Zoloft and Insomnia
Question:
Hi Everyone, My doctor tried Zoloft after a Prozac trial. I think his motive is to wean me off Xanax. Fat chance on his part! I have taken Zoloft for 2 weeks 50mg per day. One week ago, I increased the dosage to 100 mg and have experienced insomnia for the first time in my life. I get very tired in the afternoon and nap about 2 hours a day which is probably adding to my sleep problem but not being able to sleep well is unacceptable. The pharmacist joked with me that I will be cleaning house at 3 in the morning. She also said, that I might have insomnia the whole time that I take Zoloft. Any experiences or insight? I haven’t tried Paxil yet, but I think in my case the SSRI’s are not the answer. Donna(wide awake at 3 AM)
Hi Donna- You may want to try a much lower dose of Zoloft to start up, and take your time getting up to 100 mg/day. (Tony started at 12.5 mg every other day, and took about 4 mo to get to the 100 mg/day dose, if I recall his post correctly). The last time I was on Prozac, I started at an extremely low dose (2 mg/day) and took months to get to a therapeutic dose (20 mg/day). Although it was not the complete solution to my PA, it was the only time I have started Prozac (out of 3) that I didn’t have side effects, including stimulation, on start up. I have had both stimulant and sedative effects with SSRIs, so experience with one may not be indicative of the effects of others. OTOH I have had sleep problems for years, SSRIs or not, so I may not be the best source on this. Good luck Hirsch
Response:
If you are having an anxiety problem along with depression I’d stay clear of the Paxil. It increased my anxiety level and sent me into a nasty manic state. Just me though, you maybe different. – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Hi Everyone, My doctor tried Zoloft after a Prozac trial. I think his motive is to wean me off Xanax. Fat chance on his part! I have taken Zoloft for 2 weeks 50mg per day. One week ago, I increased the dosage to 100 mg and have experienced insomnia for the first time in my life. I get very tired in the afternoon and nap about 2 hours a day which is probably adding to my sleep problem but not being able to sleep well is unacceptable. The pharmacist joked with me that I will be cleaning house at 3 in the morning. She also said, that I might have insomnia the whole time that I take Zoloft. Any experiences or insight? I haven’t tried Paxil yet, but I think in my case the SSRI’s are not the answer. Donna(wide awake at 3 AM)
