[Batgirl]

I have been off my antidepressant for almost 7 months, after being on it for 21 years. At first, my sleep was terrible; 5 hours in the entire first week off. Now I usually sleep 5-6 hours per night. If I could sleep just 1 more hour, I believe it would be good enough. I feel exhausted and worry that my brain is damaged from the lack of sleep.

[Martin Reed]

Welcome to the forum, Batgirl, and thanks for sharing your story and your completely understandable concerns!

First of all, please be reassured that there’s no evidence that chronic insomnia causes brain damage — and that might be because the body will always generate, at the very least, the minimum amount of sleep we need.

After five or six hours of sleep you will have almost certainly got all of your deep and most restorative sleep (N3 sleep) so an extra hour probably wouldn’t have a huge effect on how you feel during the day (that’s influenced more by what we do during the day and what happens to us during the day).

In any case, it sounds as though you are really making progress and you are sleeping better since you stopped taking the antidepressant!

May I ask what time you usually go to bed at night and what time you get out of bed to start your day in the morning?

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[Batgirl]

I do wait until I’m sleepy to go to bed. However, if I go to bed too early, I’ll wake up at 3am or earlier for the day. I have no trouble falling asleep, it’s staying asleep that is difficult. Usually, it’s 10-10:30pm when I fall asleep and wake at 3:30-4am. I should get up then, but wait until 5am to get up.

[Author]

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