[BlueMoon6]

I am on lexipro 20mg. I was given ambien by my PNP and I have weird SE with it, including waking up at night. It does knock me out when I cant get to sleep, tho.
Im looking for a recommendation for a good sleep med that might work well with Lexipro. I dont sleep so well on it. I am seeing my PNP soon and she would listen to me if I requested some specific med.
Thanks-

[Aunt Donna]

Melatonin helps you to fall to sleep and you find it on the vitamin and mineral aisle in the store. Your body produces melatonin naturally, so it is safe.

[phoenix47baby]

things that have worked in the past are: trazadone/desyrel, restoril/temazepam Good luck with the PNP.

[darkrunner]

Nothing ever worked for me except Seroquel. I've heard people say some bad things about it, but for me it wasn't too bad in terms of side effects. I've been on a dose as high as 400 mg, although right now I'm on 100 mg. It still helps me to fall asleep but I'm not so groggy in the morning.

Ambien didn't work for me at all either....in fact, when I was on it I couldn't sleep at all!
Weird.....

[sunrise]

Do you take your Lexapro in the morning?

[BlueMoon6]

Originally Posted by sunrise

Do you take your Lexapro in the morning?

I am taking the lexipro before bed because when I take it in the morning I get very dizzy, especially when Im driving. That seems not to have gone away completely. I have taken it in the early eve to see if it still makes me dizzy and it does, but not as much. I am afraid to go back to taking it in the morning.

[BlueMoon6]

Originally Posted by ktgirl

Nothing ever worked for me except Seroquel. I've heard people say some bad things about it, but for me it wasn't too bad in terms of side effects. I've been on a dose as high as 400 mg, although right now I'm on 100 mg. It still helps me to fall asleep but I'm not so groggy in the morning.

Ambien didn't work for me at all either....in fact, when I was on it I couldn't sleep at all!
Weird.....

I dont like that "medicated" feeling in the morning that I have to swim up out of. Maybe I should try seroquel. Im writing down all of these choices.

[BlueMoon6]

Originally Posted by faylowell

Melatonin helps you to fall to sleep and you find it on the vitamin and mineral aisle in the store. Your body produces melatonin naturally, so it is safe.

Interesting. Ive heard that it helps with sleep. Does it help with staying asleep?
Thanks-

[sunrise]

Originally Posted by BlueMoon6

I am taking the lexipro before bed because when I take it in the morning I get very dizzy

I've heard of other people having trouble with lexapro keeping them up if they take it at night. Their solution was to switch to the morning. How about taking half your dose in the morning and maybe you won't get dizzy then. And then take the other half midway through the day. And hopefully by bedtime, the drugs will have worn off enough that you can get to sleep. I hope you can find a solution like that so you don't have to take one med (sleeping pill) just to counteract another.

What does your pdoc say?

I've heard that melatonin especially helps shorten the time you lie awake before you go to sleep. Don't know if it helps lengthen the time slept or not.

blue, i'm not positive about this but i thought people with depression aren't supposed to take melatonin. i think i had bought some once and then read that on the bottle so then didn't take it. whole health md has a really good library where you can look up all sorts of meds, supplements, and herbals for info and contraindications. it's the only site i know of that gives contraindications for supplements and herbals too.

[VickiesPath]

Here's my patented caveate: Melatonin is a hormone. Our bodies make it. You can buy it at the drug store or Walmart. Taking it once in a while is ok. But if you take it on consecutive nights for several nights in a row, it will mess up the body's own melatonin producing schedule.

OTC sleep aids contain antihystamines. They also are good for occasional use. After repeated use, they reverse on you and keep you up.

Regarding the Ambien, my husband took his Lexapro at night and it interrupted his sleep. He switched to Ambien CR which has an added ingredient to keep you asleep. However, you MUST give yourself at least 7 hours for sleep.

Another option is to ask your pcp for another sleep aid. There are Lunesta and Rozerem. All three (Ambien CR, Lunesta and Rozerem) are approved by the FDA for long term use.

I take Ambien CR. I like it very much.

[phoenix47baby]

Blue,

seroquel seems to be a good sleep aid, too. It is very sedating and sometimes causes weight gain and grogginess, though from my experience. Hugs!

[weatherfreak]

I'm the opposite, I find benzo's the best for me personally. Valium and Rivotril/Klonopin help me a lot and Mogadon is fantastic but if you're in the states it's not available there. The occasional OTC sedating antihistamine works quite well too, but as someone pointed out above, they do backfire if you use them every night. Ambien/Stilnox doesn't work for me either, nor does Lunesta's cousin, Imovane. I can't get Lunesta here. Seroquel works too well, even at very small doses, it turns me into a walking zombie the next day, but that's something you're not going to find out until you try it.

Good luck, as you know everyone reacts differently to every med, I hope you find what works for you, all the best W

So do benzo's, they are addictive if used every night but they work the best for me.

[Moreta]

Ambien worked good for a while, but after I took it for a while it stopped working. Lunesta made my throat hurt. When I took Rozerem I couldn't wake up in the morning, and it made me have weird dreams. Trazadone had no effect.

Right now I take Seroquel XR and Klonopin to go to sleep. It's really weird because I'm actually able to wake up in the morning before my alarm, and actually feel rested.

[BlueMoon6]

I am so IMPRESSED with all of the answers to my sleep med question. I am ging to bring my questions to my pnp.

Sunny- About taking 10 in the am and 10 in the pm, I still get dizzy from 10, I tried it for a while, so I couldnt drive well during the day.

Bloom- About melatonin- I tried to look for the interactions between ad's and melatonin at the site but couldnt find it. Can you post a specific link? Thanks-
I wonder why there would be a contraindication there?

You know, I forgot 1, and I mean ONE, dose the other day, and now the 20 mg makes me tired and dizzy again and knocks me out when I take it. SO weird! Im sure that will go away again. I am just surprised it took one missed dose to do that....