeping me up. I refuse to take the prescription stuff due to the side effects. 1 mg melatonin at the same time every night also helps tremendously.

 

[glynis]

For sleeping problems long term a low antidepressant is best so not hooked on sleeping pills.
Amitryptaline works great and 20mg still has improvement to be increased so see your doctor to talk about it and im sure he or she will be happy to increase it.
Love glynis

 

[David S]

I go on and off with Imovane. It works fine for me.

 

[hans799]

Another antidepressant with sedative effect that's often recommended on these forums is mirtazapine (usual brand name is Remeron). It's an interesting medicine where lower doses (7.5mg, 15mg) promote sleep while higher doses (45mg) don't, so make sure you take a low dose. A friend of mine has been taking it for years now for his anxiety-induced chronic insomnia and it's still working for him with few side effects. Do a search for mirtazapine on the forum.

 

[Wolfears]

Another antidepressant with sedative effect that's often recommended on these forums is mirtazapine (usual brand name is Remeron). It's an interesting medicine where lower doses (7.5mg, 15mg) promote sleep while higher doses (45mg) don't, so make sure you take a low dose. A friend of mine has been taking it for years now for his anxiety-induced chronic insomnia and it's still working for him with few side effects. Do a search for mirtazapine on the forum.

Thank you Hans...I'm off the pills now thanx god.
At the time it was a matter of survival for me, but I managed to switch to natural alternatives and I don't ever want to look back or go down that road again.
To be honest I'm not sure what was worse to me.. the T, or taking poison pills that scare me to death.