Doctor prescribed Amitriptyline

[Dazzlar13]

This is a copy and paste from another thread... But I thought I'd introduce myself here. Some of you, Mark especially may remember me.
My issue is sleep which is caused by my excessive worry about sleep. Basically my anxiety has become fixated on sleep. My newest solution has been to drink to knock myself out. I went to see the doctor today as my Pregabalin has ran out and had a chat and she suggested Mirtazapine which helped greatly in the past but did nothing for my daytime anxiety and piled the weight on, although nothing like what drinking every day has. So she suggested Amitriptyline. So I agreed to try that she said its better than Mirt for anxiety and not as bad for the weight gain. Thoughts? I asked if they would give me an SSRI for during the day and she refused

[Mark13]

Yeah, sleep and lack of it has dominated my life since I was a kid. The actual obsession and fear goes up and down though.

I think you're totally right about it being a fixation. It's like the GAD which I have, after a bad night's sleep or two, suddenly feels there is something concrete to worry about and obsesses about that one thing, excluding almost everything else.

I know it's easier said than done, especially if your fear was triggered by a near-death event as mine was (death phobia masquerading as sleep phobia, I don't know).

However, although it lurks around at the back of my mind even when I'm feeling and sleeping OK, it's always thyere.

In fact I've worked part-time for 7 years now, purely to balance my health and work.

All I have found is (and I realise these things are easier said than done) the only way to keep the sleep obsession manageable is:

1) To bring down the "background" level of anxiety. TBH I do this with medication - see my sig below. And I'm using the fact I feel OK ATM to read Claire Weekes as I think I'm in the mood to benefit from self-help.

2) To sleep reasonably well every night. Again, I do this by going to bed and getting up at the same time every day (give or take 30 minutes). Even after a completely sleepless night I never go to bed early the next. I've trained my brain

All the best

Oh, by the way, while pregabalin was working for me I found 600mg of that plus 15mg of mirt to be a good combination for me (apart from the weight gain due to fluid retention :-(

[Dazzlar13]

hi Mark, that sounds very similar to me except that it only started with me when I messed my body clock up whilst I was off work. I am seeing a private therapist and she says I seem to be sleeping fine. I was on benzos I had acquired for around 3 months and so far I have managed to knock them on the head in 2 sessions with her so I am confident I can get through it.
So far I am impressed with Amitryptiline, it doesn't knock me out like Mirtazapine does but it makes me relaxed enough to sleep. Next is the alcohol

[valleybear]

I have had Amitriptyline now for several years and I find it really helps with what were practically sleepless nights. It doesn't carry over tiredness to the day (for me at least) and I have slept and felt better since being on it. Hope this helps.

[Dazzlar13]

I have found it helpful although I have been taking 50mg instead of the 25mg that was prescribed. Also I have lost a little weight since i have stopped Pregabalin