Sprout: on Paxil

[Sprout]

I take paxil 10mg and 1mg of ativan for sleep. I am still restless and having problems sleeping 

Will a small dose of melatonin help me sleep 

I would like to know

I do take losartan and amlodipine for blood pressure problems 

Will it hurt the blood pressure

[mammaP]

Hi Sprout, welcome to SA. Can you tell us a bit more? How long have you been taking paxil and ativan? It is possible that they are responsible for your sleep problems and can even cause problems with blood pressure. Are you thinking of tapering either of them? 

 

Melatonin helps a lot of people but has to be started at a very tiny dose especially when taken with some drugs. You can read the topic on melatonin for sleep here.....http://survivingantidepressants.org/index.php?/topic/189-melatonin-for-sleep/

And the topic on sleep problems  http://survivingantidepressants.org/index.php?/topic/53-sleep-problems/

[Sprout]

Hi Sprout, welcome to SA. Can you tell us a bit more? How long have you been taking paxil and ativan? It is possible that they are responsible for your sleep problems and can even cause problems with blood pressure. Are you thinking of tapering either of them? 

 

Melatonin helps a lot of people but has to be started at a very tiny dose especially when taken with some drugs. You can read the topic on melatonin for sleep here.....http://survivingantidepressants.org/index.php?/topic/189-melatonin-for-sleep/

And the topic on sleep problems  http://survivingantidepressants.org/index.php?/topic/53-sleep-problems/

I just started the paxil 0.5mg two weeks ago yesterday i went up to 10mg the ativan i have been on for a long time. Is it safe to take melotonin with these meds 

[Sprout]

Insomnia in withdrawal and withdrawal syndrome is very common. Not only is it exhausting in itself, it seems to make all the other symptoms worse.

 

Darkness triggers melatonin, the nighttime sleep hormone made by the pineal gland to signal our brains that it's time to sleep. The natural human sleep-wake cycle is from nightfall to dawn. (Sunrise starts cortisol, the daytime activity hormone, which in excess causes the awful anxiety, depression, and insomnia of withdrawal syndrome.)

 

For several years, I've found a little melatonin helps a lot, at least in getting to sleep. (Staying asleep is a different problem.) Many people find melatonin to be helpful, but like everything else, individuals differ in their reactions. If it works for you, it works very well with almost no side effects other than a little drowsiness in the morning.

 

Studies show you don't need much melatonin to get sleep started, just .33mg. Often you can't get melatonin in smaller than 1mg tablets; half a tablet is fine to get started. These are physiological doses, the level that your body ordinarily maintains, rather than medical doses. If you get no effect with .3-.5mg, try a little more. (Personally, under my doctor's supervision, I worked up to 2mg melatonin at night. I've been taking it regularly every night for 3 years. I do not believe I've developed a dependency on it; I get sleepy when it gets dark anyway. Additional melatonin gives my brain a gentle reminder it's time to sleep.)

 

Large doses of melatonin do NOT aid sleep -- they might cause your oversensitive brain to wake up, instead. I found when I took more than 2mg of melatonin, I was weepy in the morning. If you get this or a paradoxical reaction, it's a sign you're taking too much.

 

According to what I've read and conversations with doctors I trust, your body does NOT get dependent on it and does NOT compensate by reducing natural melatonin output. Of all the difficult choices available to us, melatonin is relatively safe.

 

It is important to take melatonin in accordance to the natural sleep-wake cycle, or you might train your body to a different cycle. Your adrenals also run on a sleep schedule of approximately 10 p.m. to dawn. They tend to reactivate if you stay up later, which may keep you from sleeping. If you can, get to bed by 10 p.m. and retrain your sleep cycle.

 

According to my doctor, a sleep medicine specialist, if you've spent most of your life sleeping fairly regularly, you can get back on the neural pathways for a normal sleep cycle.

 

Here's how to re-establish your sleep cycle with melatonin:

- Start with .5mg melatonin for 3-4 days.

- Take at the same time, nightfall (but, given that it's summer, not later than 8 p.m.), every night.

- If needed, gradually increase by .5mg for 3-4 days at a time.

- Use the lowest effective dose.

- Try to turn lights off or keep lights low after sundown. Your bedroom should be quiet and dark. Darkness triggers natural melatonin production. Artificial lighting, including staring into the computer, can give the wrong signal to your pineal gland.

- Keep to a very regular schedule -- this is what your circadian rhythm needs.

- Do NOT take melatonin regularly at any time but nightfall or you might scramble your sleep-wake cycle.

 

I have gotten good results with Source Naturals sublingual melatonin, which comes in 1mg tablets. It is very inexpensive, 100 tablets for around $6. Trader Joe's, a food store in the US, is now carrying chewable melatonin in .5mg (500mcg) tablets at a very reasonable price, under $4.00. At last, a source for melatonin in the right starting dosage. Those Trader Joe's folks are brilliant. Their supplements are usually reliable.

How can i get started on melatonin and is it safe to take with paxil and ativan i do take blood pressure meds in the morning just two. and a thyroid pill and i am diabetic please let me know how much melatonin i can take with my ativan and paxil 

[Sprout]

I Take two blood pressure pills in the morning, a thyroid pill and diabetes medication and vitamin d3 and a multivitamin and pepcid and ativan and paxil 

Is it okay for me to take a small dose of melatonin with my 10mg of paxil and 1mg of ativan to help me sleep and will it hurt me 

I would like to know please 

[Sprout]

H i i am new to this topic. I take Losartan for blood pressure 100mg in the morning, Amlodipine 2.5mg in the morning, for blood pressure, Ativan 1 mg in the morning, 1/2 mg at dinner, and 1 mg at bedtime, I take Levothyroxine 88 MCG in the morning, Pepcid for acid reflux in the morning and before dinner 40mg and vitamin d3 and a multivitamin and Metformin for diabetes, and i just raised my Paxil to 10 mg at bed time. 

Is it safe to take a little bit of Melatonin with my Ativan and my Paxil to help me sleep better at night. 

I would like to know what others think about this.

[Altostrata]

Welcome, Sprout.

 

I moved your "melatonin" posts here. Your Intro topic is a good place for "getting started" and "what should I do" questions that would take other topics off-track.

 

If one of your drugs is causing sleeplessness -- this can be a side effect of levothyroxine or Paxil or even vitamin d3 or the B vitamins in your multivitamin -- melatonin is not likely to help.

 

Ativan can have rebound effects that also affect sleep.

 

When did you start each of these drugs and when did the sleep problem start?