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i need to sleep

njirem

njirem

Bluelighter
Joined
Dec 8, 2009
Messages
260
Location
Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Tried mirtzapine zolpidem temaxepam/lorazepam, ghb/alcohol lyricq and sleep deprivation. Currently on up to 400mg seroquel ir with 150 xr...cant sleep. Awake now 3 days. Have add, gad and bipolar . Am dcared and xesperate as seroquel was my docs last resort. Now thinking of tweak for a week and crash but not confident. Dont have sleep apneau.feeling desperate any help? PLEASE? WHAT to do: (
 
ask your doctor for different medications , and these medications dont just knock you out where you sit , you have to actually lay down and try to sleep,
 
Sorry you're going through this - sounds horrible. I wish I had suggestions for you, but your situation is above and beyond anything I've experienced or even heard of. Just wanted to let you know that alcohol actually disrupts sleep, so don't use it as a sleep aid as it may make the situation worse. I don't think tweaking is going to help either. What Drderms said is very true, you should definitely be in sleep mode when you take your meds - ie in bed, lights out, no electronics. You may want to schedule the evening totally around sleep. Get everything ready for sleep like fresh linens on the bed, make sure temperature is good. Then go get a massage, come home and take your meds then drink warm milk or caffine free chamomile tea and get in bed. Depending on if you're physically able to do so, try exercising almost to the point of exhaustion earlier in the day. Again, so sorry you're going through that.

ETA - a heated mattress pad may help. I have struggled with insomnia my entire life and got one a few years ago. I turn it on low and find it helps my muscles to relax, which facilitates sleep. If you weren't on some many other medications I would recommend melatonin, Java, and Relora, but I have no idea how they interact with pharmaceuticals. I know when I take all three together they knock me out, I literally slur my speech and stumble if I have to be up after taking them. I wish I would have known about those years ago as I spent years on Xanax, Ambien, and Trazodone.
 
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I find that after a K-hole I feel really well-rested, honestly - it kind of feels like sleep. Who the hell knows what my body is actually doing during that time?! I am way too busy moving planets around and peering into the afterlife to know or care...

Thinking about it, you could try GBL - if you get the dosing right it can completely knock you straight out. Very deep sleep, but if you aren't an experienced user then don't try this. People react differently and it may just make you bang the walls and bite your furniture.

Sorry you're going through this. Zopiclone really doesn't work?
 
I'm not familiar with the pharms you listed, a couple sound like benzos. Have you tried xanax? IMO its the hardest hitting, lowest dose-to-effect benzo that is not an RC and is most easily available. I can't imagine 2mg+ alprazolam not knocking you out.
 
Is your anxiety, add, and bipolar disorder under control? What treatments and drugs are you taking for them? Are you in a manic stage right now from bipolar?

X_benzo_girl touched on this but you need to evaluate your sleep hygiene and make the appropriate changes. Here is a brief rundown on it.


https://www.sleepassociation.org/patients-general-public/insomnia/sleep-hygiene-tips/

As far as meds, a shorter acting benzo like alprazolam or triazolam may be beneficial. Triazolam has a higher risk of psychosis than other benzos so be careful.

Zaleplon is an ultra-short acting z-drug like Ambien. The good thing about it is if you wake up in the middle of the night, you can take another.

The sedating antihistamines may help. Hydroxyzine would be the best, followed by doxylamine and diphenhydramine. Dont over do them as they can have some nasty side effects that will certainly make sleep worse.

Trazodone is an option but not sure how useful it may be for you to be honest. Belsomra (suvorexant) is a new class of drugs that block orexin which is a chemical responsible for wakefulness and may help you quite a bit.

Nonpharmacological treatments should be explored too. If you can, get a sleep study done. Psychotherapy certainly should be utilized. Learn relaxation techniques going as far as meditation but even lesser ones such as simply laying on your back with an arm streched out by your side and one crossed over your chest can really be a quick but helpful technique.

Good luck. It will take some effort but you can sort this out.
 
I highly recommend an app called Headspace to teach you how to meditate, you get 10 days of the basics for free - the goal is to shut off your thoughts and focus on the way your breathing feels. Everytime a thought pops into your head or you realize you're lost in thought, return your attention to the breath. I've had insomnia all my life and this has helped me more than any drug.
 
njirem said:
Tried mirtzapine zolpidem temaxepam/lorazepam, ghb/alcohol lyricq and sleep deprivation. Currently on up to 400mg seroquel ir with 150 xr...cant sleep. Awake now 3 days. Have add, gad and bipolar . Am dcared and xesperate as seroquel was my docs last resort. Now thinking of tweak for a week and crash but not confident. Dont have sleep apneau.feeling desperate any help? PLEASE? WHAT to do: (
Click to expand...

I have a terrible sleeping problem and in order to avoid benzodiazepines my doctor prescribed Seroquel. I personally don't like it because you tend to get drowsy during all day long but it does make us tired and sleepy.

I'm very surprised when you mentioned that you've taken up to 400 mg of Seroquel and it does not work. When you use it, do you wake up but continue to sleep or don't sleep at all? I'm just saying this because it's a very strong and potent drug. It won't give you a clean sense of sleep, so to speak but it normally works.

Perhaps if you try doing some exercises like 40-45 minutes every other day, your body would respond to it.
Changing eating habits can also work. Avoiding heavy meals or meat at night and have a healthy daily diet.
Are you going through a difficult moment in your life, apart of your bp condition?
 
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Hello everyone and thanks for the response.

I take venlafaxine, ritalin, quetiapine and metropolol for my blood plessure.
My add and anxiety are pretty much under controle but the rapid cycling is one hell of a challenge.
My doc advised me to try to take smaller ammounts of Quetiapine for sleep and thankfully that has helped me, i was simply taking too much of it. I take xr during the day.
Before that i was awake for 5 days in a fucked up state having tried multiple meds but the stress was just too much.
Now i am sober for 3 days and allthough the sleep is not very deep, its enough (6/7 hours a night) but i dont feel refreshed until 15.00/16.00.
All in all its going better.
 
You mentioned Ritalin, I would take it early in the morning. Avoid using amphetamines of any sort while using Ritalin because that will definitely mess with your sleep. You've been sober for three days so give your body some time to adjust. The link that Kittycat provided is great, sleep hygiene is so important!
 
One of the things I've always heard (but never did lol) is to just use your bed for sleeping and nothing else. No gaming, lounging, etc. Glad to hear things are getting better. Oh and as far as the warm milk wives tale if anyone is interested, it does help you sleep the first night but it depletes some chemical in your brain and makes it harder to sleep the nights afterwards.
 
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