Doxepin for sleep
Doxepin is a tricyclic antidepressant from the 1960s that turned out, at very low doses, to be one of the best sleep medications available. The 3mg and 6mg…
Jun 1, 2026
Seroquel (quetiapine)
Seroquel is the antipsychotic that gets prescribed for everything other than what it’s actually approved for, and the off-label sleep use is the biggest example. There are real…
Jun 1, 2026
Trazodone vs Quviviq vs Belsomra
The sleep medication landscape in 2026 is in a weird place. Trazodone is still the default for most prescribers, mostly out of habit and price. The orexin antagonists…
Jun 1, 2026
Hydroxyzine
Hydroxyzine has been sitting in the pharmacy for sixty years doing useful work, and most prescribers act like it doesn’t exist. It’s an antihistamine in the same H1…
Sep 1, 2025
Lorazepam (Ativan)
Ativan has a reputation, and half my new patients walk in with strong feelings about lorazepam before I’ve said anything. The feelings split along a sharp line. The…
Aug 24, 2025
Ambien
Ambien gets handed out like Tic Tacs. Primary care hands it out, urgent care hands it out, the dentist hands it out before a crown. Most patients who…
Aug 16, 2025
Remeron
Remeron is the antidepressant nobody picks first and a lot of guys end up grateful for. The generic name is mirtazapine, it’s been around since the mid-90s, and…
Jul 29, 2025
Lunesta
Lunesta is the Z-drug you reach for when Ambien isn’t holding the night together. Same family, different shape, slightly longer half-life. It binds the same GABA-A receptor real…
Jul 23, 2025
Sleep, Stress, and Your Brain
You can’t think your way out of being sleep-deprived, you can’t positive-mindset your way through chronic stress, and you can’t meditate away what happens to a brain that’s…
May 18, 2025
Melatonin
Melatonin is one of the most misunderstood things sold in a drugstore, and the misunderstanding got there with help from the supplement industry, the pediatrician’s office, and your…
Apr 26, 2025