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Sleep Much Needed

MrBaconHawk

Bluelighter
Joined
Dec 5, 2017
Messages
113
I have mild pain and discomfort while lying down, but the main issue that keeps me from sleep is my mind thinking about things or being distracted constantly. I often end up falling asleep only when I'm exhausted at 5-6am and have to wake up at 8:30am. This is getting to be pretty draining. Even if I do get to sleep, I might get woken up and cannot sleep for another while longer.

The only relief I've ever found was taking 15mg-20mg of Oxycodone (which I'll run out of tonight) to make my mind calm down and slow myself down so I get a little bit dizzy or nod off to sleep. Is there anything else that I can take or easily get a prescription for or take that will give me a similar effect? With 20mg Oxycodone, I am able to nod off to sleep and if I'm woken up I can return to sleep without effort, which lasts basically all night. I really want a similar effect without the potential opiate addiction. Does anyone know something that gives a similar effect of making me drowsy enough to sleep through the night? Avoiding NSAID's because I had an Ulcer from one before.
 
Hi. Welcome to Bluelight. There aren't many drugs similar to oxycodone that gives its effects besides other opiates. If you are looking just for something to help you sleep, you could try diphenhydramine aka Benedryl. Do you have this or any other sedating antihistamines in the house?
 
Agreed with T Calderone. Another antihistamine that works really well for me is Doxylamine. I sometimes pop a couple melatonin along with it.

OP, you posted the oxycodone thread yesterday, right? I was under the impression that you just got the oxy script recently, which was a small quantity that is now almost gone? But not a lot of experience with oxy prior to that?

If you don't mind me asking, what have you done previously to help you sleep? You say the oxy is the only thing that works, but that's only been a recent and short-lived tactic. I'm not trying to second-guess you here, just seeking more info and trying to understand the big picture.
 
Yeah, I got a script for 12 pills to help me sleep at night and then just a few Instant Relief ones for if the back pain comes back again. I'm saving the IR tablets obviously in case they're needed and was taking the Oxycodone 5mg to sleep. It worked well, so I figured maybe there was something else that might help sedate me or get me to rest throughout the night. Obviously don't want to do opiates long term so these suggestions for Antihistamines are good. From what I'm hearing, I should try Benadryl with Melatonin, or Doxylamine, am I right? I'm willing to try whatever I can as long as it gets me to sleep. My other thread was on how much I should take, if the pain came back.
 
There are melatonin and diphenhydramine combinations that you can buy over the counter. I saw an advertisement but can't remember the name of the product. Are you planning to see a doctor for your back problem? Insomnia is a bitch and I hope you get some relief. :)
 
Ok, gotcha. I was just curious as to what other tactics you've tried before the oxy worked.

I struggle with insomnia too. Honestly, I think that's part of the reason I became such a prolific abuser of substances. A lot of times, I just wanted to fucking sleep.

During my "sober" periods (those come and go throughout my life) I've tried things like Nyquil and Unisom, the antihistamines, the melatonin. I relied on benzos for years and years, but would not recommend that to anyone as a sleep aid.

Excluding the benzos, of all the things I've tried, the Unisom (doxylamine) & melatonin combo seemed to work the best.

But what I've found is that I prefer not to have those crutches, and the crutches stop working well anyway.

When I'm in a sober phase, I get all like... interested in self-improvement and healthy living and shit, and starting good habits. So, I would say and practice things like "exercise before bed, such a natural way to get your body ready for sleep!". And it works, it really does. Personally, for me, when we're talking chemical-free methods, the absolute best thing is sex right before bed. Knock one out, and pass out on your pillow.

Then I relapse and start falling asleep every night in a substance induced haze.

Anyway, I"m rambling now. I'm high. All that to say, there are things that can work for you, but you seem to be a sober guy, or at least free from addiction. My personal advice is use some antihistamines and shit when you absolutely need to, but try and avoid becoming reliant on some type of chemical aid to help you sleep. Not preaching at you, just my thoughts... Good luck! :)
 
It’s sad to see how easy it is for us to just reach for a pill when something is wrong. And doctors tell us this is ok. I’m not bashing you or anyone, I’m an addict and I love my drugs. I do this as much as anyone. As soon as I feel a symptom of anything I pop a pill. Take care of your body and your body will take care of you. Before you start putting yourself at risk for addiction, Im wondering, do you get much exercise? I suffered from severe insomnia before, going several days in a row without sleep. It would affect my performance in any work or daily duties that I had. Very draining indeed. I am pretty lazy when it comes to exercise but desperation pushed me to get my ass in gear and I started to jog on the treadmill and/or other light activities. It actually did help. I didn’t all of a sudden begin sleeping 8 hours every night but 3-4 hours helps a lot when you’re used to going forever on no sleep until you feel like you’re going to lose your mind and then just crash!!! I think you should talk to your doctor or at the very least do quick google search to find out what exercises would be safe for you and not cause you to injure your back further.

Also, what time of day you work out makes a difference. Right before bed I thought sounded like a good idea because I thought it would wear me out but it had the opposite effect. An object in motion stays in motion. So once I’d get myself going, my body and mind we’re ready to go go go. If you try this, give it a few hours after exercising to go to bed.

If this fails or you decide not to take this direction, i agree Benadryl would be a good place to start. You could also try melatonin, or valerian root. Please give these a try before the more addicting drugs like opioids or more damaging drugs like hardcore sleeping pills or some anti psychotics. Not saying people should not take these drugs, but if it’s just sleep you’re looking for, there are many many options out there that I think should be given a chance first.

I skipped around in this post, I hope my tone doesn’t come off as bitchy. Honestly I just worry about people going down the addiction path especially when it could quite possibly be so easily avoided.
 
Thanks everyone for the feedback. I really want to get into a schedule of exercise and such, I need to be more fit and healthy. I used to practice martial arts 2 hours a day at least before I got married. My wife also wants me to exercise but the problem is that I have a really hard time getting new schedules or routines. I will start, but then stop quickly. This is probably due to my ADHD distracting me. I also have a hard time sleeping from Anxiety, Night Terrors and something called Violent Intrusive Thoughts (a form of OCD where my mind will drift and I start having repeated thoughts of me causing accidental harm to loved ones, or harming myself, or other people being harmed, but in excruciating detail, which causes a bit of PTSD too... It sucks). So night time is rough for me, and I'm at the end of my long patience I feel like. I hope I can find a way to get into a workout routine somehow (but hard to do that when I'm all alone, nobody nearby to push me to do more, can't pay for a Trainer) and I hope I can be independent of any substances for my sleep. I think the most immediate help would be at least getting some sleep back with some of the above suggestions and working my way to being in a habit of workout and proper diet/sleep. That's the overall goal. It's just so damn hard to do that with all the challenges I face and doing so all alone.

I appreciate the help I've gotten so far, you guys are very cool to put so much effort into helping a random guy deal with personal issues. I appreciate it very much
 
Also, Shartito, there was an interesting study done where they had Heroin-laced water and regular water in a rat cage. They found when the rats were isolated, they almost always got addicted to the Heroin-water. But they they took the rats and put them together in a big fun happy cage where they could socialize and play with toys, and they found the addicted rats almost never went back to the Heroin-water. It really changed how we look at addiction. It's really not so much of a substance issue, but more about socialization and environmental. Maybe that could help you know what to surround yourself with to avoid a relapse? Hope it helps
 
Here's the specifics of the study:

"The caged rats ingested much larger doses of the morphine solution – about 19 times more than Rat Park rats in one of the experiments.

The Rat Park rats consistently resisted the morphine water, preferring plain water.

Even rats in cages that were fed nothing but morphine water for 57 days chose plain water when moved to Rat Park, voluntarily going through withdrawal.

No matter what they tried, Alexander and his team produced nothing that resembled addiction in rats that were housed in Rat Park."


Source (Secondary): https://www.summitbehavioralhealth.com/blog/overview-rat-park-addiction-study/
 
BaconHawk, I appreciate the time and effort taken to describe and cite that study. That was very thoughtful of you.

I can certainly appreciate those findings, and I have no doubt that there is a lot of fact in there.

While I do believe that social circles play an instrumental role in addiction, I also know that I have deep rooted issues that drive me to this lifestyle, time and time again.
 
Do you think something like Adderall or Ritalin might be useful to help me remember more to get into a habit of working out and such? I want to find a way to get into a schedule of working out and all, but it's hard to with the ADHD constantly making me forget or procrastinate. Any thoughts?
 
If you have a legitimate diagnosis of ADHD, Adderall may help. Do you have a doctor that's diagnosed this? If so, amps are a pretty common treatment method.

But as implied earlier in the thread, I wouldn't immediately jump to meds, especially if you're not a junkie like most of us here. If it's just a matter of scheduling, there are other, drug-free ways to do that.
 
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