Misc Insomnia and Drugs.

[Thomas29]

Usually if things in my Life are not to bad I can easily get a good nights sleep just Smoking some Cannabis before bed. But Most of the time that is not the case and I try not to use any more than 3mg Equivalent to Clonazepam in any Benzo once every 7 Days so 60mg if it was Diazepam or 6mg Lorazepam which I got a script for right now.

I do Opioids/Opiates Daily which helps me Sleep I do not use anymore than the the Equivalent Dosage to 80MG Oxycodone although I Snort Hydromorph Contin Daily ever since the Oxys in Canada went to the Gel OxyNeos I think 12mg Hydromorphone when Snorted is ROUGHLY Equal to 80MG Oxycodone.

Right now I am not sure if I should stay on the Opis for Sleep or if I should use my Benzodiazepine Prescription as Directed which is 1MG Lorazepam a Night. My Doctor says people should not be on them Long-Term which I am well aware of from a few Previous Mild-Withdrawals and Mild meaning LIVING FUCKING HELL but I MANAGED to get through not to painfully.

But because I am afraid to take Benzos even once every 7 Days makes me Worry never mid every Day I am Posting here for Valuable Personal Experienced Advice from people here no need to tell me the Dangers I am already well aware of I know a lot about Benzos Drugs are my Passion I sit on my Computer and Read about them for Hours that and just how the Human Body and Mind Functions on a Simple and Complicated Level.

I also use 100MG Diphenhydramine every Night since I was started using Opis Daily 3 years ago when I was 17 I turned 20 years old May 11Th Idk why but I feel compelled to share that Information for some reason I feel it is at least somewhat Relevant to making my situation more clear. Also I just moved out into a shared Kitchen and Bathroom Apartment about to go on Welfare just a little Cheap Room by myself so I am sure a lot of you can at least Relate A LITTLE bit to the Stress..... For the Lack of a better Word just feeling off and not quite right I think I probably just need to Adjust to my New Environment that and a number of things I rather and think there is no need to explain.

 

[DickTate]

So what was your question here?^^

I am surprised your doctor prescribes Lorazepam for sleep since it is one of the least sedating Benzodiazepines and more of an anti-anxiety and antiepileptic medication.
Other than that your mentioned Benzo doses are pretty high and if you have been addicted before I would stay with the Opioids if you have a legit reason other than using them as a sleep aid and maybe some Cannabis. The other way around would be much better addiction-wise though.
Because the Insomnia caused by Opiate-withdraw is a very unpleasant one, including restless legs, sweating, high blood pressure and so on...

 

[sekio]

If two/three sleeping medications (opioids, cannabis, diphenhydramine) aren't enough, chances are adding in a benzo will work for about a week, and then it will stop being effective.

Insomnia and anxiety are often coincident (I can't sleep, because I'm worried about not sleeping, etc) so lorazepam is usually the first line choice of benzos for sleep. It's weak enough that people don't generally use it recreationally (compared to e.g. triazolam), and doesn't produce a lot of morning sedation. That said, it's still a benzo. If you have had benzo w/d problems before, best not to start using it!

By the way, diphenhydramine stops being effective really quickly if you use it every night. It's best if you give it a break every now and then.

 

[mrflowers00]

there is a melatonin receptor agonist called ramelteon that could help i'm going to ask me psychiatrist for it and hopefully my insurance will cover it because melatonin used to help me when my insomnia wasn't so intense but now that it's worse i figure try something similar but stronger and as sekio said adding a benzo won't help for long any addicting tolerance causing drug will only work short term

 

[Thomas29]

Did you guys Fully read my Posts? I did a Quick Taper I think idk just used 8mg Temazepam been least 4 days since I last had like 3mg Clonazepam been using Clonazepam daily for roughly 2 weeks have not kept track I KNOW I will have Withdrawal Symtpoms I am hoping not too bad though BUT I got no idea if I SHOULD go to the ER for possible Risk of Seizures is 1-3mg everyday Usage of a Long-Acting Benzodiazepine like Clonazepam for 14-20 Days likely to cause Seizures like I said I weaned off with some Temazepam past 4 days I just took about 8MG right now if I am not mistaken is ROUGHLY equivalent to 0.25mg Clonazepam.

 

[tweex]

You might want to see if your doc will give trazodone a shot.

 

[ShaunG]

You might want to see if your doc will give trazodone a shot.

^^^this. I just got scripted it but I have not taken it as I have not needed it since starting my benzo taper but I know i will. My brother said its like a fucking horse tranq and he has taken K-Pins daily for 5+ years for anxiety and also Serequel in the past. He said this by far was the strongest. You may not even need the prescribed dose. Apparently he was sleeping 15-16 hours a day until he cut back the dosage and said it literally just knocks you out cold. Maybe it would be enough for you to not take all that other stuff.

I have used Flexeril in the past for sleep too but it left me groggy in the morning at the dose needed to induce sleep for me. I might add that I was able to get my Xanax dose almost to a quarter of my 1mg prescribed per day when combining with even a half pill of Flexeril. That combo always let me sleep well and left me less groggy in the morning, but just when I wanted to go to bed. I know you should be careful as Flexeril reduces the seizure threshold so that is why I can't use it now for my benzo taper or I would as it helped with anxiety when I was on it for 6 months too.

 

[tricomb]

Wait, you took 8mg of temazepam? That must be a typo... I don't think it's possible to get an 8mg dose, I mean to partly address your post, I've suffered from chronic debilitating insomnia for about six years now, and for sleep, it usually requires a multi-faceted, polydrug combination. These days, insomnia are really really bad for me and some nights I'll be taking 360mg temazepam, I get the 30mg capsules which are the strongest ones they make for some reason (ha they even spend money on producing 7.5mg capsules! IDK who's insomnia is so mild that 7.5mg temazepam or honestly anything less than 15mg would be any more effective than taking something like a sedating antihitamine, (but as has been pointed out, sedative effects of most CNS depressants wear off rapidly as you should know how your hydromorphone experiences have declined in efficacy over the years) I much prefer hydroxyzine hydrochloride over diphenhydramine due to it lacking most of the drying/antichollinergic unwanted and sometimes problematic side effects. Not to mention that at least for me, when I tried adding DPH for sleep, at 100mg it gave me very poor quality sleep, didn't last long, and by day 4 I was like screw this I'm not sedated in the slightest I just felt groggy.

There are options such as antidepressants particularly ones known for strong sedative effects (subjectively speaking, I've tried every one of the following drugs I'll list and none have worked for me or sedated me at all) such as amitriptyline, nortriptyline, trazodone, ramelton (sorry don't remember generic name), etc.

There are anti-psychotics which work great for some and cause more problems for others. I fell into the second category. Quetiapine (Seroquel) is the main antipsychotic RX'd for insomnia. It is quite possibly the most effective KO pill I've tried, but the side effects were HORRIBLE (such as... sleeping for 48-72h straight unresponsive to anyone's attempts to wake me before that, then that feeling of being like a zombie/sheep that the hardcore antipsychotics make you feel like. Speaking of, I also tried chlorpromazine (Thorazine), and haloperidol (Haldol) both of which way too hardcore and I do not recommend them.

Melatonin didn't work at all for me, neither have dietary and exercise changes, certain benzodiazepines work better than others but take my word for it, as someone who's been a long-term user of benzodiazepines and likely will be on them for life, they are a bandaid for a gunshot wound and are often handed out far too liberally by most doctors, I mean I've been taking them half my life. I mean it seems like your doctors super conservative since he only has you on 1mg lorazepam or whatever, which is like.... nothing, to anyone who uses benzos much. Plus most benzodiazepines (at least to me as a long-term user) are extremely ineffective especially as hypnotics, like clonazepam is by far the most useless benzodiazepine to me, others swear by it, I get 0 effects from it whatsoever other than the minty taste when sublingualling them.

stay the fuck away from any z-drug: Zolpidem, Zopiclone, etc. Ambien and Lunesta and that bullshit. Just as bad if not worse than benzos and never worked for sleep for me, just induced crazy hallucinations that were fucking horrendous.

So, what HAS worked for ME:

-The only benzodiazepines I have found to be effective for my insomnia have been the triazolobenzodiazepines (really potent ones) like Alprazolam (but I don't take Xanax for sleep, but it's a great example of a potent triazolobenzo), also Triazolam. That plus as I mentioned, Temazepam, usually 0.5-1mg & 30-60mg respectively, the triazolam to help fall asleep, temazepam to help stay asleep. The only reason I've been taking so much temazepam like 360mg or more has been due to horrible events in my personal life and my depression and insomnia as a result are extreme, not even going to get into anxiety/panic...

-Hydroxyzine Hydrochloride as an adjunct (I don't find it sedating at all alone but studies show it potentiates benzodiazepines and opioids), that's the only antihistamine I'll take regularly due to the side effects I experience with extended use of diphenhydramine.

-Cannabis; high CBD content, highest quality indica money can buy

-Having sex with my GF before bed

-The only muscle relaxer that's good for insomnia IMO is carisoprodol (Soma) but the reason why this is moronic, is because the whole point here is to not become dependent on multiple controlled substances, each with tolerance effect which build rapidly and most of these including Soma, have nasty withdrawals.

-Getting as much physical exercise and healthy amount of sunlight. Vitamin supplements: Chelated Magnesium, Omega-3 high in DHA/EPA, complete multivitamins, coconut oil (raw virgin unprocessed, MUST BE UNPROCESSED).

It really depends on what the underlying condition causing the insomnia is. For some underlying conditions, short-term use of benzodiazepines in low doses...by the way, you said you had kept it below 3mg clonazepam but that's a decent dose of what most people (except me) consider to be a very potent benzodiazepine.
Still am clueless regarding what you meant by 8mg temazepam, no idea how you would be measuring that you'd need better than a milligram scale to measure out the powder in the capsules... ANYWAYS, for most people though, treating the underlying conditions are far better than taking what first seems like the easy way out, via benzos.

I remember when I first got put on temazepam, started RX'd at 60mg, I only took #1 x 30mg capsule and got in bed, was already benzodiazepine dependent on alprazolam for anxiety/panic/PTSD, was not expecting much and I have NEVER had such a good night's sleep... If I slept much recently, I bet I'd dream about the first time I took temazepam, I thought it was the answer to everything. It felt great to get more than the 2 hours of sleep if that over 16-18 days I was getting (I'm telling you, my insomnia was and can get severe beyond what any dose of benzodiazepines can correct, which means I have to resort to more drastic measures such as antipsychotics which I hate due to their side effects and loss-of-self/personality-loss.

Be careful, insomnia is serious shit but the drugs used to treat it are often far more serious and if you go the benzo-route, when you have to stop taking them, you'll feel like complete shit even if you taper off, you'll get rebound anxiety and insomnia usually worse than your original insomnia in severity. There's a reason why your doctor said short-term use. Just look at how most of us long-term benzo users end up, I mean #12 x 30mg temazepam at 360mg and I'm still wide awake, only other drugs in my system are my regular opioid narcotics, which I was hoping would make more of a difference considering how much shit I have to get done tomorrow as far as responsibilities go. If I took quetiapine or haloperidol right now, I know that I would sleep through my work tomorrow and I can't let that happen, so after I post this I'm going to hope more triazolam and another gram of medical MJ will do it.