Misc Need advice on legitimate insomnia medication

[nastynick12]

thanks moonshield but like I said in my OP, trazadone and seroquel do not work very well for me and make me very groggy in the morning. on top of this, my doctor told me about the high possibility of developing tardive diskynesia, which makes me want to stay as far away as possible from any trycyclic antidepressants. thanks for all the advice everyone.

 

[moonshield06]

thanks moonshield but like I said in my OP, trazadone and seroquel do not work very well for me and make me very groggy in the morning. on top of this, my doctor told me about the high possibility of developing tardive diskynesia, which makes me want to stay as far away as possible from any trycyclic antidepressants. thanks for all the advice everyone.

Oh, sorry about that bud. I must of skimmed your post a little too quickly as I didn't see trazodone listed. I saw Seroquil and that's why I commented saying I prefer trazodone over it. Hm, that's odd that you feel groggy the next day. For me, I wake up feeling anything but groggy. I can get out of bed quickly, and wake up relatively quick. Seroquil on the other hand made me a zombie the next day which is why I switched. Everyones different though.

Best of luck in your search!

 

[Justin Sane 53]

I would try melatonin, it's great for getting your circadian rhythm on tract- plus it's over the counter.

 

[What was it?]

To be honest, they usually give Temazepam, Nitrazepam or Flunitrazepam for sleep.Sleep maintenance-however on temazepam you might wake up again throughout the night, The BEST option in benzos overall for sleep, long-half life that does not affect you too much the next day and for least possibility of feeling WDs is DIAZEPAM by far. It is the benzo used for coming off benzos. No this might sounds counterintuitive as you might think hey shit.....thats like getting on bupe or methadone for opiate withdrawal, but popping a valium2-3 times a week WILL do the trick, trust me, Dosage depends. Assuming you have a heavy tolerance to all the opiates still, I'd go 10mgs and work myself up to 20mgs if that does work. Get 5mgs tabs. This is the safest first option in my opinion. Try it. If this does not work, dont go higher on the diazepam, try the first 3 I mentionned, starting with Temazepam. But Valium WILL do the trick. Let me know how you go and your thoughts on this.

And yes, stay away from the Zs like Ambien. Very very bad for your brain. They will be illegal one day in my opinion. Also stay away from OTC antihistamines.....big bodyload despite what anybody else says. Another note on temazepam, it does not interupt REM sleep and hence is unique. However you will still feel better waking upafter having taken diazepam due to its smooth metabolism.

After doing the diazepam on and off you will be able to lower the dose after a while, given you go without some days....and eventually something magical will happen....you wlll have nights of reasonable sleep without anything. (by the way, I used to be into H and Oxy, too-I'd do 120mgs Morphine and feel
close to nothing....I know what its like the months afterwards-it does get better)


re some of the above comments......melatonin wont do the trick at this stage to your opiate usage....you wont feel anything, even if you take it 10 days. Keep that for 6 months down the track if you run into trouble again. Its good for 'normal' people, not us.

Also, NO antidepressants or antipsychotics like seroquel......dude, you are NOT psychotic. Keep your fingers off that bullshit.

Herbals like Valerian, Kava Kava, St Johns Wort are also too weak at this stage for you.

Avoid alcohol and caffeine, do some exercise daily, but not too late at night.


Oh, last note on some other benzos: Midazolam, Triazolam too short acting for sleep maintenance, Xanax inferior in the sedative department to diazepam.

I almost feel like I'm marketing for Roche here, but Valium is your choice!!!

I really hope I was off help-insomnia's a bitch!!!

 

[What was it?]

To the OP, as far as benzos go for sleep aid in the U.S., the best on the market are temazepam (Restoril) and triazolam (Halcion). Those two are the most powerful benzos commercially available in the U.S.[/QUOTE]

Wrong - there are plenty of other stronger one.....e.g. flunitrazepam aka Rohypnol.

 

[Captain.Heroin]

To be honest, they usually give Temazepam, Nitrazepam or Flunitrazepam for sleep.Sleep maintenance-however on temazepam you might wake up again throughout the night

I have never woken up after taking temazepam until it was the right time to be waking up. I think temazepam is by far the best one for insomnia, as it doesn't interrupt REM sleep.

 

[nastynick12]

thank you what was it, very helpful post
glad to hear it from someone with experience in a similar predicament, and glad to hear it gets better. I guess Ill see if I can get temazepam or diazepam. But someone mentioned Soma's...although i never really was into somas i know they can be abused, but from what i have seen dont cause much tolerance and dont interfere with REM sleep either. Any body have any input on Somas?

 

[anterrabae]

I have tried many a sleep aid, both OTC and prescribed. For right now, I find Lunesta to be the most helpful in getting to sleep. It's not something I use every night or even every week. In the past I have tried Trazodone, which often kept me awake and left me with a terrible hangover in the morning. Sonata worked to a point, but it would be hit or miss. Ambien just kept me awake and made me trip out, which was fun and interesting at first, but became irritating. I am also prescribed Xanax which I had used in the past, but being that it lasts only 4 hours it is not very effective, nor does it provide a very restful sleep.

In summary, I think sleep aids require trial and error as different drugs work for different people. Also, nothing should be used every night in my opinion, as it will become habit forming whether physically possible or not. I'm sure your doctor will not mind prescribing different aids until you find the one that's right for your needs.

 

[f13nd]

Zolpidem and the other Z-Benzo drugs are pretty useful for this. If you're bi-polar or schizo or something Seroquel really knocks you right the hell out and it isn't addictive, however I think it's been discussed before by others that seroquel for sleep is not exactly a good long term idea. Some anti-histamines like Doxylamine succinate and Hydroxyzine may be sedating enough also.

 

[kokaino]

Wrong - there are plenty of other stronger one.....e.g. flunitrazepam aka Rohypnol.

First of all, I was talking about the benzo's which are commercially available in the United States. Flunitrazepam is not one of these benzos.

However, I bet you haven't even tried flunitrazepam because only someone who hasn't tried it would say what you said.

I have and triazolam is easily far more hypnotic. I found temazepam to be far more euphoric than flunitrazepam (which wasn't euphoric, but enjoyable nonetheless). Temazepam is more sedative and more toxic aswell as it is the most rapidly absorbed and quickest acting hypnotic, as per this British study.

The above British study has been corroborated by many others that came after it in Australia, Ireland, Canada, and Scandinavia - all with the same conclusion.

 

[nastynick12]

got prescribed lunesta after much research, gonna give it a go tonight.
I really thank you guys for all your help

 

[J. G. Wentworth]

Good luck. I would stay away from the benzos for your sobriety's sake. You could easily abuse that medication and it does not sound like you want to fall into that trap.

Let me know how Lunesta works for you. When trazadone or ambien fail me, I am wasted and not happy about it. Xanax works quite well, but is a benxo and can be a slippery slope for those trying to stay clean.


Tip: when you take your meds, get in bed shortly after, lights out, no tv, no computer. It can be easy to miss the window that these medications provide rendering them ineffective.

Melatonin is an over the counter supplement that works for some. It works for me, but only if I am in bed ready to sleep when its mechanisms kick in.

 

[What was it?]

First of all, I was talking about the benzo's which are commercially available in the United States. Flunitrazepam is not one of these benzos.

However, I bet you haven't even tried flunitrazepam because only someone who hasn't tried it would say what you said.

I have and triazolam is easily far more hypnotic. I found temazepam to be far more euphoric than flunitrazepam (which wasn't euphoric, but enjoyable nonetheless). Temazepam is more sedative and more toxic aswell as it is the most rapidly absorbed and quickest acting hypnotic, as per this British study.

The above British study has been corroborated by many others that came after it in Australia, Ireland, Canada, and Scandinavia - all with the same conclusion.

we have Flunitrazepam here in Oz....I wouldnt recommend using it, agreed, but find it stronger. Personally temazepam didnt do much after the second use-it comes down to the person I guess. But as I mentionned, I firmly believe diazepam is the best bet in order to avoid hangover feel, benzo withdrawal issues. I'd recommend a reasonable dosage on and off and then taper. It should maintain its sedative properties if not used daily....short acting meds are too addictive IMHO, so no alprazolam, midazolam, triazolam, temazepam and the list goes on.....you want to slowly jinx ur brain into a normal pattern and it aint gonna work by knocking it every evening with something short acting!!!!!that'll lead to a viscious circle....been there, done that.

 

[Captain.Heroin]

I love alprazolam, midazolam, temazepam, triazolam, etc. - these are great benzos, you just cannot use them on a daily basis if you want to avoid dependence.

Zopiclone (lunesta being the active dextrorotary stereoisomer of zopiclone) distorts sleep architecture.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zaleplon

In other words I wouldn't recommend this drug for insomnia; it's not going to preserve REM sleep as much as temazepam or Zaleplon would, although I wouldn't recommend any Z-drugs due to carcinogenicity.

 

[molly897]

Remeron

i was on this to gain weight + sleep (gain weight in extreme underweight cases, you won't gain most likely). it's a tricyclic anti depressant but knocks you the f out! have you tried 100mg of seroquel? you said it didn't work but it may be the dosage. that knocks me out in minutes as well and is what i'm prescribed

 

[paranoid android]

Remeron

i was on this to gain weight + sleep (gain weight in extreme underweight cases, you won't gain most likely). it's a tricyclic anti depressant but knocks you the f out! have you tried 100mg of seroquel? you said it didn't work but it may be the dosage. that knocks me out in minutes as well and is what i'm prescribed

Mirtazapine is a serotonin norepinephrine enhancer actually not a tricyclic anti-depressant like amitriptyline or doxepin. Mirtazapine in low doses is pretty damn good for sleep. Since higher doses increase the release of norepinephrine lower doses actually work better for sleep. It's a very strong anti-histamine which is what gives it it's knockout effect.

 

[What was it?]

I love alprazolam, midazolam, temazepam, triazolam, etc. - these are great benzos, you just cannot use them on a daily basis if you want to avoid dependence.

Zopiclone (lunesta being the active dextrorotary stereoisomer of zopiclone) distorts sleep architecture.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zaleplon

In other words I wouldn't recommend this drug for insomnia; it's not going to preserve REM sleep as much as temazepam or Zaleplon would, although I wouldn't recommend any Z-drugs due to carcinogenicity.

ALprazolam definitely a good benzo (if such a thing as a 'good' benzo exists-it's a drug...), temazepam for some reason just doesn't seem to hit me that hard (doesn't mean it doesn't, I might just not be registering it that well) I must say Valium at equivalent dosages has always worked better for sleep induction and maintenance then the above 2....it's odd. I've even woke up on Xanax and tems after 2 hours of sleep having a panicky sort of state....bizarre.

Had a lot of emotional upheaval back then so that would have played a part, too.