Is there a natural alternative to taking Mirtazapine?

by Karen

Hi

I've been prescribed mirtazapine as a sleep aid (2 x 15mg each night) but I am worried about taking it as I've heard it's not a good idea to take it long term and am assuming once I start taking it I will have to continue or else my sleep problems will continue.

I have problems sleeping, my bodyclock seems to be all over the place and I find myself being wide awake half the night and then asleep half the day. When I get up the next day I don't feel properly awake until the evening time and then just can't get to sleep at night. Even when I do manage to get to sleep, if I am woken up in the night at any time, that's it and I am awake no matter what I do.

It drives me crazy because I might finally get to sleep at 3am, get woken up at 4am and then be awake until the following night at 3am. So my question is is there any natural alternative that would be as effective as mirtazapine? I don't want to get hooked on something that I can't take long term and so far the mirtazapine had got me to sleep but given me a hang over feeling in the morning, that means I don't really feel refreshed or awake the way I should do. In fact I feel like a zombie. I'd much rather take something that is 'natural' and something that will allow me to go back to sleep again pretty soon(even if I have to take more of it) if I do get woken up in the night.

Thanks


Answer

Thanks for the question. I don't have to go preachy on the danger of addiction to drugs, you seem to understand that already. To answer your question, you asked for a natural alternative. The answer is melatonin supplements. It is non habit forming, it is a supplement and not a drug. You can read here about melatonin addiction. Melatonin is becoming a very safe alternative for people with sleep problems. I'd advise you also talk to a nutritionist about it, but personally i know it works for me. The interesting thing is that you cant even overdose on melatonin. People have taken up to 30mg without any side effect. Dont overdose, see my page on melatonin overdose.

If you have more questions, after reading these pages, just comment here.

Regards