Insomnia Forum Posting

Posted by Roger on July 30, 2000 at 06:43:38:

I have been dealing with moderate to severe insomnia for the past 5 years, and intermittment insomnia for probably 15 plus years before that.

For the past 5 years, I seldom went to bed without taking either ambien or ativan, and sometimes both. The dosage varied, but usually it was 5mg of ambien or 2mg of ativan. On especially difficult nights, I would even take both.

Last year, after seeing an ENT for tinnitus, I was prescribed elavil (amitriptyline). I was told it would help me deal with the constant ringing, and as a bonus benefit, it would help with insomnia.

After starting with an initial dose of 10mg, I have settled for 50-60mg. (BTW, it helps to have a supply of both 10mg and 25mg pills so you can fine-tune your own individual dosage).

I really have had two separate sessions with elavil. Last Fall was the first, and for whatever reasons it seemed to lose its effectiveness and I returned to ambien/ativan.

A month or so ago I decided to give elavil another chance. Now, it seems to really have helped. It's been several weeks since I've taken either ambien or ativan. And lately I have found that I can get to sleep without taking even elavil. One Unisom does the trick. Eventually I fully expect to stop taking those as well.

I'm posting this for a couple of reasons. First, my insomnia was definitely severe, at least for most of the last 5 years. I had completely given up on ever being able to sleep without meds. In fact, on some nights, even 10mg of ambien did no good, even combined with 2mg or more of ativan. So I have some idea of what it's like.

Second, I am beginning to think that elavil, or other meds in its category, can be a "transitional" drug for bridging the gap between the benzos and normal, non-medicated sleep.

People with severe insomnia tend to become dependent on drugs such as ambien, both psychologically and physically. Rather than trying to go cold turkey, taking a med that has sedative qualities, such as elavil, perhaps eventually can enable people to get off of the benzos completely.

And then an additional benefit can be achieved. After a week or two of non-benzo enabled sleep, as the drug is completely eliminated from the system, the body "learns" to sleep on its own all over again.

And ultimately, as you wean yourself off of elavil (which is easier, since it is a non-addictive med), it's possible to finally restore what once was normal sleep.

I say possible, but not necessarily probable. Lots of factors are involved in insomnia. In my case, I am fortunate to have a quiet sleeping environment and little or no external pressures, and a supportive spouse. I also try to follow good sleep hygiene.

I just wanted to share this to say that there is always hope. I had completely given up any idea of normal sleep. And it's possible I might relapse and find I need the benzos again. Nothing is guaranteed. But it's a start, and drugs such as elavil can definitely help in making it over the hump.

Follow Ups:

• Re: Elavil as a transitional med elaine 11:54 7/31/00 (0)

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