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  • BDD Moderators: Keif’ Richards

Best drug for sleep other than benzos or z drugs?

P

pally pete

Bluelighter
Joined
Feb 21, 2010
Messages
2,428
i have a long haul flight (12 hour) coming up soon and in the past i have always used benzos,but due to chronic abuse over the past year or so im now pretty much completely tolerant to benzos :(

im aware that z drugs (ambien,zopiclone etc) work on the same receptors so i guess i would also be tolerant to there sleep inducing properties...

what other drugs would be good for helping me sleep considering none of the above will work? or are all sleep inducing drugs cross tolerant?

any help appreciated,thanks :)
 
opiates or alcohol maybe? or try something natural like melatonin or kava kava. i have a friend who takes benadryl to sleep..
 
.Lucid. said:
opiates or alcohol maybe? or try something natural like melatonin or kava kava. i have a friend who takes benadryl to sleep..
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ive tried alcohol and it doesnt work for me,also the benadryl available here in uk contains only non sedating antihistamines,i forgot to mention ive also tried other sedating anti histamines in the past and they have not helped either.

id like to avoid using opiates if i can,i almost developed a habit of oxycontin use a few months ago so i try and stear clear nowadays.

thanks for your reply anyway.
 
All sleep-inducing drugs are definitely, definitely not "cross tolerant". In fact, even though Ambien does work on at least some of the same receptors as Benzodiazepines, having a high tolerance to Benzos doesn't mean that you'd have an equally high tolerance to Ambien. I'm sure your very high Benzo tolerance would "carry over" to some degree or another to an Ambien tolerance, but only to SOME degree. It definitely might still be worth a shot.

As far as prescription drugs go, I'd definitely recommend Seroquel. Last I heard it was still pending FDA approval for use as a sleep aid, but doctors prescribe it for that purpose all the time. It's also much easier to get a prescription for than Ambien because doctors aren't "iffy" about prescribing it the way they sometimes are with Ambien. I've had really, really bad insomnia my entire life, & Seroquel's the one drug that I've found that will actually knock me out.

As far as non-prescription drugs go, Doxylamine would probably be your best bet. I'm pretty sure it's the most effective sleep aid you can buy in a drug store. Like Benadryl, Doxylamine is an antihistimine, but it's sedating effects are much stronger than Benadryl's, & studies have actually shown Doxylamine to have just as potent -- if not more potent -- sedating effects as many prescription sleep aids. Some drug stores have pills you can buy that have the word "Doxylamine" in the name, but usually you'll have to look at the active ingredients to figure out if & how much Doxylamine something has.
 
Antipsychotic drugs such as Seroquel put me to sleep without effort. I just started taking an antidepressant called Remeron which also makes me extremely tired.
 
the benadryl available here in uk contains only non sedating antihistamines
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Diphenhydramine (the original Benadryl) is sold as Sleep-Eaze at that pharmacy from Nottingham. Incidentally, afaik, the newer antihistamines are just as sedating, just underdosed. GBL and GHB are excellent for sleep (more like a mini-coma tbh). This seems like a "what should I take" thread.
 
I'd go with another drug category... Which one depends on what is available to you. If you're worried about addiction to opiates, maybe try kratom? You have to take it pretty regularly for a pretty extended period to develop any serious tolerance.

Other than that, I have no new suggestions since last time you asked this! ;)
 
i tried doxylamine in april and i found it completely useless im afraid.

also smoking cannabis nowadays just makes me extremely anxious.
 
Pegasus said:
I'd go with another drug category... Which one depends on what is available to you. If you're worried about addiction to opiates, maybe try kratom? You have to take it pretty regularly for a pretty extended period to develop any serious tolerance.

Other than that, I have no new suggestions since last time you asked this! ;)
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thanks,i may try and track down some kratom.

i also have no recollection of asking this question before?
 
TheFDA said:
As far as prescription drugs go, I'd definitely recommend Seroquel. Last I heard it was still pending FDA approval for use as a sleep aid, but doctors prescribe it for that purpose all the time. It's also much easier to get a prescription for than Ambien because doctors aren't "iffy" about prescribing it the way they sometimes are with Ambien. I've had really, really bad insomnia my entire life, & Seroquel's the one drug that I've found that will actually knock me out.
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seroquel is a bit overkill for an airplane flight. i imagine it would be hard to function after waking up since you have to go through the airport and collect your luggage and do other things that require a certain amount of mental ability.
 
id say go w/ doxylamine first (more than one dose), if not that then there's RX drugs like Remeron (Mirtazipine), Trazadone, Meprobamate, Seroquel etc. They all have sedative effects.

Promethazine is another antihistamine but much stronger, and you need is OTC in UK i think.

Aceoprometazine is often combined with meprobamate. (anti-histamine for sedation and carbamate derivative for anti anxiety)
 
Yerg said:
Diphenhydramine (the original Benadryl) is sold as Sleep-Eaze at that pharmacy from Nottingham. Incidentally, afaik, the newer antihistamines are just as sedating, just underdosed. GBL and GHB are excellent for sleep (more like a mini-coma tbh). This seems like a "what should I take" thread.
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Don't try GBL or GHB for sleep, have heard of people having a dopamine rebound and waking up 4 hours later, needing to take another dose to fall back asleep and clearly this isn't a habbit you want to get in to. If you do try kratom, try and look for the more sedating types, as some are quite stimulating.
 
Spliff Politics said:
Don't try GBL or GHB for sleep, have heard of people having a dopamine rebound and waking up 4 hours later, needing to take another dose to fall back asleep and clearly this isn't a habbit you want to get in to. If you do try kratom, try and look for the more sedating types, as some are quite stimulating.
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He is just asking about using it for a long flight, not as an every day sleep aid.

Opiates, Somas (carisoprodol), GHB/GBL, seroquel or Nyquil. Or you could eat a weed brownie, which is a lot longer lasting and more sedating than smoking.
 
pally pete said:
i also have no recollection of asking this question before?
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From the thread "Meds for Flight Anxiety" on November 16th:

pally pete said:
i was gonna start my own thread with regards to this subject but....

the thing is i used to be able to take 2-4 xanax/valium and be sparked out for the flight! but since then i have built up a ridiculous tolerance to these benzos where taking them would be pretty pointless as the amounts id need would be stupid.

so my question is hat shouldi take to achieve my desired effect? other benzos (although i thoughjt if iwas tolerant to the hypnotic effects of one benzo then the same would be true for the others?) or maybe a combo of hypnotic benzo (flunitrazepam/temazepam) or even (xanax/valium) possibly a few beers or maybe the safer option of some benzos mixed with some other meds?

ambien or some of the others mentioned in this thread?
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It was only like 20 days ago and I replied to you, so it's kinda fresh in my memory, ya know?! ;)
 
TheFDA said:
All sleep-inducing drugs are definitely, definitely not "cross tolerant". In fact, even though Ambien does work on at least some of the same receptors as Benzodiazepines, having a high tolerance to Benzos doesn't mean that you'd have an equally high tolerance to Ambien. I'm sure your very high Benzo tolerance would "carry over" to some degree or another to an Ambien tolerance, but only to SOME degree. It definitely might still be worth a shot.

As far as prescription drugs go, I'd definitely recommend Seroquel. Last I heard it was still pending FDA approval for use as a sleep aid, but doctors prescribe it for that purpose all the time. It's also much easier to get a prescription for than Ambien because doctors aren't "iffy" about prescribing it the way they sometimes are with Ambien. I've had really, really bad insomnia my entire life, & Seroquel's the one drug that I've found that will actually knock me out.

As far as non-prescription drugs go, Doxylamine would probably be your best bet. I'm pretty sure it's the most effective sleep aid you can buy in a drug store. Like Benadryl, Doxylamine is an antihistimine, but it's sedating effects are much stronger than Benadryl's, & studies have actually shown Doxylamine to have just as potent -- if not more potent -- sedating effects as many prescription sleep aids. Some drug stores have pills you can buy that have the word "Doxylamine" in the name, but usually you'll have to look at the active ingredients to figure out if & how much Doxylamine something has.
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Very true, I have a very good tolerance for benzos and have recently just started using ambien and it is whole different animal though its short acting as chit.
 
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