Does Doxepin Help You Sleep?

Hobiekat asked

Can I take doxepin (specifically Silenor) for insomnia?

Answer

Hi Hobiekat and thanks for reaching out to us. 

First, doxepin (or Silenor or a handful of other brand names) is in a class of medications called tricyclic antidepressants. You might look at this and think “what the heck, I thought this is used for sleep?” which is a very valid question. Doxepin has several different uses. At high doses, it can be used as an antidepressant, though its rarely used for that anymore. At lower doses, it can help with sleep issues.

At lower doses, doxepin causes a bit of drowsiness, but usually not enough to help you fall asleep. Rather, it’s main benefit is that it helps you stay asleep. Folks can present with different types of insomnia, trouble falling asleep or trouble staying asleep. Doxepin is useful to help you stay asleep.

One of the larger advantages of doxepin is that it doesn’t seem to cause much dependence. Some of the more common drugs for insomnia cause a physical dependence if they are used for more than a few weeks. Some people that begin therapy with doxepin might develop a bit of a psychological dependence on the medication, but this is much easier to treat than a physical dependence.

Lastly, before starting a new medication to help with sleep, I always recommend taking a second look and reevaluating your sleep hygiene. There’s a lot involved in sleep hygiene, and I will link you to a good resource if you’d like to read up on it more. From personal experience, I know that making sure that I don’t use my phone or watch any TV for an hour or so before bedtime helps. Bright lights like phones and your TV cause your brain to think that it’s daytime, so you tend to have a more difficult time falling asleep. Instead, I try to read a bit to decompress before I fall asleep. There’s always something that can be done to improve your sleep hygiene. I would encourage you to read up on a bit and give it a try.

If you already have good sleep hygiene habits and are having trouble staying asleep, then doxepin might be a good option for you. If that’s the case, I would speak with your physician about trying a low dose doxepin product to see if it helps. I hope this helps! Feel free to write us again in the future.