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Dr. Andrew Rynne
MD
Dr. Andrew Rynne

Family Physician

Exp 50 years

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How Can Sleeplessness With Anxiety And Itching Skin Be Controlled?

Hi: I'm 64 years of age and have a really hard time sleeping at night, I have been on Nitrazepam for quite awhile but would really like to get off it....always have a very anxious feeling at night and itchy skin...and I'm sure it has to do with this medication...is there anything else I could take in place of this...I take Melatonin once in awhile but not always effective and once it gets 4:00 am I have to get some sleep, I take a 1/2 tablet of Nitrazepam....any suggestions would be appreciated.
Fri, 21 Nov 2014
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Psychiatrist,  's  Response
Hello,
Thanks for using healthcaremagic.
It seems that you have developed dependance on Nitrazepam which is very common especially if taken for long time. And the symptoms you mentioned are the withdrawal symptoms of this med. There are two ways of managing this: one way is to gradually reduce the dose which you are trying and does not seem to be working for you; other way is to shift to another longer acting medication like Tab Diazepam (dose around 10 mg) which is comparatively easier to taper off. I have also tried low dose of Tablet Trazodone (25-50 mg at bed time) and Tablet Mirtazapine (7.5-15 mg at bed time) in my patients with sleep disorders and found to be very helpful especially if there is underlying anxiety and depression and these medications don't have dependence potential. So you can discuss these options with your doctor.
Hope I am able to answer your concerns.
- Dr. Sudhir Mahajan
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How Can Sleeplessness With Anxiety And Itching Skin Be Controlled?

Hello, Thanks for using healthcaremagic. It seems that you have developed dependance on Nitrazepam which is very common especially if taken for long time. And the symptoms you mentioned are the withdrawal symptoms of this med. There are two ways of managing this: one way is to gradually reduce the dose which you are trying and does not seem to be working for you; other way is to shift to another longer acting medication like Tab Diazepam (dose around 10 mg) which is comparatively easier to taper off. I have also tried low dose of Tablet Trazodone (25-50 mg at bed time) and Tablet Mirtazapine (7.5-15 mg at bed time) in my patients with sleep disorders and found to be very helpful especially if there is underlying anxiety and depression and these medications don t have dependence potential. So you can discuss these options with your doctor. Hope I am able to answer your concerns. - Dr. Sudhir Mahajan