Anxiety and Insomnia - Help!

[Darius5691]

Does anyone who suffers with anxiety have a difficult time staying asleep? I don't so much have trouble falling asleep, but after 1-1/2 - 2 hours, I'm up and not the least bit tired. My anxiety has heightened (unexplainably) in the past month, and since then I haven't been able to sleep more than 2-3 hours on my own. I've been taking sleep aids since June 17, with some success. Currently taking Trazodone (just started taking 50-75 mg per night. I started with 12.5 and 25 mg doses, which initially worked and allowed me to sleep 5-6 hours, but now I seem to require more). I take the Trazodone together with .5 mg Xanax, per my psychiatrist (note: he actually prescribed 50-100 mg Trazodone, and I'm trying to stay on the lower end of that, not exactly sure why - could be my fear of medications. Phobias, go figure!). Anyway, I'm not sure if it's the Xanax or the Trazodone that is actually helping me to get any sleep at all. One night I took the Trazodone without the Xanax to see what would happen, and I was up 1-1/2 hours later, with my body telling me "take a Xanax!" Which I did, but it didn't do anything and I was up for the duration. Then the other night I took 50mg Trazodone (my highest dose yet) with .5 mg Xanax, and also woke up 2 hours later - frustrating! I decided to take another 25 mg Trazodone about 45 minutes later, but then didn't fall back asleep, and 2 hours after that I was desperate and took another .25 mg Xanax. I slept another 2 hours. The good thing about the Trazodone is that it seems to help with my daytime anxiety (as did the Restoril I was taking a few weeks back, but that only gave me 3-4 hours of sleep each night, so I decided to switch to Trazodone - also because Restoril is a benzo, and I am already on Xanax, so I thought it'd be best not to be one two in the same habit-forming family). I still take Xanax during the day (usually a total of .75 mg), but while on Trazodone I don't seem to require as much. For instance, I tried Ambien CR the other night, and on top of not being able to fall asleep, I tossed and turned most of the night, vaguely aware of not sleeping, but not exactly being awake.And the next day I was ultra-jittery. Even the Xanax wasn't helping all that much.

Sorry, rambling here - it's hard to be organized and coherent on such little sleep. :-)

I'm just wondering what everyone thinks about the combination of Trazodone and Xanax. I'm unsure if it's one or the other that actually helps me sleep, or is the combination key. Also, since I'm not really able to get a full night's sleep on Trazodone/Xanax (the most has been 6 hours, and that was one time a week ago), what are my other choices? Rozerem didn't work, but I'm wondering if I could take some natural Melatonin together with the Trazodone/Xanax combo? I see my psych next week, but that's sooo far off. He's new to me and doesn't give me the impression that he likes to receive phone calls with these types of questions, either. I'm trying to switch to another pych, and my appt isn't until mid-August. ugh.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Lack of sleep really makes my anxiety worse! And with a 4-year old, this past month has been hell.

[cpanicdisorder]

I just had a severe episode of panic attacks from 5/30 - 6/13 and what finally stabilized my sleeping was 50 mg of trazadone with 2 1mg er xananx - I also started on Lexapro 20mg right away.  Now I'm doing better - obviously the Lexapro is working on my anxiety and panic because I'm 5 weeks into that.  I came to this forum because I've had a lot of work stress this week and my husband is at a writers retreat so I'm caring for my 8 yr old with my parents help.  Last night the added stress got to me and my prescribing doc had told me if 50mg of trazadone didn't do it to take the other 1/2 so a total of 100mg.  I too was scared of drugs in general and specifically dependency.  Last night the second 50 mg got me to sleep.  But of course now I'm scared about what will happen tonight.  One thing I keep reminding myself of is that without sleep my stress hormones will escalate so it is better to take the drugs and try to stay as stable as possible.  I also take 1mg of er xanax in the am as well to get me through work days / day stress and also just to stay stable.  After reading your post I thought you sounded a lot like me and it has been only about a month since my first full blown panic attack I feel like I'm getting better quicker than the last two times I had episodes.  I attribute it to the trazadone and er xanax combo for sleep and the 20 mg of lexapro for the stabilization but the therapy and acupuncture are making me feel more well/normal faster - please don't be afraid of your drugs you need to sleep.  Also try reading at night - no computers or tv - or having a healthy snack before bed like some of the foods you can google that reduce stress hormones.  Stable blood sugar is super important because swings in blood sugar can mimic anxiety symptoms

[michelle54991]

Hi,
I was on Xanax at one time but my psy. switched me to Klonopin which is for anxiety and for the better as Xanax can be hard to get off. Have you tried Soroquel or Remeron?  I took Trazadone at 150mg. one time and it makes me very nervous and heart palpitation. But everyone is different. If the other meds. do not work for you. You may want to try the other two.
Good luck to you.
Michelle
p.s. for others, Klonopin .5 mg. put them to sleep, for me ,it just calms me down and alleviates anxiety.

[Raine9]

Wow, I don't understand why the Xanax alone wouldn't help you sleep.  I took Xanax 3 times and I slept like a baby.  Now I take Klonopin on occasion and it also helps me sleep.  Maybe you're just taking too many things.  Why not try just one?  Yeah, with small kids, it's especially hard.  I have a 1 yr old and a 3 yr old.  

Difficulty sleeping is a very common symptom of anxiety.  I have it.  Either I have difficulty falling asleep, or staying asleep or I wake up very early and can't go back to sleep.  

Other than that I can't really help you.  Ryan a.k.a RCA7591 is the drug guru on this board.  He would be able to help you out much more than I.  RYAN!  Where are you?!

Sorry you are going through such a hard time...