Doxepin and Amitryptyline

[[dw...]]

Six weeks and counting after the end of my taper, but it's rough  . I got less than 3 hours of sleep last night, which isn't unusual. So I've been up bright and early re-reading the Ashton manual. She states that small doses of the tricyclic antidepressants like Doxepin and Amitryptyline can help sleep. Does anyone have any experience with this? Does it work? If so, any recommendations on dosage and length of use? I would give anything to wake up refreshed and hit the ground running.

[[el...]]

Hi Dwakey,

 

I don't know much about trycyclics, and def couldn't give you a dosage recommendation. I would recommend against adding AD's to your post taper though, if it is just for insomnia. You are freshly off and it's not surprising you have insomnia! I had it too. It will be so much better for you in the long run if you can just grin and bear it for a while longer. There are otc things you can take on occasion, when things get too dicey. Most of them should only be taken for a few days at a time, to give your body a break from persistant insomnia. Other things like calms forte and chamomile can help too, though a bit milder.

otc antihistamines like benadry and unisom work well, but lose effectiveness pretty quickly in most cases. 

It will pass soon, if you can just be patient for a little while longer. The worst thing you can do is start worrying about it too much. That will set you up for a vicious cycle.   

[[dw...]]

Thanks for the info. I think I might have mild depression, but I'm not 100% sure. It's quite possible that I'm confusing depression with non-existent activation energy from such a lack of sleep. Just dragging all day, bags under the eyes and all too. Benedryl helped to sleep for a bit, and so did melatonin, but they don't anymore. Anyway, I was thinking of seeing my doc this week about the tri-cyclics, but I'm just going to stick with the plan now. Thanks for the encouraging words, it's what I needed to hear. I trust that this is all going to be worth it.

[[sl...]]

if you can rotate between unisom and dramamine those are two over the counter options, along with benadrly I was able to rotate between these otc's for many months.

[[lo...]]

When I talked to my psch last week he said Doxepin works well for sleep problems and it takes a while to loose its effectiveness as a sleep aid.  I took it for 3 months at a dosage of 50 mg and it really kept me from having to increase my dosage of benzos for sleep.  I'm not recommending you use them, but it is an option.  If you can get by on 3 hours of sleep, I'd stay away from any more drugs that you'll eventually want to wean yourself off.

[[sp...]]

I agree - if you can get by without stick with it but if get into hot water I have found amitriptylene has worked for me.  At 20 months off I was still have insomnia periods and hit a really bad patch and had no sleep for 5 nights in a row (and days).  Was a mess - doc started me on 10 mg amitrip and slept well since then.  Just need to lower slowly later on.  Been using a few months now and when hyped up with adrenaline flowing can take a while to go to sleep but stay there and if wake can get back to sleep.  Key is to take aroud 7/7.30pm so not tired next day.  He says post benzo need no more than 10mg,  According to tranx services here in nz they advise many people who are really suffering to use 10-20mg, with slow taper later.

Good luck - hold out if you can, but it can be beneficial if gets too much.

Spring xx

[[st...]]

I've taken 5mg Amitryptyline (Elavil) an hour before bed for years to treat a sleep disorder caused by a CNS Lyme infection.  Started after an overnight sleep study showed I was cycling rapidly and coming nearly awake 12 times a night.  During my Klonopin taper I increased it to 10 mg.  It is moderately sedating and improves sleep quality (increases deep stage sleep).  These doses are much lower than what is used to treat depression and I've never had the typical side effects that are common at higher doses (grogginess, weight gain, dry mouth).  My impression is that it is a useful sleep aid with little downside.  The same tiny dose  (half the smallest pill) is still effective for me after more than 10 years.

[[st...]]

Hi dwakey,

 

Just remember that decreased energy/fatigue is also a w/d symptom and i am sure lack of sleep aggrevates this issue.  I drank chamomille tea at night and did not nap during the day.

 

Patty  xo

[[dg...]]

Hi.  I tried amitryptalyine 20mg last night.  It did not help me sleep, but I felt nautious and a little dizzy.  Have people found that these side effects dissipate after a few days?

 

David

[[ar...]]

Hello ,I took doxepin ( sinequan was the generic name ) a  long time ago  in the eighties ,for a few months and met people who had been on them for years .They were the group of drugs that were the goer at the time and, yes it did help with sleep a lot, I could drop off to sleep easily, and stay asleep. . However this drug had other unpleasant side effects such as a dry mouth ,loss of libido and a flattening feeling /not so "over reacting' to everthing. It did help me to cope better at the time .

 

Personally ,I want to be  drug free , having just had  xanax withdrawal symptoms recently that I do not want to repeat .... 

[[sp...]]

David - I think youll find that it was becos you took 20mg in one hit straight away.  I took 5 mg for 3 nights then 10mg and left for some time b4 thought of increasing again as builds up in system.  Try this and give it sometime.  You might find you only need 10 mg.

Spring