Haven’t been able to sleep for over three months due to stress, dr wants me to try antidepressants but side effects of them say can cause insomnia …

[GingerKittenTail]

Tried zopiclone with mixed reviews
worked a couple of times and other times still haven’t slept while taking a zopiclone
then felt worse

not sure I’m depressed
I know I’m sleep deprived and struggling to function with it now

Definitely see if you can try mirtazapine rather than sertraline. More likely to help you sleep, although sertraline is good for anxiety so if that's the cause of the issue you might find it helpful.

Mirtazapine can make you gain weight, I've put on 4 stone & the sleep effect no longer works.

Venlafaxine is good for depression and anxiety.

Thanks for taking the time to try and advise me
I feel like I might go a bit insane if this goes on much longer

How old are you op? Have you always had sleep issues. ?

I reached the opposite conclusion. They don't solve the problem.

If your interested in a more natural option, pistachio nuts (naturally contain melatonin) and camomile tea is a combination that's helped my sleep.

Mid 40s and have always slept ok before

yeah I woild
try other food items

Sadly I've found nothing really works
I take mirtazapine and nortripiline nightly and sometimes have to add zopiclone and phenegan and I still can't get more than 3 hrs sleep . It's brutal .
I've had chronic insomnia since I was a child and I think I've tried everything apart from melatonin ( Gp won't give it to me , I'm too young apparently)
I sleep on average 5 hrs night normally- which I can cope with
But halve that for too long and I struggle

I had this recently never had a problem sleeping, quite the opposite, but it hit me out of the blue. I had many nights of no sleep at all it was horrendous. Tried all the sleep aids, zopliclone worked sometimes, Sertraline made it worse for me. I am late 40s and peri menopausal, started HRT 3 weeks ago and now I'm back to sleeping ok. Could be hormone related for you.

I'd second thinking about whether it could be the perimenopause - anxiety and sleep issues were both symptoms for me. HRT has sorted them as well as knee pain that I had no idea could be a symptom

Mid forties is the beginning of peri menopause for many many women. Do some reading up on it op it may help you understand where your sudden anxiety and insomnia is coming from.

I didn’t sleep properly for weeks on antidepressants, made me kind of manic… Saying that I know people who were just fine on them, it depends on your brain chemistry and they affect people differently. Only way to know if give them a try…

Yeah it could be peri meno as well

It is usually the case where you have to try different options to see if they work for you.

I have never slept properly but thought my sleep routine was normal until recently (ds was diagnosed with ME/CFS and looking at his sleep was part of the treatment and this showed me I was not a good sleeper) and I was diagnosed with depression over 20 years ago. A few months ago my sleeping went much worse and I ended up consulting with my (very nive, very good and understanding) Dr, as to top it all off I suddenly developed bad anxiety. The first thing she wanted to do was try to help with my sleeping. Options were sleeping tablets or anti-depressants, and she wanted to avoid sleeping tablets because of possible addiction.

Anyway, I agreed to try anti-depressants that were well-known for helping with sleep so went on Mirtazapine, unfortunately the sleep went worse and I started having some of the worse side-effects (think self harm and suicidal thoughts) so I changed to Sertraline. They help a little and I'm giving them a chance longer term to see what they can do for me as I am not having bad side-effects. A lot of people seem to be helped by Mirtazapine, but I wasn't; I am helped by Sertraline, but others aren't.

There are many options out there, it's a case of finding out what works for you.

Sertraline knocked me out for about a week when I started it.

Sertraline worked for me..awful insomnia with post natal depression. I got night sweats but did sleep.

Could be perimenopause. I can't av HRT BP to high so bin given Bisopranol a beta blocker. Nightmare and thing is if you drink you can't drink again with none of these meds

I've taken loads of antidepressants over the years, and have always drank. Most of them just say to be cautious. Alcohol generally has a depressant effect which is why it's to be avoided in excess.

Mirtazipine would be an option OP. It makes you sleepy.

Melatonin? You can buy biovea ones online, delivery takes about 10 days I think as they come from America - I bought some as back up as my DD has them on prescription but didn’t want to risk running out,

I’ve taken a 10mg one and was asleep within half an hour. It’s naturally produced in your body anyway, so no hangover feeling the next day

Have you had your thyroid levels checked? My first symptom was terrible insomnia and sleeping tablets didn't work then I was given antidepressants. 9 months on finally was diagnosed with an overactive thyroid and I can finally sleep again

Second all the recommendations for mirtazapine. I had bad anxiety and depression. Tried sertraline and a few others and still had bad insomnia. Started on mirtazapine and sleep so well on it. Take it at bedtime, asleep within half an hour

I second the melatonin from Biovea. Try 2 or 5 mg gummies. My DS has melatonin prescribed for ADHD, and I take them sometimes. They work.

I would definitely start to look at HRT if you are mid forties. It came on me like a freight train at about 46 and I didn’t clock what was going on for a while. Look on the Newson clinic ‘balance’ app and you can plug in all your symptoms. Loads of advice on there and the meno boards here too to arm yourself with for a visit to the GP

You say you drink on AD this is a beta blocker. Bit scary to do that tho in it.
Mitzapine is good helps with allergies as well I didn't AV none when taking it