Benzos in$omniac

[dangerousfaces]

Hi all. Found this site looking for options to sleep. I have PTSD and and on "officially" an SSRI 200MG Sertraline 8mg prazosin 600MG Gabapentin and 45mg of Restoril.

The rub is I can't sleep on the restoril and Gaba dosages. I sleep every third day without drugs. I sleep every second day with my prescribed dosage. I sleep every night if I double the restoril add 20mg of ambien and go to a 1000MG of Gaba.

I don't drink, I function well at a well paying job. I don't take caffeine after 10am. I have a happy marriage and a cool kid.

The problem:......................I am spending almost $2k a month to get the multiple uninsured scrips and multiple psychiatric sessions that come with them. Does anyone know a better way to get to sleep? Can you tell a shrink the truth? Will anyone prescribe what it takes to bring me down. I weigh 280 and have a high muscle mass. I could buy a house with what I'm spending. If I don't sleep I am an asshole and create issues in all aspects of my life. With the drugs I am a happy contributory member of society. I am hurting here. Thanks for any advice.

Thank you everyone.

 

[SixBuckets]

Hi all. Found this site looking for options to sleep. I have PTSD and and on "officially" an SSRI 200MG Sertraline 8mg prazosin 600MG Gabapentin and 45mg of Restoril.

The rub is I can't sleep on the restoril and Gaba dosages. I sleep every third day without drugs. I sleep every second day with my prescribed dosage. I sleep every night if I double the restoril add 20mg of ambien and go to a 1000MG of Gaba.

I don't drink, I function well at a well paying job. I don't take caffeine after 10am. I have a happy marriage and a cool kid.

The problem:......................I am spending almost $2k a month to get the multiple uninsured scrips and multiple psychiatric sessions that come with them. Does anyone know a better way to get to sleep? Can you tell a shrink the truth? Will anyone prescribe what it takes to bring me down. I weigh 280 and have a high muscle mass. I could buy a house with what I'm spending. If I don't sleep I am an asshole and create issues in all aspects of my life. With the drugs I am a happy contributory member of society. I am hurting here. Thanks for any advice.

Thank you everyone.

Depends on the shrink and how they interpret your symptoms/response to treatment.

I've been an insomniac since I was a child and I've been on various sleeping pills for the last decade. I've never had a problem getting them prescribed, but I've never deviated from my prescribed dose. If they stop working, I don't up my dose - I go in and ask to be shifted to something else until my tolerance comes down.

 

[Thomas29]

Insomnia is One of those Things I find these Blue Light Glasses that block it out help because Thomas Eddisson had Insomnia and Insomnia Increased Due to Electronic use and we used to be Awake for 2 hours in middle of night talking to family in small house or neighbour in 1800s or earlier before electricity and fast lives saying sleeping 8 hours is not normal and may be more convenient but ain't healthy.

 

[neurotic]

perhaps try to come off the benzodiazepines - i guess it'll make the insomnia more easily manageable - first and then try to manage it?

once you're off the benzos how often do you think your sleep schedule will 'go off'?

there are other meds that can help you fall asleep efficiently that don't have as bad side effects as benzos do. promethazine (i don't know if this is OTC where you live, but i know it is in a lot of countries) is a good one. the chlorpromazine+promethazine combo will knock me on my fucking ass whether i want it or not, but promethazine alone does the trick also...

there's also melatonin, which i never tried, but heard good (and bad) things about it. the good is that the bad things were that it didn't have much effects, which is virtually better than all other side effects from sleeping pills such as next day hangover and physical dependence.

 

[ovo1024]

perhaps try to come off the benzodiazepines - i guess it'll make the insomnia more easily manageable - first and then try to manage it?

once you're off the benzos how often do you think your sleep schedule will 'go off'?

there are other meds that can help you fall asleep efficiently that don't have as bad side effects as benzos do. promethazine (i don't know if this is OTC where you live, but i know it is in a lot of countries) is a good one. the chlorpromazine+promethazine combo will knock me on my fucking ass whether i want it or not, but promethazine alone does the trick also...

there's also melatonin, which i never tried, but heard good (and bad) things about it. the good is that the bad things were that it didn't have much effects, which is virtually better than all other side effects from sleeping pills such as next day hangover and physical dependence.

How are you going to recommend melatonin and promethazine to a man who's still having insomnia issues taking benzos and gabapentin? If those aren't working completely well no way in Hell something as weak as melatonin or even prometh is going to help him. Come on use some sense. Anyways to OP I would look into a stronger benzo like a hypnotic one.

 

[neurotic]

if he takes benzos and gabapentin every day i don't think they will be much effective anymore, that's why i suggested coming off them. then he could take them infrequently as to not lose their efficiency. then i suggested promethazine and melatonin because they don't make you need them for sleep if you take them frequently, which benzos do

and personally, promethazine is a great sleep inducer, and at a high enough dosage will make me go to sleep whether i want it or not, differently from benzos (the ones i have tried) which at even very high doses can have me blacked out but 'awake'

 

[ovo1024]

That's why l suggested a stronger benzo that's more hypnotic. He seems to have severe insomnia so I don't think anything considered a light sleep aid will help. Even if he did come of the benzo

 

[Digital God]

300mg seroquel is what I take now cause my GABA receptors are blown out from too much usage. 30-60mg dalmane might work well for you, 4mg klonopin maybe... 0.5mg halcion is another option....everyone's different. They still make seconal oral capsules. 200mg secobarbital is the best nihht of sleep u will ever have. Only decent sleep aid OTC I've been able to find is dramamine. Some people find antidepressants sedating like elevil and senaquon. Blood pressure meds work too like clonodine

 

[smackydowners]

That's why l suggested a stronger benzo that's more hypnotic. He seems to have severe insomnia so I don't think anything considered a light sleep aid will help. Even if he did come of the benzo

yeah, and what happens when he's become tolerant to the stronger benzos? constantly upping benzo doses is no way to go, they're for short term or sporadic use.

OP, you can try the otc stuff mentioned above in conjunction with your script. zopiclone is a very good sleep aid, but it's prescription only and very similar in action to benzos so tolerance will develop eventually. working on sleep hygiene would be a good bet if you haven't looked into it; talk to your doctor or read up on it, little things can make a big difference.
i understand that you may need to be on meds due to your ptsd however, in which case all you can do is be straight with your doc and try different things until you find what's right for you.

 

[dangerousfaces]

Thank you everyone this is a supportive site. I appreciate each and every suggestion

 

[SixBuckets]

How are you going to recommend melatonin and promethazine to a man who's still having insomnia issues taking benzos and gabapentin? If those aren't working completely well no way in Hell something as weak as melatonin or even prometh is going to help him. Come on use some sense. Anyways to OP I would look into a stronger benzo like a hypnotic one.

That's not how that works, though? If you have a sleep disorder related to circadian rhythms, then melatonin may be effective regardless of what else has failed to work. Melatonin isn't a sleeping pill, it's a regulatory hormone. People who have found it doesn't work are generally trying to use it to treat sleeping problems that it's not actually for.

 

[tricomb]

Have you tried quetiapine for sleep, off-label? For those who've exhausted the benzo route for insomnia like me, I've found it works rather well at low doses, much lower doses than if prescribed for antipsychotic reasons.

 

[tacodude]

I know benzos actually start to create issues making it more difficult to get into stage 4 sleep phase, which is when the body gets its best test and recovers best. Opiates while they can be a major problem can also be a great solution as they promote stage four REM deep sleep being narcotic drugs, which nar and cotic are latin roots for sleep and inducing. I don't recommend picking up an opiate addictions so when can you sleep, but it is a very very possible solution. One thing I will add is the morphine and morphine counterparts that binds to the MU receptor promote sleep well codeine codeine counterparts that bind to the Kappa receptor create a vertigo type of effect that makes it hard to sleep in my experience. Than again I'm nodding right now after a few iv roxis

 

[AA357]

What about an old-school sedative, like GHB or Soma? Those drugs will knock you the fuck out if you take a high enough dosage - it becomes impossible to fight it.