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FDA approves new insomnia drug

Of all the sleeping pills (and other formulas I've tried), the most effective, surprisingly, is a herbal mix containing hops, celandine, blue lotus and scullcap. Before I found this stuff I would either get 3 - 6 hours of sleep a night if I was working/studying, or end up with a fucked up 18 - 20 hours awake, then 8 - 12 hours asleep pattern (which obviously made me completely dysfunctional). Hypnotic benzos would make me physically tired but still unable to sleep, so I'd lie in bed staring at the roof and feel like a zombie the next day, anxiolytic benzos would help a bit more in high doses, but I'd end up taking them constantly and oversleeping, eventually becoming dependent. I also tried all the other crap out there and it was either useless (valerian tea etc) or left a disgusting hangover (seroquel etc).

Finally I started taking these herbal capsules from a local shop (Zonk from Happy High Herbs, for any Aussies with sleep trouble). At first I tried a full cap and I didn't like it because it felt a bit strong (and after so long as an insomniac, I wasn't used to a regular sleep cycle or being asleep at night, so going to sleep at the same time every night - before midnight at that - felt unnatural and uncomfortable), so I started cracking the capsules open and swallowing 1/3 - 1/2 of the powder, and without fail I'm asleep within the hour. For the first time since I was 11 or 12, I'm able to go to bed at night, at the same time every night, lie down, sleep for 8 hours, then wake back up. It took a while to get used to not being awake all night, but I love it now - no dependence, no tolerance and no hangover.

No idea why the herbs work so much better than all the pills I've tried, and if someone else told me this I'd say it was BS (I even asked around online because I was suspicious there was some kind of pharmaceutical mixed into the capsules), but it works amazingly.
 
Crankinit said:
Of all the sleeping pills (and other formulas I've tried), the most effective, surprisingly, is a herbal mix containing hops, celandine, blue lotus and scullcap. Before I found this stuff I would either get 3 - 6 hours of sleep a night if I was working/studying, or end up with a fucked up 18 - 20 hours awake, then 8 - 12 hours asleep pattern (which obviously made me completely dysfunctional). Hypnotic benzos would make me physically tired but still unable to sleep, so I'd lie in bed staring at the roof and feel like a zombie the next day, anxiolytic benzos would help a bit more in high doses, but I'd end up taking them constantly and oversleeping, eventually becoming dependent. I also tried all the other crap out there and it was either useless (valerian tea etc) or left a disgusting hangover (seroquel etc).

Finally I started taking these herbal capsules from a local shop (Zonk from Happy High Herbs, for any Aussies with sleep trouble). At first I tried a full cap and I didn't like it because it felt a bit strong (and after so long as an insomniac, I wasn't used to a regular sleep cycle or being asleep at night, so going to sleep at the same time every night - before midnight at that - felt unnatural and uncomfortable), so I started cracking the capsules open and swallowing 1/3 - 1/2 of the powder, and without fail I'm asleep within the hour. For the first time since I was 11 or 12, I'm able to go to bed at night, at the same time every night, lie down, sleep for 8 hours, then wake back up. It took a while to get used to not being awake all night, but I love it now - no dependence, no tolerance and no hangover.

No idea why the herbs work so much better than all the pills I've tried, and if someone else told me this I'd say it was BS (I even asked around online because I was suspicious there was some kind of pharmaceutical mixed into the capsules), but it works amazingly.
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I nearly tried that stuff because the ingredients list was really small and subtle. It's a good thing I decided to read it before swallowing them, because I'm deathly allergic to hops.
 
ro4eva said:
Apparently Temazepam has the highest 'abuse liability' among all Rx Benzodiazepines due to it reportedly being number 1 in a poll regarding which benzo is the most recreational (feeling high or euphoric) which was completed by a large number of recreational Benzodiazepine users. So I guess I'm not surprised that you are satisfied with it, although I don't mean to imply that you value a drug purely by its potential to induce a feeling of euphoria.
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Yes I was surprised that its, "Recreational" value was higher than that of Alprazolam. I really don't feel any euphoria from my medication but it does help me stay asleep where as when I was on Zolpidem I would fall asleep but literally wake up 7-10 times a night. I presume that Temazapam's,"Recreational-rating" was due to when it was available in "jelly" form tablet/capsules that were typically injected by heavy users. There's a whole documentary by the BBC on Temazepam https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J7Avxapzrh8
 
I've seen TV ads for this. I've never taken any sort of sleep medication including Lunesta, Ambien, benzos, seroquel, etc.

I tried Valerian root and passionflower for insomnia but those did not work for me.

I sometimes would drink a small amount of alcohol, like a single shot of vodka in a mixed drink, a shot of bourbon, a glass of red wine, or a beer or two to try to help me fall asleep but I have not done that for a long time and alcohol does not actually help you stay asleep. Cannabis worked but I had to use it earlier in the day or night and I would fall asleep while coming down from it.

Nowadays I just drink some hot chamomile tea with honey, or some rooibos.
 
SixBuckets said:
I nearly tried that stuff because the ingredients list was really small and subtle. It's a good thing I decided to read it before swallowing them, because I'm deathly allergic to hops.
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Ugh, close call. That allergy must be a pain in the ass :/

I agree that the store in question could do more to increase the visibility of the ingredient list on their products. Including dosage would be nice as well, though maybe they don't want to encourage competition or people ordering herbs online and making their own versions of the products (which I'd do if I actually needed a whole capsule of the stuff, since it's not cheap and they seem to increase their prices regularly).
 
Those pills worked for me as well when i tried them years ago.
Frankly i dont trust their "ingredients" lists though. I wouldnt put much past them, frankly.
Maybe i'm too cynical and suspicious :sus:
 
There is an adage of medicinal chemistry 'there is no such thing as a sedative that is NOT addictive' and while, in the US, Eszopiclone seems to have managed to get a license for long-term usage, it's still a GABA mediated drug and produces withdrawal in animal models. Melatonin derivatives have made it to market so I suspect hypnotic benzos will begin to be phased out.
 
ro4eva said:
Apparently Temazepam has the highest 'abuse liability' among all Rx Benzodiazepines due to it reportedly being number 1 in a poll regarding which benzo is the most recreational (feeling high or euphoric) which was completed by a large number of recreational Benzodiazepine users. So I guess I'm not surprised that you are satisfied with it, although I don't mean to imply that you value a drug purely by its potential to induce a feeling of euphoria.

Personally, (although I don't really find Benzos to be particularly recreational) I prefer Alprazolam, but I digress (apologies for going off topic).

I am waiting to see if I can get my hands on some Suvorexant, although, not particularly excited about it. But if it can help me get more quality R.E.M. sleep compared to Alprazolam (which AFAIK is horrible when it comes to R.E.M. sleep), and I can tolerate the side effects, then I may probably consider eventually obtaining a prescription if possible.
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I haven't used benzodiazepines in at least 10 months

Never had a problem with them

Benzodiazepines are weird. I have known people who felt nothing from temazepam.

I don't suffer from insomnia much anymore.

I just take Valerian tea now and it works well.
 
Captain.Heroin said:
I haven't used benzodiazepines in at least 10 months

Never had a problem with them

Benzodiazepines are weird. I have known people who felt nothing from temazepam.

I don't suffer from insomnia much anymore.

I just take Valerian tea now and it works well.
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I was prescribed temazepam for awhile. I didn't find it enjoyable at all. I would pick Xanax, kolonopin,or Ativan over it ll day everyday.
 
temazepam has a subtle euphoria to it....almost upperish mentally. It is something that I have not found in any other benzo whatsoever, it definitely has something unique about its pharmacology that makes it special. its just not considered one of the more abusable benzos by the medical community and by most benzo users so I think its stayed under the radar.
 
I just picked up a sample pack (10x20mg) of this stuff ... will be interested to see what it does ... it's C-IV, but I really doubt it has any recreational potential. That's OK because I'm really just looking for something to knock me out good. Nothing else has worked: BZDs, z-drugs, trazodone, doxepin, Vistaril, Seroquel, you name it. A new mechanism of action is pretty good stuff. And what kind of Bluelighter would I be if I turned down this kind of opportunity?
 
SKL said:
I just picked up a sample pack (10x20mg) of this stuff ... will be interested to see what it does ... it's C-IV, but I really doubt it has any recreational potential. That's OK because I'm really just looking for something to knock me out good. Nothing else has worked: BZDs, z-drugs, trazodone, doxepin, Vistaril, Seroquel, you name it. A new mechanism of action is pretty good stuff. And what kind of Bluelighter would I be if I turned down this kind of opportunity?
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OK, review part one:

On first trial (20mg) I didn't really like it. I found myself feeling tired and yawning but not really being "knocked out" asleep to any degree, which is really what I need for my chronic insomnia. I'd probably do better with chloral, which doesn't exist anymore commercially*, or with a serious hypnotic benzo, but those can end badly for the user. I think that with better "sleep hygiene" habits than mine and suchlike Belsomra might be of more benefit, but I wound up being awake for 2-3 hours after dosing. I awoke with a rather unpleasant tired hungover sensation which may have been related to staying up. I'll give it another go "for science" of course.

Zero recreational potential. Not sure why it is scheduled other than a general paranoia towards actual or potential psychoactive drugs at "interesting" neurotransmitters (see: the seizure medication Vimpat and the weight loss medication Belviq.)

*obiter: Chloral hydrate, effective, bad for you, and was in a strange legal situation with the FDA, it was discontinued a few years ago but during my training it was literally every patient's p.r.n. medication for insomnia
 
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I've been using 30 mg of Temazapam for sleep for 11 years now. I was put on it after failing trials of every other sleep med out there. I have periodically tried other meds as they became available.

I've just moved and changed psych docs. My new doc had a fit when she found out that i'd been on Temazapam and Lorazapam for 11 years straight, and then informed me that due to my mental health situation (Bipolar, generalized anxiety, PTSD, etc.) and physical health issues, she felt the risks of attempting to withdraw me from the meds, especially since I have not increased my dosages and do not abuse them, outweighed the risks of me continuing to take them.

So, I've basically been informed that it's healthier for me to remain dependent on benzos! Interestingly, the only thing I've noticed when I've tried not taking the benzos is horrific rebound anxiety and simply not sleeping. The problem with this is that the anxiety renders me non-functional and the lack of sleep throws me into a manic state after 3-4 days.

As of the last time i tried this, I was not aware of the seizure risk, and only recently found out that i was risking my life playing games with my medications. I figured it would be like when I quit taking Vicodin after knee surgery many years ago: feel crappy for a week and then you're over it.

Now my medical care team has me scared to death to run out of my "fix".
 
UpInFlames said:
I've been using 30 mg of Temazapam for sleep for 11 years now. I was put on it after failing trials of every other sleep med out there. I have periodically tried other meds as they became available.

I've just moved and changed psych docs. My new doc had a fit when she found out that i'd been on Temazapam and Lorazapam for 11 years straight, and then informed me that due to my mental health situation (Bipolar, generalized anxiety, PTSD, etc.) and physical health issues, she felt the risks of attempting to withdraw me from the meds, especially since I have not increased my dosages and do not abuse them, outweighed the risks of me continuing to take them.

So, I've basically been informed that it's healthier for me to remain dependent on benzos! Interestingly, the only thing I've noticed when I've tried not taking the benzos is horrific rebound anxiety and simply not sleeping. The problem with this is that the anxiety renders me non-functional and the lack of sleep throws me into a manic state after 3-4 days.

As of the last time i tried this, I was not aware of the seizure risk, and only recently found out that i was risking my life playing games with my medications. I figured it would be like when I quit taking Vicodin after knee surgery many years ago: feel crappy for a week and then you're over it.

Now my medical care team has me scared to death to run out of my "fix".
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I went through a similar situation. I tried everything under the sun. Seroquel worked but for some reason my liver enzymes went through the roof while I was on it. I also gained a lot of weight.

I have been taking 30mg temazepam every night at the same time, and I sometimes add .5mg of xanax to put me to sleep. If I didn't take this I would sleep for 1-3 hours a night, but those would be interspersed with waking up and having intense anxiety, or nightmares that would keep me awake all night.

I think the tradeoff is okay for me. I would rather be dependent on benzos and take them as prescribed than not be able to sleep (I have had sleep issues since I was a very little kid, including sleepwalking.)

To the poster that was taking belsomra, please keep us posted, I would love to hear how taking this as prescribed at a regular interval will work.
 
2nd trial, still not very good. No obligations for the next day, thankfully. Tired but restless for a few hours, then a fitful sleep with vivid dreams. Slept in rather too long, significantly more than the 7 hours they say one should have to sleep without having to attend to worldly needs, feeling a bit anxious, an unpleasant physicality, dry mouth, headache, foggy brain.

3rd trial, just out of the sake of curiosity, combined with 10mg Ambien. Both of these sleeping meds have been less than helpful for me so maybe together ... not so much. A definite additive effect in terms of the hypnotic effect but an even worse hangover. Brief intervals of almost delirious wakefulness alternating with vivid, disturbing dreams. Definitely would not try again.

In summary: not a great hypnotic subjectively to me, a weird one, eventually effective but with some fairly minor but unpleasant side effects.

I think I'm binning it. Although "for science" it might be worthwhile to dose on consecutive days, etc. I don't really wanna put myself through another trial.

I should add I take other medications: Klonipin, Lamictal, Wellbutrin, Viibryd. I drink a mild-to-moderate but not extreme amount on a daily basis.

Might work for others, definitely has an interesting novel mode of action, but seems not to be for me, also even though I have good insurance it would still cost me a hell of a lot. As a Bluelight tossing away exotic drugs sort of breaks my heart but whatever, this stuff gets a one star review from me, basically. But to serious insomniacs out there who've tried various other things and have access to this stuff, or even the 10 pill sample packs, there is also a deal where the pharmco will subsidize your Rx for a year, it might be worth the effort. If you need a different treatment, this is Bluelight, try anything twice (safely), yes?
 
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Thats some pretty good anecdotal data I must say. I also could take an insane amount of ambien and it wouldn't put me to sleep.
 
LucidSDreamr said:
temazepam has a subtle euphoria to it....almost upperish mentally. It is something that I have not found in any other benzo whatsoever, it definitely has something unique about its pharmacology that makes it special. its just not considered one of the more abusable benzos by the medical community and by most benzo users so I think its stayed under the radar.
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I think I know what you mean regarding the subtle euphoria one may experience when consuming Temazepam. I recall a mild but pleasant uniqueness which was typically induced by the usage of drug. It's something I haven't felt with any other Benzodiazepine that I've been on (about 9 or 10 in total, although Lorazepam come close). I absolutely hate Flurazepam (due to it being a partial agonist, which essentially caused me to go into withdrawal when I was prescribed it in place of Xanax for a few days).

Based on my experience with the drug, Alprazolam (which is the one I've been Rx'd for a very long time now) also induces a unique feeling which I have not felt in other benzos or z-drugs, but I'd consider it more of an anti-depressant-type/like effect - particularly as the dosage increases. And I realize that may seem odd considering it's a GABA-A PAM (AFAIK at least), but I digress.
 
Why on earth do they approve a novel sleep drug that is addictive, makes people suicidal and to do strange things without remembering, might be hepatotoxic - and after all has issues with sleepiness on the day after... sounds like a worse variant of all the things we already have. WTF!!??
 
I don't know if it's addictive per se in the classic sense of the word...maybe there could be some kind of orexin rebound making it hard to sleep without it, but I find this hard to believe as it's not as if there seems to be a noticeable boost in wakefulness the day after, much the opposite. As to the other effects, yeah, doesn't seem very appealing and I did not find it useful, much less enjoyable (like I said, it seems to have zero recreational potential and I don't see why it's scheduled.)
 
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