Is there an AD that still allows you to sleep at night?

Hey all,
I have tried celexa and zoloft. I only tried them for 2 weeks each and at low doses. I probably should have kept it up for longer - but each one made me feel weird: Tired and unmotivated during the day but panic attacks at night and total insomnia. Further, I have a fear of sleep medication so that is out for now... (except trazadone, I tried that and didn't like it). My big question is how do you put up with side-effects when you already feel awful from the depression?

Maybe trying to take your meds before bedtime would be helpful for you. I've taken a few AD's where I've needed to do that. I'd get relief from depression symptoms but the side effects weren't as difficult to manage.

I did take an AD called Elavil for a short while after an auto accident. I was taking a small dose to help with pain and to help me sleep.

I've heard that taking a supplement called melatonin is really helpful.

I agree with polarsmom that taking them at night might help. Also you could ask your Pdoc about splitting the dose. Some meds need to be taken with food to try and prevent nausea. And if you can't take the side effects any more, talk to Pdoc about trying something else. There's loads of meds out there with different side effect profiles. By trial and error, I'm sure you will find something that agrees with you.

For me, mirtazapine helped me sleep like a baby! It was brilliant and allowed me to get better sleep so I could wake up earlier and reset my body clock, which has been destroyed by the depression! The only thing was the insatiable appetite which had me eating anything that wasn't nailed to the floor! Don't know if that's an option for you. Also lithium made me tired and helped me sleep better. The others I've been on were either sleep neutral or worsened my sleep.

Talk to Pdoc though.

*Willow*

I take Effexor, Abilify and Ambien, and I've been sleeping well.

With Celexa and most other AD's it takes 4-6 weeks for you to feel the full affects of it. It's normal to feel "weird" when you first take it or every time you increase your dose. You're going through a "transition"/adjustment period during the first week or two. I'm talking from personal experience.

Someone else suggested taking it right before you go to bed. I tried Celexa around 3pm and would sleep all afternoon until I adjusted to the med and even then I'd still sleep right after I took it. Once I started taking the med at bedtime I had no problem with the side affect. After the first month you won't feel quite so weird.

I've since switched over to trazodone only because I was at the max dose of Celexa my doctor could prescribe without me seeing a psychiatrist to get it increased further ---- plus we had to go through a pre-authorization every 6 months because my insurance wouldn't pay for it without it....because I was at 60mg and they wanted to know why I was taking that high of a dose.

Have you tried two Benydril pills? It's an anti-histamine but it's the same ingrediant that's in over the counter sleep aids.

By only taking them for 2 weeks you're not giving the medication enough time to fully kick in. Like I said it takes 4-6 weeks. The reason for the insomnia at night is because you may have slept during the day after taking the medication. By taking it at night and getting 8-9 hours of sleep you'll wake up after the side affects of the pill have warn off.

Trazodone (aka Trazadone) is also an anti-depressent, but for some reason doctors prescribe it as a sleep aid.

Kait