Anyone ever gone to a sleep clinic? What kind of drugs would they end up prescribing?

[vekkersc]

I've had insomnia since I was very little, and my psychiatrist recently suggested I checked in at a sleep clinic, so they'd get a better understanding of my condition. What I'm worried about is that I would spend roughly $500 to $1000 on this, and in the end what can they do about it? Even if I walk out of there with a clear diagnosis or cause for my insomnia, I've tried every single sleep aid humanly known, so I really don't see how they'd be able to help. I asked him about this, but he could not give me a clear answer.

Has anyone ever gone through the experience of checking in at sleep clinic and followed up with whatever their diagnosis/recommendation was? I was just wondering what to expect. How can they help me once the results are in, other than prescribing some medication I've already tried, or referring me to a therapist/psychologist? Thanks!

 

[NeighborhoodThreat]

This isn't appropriate for Drug Studies, I'm going to move it to Other Drugs but I can't promise it will stay open.

 

[vekkersc]

I'm sorry, I clicked on the wrong forum!

 

[OGstickyswisher]

I've never been to a sleep clinic, nor have I heard of one.

But I've been to my general physician many times about insomnia/sleeping problems. Majority of the time I am given cyclobenzaprine (flexeril) which is a muscle relaxer.
I've gone back numerous times to procure different drugs to help me sleep, telling him the last prescription either didn't help, or caused unpleasant side-effects that I did not enjoy/appreciate.

The best he has done for me is a months prescription for 10mg diazepam (valium), which he will only give to me every couple/few months due to "addiction potential"

To my surprise he has never given me soma though.

Muscle relaxers are what you will run into most of the time though, aside from zolpidem (ambien)

 

[Eur0]

Well often primary physicians are only comfortable trying out medications such as benzodiazepines and muscle relaxers. if you go to a dotor who specializes in sleep problems they will be able to try medications such as atypical antipsychotics and other medications other doctors arent comfortable prescribing as well as looking further into the causes of why your insomnia is occurring. They can also use alternative methods such as body scan meditation which worked wonders for me and you should check it out yourself its free and you have nothing to lose by trying it other than maybe 10 minutes.

 

[m314]

I've had insomnia my whole life too. I tried just about every medicine out there for sleep, but none of them work for more than a week or two. Now I make my own cannabis sleeping pills - basically ground up bud powder, leaf powder, and coconut oil inside gelcaps. Those work better than anything else I've tried, but I still don't sleep well every night.

I'm going to a sleep clinic in a couple weeks for a sleep study. Basically I'll sleep at their office overnight while they monitor me. If they determine that I have sleep apnia (which is likely from my symptoms), they can treat it without drugs. Basically my options at that point are surgery or a CPAP machine where I'd have to wear a mask every night attached to a machine that breathes for me. Neither option sounds like fun, but I'll try just about anything now. Chronic insomnia, with or without sleep apnia, can be deadly over time. People with untreated insomnia tend to live 20 or 30 years less on average compared to those without insomnia.

 

[Seattle_Stranger]

Now I make my own cannabis sleeping pills - basically ground up bud powder, leaf powder, and coconut oil inside gelcaps. Those work better than anything else I've tried, but I still don't sleep well every night.

Interesting! How is your cannabis tolerance? I can't see this working very well for a person with tolerance.

 

[m314]

Interesting! How is your cannabis tolerance? I can't see this working very well for a person with tolerance.

It works for some people, but not everyone. Some of my friends can't sleep at all if they're high, but certain strains have always helped me get to sleep and stay asleep. Part of that is strain dependent; a pill made with White Rhino will knock me out but one with Cinderella 99 will keep me awake.

I have a medium tolerance, I guess. I've been getting high for 15 years, growing my own for the last 10 years. I keep my tolerance down by staying sober all day during the week and just taking a pill at night. I use it more recreationally on the weekends.

I can make the pills as weak or as strong as needed, so tolerance shouldn't be an issue. To make weaker pills, I just use less bud and more leaf. I can also add a filler like corn starch or flour if needed. To make stronger ones, I just use less filler, less leaf powder, and more bud. For someone with an insane tolerance (like some friends I know), I can use hash or hash oil instead of bud. I don't know anyone who wouldn't get high from a pill with half a gram of hash mixed with coconut oil.

 

[vekkersc]

I've had insomnia my whole life too. I tried just about every medicine out there for sleep, but none of them work for more than a week or two. Now I make my own cannabis sleeping pills - basically ground up bud powder, leaf powder, and coconut oil inside gelcaps. Those work better than anything else I've tried, but I still don't sleep well every night.

I'm going to a sleep clinic in a couple weeks for a sleep study. Basically I'll sleep at their office overnight while they monitor me. If they determine that I have sleep apnia (which is likely from my symptoms), they can treat it without drugs. Basically my options at that point are surgery or a CPAP machine where I'd have to wear a mask every night attached to a machine that breathes for me. Neither option sounds like fun, but I'll try just about anything now. Chronic insomnia, with or without sleep apnia, can be deadly over time. People with untreated insomnia tend to live 20 or 30 years less on average compared to those without insomnia.

I'm glad the cannabis pills are working for you. Unfortunately cannabis does nothing but keep me awake, so I'm not sure how effective that would be in my case.

I'm doing the same sleep monitoring procedure as you are. My problem is not sleep apnea though, it's just plain lying in bed waiting for sleep to come and it simply never does. When it's finally time to get up for work, I could easily fall asleep, but now it's too late. I end up sleeping every other day, which hits me pretty bad, socially. You have no energy left for small talk when you're exhausted as hell, not to mention the complete disinterest in social interaction and the combined loss of social capacity/experience from years of this same thing over and over again.

This insomnia ends up causing a lot of anxiety. The simple idea that I'll have to sleep in X hours makes very uneasy, as I know I'll have to deal with desperately trying to sleep and knowing I won't succeed. Going to bed is by far the worst part of my day.

This left me kind wondering, what the heck exactly are they going to analyze, if I just lay there for 8 hours without sleeping? They'll stick freaking electrodes to my head, this will pretty much eliminate all chances of me getting any sleep regardless how tired I am.

Anyway, I never knew I'd a shorter lifespan from almost 30 years of untreated insomnia. My outlook on life is very bleak, thankfully, so I'll be glad to take the early ride home.

Thanks everyone for your replies.

 

[m314]

I've had times like that in the past, where I'd go to bed and spend the whole night trying to sleep. The worst times were when I was dealing with bad stress. I averaged about 4 hours of sleep a week for a few months when a girlfriend left me after a 2 year relationship. Now I'm happily married with a good job and a relatively stress free life. I still have insomnia, though, and like you said just going to bed can be stressful on its own when you can't sleep.

For me, feeling the effects of cannabis slowly coming on helps me relax and stop worrying about how much sleep I'll get that night. I usually get to sleep within an hour or two of going to bed. I still wake up all through the night, but I can usually go back to sleep if I'm still high. Sometimes I wake up after 2 or 3 hours and can't sleep at all afterwards. On average, though, I get much more sleep with cannabis than without. Have you tried different strains before to compare the effects? Certain indica dominant strains work much better for me, and in general they work best if I'm sober all day and then take a pill an hour before bed. It doesn't help me sleep if I've been high all day.

I don't know how the sleep study thing will work either. I'll have to try to sleep somehow with electrodes attached, wearing clothes, in a strange bed with a room temperature that's too hot for me. My doctor is cool with my canna-capsules, so I plan on taking one before bed as usual. Hopefully I'll get at least an hour or two of sleep that night so they'll have some data to work with.

 

[m314]

I forgot to say that taking it orally (in a pill, tincture, or baked food product) works much better for sleep than smoking. Smoking pot never really helped me sleep much. Eating a properly prepared edible made with the right strain does help.