Insomnia: Part 2
A follow up to my Oct 4th post - Bye Bye Insomnia - finds me drug free. After taking a commonly prescribed sleep-aid called Trazadone for over 5 years I am finally sleeping through the night without it. However, the journey to get here was a tough road that came with a few unexpected bumps.
I was so eager to stop taking medication to sleep that it did not occur to me that going cold turkey might have consequences. For me, the major side effect was depression. In fact, it wasn’t until recently that I was able to open up to a friend about my dark state that she reminded me that Trazadone was initially prescribed to people as an antidepressant.
Also, after completing my 10 day Chinese herbal remedy, I slept soundly for several nights and then started heading back into the torturous cycle of sleeplessness. I was not in Lake County near the herbalogist and was extremely reluctant to take any Trazadone but a call to Rory lead me to try Anmien Pien (another Chinese herbal remedy that thankfully came in a convenient pill form and did not require an hour and a half of cooking). It did the trick. After a few days I was able to stop taking it and sleep without any aid.
And I have turned the corner on both my insomnia and short bout of depression so the report on the Chinese herbal remedy is still very positive.
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