• The Dark Side 💕 Welcome Guest 💕
    Posting Rules Bluelight Rules
    Notable Threads Urgent Hotlines
    Bereavement Mindfulness
    Suicide Support Anger Management
  • TDS Moderators: AlphaMethylPhenyl | paranoid android

A list of insomnia meds I've never took, I need help deciding what to take..

B

Bojangles69

Bluelighter
Joined
May 20, 2009
Messages
1,758
Ok I'm ready to get this settled. I really think my insomnia has been so severe (I said this in another thread) due to my history with speed abuse. As ever since I've abused speed 9 years ago I've always been somewhat of an insomniac naturally, never really going to be untill 2-3am (w/out compounding it with opiate wds that I face now).

I'm about to jump off pods again in a week or so and have been doing some serious research. I was focusing on benzos and a whole host of herbs, but do to how I get my meds benzos are rather expensive. So using my brain, I found out every med I can get my hands on now, that I can afford NOW. Problem is I only have experience with clonidine, and I DO remember it helping a lot.

ALL I WANT is a single med, or combination of meds that will FOR SURE give me at least 8 hours of sleep. Even coming off a tiny tiny pod taper dose, my insomnia quickly deteriorated my mental health untill towards the end I was contemplating suicide. I went back to pods, revised some things, and realized I can get these meds out today.

I'm not asking anyone to prescribe me meds, I know you guys aren't doctors. I just need someone who's taken a med on this list when their insomnia was at its worst, and managed to actually fall asleep.
This is all I can get. I would deeply appreciate help figuring out what will give me the best chance of getting sleep and not losing my mind again.

Trazadone - never took have heard its not prefered at all for sleep
Promethazine - never took it
Lyrica - never took it
Gabapentin - never took it but seems to have great feedback
Clonidine (I'm getting this one no matter what as I've taken it before)
Carbamazepine - never heard of it
Buspar - heard of it but don't know much about it
Soma - have actually taken this too, def helps for sleep, just not sure if it can overcome opiate induced insomnia.

Anything you know about any of these drugs PLEASE help. I can read wilkepedia all day long but its the personal experiences that mean the most to me. Thanks a lot bluelighters!
 
Trazadone - I took this off and on for 10 yrs to help with sleep. It works pretty good and the best part is no habit. Not addictive. Of course after awhile of taking it and than stopping you dont sleep for a day or 2.

Promethazone/Phenergan - worthless for sleep [for me at least] might help slightly
Lyrica/Neurontin - again worthless for sleep [for me]
Clonadine - helps with other aspects of w/d. I never used it specifically for sleep though always in combination.
Carbamazepine - never tried it Tegretol, anticonvulsant that sometimes can be used in the same vein that Neurontin/Lyrica are used to 'help?' ease your body off benzos. Never seen it used for specifically opiate w/d but I dont know
Busbar - Sucks period
Soma - should help in combo

The 2 sleeping meds I have always used for a detox or the after effects are Trazadone and Seroquel. They never fail to knock me out except for trazadone rarely though. Another decent one I thought was Rozerem. As with other sleep meds [ambien/sonata/chloral hydrate/halcion] short term use is preferred.

Coming off a opiate habit [which you are] what I would recommend is: Clonadine, a benzo [used short term], and a HEAVY sleeping pill. Maybe Seroquel for the first few days and than switch to trazadone if needed. My mind is a little foggy lately I used to be able to spit out 20 or so meds that would help with w/d [stomach/shakes/sleep/restlessness/etc. and on and on] but that is all I have right now, I used to be a walking PDR. Vistaril is another one but I would say that is similar to neurontin/Promethazine in terms of sleep effects. Not effective for me but for others I guess it has worked. I usually need something strong to have any effect when in opiate w/d's and the weeks following.

peace.
seedless
 
Great thank you so much for taking the time.

In detox they gave me 500mg of seroquel a night along with clonidine, ativan, klonopin (the ativan was more as needed) visterol and darvocets.

I remember feeling pretty good most of the time even going in cold turkey, but the problem is benzos I'm not able to get for another week or so. So I wanted to get some meds out for before the benzos to see if I can handle it w/out them. The thing that sucks is I don't know which med specifically was making me sleep. I think it was mostly the seroquel, but I can't get any more of it. I only have 450mg so I would have to use either a large amount 1 time, or split it into 50mg doses over 9 days which I don't think is really gonna do anything for sleep.

So with the seroquel I'm kinda screwed as I have a limited supply and can't get more.

My definites right now seem to be clonidine, trazadone, and soma. I may also pick up some some Nuerontin as its so cheap, and who knows how it might work in combination.

So I'll eliminate the rest I think and just get those 4. I'm also gonna search around for seroquel cause I know it shouldn't be hard to get. If anyone else has personal opinions on this matter feel free to advise. Its hard to deduce which med is the most effective when detox puts you on all of them at once.. or maybe they do that because no 1 med can really stop opiate insomnia.
Whatever the case I feel much more confident now about jumping off again. I'll start low and I think at some point increasing the dose it needs to overcome the insomnia. I honestly don't remember having insomnia this crazy since speed. Opiate insomnia REALLY does feel just like speed insomnia in a weird way. Very powerful.
 
500mg doses of Seroquel is a large dose, IMO. I would usually take between 25-100mgs and never fail I would be asleep in a hour and a half. I would only take 100mg if it was like day 1 trying to kick a iv heroin habit. I always tried to keep the dose low. 500mgs would be more than enough to get through the first few days. I think 500mgs would be getting closer to what they would call a therapeutic dose.

As for rehabs putting you on multiple meds, all of those meds help people to sleep but most likely they were treating individual symptoms. What they put you on sounds like a general cocktail of detox meds.

Good luck. I would try the trazadone first to see how it worked on my sleep but with trazadone can be strange especially when you are in w/d as my body would always be hyper sensitive. Sleeping or lack of was one of the WORST aspects of w/d for me besides shaking all the time. There seems to be a window of 'sleepy-time' with the trazadone. You get lazy and sleepy in about 45min - an hour and if I didnt fall asleep soon after I would miss the window and I wouldnt be able to sleep. Kinda hard to explain but you get the idea. Sleep the first few days was ALWAYS a chore even with Seroquel or Trazadone but man were those life savers when I needed them.

peace.
seedless
 
Yeah, Trazadone has a small window for its use, and if you miss it chances are you won't fall asleep. I'm guessing because of your limited options you don't have insurance? If you do you could try something like Geodon (another antipsychotic like seroquel), or something like Remeron, which is an antidepressant which can also be used for sleep, not sure of the pricing. I've never had to come down off w/d's, but I've had my share of sleeping problems, and I hope you can find something that works for you.
 
As far as what is on your list I'd say Trazadone, I only took it a couple of times but I've never been knocked out faster by anything. Remember that scene in Old School where Will Ferrell accidentally gets shot with some animal tranquilizer and falls into the pool? That's exactly what Trazadone felt like to me, that's why I don't take it anymore but damn the shit worked.

Other than that I'd recommend a benzo and zolpidem or zopiclone. I don't have experience with clonidine but that seems to be what everyone swears by when coming off opiates.
 
Gabapentin didn't do anything for me.

Lyrica on the other hand made me a little drowsy, but more than that once I did fall asleep I slept straight through the night. No waking up to use the bathroom or anything. The only problem with lyrica is its myriad of side effects. And it gave me major balance issues in the morning at higher doses.
 
Trazadone might not be the way to go if you are a hardcore insomniac with me it just really really screwed all my senses and mindset up leaving me zombified but wide awake for a few hours until I finally fell asleep. Clonodine and small doses of soma might work but if you could get seroquel that would work best for sleep.
 
Well everyone reacts differently to every med so it's not a good idea to tell anyone what meds they should take. However i will give you my opinion for what it's worth but please take it with a grain of salt as it is only my opinion and i am by no means a doctor or anything.

Trazadone - I havent heard much good about this med and i would never try it myself. The risk of getting priapism however how small it may be scares the living shit out of me 8o . It's also known for inducing really bad headaches and for causing nightmares.

Promethazine - I have never taken it but it's a anti-histamine so it may help. I find other anti-histamines such as hydroxyzine to be good for sleep.

Lyrica - On it's own i don't find it good for sleep at all but combined with a benzo or zopiclone it can work pretty well. Also if you have restless leg syndrome due to opiate WD's or anything else lyrica would be awesome for that. It pretty much stops opiate withdrawal RLS dead in it's tracks for me especially combined with a benzo.

Gabapentin - Pretty much the same as lyrica except it has bioavailability issues lyrica doesent and the fucking things are horse pills. Id say get lyrica if at all possible over gabapentin.

Clonidine - On it's own i don't find it to be of much help but with other meds it can help alot.

Carbamazepine - Do not take this for insomnia! This was the first med i tried for trigeminal neuralgia and i have never been as sick before or since in my life. You have to have regular blood tests done to make sure you don't develop aplastic anemia which is a drop in white blood cell and platlet counts. It can also cause serious and sometimes fatal dermatological reactions such as stevens-johnson syndrome. This drug has it's place but i don't think it should be used for insomnia at all. It didnt make me drowsy either just spacey and not in a good way either. It is nothing like lyrica or gabapentin in it's effects really and has many more side effects and much more dangerous ones to say the least.

Buspar - Never taken it but ive heard it's pretty much useless

Soma - I have never taken it (yet another drug not available in canada) but ive heard from more then a few people that it can work well for insomnia especially related to opiate withdrawal.

Also taking 500mg's of seroquel if you don't build up to it is asking for trouble in my opinion. It is not recomended to take anymore then 100mg's the first night you take it and to increase the dose by no more then 100g's a night. Also remember that seroquel like all drugs with dopaminic or anti-histaminic effects can cause RLS and the higher the dose the worse it can get.
 
Last edited:
Thanks guys I'm holding off for one more day before I get them shipped out. And I feel like I genuinely have enough advise to make a decision.

And paranoid android thanks for the detailed response that was extremely helpful. I'm not sure why I didn't realize promethazine was an anti-histamine (the "azine" should have been obvious enough), but if it produces any effects like vistoril does I definitely see it as useful to get.
I'm also scratching trazadone from the list as I don't like the fact is has such a short window, and I've heard enough negative things about it to know its nothing I will agree with. I remember how zyprexa use to make me feel, all drugged out of my mind and I generally hate that feeling, so I'm staying away from the traz for sure.

I was hoping gabapentin would have had better feedback, I was reading great things about it on another forum, but I don't think those people were as well versed with opiate wds as this board. So I'm gonna go with the lyrica instead.

So now its clonidine, lyrica, soma, and promethazine. I'll definitely start low with the seroquel, detox put me straight on 300mg when I was cold turkeying, and 500mg wound up working really well for me. But because I only have 450mg total, I'm never dosing above 50-100mg a night as I need to conserve that specific drug and can't get more of it.

I'm gonna read around to see if any other sleep meds are available to me. I was thinking it might be smarter to actually just get clonidine and xanax, as enough xanax seems to always do the job no matter what. But I don't really dig the anxiety rebounds I get when stopping xanax. Although basically any drug you put in your body will induce wds of some sort.

I have a lot of research to do tonight, but I'll definitely let you guys know what I decide on tommorow. Right now its either a combination of 4-5 weaker meds and no benzos, or just 1 good benzo and clonidine. As if I get a benzo I'm not gonna have enough money left to really get anything besides the clonidine. But I do remember clonidine doing A LOT for me first time around so its a must get. It would sedate the shit out of me and take all that nervous hyperstimulated energy away as well as stopping sweats and high blood pressure in its tracks.

I also had no idea Lyrica worked well for RLS. My RLS has been a NIGHTMARE lately so thats really good to know. Alright guys thanks a lot!
 
I don't think benzo scripts are that expensive (unless they're name brand, which most aren't), unless you're buying them off the street.
 
Yeh I'm getting them from a place I've been using for like 6 years. I mainly use to get all their steroid stuff but I've ordered their meds enough to know they're all legit (its a european overseas pharm).

Their benzos are around $150 for like a 30 day supply. Its crazy I know. They've always done that because they try to fend off drug addicts from abusing their site, which is part of the reason why I use them still. All their "worthless" meds, are dirt cheap. Just that in my position a med like clonidine or lyrica is not worthless in the least.
I do have other places I use to get benzos from, its just a matter of research and finding those pharmacies again. I don't like using new IOPs (international online pharms) as I never really trust a source till they've been operating for a year or 2. But if I do enough homework maybe I'll get lucky.

I also don't want the mods to get the wrong idea either. I feel rather sketchy talking about it here but I'm just trying to avoid specifics as to not piss the mods off. I'm absolutely not fishing for sources, as I prob already know 95% of them to begin. Just a matter of refreshing my own mind.
 
Last edited:
Trazadone helped me sleep when I was manic & didn't have a mood stabilizer/antipsychotic.
I haven't tried anything else? other than my daily antipsychotic, risperdal. it used to knock me out in 10 minutes. and I wouldn't wake up for shit. I knew I had to be in bed before I took it because otherwise I'd probably fall asleep standing up or something.
I think i've gotten used to it though, I can take it now without tiredness.

I've never had to detox from anything so I don't know what would work best, but I hope you figure it out!
 
Trazadone works well. Its not knock you down hard but makes sleep more accesable. For males you need to be aware it is one of the more common psych med causes of priapism.

Buspar never got a very good trial from me. It caused splitting headaches for me, and a few others I talked to had similar experience. Some nausea as well.

mirtazapine an antidepressent is often a pretty effective sleeper but it is notable for significant weight gain.

I'm assuming ramelteon (remeron) and melatonin aren't on your list because you gave them a trial & found them lacking.
 
As for the gabapentin ive found it to work almost as well for RLS as lyrica but the problem is with the bioavailability issues. The higher the dose the lower the BA and this is the only drug i know of that does that. All the same i take gabapentin everyday for neuropathic pain along with morphine because my drug plan does not cover lyrica and i simply cannot afford the ridiculous cost of it. Too bad as it works better then gabapentin and i don't have to swallow 4 fucking horse pills a day.

Gabapentin is a very good drug though and without it my neuropathic pain would be worse then it is.
 
Trazadone worked WONDERS at putting me to sleep; without question one of the most effective meds at putting me to sleep that I've ever taken [& like you, I have bad sleep problems & have tried most meds for it].
HOWEVER, the downside of Trazadone -- which is a MAJOR downside -- is that it lasts forever! When I was taking it, I literally was UNABLE to get out of bed -- hell, I was pretty much unable to woken up at all -- for like 10 hours.
Sooo... I'd say don't go with that one, & if you do, stay at a starter dose.

Buspar I've taken for anxiety/depression -- mostly anxiety I think -- but I don't recall it making any difference in my sleep problems whatsoever. I never even knew it could help people sleep.

Clonodine I believe worked... ehh, decently for me for sleep. But I was allergic to it, so I didn't get much of a chance to try it out.

Somas oddly enough make me more AWAKE if anything, but perhaps I'm just a freak like that. However, Somas are Muscle Relaxors, in most people's opinion the only "fun" muscle relaxor at that, & I'm pretty sure they're not the easiest medication to get prescribed for sleep, due to their "abuse potential" or whatever.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top