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  • BDD Moderators: Keif’ Richards | negrogesic

Drugs to Improve the Quality of Sleep.

rolls_

rolls_

Bluelighter
Joined
Dec 2, 2009
Messages
475
I know there are hundreds of drugs that help you fall asleep or stay asleep, however the side effect is they often reduce the quality of the sleep.

What I am curious is are there any drugs that simply improve the quality of your sleep, if they help you get to sleep as well that is a bonus. The reason being is I need 8-10 hours of sleep and often wake feeling unrested.

Are there any vitamins or drug combinations that will improve my quality of sleep? Prefer examples that are backed with evidence, not just "might help" or anecdotal evidence.

Thanks :)
 
lemme know when you find one...I'll wake up at 6 in the evening one day tired as fuck...but won't be able to sleep...then I'll stay up all night, and all the next day, and go to sleep around 3 or 4 in the morning (keep in mind this is 34ish hours awake) and then i'll sleep until 6 the next afternoon again lol...
 
5-HTP, omega 3, magnesium malate. ever since taking these ive been waking up feeling a lot fresher, literally jump out of bed at stupid o'clock in the morning ready to go.

however ive found exercise to be the best sleep aid.
 
I exercise 3-5x a week for 1.5 hours, heavy weights and 30 minutes of cardio. Diet is spot on as well, high protein, lots of vegetables and hardly anything processed.

I have magnesium, I will try taking that before bed, I guess I am after some miracle drug that will let me get away with 2 hours sleep. Would modafinil perhaps be the answer?
 
that doesn't really give you more restful sleep...at least it doesn't give me more restfull sleep...
 
Agomelatine - Valdoxan improves your ability to get to sleep and also improves the quality of sleep. It is a melatonergic agonist (MT1 and MT2 receptors) and 5-HT2C antagonist. However it is currently non PBS and is pretty expensive. It is used to treat depressive disorders. Not sure if you'd want to take it based solely on improving your sleep, research would be needed first.
 
ooh, nice topic rolls_!
I've suffered from what was deemed "chronic insomnia" for about six years now and have striven to find the answer to this question.

First off, you want to avoid alcohol (taken in order to induce sleep). But more importantly, quick-fix sedative-hypnotics, specifically the hypnotic benzodiazepines, wreck the structure of your sleep architecture. I was on Restoril (temazepam) for a long while before it simply stopped inducing sleep; furthermore, it compounded my enormous physical dependence on other prescribed benzos. So it is in your absolute best interest to avoid them like the plague.

As far as vitamins/supplements, GABA and melatonin come to mind. I have used both and although the melatonin didn't at all make me sleepy, every other person I've met who takes it for sleep swears by it whole-heartedly. The GABA supplement is poorly absorbed by the body and has a difficult (impossible?) time crossing the Blood-Brain-Barrier, but it improves Peripheral Nervous System inhibitory activity to some degree. And I have felt this myself. Another like material is Phenibut, which is an incredible and legal supplement that works wonders for relaxation, tranquilization and sleep. I don't know how/if it affects sleep architecture though, I'm sorry.

Herbals? For me, Kava Kava and Valerian Root immediately come to mind; I have them in liquid extract form, and 3 drops of each does indeed get me into more refreshing sleep than if I had taken my current sleeping pill, 0.5mg Halcion (triazolam - this is what replaced the suddenly ineffective temazepam... another benzo in addition to a rotating schedule of clonazepam, diazepam and alprazolam xr... but I digress :\ :\
Brewed chamomile tea and smoked damiana, skullcap and/or blue lotus have all helped promote proper sleep stage activity as I sleep, I'm just lazy and haven't ordered any of the herbs and plants. I'd better get on that!!

Hopefully I've given you some suggestions that will help!
I noticed this thread as I searched BL and thought I'd toss a link in here for you in case you were interested:
Any drugs that can force REM sleep?

Peace,
~ vaya
 
Phenibut is great for inducing sleep, however I was under the impression that like alcohol it induced sleep, but didn't necessarily make you sleep better or help with REM. I've used those REM monitors that you can download for your phone and it looks like I never properly go into REM.. ever, constant movement waking every hour or so which would explain why I feel like absolute shit when I first wake every morning.

What is your opinion on how GABA supplements help with sleep? I thought benzos worked on GABA also and hence if they wreck your sleep architecture phenibut would be the same?

I don't really have any major issue with staying asleep, it is just the quality of my sleep is shit house, I feel hungover and completely brain dead for about 1-2 hours after I wake every morning. So whilst benzos let me sleep a lot longer and help me fall asleep immediately they if anything make my quality of sleep worse.

Appreciate all the information!

Tripman said:
Agomelatine - Valdoxan improves your ability to get to sleep and also improves the quality of sleep. It is a melatonergic agonist (MT1 and MT2 receptors) and 5-HT2C antagonist. However it is currently non PBS and is pretty expensive. It is used to treat depressive disorders. Not sure if you'd want to take it based solely on improving your sleep, research would be needed first.
Click to expand...

Have you personally used it? Will do some reading.
 
rolls_ said:
Phenibut is great for inducing sleep, however I was under the impression that like alcohol it induced sleep, but didn't necessarily make you sleep better or help with REM.
Click to expand...

Yeah, as I said, I don't know much about what happens after you fall asleep regarding phenibut's pharmacological actions on the brain.

What is your opinion on how GABA supplements help with sleep? I thought benzos worked on GABA also and hence if they wreck your sleep architecture phenibut would be the same?
Click to expand...

The GABA supplements actually helped me a lot, I would take one or two 750mg capsules, but unfortunately I felt that they abruptly stopped working after several weeks. I'm not sure if this was because I have such a massive tolerance to benzos that my brain was already flooded with GABA anyway and due to the benzos my sleep architecture was/still is all fucked up.

You could give them a shot, all I'm saying is oral GABA has a very, very poor bioavailability and, for me, it stopped working after a short while.

So whilst benzos let me sleep a lot longer and help me fall asleep immediately they if anything make my quality of sleep worse.
Click to expand...

Truth. Don't use 'em!

~ vaya
 
laCster said:
lyrica and temazepam are the best imo.
Click to expand...

I just moved from temazepam to triazolam (because, after a while, the hypnotic benzos lose their efficacy, took me two years) but as discussed above temazepam helps to get to sleep and stay asleep, but it's poor sleep. I'd rather get 4 hours of deep, restful rejuvenation than 8 hours of restlessness and non-REM sleep. I DEFINITELY agree on the Lyrica, and Lyrica doesn't mess with your sleep architecture. I feel really good and motivated in the morning if I take Lyrica about an hour before I plan on going to sleep, despite my tolerance to it.

~ vaya
 
Obviously not an actual suggestion for your situation but I sometimes have trouble sleeping as well but opiates sure as hell knock me out. And i wake up feeling like I've been asleep for years =D
 
Chips said:
melatonin. It's one of the few one (but an obvious indeed...)
Click to expand...

Yeah I might try melatonin again, it seemed fairly useful when I had it. How big a dose do you take? Does taking large doses like 10mg help?
 
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