Antidepressants and sleep issues, is this a common side effect?

[Picklingwalnuts]

Despite suffering from anxiety, panic, ocd and depression for most of my life I am only now, at 52 about to start AD's and I am terrified.

I have put off taking them due to the fact that I suffer from IBS and gut issues and after reading diarrhoea and nausea is a common side effect I just could not afford for my digestive problems to worsen.

TBH, I am still afraid of this as a side effect as I suffer from gut issues every day and it has really taken it's toll on my work and social life (I had to give up work 6 months ago due to my daily gut distress, endometriosis issues and adhd which has become unbearable since being in perimenopause). I tried HRT but it made my endo worse.

Long story short but since all the above and caring for my mum with Alzheimer's I am at the worst I have ever been with my mental and physical health. I spend most days with anxiety, panic and very low mood.

My only joy in life right now is getting to the evening and going to bed, it is the only time I feel truly relaxed and at ease and luckily I sleep really well (with the help of the calm app), probably because I am exhausted every day.

So I have Escitalopram to try. It's only 5mg and GP says I could even cut them in half and go in really low and slow but I am really apprehensive that it will mess with my sleep as I keep reading AD's affect sleep patterns. My sister has been on Sertaline for a few years and has had awful sleep since then. I really can not function well if I don't get at least 7 hours of sleep in.

Has anyone had their sleep disrupted by their antidepressant and how did you overcome that.

This happened to me with sertraline but didn’t happen with other kinds I took eg Prozac. Talk to your doc about different kinds or maybe ask for melatonin to go with alongside if they affect your sleep. It’s been a lifesaver for me.

Hi Op,

Sorry you are struggling! I know both IBS and depression are awful. It’s horrible having to juggle everything.

The good news is if the AD side effects are too much you can stop taking them and it should quickly settle. That goes for the IBS symptoms and any insomnia.

The best advice for the insomnia is to take the pills in the the morning not at night. You should be able to sleep like normal.

As the doctor said - start really slowly and build up over time. That should help with the IBS.

Good luck!

I tried five different ones including Escitalopram. Eventually the GP put me on Mirtazapine which on a low dose, is known to help you sleep. It works for me. Some people report weight gain but I’m not affected by that.

I’m on Mirtazapine for depression, which makes me sleep like a baby. The downsides are increased appetite, and dry mouth, which has damaged my teeth enamel. Swings and roundabouts!

I will say I also took mirtazapine and it didn’t make me any more sleepy or awake, but didn’t help my depression either

Thank you. I will try them and see how it goes.

As you say Squiggles23, if they don't suit me I can always stop taking them.

The nausea generally is short lived with most people within the first week or two. It's just whilst your body is trying to work out if you are trying to poison it or not.
Some drugs can make it harder to get to sleep and other make you sleep more. If something makes it harder to get to sleep usually you can switch to taking it in the morning when it will have less impact on your sleep and obviously sedating ones at night.
I've been on quite a lot of antidepressants and only twice have I had the nausea and it was for 3 days. The second time it was about 5 days but went when I switched from taking it in the morning to night time and it went the next day completely.
I have by default taken medication at night since then and haven't had the same nausea when starting medication.