Meds for Anxiety/Insomnia

[4lilfarmers]

I'm nervous about getting on meds...but I'm having an extremely rough prepartum/postpartum experience this time. I've gone through it in the past (with both births) but never like this. Horrible anxiety and insomnia.

What meds have you used? What side effects did you have? Was it easy to wean off? Did you feel them work soon?
Thanks

[mediumcrunch]

I didn't go on them until 4 months. I took Lexapro, Xanax and Klonopin. Lexapro daily, Klonopin every night until the lexapro could really kick inand then prn and the xanax prn (which went from daily to a few times a month depending).
I had no trouble coming off of any of them but I was hyper-aware of watching for dependency in myself and would always check myself if I really needed to take the klonoping or xanax. I am a big fan of rescue remedy for minor anxiety.
That baby is 6 1/2 years old now and fine. He was breastfed until he was 2 and I was taking those meds the whole time.
I wouldn't take the xanax or klonopin while nursing a neonate though as the risk of somnolence in the baby would be beyong my comfort level.

[estercita]

I definitely relate to your situation and concern about meds. I developed awful insomnia at 3.5 months PP. Zoloft effectively treated the underlying anxiety & until that kicked in I used Remeron to sleep. I had tried Ambien for about 8 weeks but it really didn't work for me, just prolonged my agony. I had no side effects whatsoever from stopping Remeron. In fact, I didn't even taper, just began taking it as needed once my psychiatrist gave me the green light to try sleeping on my own. I did wean off of Zoloft after 6 months (only a few brief side effects like dizziness) & did great w/ sleeping for about a month, when I had an insomnia relapse. I'm back on Zoloft & haven't used anything for sleep in about 6 weeks.

The first time around w/ Zoloft it took a couple months to find my working dose. The second time, I found relief much faster (a couple weeks) b/c I knew what dosage was effective for me.

I'd definitely recommend making an appointment with a psychiatrist who can help you make these decisions.

[LynnS6]

You need to talk to a psychiatrist/specialist.

I took paxil for the anxiety and once that was resolved, I didn't need anything for sleep. I think they gave me trazodone for sleep which made me really really groggy, but it did work.

If you go on an SSRI, you need to stay on for 6 -12 months. The sleep meds and anti anxiety meds can be weaned off of as soon as you're stable.

I tapered off Paxil very very slowly and was fine.

[frontierpsych]

I am on Neurontin for anxiety and sublingual Melatonin for sleep. I have tried Ativan, Klonopin, Propranolol, and Vistaril for anxiety, and Ambien, Lunesta, Remeron, and Trazodone for sleep. This is the combination I have found works best for me.

[readytobedone]

Yes, definitely talk to a professional!

But do realize (as it sounds like you do) that your anxiety problem is making you anxious about meds! I really resisted meds for far too long. In the end for me, Ativan as needed helped with sleep (helped right away, and was the only thing that helped!), but I really needed to take Zoloft in order to help resolve the underlying anxiety problem. Once I was on Zoloft, my insomnia was resolved within a month.