[KerriM]

Thanks for having me! I am currently experiencing insomnia due to tapering off an SSRI. I also just found out I’m pregnant. Prior to finding out I heavily relied on wine and melatonin to sleep which only helped me fall asleep-not stay asleep. Now I’m completely at a loss!

• This topic was modified 4 years, 5 months ago by KerriM.
• This topic was modified 4 years, 5 months ago by KerriM.

[Martin Reed]

Congratulations on your pregnancy, KerriM!

I think it can be helpful to recognize that melatonin doesn’t generate sleep. Melatonin is a hormone that signals to the body when to prepare for sleep — and people with insomnia generally have no problem with melatonin production or regulation.

So, any sleep you get after taking melatonin is sleep that is generated entirely by your own body (more often than not, supplemental melatonin is completely ignored by the body unless the timing of consumption is spot-on — and, in the USA, the ingredient on the label might not be what is inside the container).

When it comes to alcohol, yes it can help with sleep onset — but alcohol ends up disrupting sleep quality and leads to lighter and more fragmented sleep. So, not really helpful in any case.

Have you looked into cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I) as a way to create better conditions for sleep that might be more effective over the long term?

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