Posted by zeugma on January 13, 2004, at 15:42:14
In reply to Re: Insomnia with Lexapro-try trazodone » zeugma, posted by LynneDa on January 12, 2004, at 16:34:24
> Zeugma -
> Hi! Thanks for your post on Lex and sleep. I'm trying to understand how it all works. Insomnia is my only lingering side effect - I wake up 2 or 3 times per night and am wide awake between 3am & 4am. I'm afraid it's becoming a habit now!
>
> Based on what you said, if I take melatonin, will that speed up my entrance into REM sleep do you think? 3 mg of melatonin only last me til about 3 or 4am, but taking 3mg again at 3am makes it impossible for me to get up at 7am!
>
> I'm not ready to take sleeping pills yet, but wonder if I can do something with melatonin to help, since it does get me to sleep initially. Any thoughts?
>
> Thank you!
> ~ Lynne
Hi Lynne,the problem you describe is very similar to what a friend of mine experienced on Effexor. She had no problems with initial insomnia, but was constantly waking up throughout the night.
I don't know much about melatonin. Trazodone does improve sleep tremendously (it's what my friend takes) but I understand not wanting to take more drugs to fix side effects of others.
it might be a good idea to see if taking a higher dose of melatonin might keep you asleep longer. Of course, first research it to see about the safety of a higher dose, and maybe try it on the weekend where you have more 'margin for error' as far as waking up is concerned.
Best of luck,
z
poster:zeugma
thread:296733
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20040109/msgs/300276.html