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Insomnia! *MEGA-thread*

have you tried a sleep clinic? I had a friend that was awake for 9 days straight. He could not fall asleep for anything. During that time he could not drive for obvious reasons. good luck
 
thanks for that white pony. i have had serious insomnia and sleep issues for a few years now. bad (read BAD) night terrors, sleep paralysis, hypnogogic hallucinations etc on top of not being able to sleep. i tend to drink at night to sleep and if i don't, forget it.

seroquel doesn't do anything but kill my body, not my mind, i just lay there, and can't move but i am still away and when i do sleep i have crazy dreams or the terrors come back.

i just wish docs were not so afraid of prescribing benzos, it fucking works.
 
Insomnia and herbal tea

I'm a long term sufferer of insomnia and have been prescribed all the usual - temazepam (30mg), zopiclone (14.5mg), diazepam (20mg) and some gel tabs which came back from America which I can't remember the name of. All of which worked a treat at the time but obviously they'll only prescribe them to me short term. (usually 28 days if I'm lucky but generally around 9-10.)

I'm not a great fan of prescription medication and was wondering if anyone could recommend a serious herbal alternative. I've tried Valerian root which had no noticeable effects, Nytol herbal with the same outcome; Nytol over the counter - which made me feel like my brain was melting down so I'll be giving that a miss in the future.

I've tried chamomile tea in the past but again, no effects though I'm sure I read somewhere that there is a stronger version of this (sorry if this has already been posted but I'm new and my search I ran brought nothing up). Also, I'm guessing just normal tea is a bad idea due to caffeine, but how's mint tea?

Anyway, any non-prescriptive suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks :)
 
I think Valerian is one of the strongest out of the herbal supplements, so if that didn't work, I don't know what would. Out of all that I've tried, Valerian has worked the best for me but not always. I found self-hypnosis to be helpful, it's pretty good for relaxing the mind and getting yourself to sleep. I guess you could liken it to meditation.

I don't think mint tea is that great, although it's supposed to be ok for anxiety. You could also try Hops.
 
I know this isn't a herbal alternative, but have you ever tried melatonin? This always helps me get to sleep, without fail and I'd thoroughly recommend it to anyone.
 
I hadn't heard of Melatonin but it seems to have some quite good reviews when I Googled it. It looks to be legal too, am I right?

Production of melatonin by the pineal gland is inhibited by light and permitted by darkness. For this reason melatonin has been called "the hormone of darkness" and its onset each evening is called the Dim-Light Melatonin Onset (DLMO). Secretion of melatonin as well as its level in the blood, peaks in the middle of the night, and gradually falls during the second half of the night, with normal variations in timing according to an individual's chronotype.
Click to expand...
taken from Wikipedia

If the onset of melatonin comes in darkness, might it be the fact that I sleep with a daylight bulb on in my room? See, I suffer from SAD and was told that the replica daylight bulbs can help stimulate seratonin but now I'm beginning to think that maybe that's not the best of ideas at night! Especially as Wikipedia quote that women with the brightest bathrooms were at the highest risk of breast cancer. :S
 
glitterbizkit said:
I found self-hypnosis to be helpful, it's pretty good for relaxing the mind and getting yourself to sleep. I guess you could liken it to meditation.
Click to expand...
I've always had a problem with self-hypnosis and meditation. I've even bought books on it. I do see an anxiety specialist who is basically supposed to be there for sort of damage control when I'm feeling really bed but she describes me as the type of person who just exchanges one thought for another so when I'm trying to shut my mind off from the outside world, I'll start thinking things like 'I live alone, if I'm in a trance and someone breaks in, what will they do to me?' then the whole anxiety starts up over again. I've been given the usual drugs for it and of course, they help but they're only short term fixes.

glitterbizkit said:
You could also try Hops.
Click to expand...

Are they available in health food shops?
 
chronic insomnia... don't know what to do, advice?

So, background- I've been an insomniac since I was a kid (seven or eight). When I was younger I tried a lot of different theraputic exercises to sleep but my doctors gave up one I hit middle school and I started taking medications for sleep. Over the years I have been on a long trail of sleep meds, antipsychotics and non-sleep meds that have drowsiness as a side effect (Ambien, Lunesta, Seroquel, Trazadone, Clonidine). And I've tried non prescription ones like Benadryl, Tylenol PM, and Melatonin.

Some of the meds had no effect (Lunesta, Tylenol PM, Benadryl, Melatonin) others wore after six months or so (Trazadone, Clonidine). Others work 50% of the time (Ambien) and the only one that works consistently is Seroquel. However, I hate the Seroquel-- it puts me in such a deep sleep sometimes that I will sleep through all my alarms (have missed midterms, doc appoints, shifts for work) and the entire day without even realizing it. My therapist hates me being on Seroquel for these reasons. I also have a bad heart and my medical doc hates me being on seroquel since it tends to increase the heart rate.

I have had many talks with my doc about getting off the Seroquel and finding another alternative. At this point I am open to anything except being put back on old mediations that didn't work in the hope they will work now, and meditation like exercises for sleep (they work for some, they do not for me, and I have given them a chance). But my doc basically has told me she has no suggestions for what to use. I have a prescrip for Ambien that I take occasionally, but it doens't put me to sleep half the time just puts me in a weird and scary state. I also have a prescrip for klonopins, but she's againt giving me a prescrip that would cover nightly use (right now I get a small amount for anxiety attacks). She prefers to kepe me on the seroquel and try lowering the dose, or mixing it with other sleep meds.

I am frustrated. I feel like klonopins work the best for sleep, with the least negative side effects. But I understand why she doesn't want to extend my dosage, although I have never abused benzos as they don't do much for me. I feel like there have to be other options medication wise, however-- she is a good doc but I feel I can't have exhausted every option that Seroquel is the only one left.

what other meds or exercises have you guys used for insomnia?
 
Have you tried Valerian root? Works great, but probably not something to take everyday.

Magnesium supplements cured my insomnia somehow. Pure chelated magnesium. I usually take around 500 milligrams before bed. It works amazingly for me. I'm not sure why, I just by chance happened to discover this effect.
 
Stop smoking stimulants.

Any music you find hypnotic in nature, put it on.

Do something that completely physically drains you a few hours before sleeping. You have to be sweating profusely for this to work.

Insomnia is often psychological in nature, pay attention to your thoughts. Learn to relax yourself. Quit relying on drugs.



sleep is overrated. but essential.
 
MynameisnotDeja- I have some magnesium supplements. I'll give them a try. I haven't tried Valerian root. What are the negative side effects?

Jam uh weezy- stimulants don't help but as I stated this is a condition I've since childhood long before drug use. Up to this point, if I don't medication I have stayed awake for up to five days (and no stims abused). I get to a point where I am exhausted and crying because I want to sleep but cannot. I hate being on sleeping meds but I have to function somehow.
 
I've not noticed any negative effects from Valerian, but obviously everyone is different.

You should try EFT(emotional freedom technique, google it, theres tons of info). I know I suggest this on practically every thread, but it works for so many things.

Also how much exercise do you get? You should work out HARD every morning if you don't already.
 
valarian root
ZMA (look it up this stuff is AWESOME)
melatonin
growth hormone supplementation (if you're working out) - CJC1295/GHRP-6

I have never slept better than with a combination of this stuff.
 
Can you describe what behavioral and cognitive things you do to help you sleep, and whether you have any conditions that might interfere with sleep?
 
I also add that as I came off methamphetamine abuse I had difficulty achieving sleep. Its just a sad fact about the abuse you do to yourself after that drug. It DOES get better though. Exercise helps tons and meditation also helps. Quiet reading right before bed helps a lot too.

Definitely don't get dependent on benzos. They SUCK and will be a ball and chain to you. You don't want that Mia. Not at all.
 
Agree with the exercise, meditation, and quiet reading. Nice job ending the meth abuse Sunyata; hard thing to do.

It's likely that you just need to be "re-trained" on falling asleep, OP. That's not to minimize the problem, of course.

If you could describe what you actually do before you go to sleep though, and what else might be interfering with your sleep, we could all probably offer more helpful advice.
 
^ melatonin can help get your circadian rhythms back in sync. I suspect that is the reason why you find it hard to fall asleep at an approrpiate time. Can I ask you, do you get REAL tired during the day when you need to be working or such? This happened to me after recovering from drug abuse. Its because your rhythms are out of whack and your body is telling you to sleep when you need to work and be up when you need to sleep.

Melatonin is a relatively well tolerated hormone that will reattune your sleep cycles (take it 30 minutes before your desired bedtime). Then take it for a week or so at the same time and then stop and continue on with that bedtime. Its critical you establish a regular bedtime for awhile to get your rhythms back in sync.
 
Rozerem might also be useful, in that case. Exposure to bright light upon wakening will help as well.
 
After I came off meth, I had no trouble sleeping at all, and would sleep for days. Sleep is fucking great.

I have never really needed medication to help me sleep although I have tried some a few times (ambien, benadryl, tylenol pm, etc.) They all usually knock me out pretty fast.
I noticed something though..there was a time last month when I could not sleep well. I took Benadryl for three days just so I could sleep before the sun rose (and it helped). By the fourth day, it had NO effect whatsoever, and was actually stimulating me. It took me two days of horribly light unaided sleep to get back to normal again.

That is precisely the reason why I dont ever want to rely on anything to help me sleep for more than a couple of days at most...
 
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