[BenjaminR]

Hello insomnia folks – I would like to hear of your experiences with Doxepin for insomnia.

At age 80, I have come to accept that my sleep architecture is just not what it was 20, 40, 60 years ago. I have tried all sorts of remedies, none of which have been very effective for long, if at all, and have learned that there is no magic bullet.

My problem is mainly sleep maintenance, often waking up alert and staying awake for 30 minutes or more. I do try to make myself get up when that happens and read a book, which does help. Sleep onset is rarely a problem, and a really boring and pointless podcast helps greatly.

I used Ativan 1mg for years and finally and slowly tapered off a year ago, so my GABA receptors are probably still 6-12 months away from being totally resensitized. Tried various forms of prescription cannabis and became frustrated with trying to find the right combination and dosage, so I gave that up. Herbal remedies have not helped. I’m doing just about everything that would be recommended by CBT, other than sleep restriction (which sounds like absolute torture).

A few months ago I read about Doxepin and decided to give it a try. Sounded promising – it seems to be more of a remedy for problems with sleep maintenance, sort of levelling you out in the night so that when you wake up, it’s not as sharp, and you tend to go back to sleep more easily. I’ve been trying a 3mg dosage for almost two months, with what appeared to be some success. However, I’ve become concerned about some of the side effects: excessive morning drowsiness (which I have been experiencing and is not good for seniors), constipation, and weight gain (possibly).

I decided to try doing without, and the subsequent three nights have been terrible, great difficulty falling asleep, which is odd. I’ve never had consecutive nights of sleep onset issues, and it is a rare thing. Supposedly there is no risk in going cold turkey with Doxepin, so I’m wondering whether it is the cause of this, or is it just an anomaly? I would be very interested in others’ experience with this drug.

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