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IUP | Wellness > Mental Health

Ranking Sleeping Medications I’ve Been Prescribed

Samya Settles Student Contributor, Indiana University of Pennsylvania
This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at IUP chapter and does not reflect the views of Her Campus.
  1. Hydroxyzine 

Hydroxyzine was one of the first sleeping medications I’ve tried and it did not go well. Not only was it used to treat my insomnia but my anxiety too. I was on a higher dose of 50 mg and let me tell you it was strong. Some get prescribed it multiple times a day and I don’t know how because I can’t last 5 minutes after taking it. Yet the reason it is number one is because after two years I got back on it, just at a lower dose of 10 mg every night and it has been amazing. I take it an hour before bed and it knocks me out peacefully without that drowsy feeling the next morning, and at least for me I have no side effects. 

  1. Prazosin 

Prazosin isn’t a medication to help you fall asleep but to ensure you have a peaceful one. Prazosin would be number one if it did have that sleeping factor. This medication is for people who have PTSD related nightmares and need help stopping them. I only need a dose of 1mg and it works like a miracle.

  1. Mirtazapine 

Mirtazapine was my favorite sleeping medication at first, all I needed was a low dose of 10 mg every night. This medication had one of the worst side effects for me, weight gain. Now I am a thin girl trying to gain weight but this medication was making me a hunger demon. I could not stop eating the entire house and I gained 10 pounds in one week! The reason this is number three is because this one didn’t give me any crazy dreams and I didn’t need to take it an hour before bed for it to kick in. 

  1. Trazodone 

Trazodone was the one I was on the longest; this helped treat my depression along with insomnia. Although this was a good medication it had one of my most hated side effects, headaches. I was convinced that this was the medication for me until one week I realized why I needed to stop. Now as someone who already gets migraines, I do not recommend this medication. It took me a while to realize that trazodone gave me these headaches until one week I ran out and the headaches were gone. Turns out I was right because I haven’t had a headache from medication since. 

  1. Propranolol

Propranolol was one that just didn’t work for me. It’s a beta blocker that helps sleep and anxiety. There’s not much to say besides the fact that it didn’t work. Most likely because it was a low dose but I also had no choice because I already have heart issues and having a beta blocker isn’t ideal.

Samya Settles

IUP '27

Samya Settles is the President of Her Campus at IUP, she covers fashion and current pop culture topics. She wants to write about every hot topic going on in the entertainment industry. She loves any and everything to do with modeling and hopes to pursue that career in the future, along with running her own business.

She is attending IUP for her bachelors in Entrepreneurship and Small Business, she also considers earning her masters in the future. She is an active member of NAACP, Management Association, and Sign Club.

In her free time, she like to listen to music, watch YouTube, ride her bike, workout and learn new languages. She is obsessed with the color pink, pandas and food. One thing she is extremely good at is binge watching shows, finishing them in less than two days!