Before the COVID pandemic in 2020, I never had trouble sleeping. But during the lockdown, when we were all working from home, my physical activity decreased, and I started having insomnia. I talked to my doctor, who prescribed Alprazolam, a type of drug called benzodiazepines.
Benzodiazepines can cause side effects like dependence and needing higher doses over time. Long-term use can also lead to cognitive decline and other issues.
I started with about 0.25 mg of Alprazolam every night. I started sleeping much better.
At one point, after several months, I noticed that 0.25 mg of Alprazolam wasn't helping. Especially on dialysis nights. I realised Alprazolam was getting removed from my blood by the dialysis. I talked to my doctor about it. He suggested either increasing the dose or adding another drug. I chose to add another drug because I didn't want to increase the dose of alprazolam because of the risk of side effects.
He suggested adding a drug called Mirtazapine, 7.5 mg, to take with the alprazolam at night. So, I started taking Mirtazapine and noticed that my sleep quality improved a lot.
I did want to get off Alprazolam though. I asked ChatGPT and it gave me a helpful step-by-step plan to do this. It involved gradually tapering the Alprazolam dose and eventually taking only the Mirtazapine.
I followed this advice and was able to sleep without any Alprazolam.
I then read up on alternates to Mirtazapine as well because it was also after all, a drug! I also used to have vivid dreams with Mirtazapine. While I was sleeping, the dreams seemed real and I could remember them even after waking up. ChatGPT mentioned it was a known side-effect of Mirtazapine.
I found about Melatonin and how it can help with sleep as well. I added 0.75 mg of Melatonin to my sleep routine in addition to Mirtazapine initially but then stopped taking Mirtazapine totally with no problems sleeping!
I currently take only Melatonin 0.75 mg daily. I sometimes take an additional 0.75 mg when I find it difficult to fall asleep. But that too is well below the recommended dose of 3 mg.
One problem with Melatonin is that I wake up some times at around 3 AM, especially on days when I am on dialysis. While I do go back to sleep in a bit, it can be a little bothersome.
Instagram showed me an ad for a Glycine supplement for sleep from TheStack.club (this is not a paid promotion!), where they claimed their product was better than Melatonin. I ordered it and have started adding this to my sleep routine. If this works, then I will try moving to only Glycine and see how it goes.
Either way, I am no longer on any conventional sleep drug. And I am grateful for that!
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