Anyone take doxepin?

I have taken doxepin before bed for about 5 years to help me sleep. I never had problems falling asleep... only staying asleep. The doc tells me the amount I take is so low (@15 - 20mg), that the best I can hope for is the antihistimine effect for drowsiness from the drug.

I started taking ambien (5mg) early this year but could never quite wean myself off the doxepin. Now I'm working at getting off both drugs. The doc says stop taking doxepin first, then when I'm sleeping comfortably, stop or cut back the 5mg ambien.

I've been taking a little less doxepin lately (@12mg) but I swear I don't think I'm sleeping as well. I don't lie awake like I used to, but I don't feel as rested as I did when I was taking 15 - 20 mg doxepin last month.

- Has anyone ever taken doxepin for sleeping?

- Has anyone taken doxepin for sleeping and had trouble getting off it?

- Is there some type of rebound insomnia effect with doxepin I should be aware of?

- Should I take a little more ambien so I can get off the doxepin and then work on getting off the ambien?

I'm not sure how to go about ridding myself of this pesky drug.

By the way, I never really felt rested no matter what dosage of sleeping pills I took until I started using an APAP.

SnoreNoMore2005

I took Doxepin 15 years ago when I was first diagnosed with Fibromyalgia to help me sleep. I was on it for 2 years, then they changed me over to another antidepressant - low dose, then another and another and another. Been on one or the other since then to treat my sleep and to help with my pain (as they claim). Been on Ambien for 2 years now. Couldn't sleep at all for the pain, so doctor prescribed Ambien and has kept me on it.

Since I was just diagnosed with Sleep Apnea and have not yet received my CPAP, I do not know whether I will be able to discontinue the Ambien or not. It would be nice if I could sleep without the help of the medication - we will see! Reducing the dosage of most antidepressants, even low doses can take a little time for your body to adjust to - after all we are talking about chemical altering drugs (serotonin (spelling??), etcetera, etcetera). So just give it a little time or decrease the dosage a little less to allow your body to adjust. That is what I have done when changing or eliminating other antidepressants. Hope this helps!! And I hope I didn't sound like a real druggie here!

I have taken this before. The sedating effects on me were very pronounced. I would thiink it would suppress breathing. I would take it two hours before bed, and if I had to stay up for some reason, it was all I could do to keep my eyes open I tapered down off of it when I quit, and did have a little difficulty sleeping for a while, but it went away pretty quickly.

Don't feel like a druggie cat. Of course your name cat-a-tonic might make someone wonder.

I take doxepin AND ambien to help me sleep. Of course, I voted for Gore AND Bush since I live in Florida. So I'm used to doing two seeminly contradictory things.

My sleep medicine dependency started before I was diagnosed with OSA, but getting off the meds has not been easy for me.

My dosages are very low, in fact, too low for a physical dependency I'm told, so I wonder if there could be a psychological element involved with taking reduced amounts of sleep medicine (or any medicine) which someone has depended on over a period of time.

Rebound insomnia is a well known side effect of Ambien withdrawal, but I have never heard of it associated with doxepin. Was curious if anyone had any experience with it.

SnoreNoMore2005