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Benzos Do I have insomnia?

k20

Bluelighter
Joined
Mar 2, 2009
Messages
195
Hello BL

I'm not sure if this is considered insomnia but I have a pretty hard time sleeping.

Almost all of the time I lie down to go to sleep, it literally takes me hours. Even if I feel really tired and I need rest, when I lie down to go to sleep I feel completely awake. When my body feels like it's starting to relax, I get anxious for no reason at all which wakes me up completely. Then I have to start over and try relaxing etc.

When I'm awake I usually don't have much anxiety but I feel anxious when I try to fall asleep. People say it's because I'm trying too hard to force myself to sleep but trust me, that's not it. This anxiety literally just comes out of nowhere as long as I'm lying down, even when I'm not thinking about sleeping. I've tried exercising regularly but all it does is make me more tired and doesn't help me fall asleep.

If I do fall asleep, I wake up multiple times a night. I don't remember the last time I slept through the night without waking up.

When I wake up in the morning, I feel really cracked out all the time. Most of the times I get out of bed because I can't go back to sleep anymore and feel pretty shitty just lying there.

I've taken trazadone, diazepam, alprazolam, temazepam, zolpidem, dph, and melatoin supplements but none of them really do the job. They do make me feel a bit sedated but it doesn't really help me with sleep. (I do have a tolerance tho, 150mg of temazepam won't do much to help me sleep)

So is my condition considered insomnia?

I'm out of the country and the place where I am it's pretty hard to get medication from the streets as well as the doctors...

My aunt did have some ambien but it only lasted me 2 days and didn't help much.

What medications do you think would help me? (this is just out of curiosity because I think I've tried all the common ones)
 
jesus mayne i got the same problem as you it sounds like,

every time i lay down to chill i just feel so geeked the hell out and panicky,,,, im prescribed some benzos (librium , klonopin, occasionally ativan) and none of em help me relax for sleepy time.

but..... u prolly dont wanna hear this but ive been taking seroquel lately to shut my brain the f*** off at night and it seems to be doing a pretty good job....btw none of those drugs above ever helped me fall asleep
so maybe try going the antiphycotic route..? if you can get your hands on some seroquel or zyprexa zydis (shit melts on ur tongue) then ill bet youll prolly get a good ammount of sleep with that

......folllowed by hideous side effects like weight gain, possible diabetes, morning grogginess and overall just feeling like s*** during the day sometimes....

but hey son,,,,if its worth the sleep to u,,,, try it out?
 
Hey OP,

I don't know how much us all throwing a list of medication at you is going to help. If I were you I'd try exercising more and developing good sleep hygiene. If you insist on a sedative doxylamine knocks me out cold.

If you'd like I can move this over to Healthy Lving and you can get feedback on exercise programs, sleep lifestyle changes, light therapy, and things like that?
 
I am exactly the same. Lucky you have been prescribed anything, my doctor doesn't seem to think it's a big deal.

I have tried everything like you said, I found Mirtazapine helps for a while. Or Promethazine is a good OTC allergy pill that will leave you quite sedated.

But out of everything I have tried (similar to your list) Seroquel is the best sleeping drug.
 
Like most other replies, I'd recommend trying to get your hands on some seroquel as well. I have the same problem as you, especially during and after kicking opiates. Where I couldn't get sleep for days at a time and would eventually feel exhausted and sooo sleepy right up until I climb into bed, just as you described. Tried various benzos, valium, clonazepam, xanax, etc. Benadryl and other allergies meds that are supposed to induce drowsiness, melatonin, ambien, zolpidem, EVERYTHING basically. The one thing that did the trick though was seroquel. If I want a bit of help falling a sleep a quarter of a 300mg pill will do the trick, if I have insomnia, half will usually do the trick and knock me out pretty good and not wake up for a solid 6 to 8 hours. On a couple of occasions it even got me into trouble from making me sleep so hard I slept through my alarm going off for 40 minutes and several phone calls hah. So be careful if you do get some!
 
Actually this sounds like sleep anxiety, which can be both a secondary and main symptom of insomnia. Insomnia is strange, manifesting itself in many different forms, adapting to treatments and remaining the victor.

I've suffered from sleep anxiety for a long time now, the best way I'm able to explain it is like this. I have an URGENT need to get to sleep, I see the clock ticking closer to the time I need to wake up, and this 'panic' makes me think of all the shit I need to do in the morning, which in turn makes me unable to sleep, which makes me more anxious, etc. I also wake up multiple times, toss and turn, and once I'm up, I can't go back to sleep unless I try as soon as I open my eyes. It's a real bitch, and fucks my days up sometimes when I can't get more than 4 hours unmedicated.

Seroquel may work, but I find the morning grogginess to be so overwhelming all I can do is stay in bed. I've tried all the benzos, amiben, dph, trazodone, seroquel, buspar etc.

The only thing that's consistently worked for me (without overwhelming grogginess) was doxylamine, but even this loses its touch. Try taking melatonin + other 'drug-free' sleep aids with doxylamine together the same time every night, going to bed ~20-30mins after dosing. I find rotating sleeping aids to help immensely, combining them works particularly well also. L-theanine has been particularly pleasant in helping my 'knock-tails' (get it?) out.

You also might want to give a phenibut supplement a look. I've been meaning to try it but I haven't had the extra cash flow to pick up that bottle of Relax-all at the health food store.
I hope this post helps you out.
 
melatonin and Valerian root will sometimes help me sleep, but if I don't take my diezapam for a few days I can't sleep at all unless I get more benzo's, or lots opiates , alcohol is a last resort. and I don't trust myself under the influence of zolpiden.
 
I have chronic insomnia - the symptoms are very similar to what you have described.

I went on wikipedia to learn a little more about various types of insomnia, and the entry had some very good links to various types of sleep-wave disturbance disorders, one of which (I cannot remember at the moment) seemed more apt at describing what I endure than the plain old diagnosis of "insomnia." I would recommend looking around and learning about the (many) different types of sleep-related disorders out there, look at the symptoms, and be informed when you speak to a doctor about your issues. You could even print out information on several different types (as the symptoms of various sleep disorders are often shared by other sleep disorders) and have an objective third party analyze the information.

I would, of course, recommend expanding your search for information beyond wikipedia, but I find that wikipedia frequently introduces me to variances of that which I originally searched for, and the hunt can be really interesting.

Just a thought. Good luck with your insomnia, I know it too well. Restoril has been my personal saving grace - I rarely enjoy it recreationally, but as a sleep aid (aside from heroin, that is haha) it's the best and most consistent at getting me to sleep and allowing me to remain asleep. In the past I have tried valerian root, chamomile tea, melatonin, kava kava, Lunesta, Ambien, >15 other types of benzodiazepines, phenobarbital, weaker opioid formulations (Percocet, Vicodin, etc.), stronger opiates/opioids (heroin, fentanyl, Opana/Nubain, Dilaudid, etc. - although I cant continue these as the addiction potential and my liability to abuse them are far too high!), Seroquel, Trazodone, Silenal... w/e, you get the picture. I've been around the block, and just... thank god for temazepam. It's a small wonder the U.S. Airforce selected it as their "no-go" pill of choice.

~ vaya
 
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