Scared to Medicate for Insomnia or Anxiety

[piratelady]

I saw the doctor again today and told him I didn’t like the Lunesta. He prescribed trazadone as needed for sleep, again under the assumption that the other symptoms will improve. Has anyone tried that?

I’m to take that for a week and if I’ve improved sufficiently that’s that. If not his next option is clonazepam.

What do you guys think sufficient improvement looks like?

@sunshineandmoonshine, what did the prescribe for you, if you don’t mind my asking?

 

[littleoc]

I have tried trazodone, but it worked too well for me. I slept in and through alarms and such with it. But it worked pretty well besides that

Unfortunately I can’t remember much else about it. It must not have been a bad experience

 

[blackemerald1]

If not his next option is clonazepam.

^^Be aware that this drug has a fairly long half-life and can cause you to be groggy the next day. It can also cause you to feel general malaise, tiredness and unmotivated.

It is also a drug of dependence so that is worth remembering. Depends on dose, length of use and your age and general health of course.

For me a improvement is demonstrated by how I wake up. If I wake up and get up feeling refreshed or I have had a fairly good block of uninterrupted sleep for me that's a significant improvement.

I still get quite anxious about the-going-to-sleep-routine because I have that time when the lights are out, I've closed my eyes and I praying my brain will shut down and I won't freak out.

Of late body temperature is playing a huge part in my success in getting to sleep. I'm really a 'Goldilocks' sleeper now. I never used to be. The bed has to be just so, I have to be in my favourite go-to-sleep position, I cannot be too hot or too cold. And... there's more. It is quite a production really.

But if I wake up feeling refreshed THAT is success :)

 

[EveHarrington]

Lunesta works for me only if I use it every once in awhile.

Trazadone is my boyfriends go-to sleep med, but you have to have enough sleep hours or else you’ll wake up exhausted (not so with lunesta as it wears off quicker).

If your issue is actually anxiety that keeps you from sleeping, then traditional sleep meds may not work. This is the case for me, and I take an antipsychotic that kills off the end of the day anxiety so that I can sleep.

 

[ahershey]

I used to be wary of medicating. Then, I tried some out for a year. I called the meds I was on my PTSD cocktail. I took 50mil. of zoloft a day, 200 of gabapentin (two pills a day, great, best stuff), and a very small dose of blood pressure meds at night. Best sleep ever. So, I got into a great sleeping schedule that continued after I stopped taking the meds. The year of meds stabilized me. I think short term use is good.

 

[piratelady]

I’ve been taking the trazodone. I’m not taking it every day, but when I anticipate not being able to sleep.

I found I had the strangest dreams, but aside from one, I forget the dreams pretty quickly after I wake up. I had one that was a mixture of fantasy (like wizards and magic) and one of my worst traumas.

I don’t have a hangover the next day and find I can cope a tad better now that I’m sleeping. I’m still struggling immensely, but I’m without therapy for a few weeks, so I guess it’s not horrible considering.

 

[joeylittle]

I found I had the strangest dreams, but aside from one, I forget the dreams pretty quickly after I wake up.

Vivid dreaming is a known side effect. So long as it's not bothering you into your waking hours, and it's tolerable, then it's nothing to worry over.

I'm glad it's helping you out, at least for now. :)

 

[piratelady]

I’m starting to wonder if my mood is crashing so bad because if the trazodone. But the insert said it’s a concern for children and young adults, of which I’m neither.

 

[Friday]

But the insert said it’s a concern for children and young adults, of which I’m neither.

That simply means it’s more common amongst children and young adults, not that it can’t happen to anyone.

 

[piratelady]

Thanks @Friday, maybe I’ll stop taking it and see what happens.

 

[littleoc]

How’d it go?

 

[piratelady]

How’d it go?

I don’t know really. I think I’m fine now.