Are Antidepressant Pills Better Treatment Option for Insomnia Than Sleeping Pills?

Depression and insomnia go hand in hand. The patients who suffer from depression also deal with insomnia. Or the people who suffer from insomnia also pose with a problem of depression.

Insomnia might lead to depression or vice versa. And, under both the conditions the patients are prescribed with antidepressant pills.

FDA does not approve of antidepressant pills as a treatment for insomnia. But, this does not keep the doctors from prescribing antidepressant pills to the people who suffer from insomnia irrespective of them suffering from depression. The most popular antidepressant pill prescribed for the treatment of insomnia is trazodone.

Trazodone is often prescribed in very low doses. This antidepressant drug possesses sedative properties and these properties help the patient suffering from insomnia to get a sound sleep. But, doctors are encountering some issues with this antidepressant drug. The major issue with trazodone is that it has sedative properties and the effect of the drug stays even the next day. The problem is a big issue for the elderly patients who take this drug. If they stay sedated even the next day, there are chances that they might fall and this might cause a serious injury to them.

This also raises a big issue for the people who drive as they cannot drive on the very next day after taking this antidepressant drug. They need to be extra careful while driving or even doing any other task where they need to be very alert and attentive.

This drug also has some side effects that include confusion, muscle tremor, dry mouth, cardiac arrhythmias and fainting. Also, this drug is contraindicated in pregnant women.

Many elderly patients take this antidepressant drug to deal with insomnia. They feel a difference in their sleep quality and experience a good night sleep but, also complain of drowsiness the very next day. They find it a very grave issue to wake up the next morning. They also complain of feeling drowsy and groggy for few hours after waking up. They find it difficult to concentrate.

But, if there are disadvantages of taking this pill, there are major advantages too. The biggest advantage of taking this pill for the treatment of insomnia is that you can take the pills for a longer duration of time which is not an appropriate option with sleeping pills. Taking sleeping pills for long can cause an addiction of the pills but, this is not the case with antidepressant pills.

Doxepin is another antidepressant pill that is being used for the treatment of insomnia. This antidepressant pill is considered as a better option than trazodone because it does not cause the sleepiness and drowsiness that the latter cause.

Where some antidepressant drug treats insomnia, some might induce the same. There are other antidepressant drugs like Zoloft and Prozac. These antidepressant drugs can cause insomnia. But, if a patient is suffering from insomnia due to depression, taking these drugs might help with insomnia too.