• BASIC DRUG
    DISCUSSION
    Welcome to Bluelight!
    Posting Rules Bluelight Rules
    Benzo Chart Opioids Chart
    Drug Terms Need Help??
    Drugs 101 Brain & Addiction
    Tired of your habit? Struggling to cope?
    Want to regain control or get sober?
    Visit our Recovery Support Forums
  • BDD Moderators: Keif’ Richards

Got Insomnia Bad

F

Fussbucket

Greenlighter
Joined
Sep 21, 2014
Messages
20
Location
California
(Parts of this were copied/pasted/tweaked from my intro post in the New Members forum.)

I am late 30's male, and a lifelong insomniac who has had it really bad over the past several months. I actually don't have too hard of a time falling asleep (usually), but I tend to wake up in the middle of the night, and then barely sleep after that. In June/July it got really bad, with me going to bed at around 10 PM and then popping awake by 11:30 PM, and then staring at the alarm clock for the rest of the night and morning. Again, I've always been a poor sleeper, but some changes in my life (such as my mom being diagnosed with cancer) no doubt contributed to my sleep suddenly getting even worse.

In late July I talked to my primary doc about the problem, and over the past two months he has tried:


- Temazepam (15 mg, but usually taking 2 per night)
- Ambien (10 mg)
- Lunesta (3 mg)


The temazepam, in hindsight, actually worked pretty well. But, I judged it pretty harshly at the time since I was expecting a miracle cure, and it was far from that. It was more like the difference between sleeping 3-4 hours and sleeping 6-7 hours per night. And, I have read all about benzos and how quickly one can build up a huge tolerance. Ambien, as many said would happen, only helped me sleep for 3-4 hours, and then I'd be wide awake. Lunesta is billed as the "helps you sleep all night" drug, but I was still waking up after 5 or so hours. And, Lunesta (even the generic I was taking, with insurance) is VERY expensive. If it worked, I'd probably pay the price, but it doesn't work any better than temaz for me.


I also, for the first time in my life, started going to a psychiatrist. Since August he has tried:


- Trazodone (50 mg)
- Doxepin (50 mg)
- Mirtazapine (15 mg)


I hated -- HATED -- the trazodone. Within 20 minutes it made me feel really drugged out, but I was not falling asleep! I also could feel my heart beating and was very unhappy. I literally tossed them in the trash. More recently, doxepin and mirtazapine (not taken on the same day) have sort of worked... Again, not miracle cures, but when I take them along with melatonin, I seem to do better than average. But, I feel like I'm still slightly affected the next day, plus I'm wondering about their effects on my blood pressure, which is already a bit higher than it should be.


I also have tried some klonopin that a friend gave to me. Again, sort of worked, but not a miracle cure. And, I know it's a benzo... tolerance... be careful.... etc.

If none of the above has really worked for me, does anyone have any suggestions on what I should try next?
 
Yes, take 25mg of doxylamine succinate and 5mg melatonin and you'll sleep like a log.
The doxy adds turbo boost to the melatonin.

Make sure you dont take more than 25mg of the doxy, its quite strong.
You can get doxy in some States OTC, or you can buy it on Ebay/Amazon
 
Unfortunately, I've tried doxylamine (both with and without melatonin), and it does almost nothing for me. Makes me as groggy as hell, but I still wake up in the middle of the night. :X
 
Yup... I've tried all of the OTC meds... doxylamine, diphenhydramine, melatonin, and l-tryptophan. I never mix the first two, but I've tried combos of melatonin, tryptophan, and one of those first two, and no luck. Doxy and Diphen make me groggy, and sometimes help me fall asleep, but my problem is usually much more about staying asleep after midnight.

None of this was working for me, which is why I started seeing a doc to bring in the big prescription guns. But even those have left me underwhelmed...
 
Maybe try doing some heavy activity before bed. Go jogging, lift weights, wear your body out. Then, go eat something very heavy, brush your teeth, and hopefully pass out and get a good nights rest.
 
I take ambien, but my tolerance has grown, so instead of one, I take two to fall asleep. When I wake up our or so hours later, I take another two. When I wake up from that, I've had between six and eights hours of sleep, no hangover. I've also taken an ambien with 25 mg diphenhydramine (benadryl) and it does the trick for me, but I wouldn't recommend it for those with less tolerance. Not sure what it would do. I do take diphenhydramine religiously with about 5 mg melatonin. Best of all. I've never tried serrroquel, but I've heard it's very strong and strone you on into the day, which I do not want.
 
I also find OTC sleep aids like the antihistamines don't do anything for me. Even 100mg promethazine won't put me to sleep. Benzos don't either, neither will mirtazapine or quetiapine. I guess some people just aren't as sensitive as others to drowsiness.
Although if you go into this looking for a drug to knock you out cold for 8 hours you will be disappointed. Perhaps changing your expectations to finding something that will make you feel like laying down and helping you fall asleep rather than knocking you out.

I'd say from your first post the temaze worked well. 6 hours is better than 3 hours sleep. And everyone is different, we don't all need a solid 8 hours. Ask yourself how you felt after 6 hours sleep. Not first thing in the morning though I know I always feel like hell then. But in general through the day were you tired?
If not then maybe change your sleep expectation a little too. Maybe you only need 6 hours to feel refreshed?
My personal experience is I only need about 5 but my insomnia is transient so some nights I will get 5 hours other nights 15 and I still feel the same.

I wish a miracle "knock me out and wake me up at 6am" drug existed but I haven't found it yet :(
 
well #1 stop smoking meth and you will sleep better nahh just playing

i have been through all the otc and meds your talking about and then i took some seroquel and that was the end of me not sleeping :)
 
Swim have been on all the basic benzos. 20Mg ambien for 7 years. Quit them all. Nothing helped, last month doc wrote gor 5 Temazapam they didn't touch swim. Then 30 escolamadamadingdongs. Didnt work!
Today he write swim a week supply of Sonata 10mg. X14. I sniffed the whole bottle 5 hours ago and didnt feel shit. Alittle trippy. But i am typing fine. I am going to visit him in a week.

What should swim ask for. Swim sleeps every 3 to 5 days. Swim asked for Halcion but he the Psychiatrist said people drive in cars on it. Well not me,y car got stolen. And am on SSI for severe insomnia. He seems cool. Xanax, klonopins dont work. I have no withdrawl since i quit in 2011.
 
Another chronic insomniac chiming in. Some suggestions:

  • Give mirtazapine another chance. Contrary to popular opinion, it is more sedating at higher doses. I'm on 45 mg now and it knocks me out pretty hard. I haven't noticed any tolerance build-up over the last 2-3 years I've been taking it.
  • Seroquel / quetiapine: Not cheap, but it's a pretty good sleep-aid. It does build tolerance, though.
  • Zyprexa / olanzapine: Even the generic is expensive, but it's the strongest knockout pill I've come across; even benzos pale in comparison. The smallest dose they make is 2.5 mg, and that should be enough to put you out for a full night. It has a long half-life, so expect a next-day hangover. It also builds tolerance over time.

There is no universal solution to chronic insomnia; you just have to find what works. For me, it's mirtazapine + alprazolam (more sedating than temazepam for some reason) + zaleplon (ground up & insufflated).

---

Also, we don't SWIM here. It offers no protection and makes posts more difficult to read.
 
All the "good" sleep meds will cause tolerance , lose potency and in most cases especially with benzos, addiction . Melatonine definitely works short term.
Exercise early in the day can really help.
 
Thank you, The.Ghost. Since my first Post I've been taking 15 mg of mirtazapine on most nights, and it works more than not. And, I feel like I may already have gotten past the hunger cravings issue with it.

Do you know if mirtazapine has tolerance issues? Temazepam did work well for me overall, but not did the tolerance seem to come quickly.
 
silas GUY said:
well #1 stop smoking meth and you will sleep better nahh just playing

i have been through all the otc and meds your talking about and then i took some seroquel and that was the end of me not sleeping :)
Click to expand...

People seem to be almost unanimous in their praise of Seroquel! Is the downside a risk of addiction?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top