Hi there. Sleep difficulties are very common with depression and anxiety. And depression and thyroid issues are commonly linked. And anxiety and hormones are commonly linked. And anxiety and insomnia are linked . . . see where I am going. Yes, it all can be interrelated.
Sleep medication depending on what it is is really not a great long term solution. I understand why you wouldn't want to do that long term. Thyroid is trickier if you have a slow acting thyroid. But I WILL tell you that I had hypothyroidism for about a year and a half. I also had low level depression. I treated my depression and was waiting to see an endocrinologist due to their having a long waiting list and during that time, my thyroid began functioning normally again and has been for 20 years
since!
The thing with most antidepressants is that they take some time to work. And there are 'start up' side effects. So, say you take Zoloft (common and well tolerated medication used for depression/anxiety). You would start on a low dose and they increase it to a therapeutic level slowly. So, maybe you start at 25 mg and then go to 50 over the course of a week. For the first bit of taking it, there are transient side effects that can happen. It is your body getting used to the medication. You MAY feel slightly more anxious, agitated, have other things that you feel. BUT, these peter out. So, it is important to stay on any of these types of medications for 6 to 8 weeks to really know what being on them would be like. Unless the side effect is just absolutely horrible, trying to get through it is best to know if the med would work for you. Because MOST of those start up side effects go away. Not that the medications are side effect free but most are fairly well tolerated. Also, note--- when discontinuing any type of mental health medication, be sure to titrate back down which means to decrease the dose over time. This gets away from any side effects on the other end or at least minimizes them.
The only thing I'd do in terms of sleep aid that I have heard of having success without the issues of sedative medications is to use melatonin. That's a natural product sold over the counter that is known to help. It doesn't have any hang over effect and isn't addicting. It doesn't cause long term issues.
But absolutely, this could all be intertwined and you are NOT alone. hugs
Hi, other things are better for sleep than antidepressants. Antidepressants help with sleep if they relieve anxiety that keeps one awake, but mostly they don't have sedative properties.
Have you looked into natural substances that are said to increase the ability to sleep, or to decrease anxiety? There are a lot of them. A good health-food store with a big medical section might be able to advise you.
Exercise, not too close to bedtime but enough to get your heart pumping at least three times a week, is said to test as more effective against anxiety than antidepressants are.
Re-sorting your memories by journaling and reading the journal over can get rid of fears. We begin to get adjusted to them, and they no longer trigger the amygdala. You could record what the day was like and what you ate, when you had a worse night, and when you had a better one. Re-reading and analyzing the information for patterns and clues can make the anxiety fade.
If the initial issue came from thyroid medication, you might also check the thyroid community to see if others have had the same problem, and how they solved it.