Medication and GP management

hey everyone,

I’ve come to this space to try and find a solution or perhaps guidance in terms of managing mental health treatment long term.

I have been on and off antidepressants for generalised anxiety for over 12 years.

I have recently come to a new phase in my life where I feel confident and stable to try coming off my antidepressants.

I was able to reduce by half which seemed to be working well. My biggest downfall to this is my sleep.

Over 5 years ago I experienced a difficult time and was unable to sleep for 3 days from debilitating anxiety. Now, if I feel as though I am not falling asleep soon enough, I go back to that moment and fear going through that again.

I have tried psychology and have been prescribed off label medication for sleep in the past.

I have recently been told by a new dr to not take this off label medication due to the dependencies

I am really at a loss on what to do.

As humans, if we cannot sleep, we cannot function and in turn it impacts our daily living majorly.

I am told to take medication, I am told to not take certain medications, I am told to go to talk therapy. None of this seems to work long term or (as per General practitioners) is safe, long term.

I would love to know your experience tapering down antidepressants and how you’ve managed insomnia.

Is there something out there that we are missing? We need more help from our GP’s but the information is not helpful. Especially for long term management