KittyKat9

Starr - at what dose did you take the Gabapentin to help you sleep at night? I have the most awful time getting to sleep. Have tried ambien, trazedone, klonopin, seroquel, remeron and xanax. So far the Xanax has been the most effective but I want to come off that before I become dependent on it. My doctor suggested Gabapentin but I'm worried because I don't know a lot about this med. At what doses is it typically prescribed to help aid sleep and does it have bad side effects?

Tamer, Just wondering what schedule your psychiatrist used to wean you off Xanax? My doctor prescribed me 22.5mg Remeron and 1mg Xanax extended release, which worked great for my anxiety and insomnia, but the Xanax is starting to lose some efficacy. I was then prescribed 50mg Seroquel to help me taper from the Xanax but so far I've not been able to sleep when I've tried to cut down on the Xanax. I went back to my doctor today and she suggested Gabapentin but I'm nervous about this new medicine too. My main concern is to get off the Xanax before I become completely dependent on it and I'm just wondering how you were able to do it successfully. Thanks!

Hi everyone, I've been given Remeron mainly for sleep but also for depression. Perhaps I'm a bit like North to South because I think my depression was also caused by insomnia. In any case, I'm taking 22.5mg of it along with 1mg of Xanax XR every night. The first five nights it really knocked me out and I had the best sleep since this whole nightmare started. But the last two nights have not been great. I really want to wean myself off the Xanax as well because of potential dependency problems. Pdoc suggested taking Benedryl with reduced dose of Xanax and usual dose of Remeron but this totally did not work and actually took the drowsiness to disappear!! Just wondering at what dose did people feel the sleepiest? Is it true that a lower dose of Remeron has stronger sedating effects? If I can take just Remeron by itself to help me sleep then I think I would finally be on my way to getting better.

Just saw pdoc yesterday and asked what we could replace Xanax with. She also agreed that benzos were not good long term (I'm actually already noticing that mom's sleep hasn't been that great for the past few days - signaling that she might have developed a certain level of tolerance to it already). Pdoc suggested first that we could try Trazedone because that can be used long term. But mom said she had a strong reaction to that last time she tried it with Klonopin and Ambien (her heart raced and severe headaches), Pdoc was alarmed and said that we should try something more mild and suggested Benedryl and to pair that with a reduced amount of Xanax to wean her off. Didn't work at all and mom woke me up in the middle of the night to say she hadn't slept a wink and asked for more Xanax. I'm feeling so frustrated right now because that's two bad nights in a row and I'm really nervous about how today is going to go. Thinking about going back to full dose of Xanax to stabilize for a few days and then ask for Trazedone...

I'm caring for my mom right now who is experiencing anxiety, insomnia and depression. My mom has also been prescribed mirtazapine and xanax, although hers is at a slightly lower dose just to help her sleep. She takes 1mg Xanax XR (extended release) at 8pm to calm her down and then 22.5mg mirtazapine when she's ready to sleep. This combination helps her sleep all night and really works to stabilize her during the day so that she doesn't need any other additional doses during the day. However, I'd also like to find a more long term solution for her rather than have her stay on the Xanax because of the dependency issues. Please let us know what your pdoc suggests!

I absolutely agree about the antidepressants - I feel that so many doctors just prescribe them willy nilly without even informing patients of risks and side effects. My mom's GP actually prescribed her klonopin under the guise of a simple sleep aid and didn't warn her at all about not taking it long term. I think that's what started this whole slide downhill because she became dependent on it, couldn't really get enough sleep and then had to deal with withdrawal. I've actually already told her about the benefits of fish oil and she's taking plenty of EPA and DHA fish oil. I think she needs something more than that right now because of her insomnia issues. I'm still on the look-out for a good long-term replacement for the Xanax that can help her sleep. I've heard about liquid melatonin and L-Tryptophan but I don't know if that will be enough to substitute for the 1mg Xanax XR and also what dose she should be taking. Would appreciate any advice people who have gone down this route can give to us!

Hi everyone - I'm new to this site. I've been caring for my 55 yr old mom, who has been suffering from anxiety, depression and insomnia for the past 6 months. Poor mom has been quite a guinea-pig so far and is also really sensitive to meds to boot (apparently Asians metabolize these meds differently, who knew) so it's been somewhat of a nightmare journey so far. She just started Remeron at 22.5mg and 1mg of Xanax XR at night to help her sleep. I am really worried because from what I've read, Xanax is a short term solution and I want her to get off fast before dependency issues crop up. Thing is, she's been sleeping better than she has in months and her moods during the day are getting better - she's finally shaking off the debilitating fear she had and is making jokes and able to talk to strangers. I don't want her to go back. Any thoughts as to what she could do instead of the Xanax? We tried 0.5mg of Xanax two nights ago but she woke up a few hours later and couldn't fall back asleep. We've tried Ambien but it was awful so we can't go down that path again.