Misc Prescription sleep meds - What are the options

['medicine cabinet']

Tell your Dr. you want Restoril because it has "rest" in it and thats what you need. You will most likely be given a Z drug as the abuse potential is smaller than a fast acting benzo like temaz or alpraz

 

[Psychonauticunt]

Tell your Dr. you want Restoril because it has "rest" in it and thats what you need. You will most likely be given a Z drug as the abuse potential is smaller than a fast acting benzo like temaz or alpraz

Restoril because it has "rest" in it? I'm not sure what doctor prescribes medicines based on that kind of logic.

Restoril is temazepam.

 

[tricomb]

and temazepam (Restoril) is pretty intermediate acting, I wouldn't call it fast acting anyways. I only take it when I can dedicate at least 8 hours to sleeping off it's effects. I hate waking up in the morning tired as shit because the benzos are still in my system.

 

[weekend addiction]

For me xanax works but I need some bud too which unfortunately is against the law...

 

[Missykins]

I'd advise against an anti-psychotic for sleep unless you have tried all else and the insomnia cannot be quelled. Anti-psychotics are dangerous, and unhealthy, with the potential to cause long-term, irreversible side-effects (tardive dyskinesia) if used daily for an extended period of time. They can be harmful to your mood and affect as well. If zolpidem helps you, I'd suggest trying a benzo because of there extremely close relation. There are a number of hypnotic benzos, but really any benzo will do the job at the right dose. Some hypnotic benzos include Halcion (triazolam), Dalmane (flurazepam), and Restoril (temazepam). Ativan (lorazepam) can also be quite helpful with insomnia, and has been likened in higher doses to zolpidem in a few reports. Different benzos have different times to peak, and different durations of action. For example Halcion is extremely quick, but short-acting. It hits hard. Restoril is intermediate-acting in duration of action, and takes a bit more time to come on. Is the insomnia primarily focused on trouble to induce sleep or trouble to maintain, or both? The answer to that question could help you choose the best benzo.

While I do believe that atypical antipsychotics are over-prescribed, I think (as someone who takes them) their potential adverse effects have been overstated here, and the potential adverse effects of benzodiazepines (such as chemical dependency) have been completely understated!

Benzodiazepines are not the current standard of care for treating insomnia. Benzodiazepines have proven dangers, especially when used in this manner. Very few physicians use benzodiazepines to treat insomnia. If other medications, such as trazadone, antihistamines, antidepressants, or drugs like Seroquel, fail, there are prescription sleep medications that are indicated for the treatment of insomnia.

Personally, I have benefitted from Lunesta, at 2 mg (the range is 1-3 mg) for the past three years. I use it probably 3-4 nights per week, and I haven't noticed any tolerance. I haven't been bothered by the aftertaste. It's much better than Ambien, but it doesn't kick in as quickly, but I find lasts much longer (on Ambien, I would wake up after six hours, whereas on Lunesta, I will sleep a full 8-9 hours, so plan ahead). The drug company will pay up to $50 of the cost of the drug so with my insurance I pay nothing for it.

 

[J.D.]

I've been on clonazepam on-and-off for a few years, around a month or two at a time, for anxiety and panic, but I've never found it to help me sleep unless I take excessive doses or combine it with alcohol. Within the normal dose range it actually motivates me to do stuff. Good thing the clonazepam has remained efficient - let's just say that going to the doctor every week and getting a script for a different benzo every week isn't as fun as it may sound (although I guess it might be if you were just popping them for fun - and then the fun would end when you found yourself in withdrawal).

I've been on the same dosage for years (10+), I take 1mg x 3 per day, and haven't had to up the dose at all. It does help me sleep. There are other benzos I like to use for recreational purposes, tho. And, well....many other drugs, too.

 

[Keif' Richards]

Somebody already said it but I'll second. Benadryl and Melatonin, at a dose that is appropriate for your situation. I usually end up taking 100mg of benadryl (diphenhydramine) and 10mg Melatonin. Some people complain about the "hangover" (extremely liberal use of the word ha) from diphenhydramine or other antihistamines, but from the sound of it you're experiencing hangover-like symptoms from the other options.

Benzos, Z-drugs, and the like are obviously great for making you sleep but they come with several drawbacks that I probably don't need to elaborate upon here. I would stick to the OTC options.

 

[vulpes]

I don't remember most of a year of my life thanks to ambien. I switched to Lunesta, it worked so much better for me. No metallic taste in my experience. If I stayed up, the worst I got was heavy space outs and loss of sense of time, but no blackouts like with ambien. No grogginess for me either. I'm not longer on it, but I was for a little under a year and it worked great.

Good luck!

 

[Alex000]

While I do believe that atypical antipsychotics are over-prescribed, I think (as someone who takes them) their potential adverse effects have been overstated here, and the potential adverse effects of benzodiazepines (such as chemical dependency) have been completely understated!

Benzodiazepines are not the current standard of care for treating insomnia. Benzodiazepines have proven dangers, especially when used in this manner. Very few physicians use benzodiazepines to treat insomnia. If other medications, such as trazadone, antihistamines, antidepressants, or drugs like Seroquel, fail, there are prescription sleep medications that are indicated for the treatment of insomnia.

Personally, I have benefitted from Lunesta, at 2 mg (the range is 1-3 mg) for the past three years. I use it probably 3-4 nights per week, and I haven't noticed any tolerance. I haven't been bothered by the aftertaste. It's much better than Ambien, but it doesn't kick in as quickly, but I find lasts much longer (on Ambien, I would wake up after six hours, whereas on Lunesta, I will sleep a full 8-9 hours, so plan ahead). The drug company will pay up to $50 of the cost of the drug so with my insurance I pay nothing for it.

You do know Lunesta is a z-drug, and is extremely closely related to benzodiazepines. I haven't overstated the risks of anti-psychotics, in fact, there is much more to say about their risks. Anti-psychotics in lower doses can lose their efficacity in producing good sleep when one becomes tolerant to the anti-histaminergic effects and anti-cholinergic effects of said anti-psychotic, same is the case with TCA's. And I wouldn't really suggest high doses of either neuroleptics nor TCA's for insomnia as they are quite unhealthy and dangerous, potentially at least. I did not mention the risks benzos possess, no, which I proabably should have as benzos can produce a hellish addiction with hellish and dangerous wd's. Of course, when used properly, and tapered off properly, benzos can be quite efficacious in inducing and maintaining hypnosis.

 

['medicine cabinet']

it was a joke u know, restoril, i need some rest so that sounds goof.

 

[Schrei]

I take serquel. Though I sleep so good with it, that after 5 hours Im awake. At first it made me tired within 30 mins, but now it only does that sometimes.

 

[Xav]

I took 20mg mirtzapine a night coupled with 10mg of trazodone and it put me in a fairly comatose state, though my body adjusted to normal sedation within a week. You'll have a hard time finding a doc to script you benzos or Z-drugs long-term unless you have something clinically diagnosed because of the stigma associated with the words "habit forming". I currently take melatonin and 5-HTP to sleep. They're both natural, OTC, and work well for me. Oh, and you have a snowball's chance in hell of getting scripted Xyrem unless you have narcolepsy with cataplexy. Not approved for anything else and no doc will hand it out off-label. Besides, it's horrifyingly expensive due to it being an orphan drug.

 

[trunkofmycar]

Yes, I'd say try to avoid the benzos. What has worked for me in the past is Seroquel and Trazodone, but if you don't have depression, you might not want to go with those drugs. I've been on Ambien, it seemed to work well for me but was slightly habit-forming.

You know, I'd reccommend over-the-counter doxycycline (sp?). Wish I could remember the brand name right now, I might be mistaken on that active ingredient! it works so well for over-the-counter stuff! I can tell you it's NOT the ingredient in Tylenol PM, but the other, rarer pill that is just for sleep. Comes in a white box with either blue or yellow on it, maybe both, is sort of expensive (like ten bucks) and are small blue tablet. Maybe somebody can help me out with what I'm looking for here... will edit if I remember the name. Damn.

 

[iconoclast56]

So I finally went to the doctor and told him my situation. He gave me a months script for zopiclone (7.5mg per night). I'm very happy and optimistic about this. Its a z drug like zolpidem but its a different class (structurally speaking) of compound so hopefully it affects me differently to zolpidem.

BTW: Since starting this thread, I've tried a new sleep aid, phenibut, which is highly effective. Unlike GHB, you don't wake up after 4 hours on it. You sleep through the night and get good quality sleep. The main problem is tolerance builds up extremely rapidly. An analogue which doesn't have this problem is baclofen but its prescription only.

 

[iconoclast56]

So, one day you take the benzo, the next you take the antihistamine. Or two days in a row benzo, two antihistamine, etc. That way you don't develop tolerance to either and both remain effective.

I've been thinking about this. You could avoid tolerance and addiction altogether if you have a plethora of different classes of sleep aids. For example on monday you take a GABA B agonist such as baclofen or gabapentin. Tuesday you take oxycodone. Wednesday you take zopiclone (or a benzo). Thursday an antipsychotic/antihstamine. Thats all the classes (pharmacodynamically speaking) of sleep aids I can think of right now but I'm sure there are more than enough to fill a full week.

 

[edzeppelin]

It's amazing all the different reactions to various sleep meds. I have had insomnia for 18 years. I first tried diphenhydramine(Benedryl). I felt in a fog for the first half of the next day. I tried Melatonin when it first came out in the US in the mid-nineties. Again, total fog until lunch.(I can't remember the dosage, but I remember reading about how the doses were overly high at first. Some people can use 1 or 2 mg) In 2008 I was prescribed Zolpidem, as I was taking high doses of Prednisone, which can cause insomnia. I worked SO well, that when I got off the Prednisone, I stayed on it. I was prescribed 10 Mg, but (especially at first) I could sometimes use half a pill (5 Mg). There are many reports of doing things (like driving) while asleep, but the instructions say to take it AT bedtime, not an hour or two before, so I have had no problems of that sort. One thing I did notice is taking it on anything but an empty stomach severily reduces the effectiveness, to the point of not working at all. I got around this by crushing the tab with my front teeth, then putting it under my tongue. Once it totally melts I spread it all around my mouth with my tongue, so hopefully it gets directly absorbed into the bloodstream. Using this method, I have been able to stay at 10 Mg everynight. And I have never awoken in a fog. It is available as a generic, or if you have early morning awakenings, in an XR form, which is not generic. The past six months or so I have been using Kratom in the evening.(a sedating variety) These nights I can usually get to sleep with that alone. The idea of switching drug types is a good one.

 

[lolfire]

Been playing about with a few different sleep meds (Xanax, Ambien, Diazapam , etc, )
Ambien (Zolpidem) was my favourite so far, but this Zopiclone not settling with me well, really REALLY don't like that metallic taste, feels like I've been sucking deodrant... anyone know of any way to get rid of it ? It's really destroying my taste and that makes me sad

 

[raddog]

The Z drugs (eszopiclone, zopiclone, zolpidem) are the most commonly prescribed hypnotics for those suffering from insomnia but without a prior substance abuse history. For me they work well unless doubling or tripling the does for recreation..this has caused paranoia, delusions, and even hallucinations. I have also done things that I had no recollection of.

Those with prior substance abuse histories will like get a broad spectrum of non-addictive meds tried on them before a good doc will even consider z-drugs. These include antidepressants like doxepin, amitriptyline, mirtazepine, trazadone, imipramine, nortriptyline. Other drugs they may be tried include anxiolytics/antihistamines like benadryl, Atarax, and ciproheptadine. There is also Rozerm (ramelteon)

If these don't work doctors will then move to the antipsychotics like seroquel, zyprexa, geodon, haldol, compazine, risperdal.

Then and only then will most doctors attempt using a z-drug in a substance abuser.

 

[Swain]

I use Temazepam, but don't get dependent on these for sleep. You can't take benzos everynight and not end up with worse problems than when you started.

I use temazepam too. IME it's VERY easy to get prescribed as a take one 30mg capsule at bedtime prescription. While you don't risk phsyical dependency using asingle pill here and there at bedtime, it will probably not benefit you at all in the long run.

If you are having trouble sleeping, you are going to rebound from whatever sleeping pill you take especially a benzo.

Have you had insomnia your whole life? If you need something to help you get to sleep here and there.. somethign like temazepam can be useful.. but it;s pointless IMO when you go from taking a pill and having a great sleep to having absolutely no sleep if you don't take a pill.

I think sleep aides/pills should only be used on occasion, other wise they defeat the purpose unless you plan on taking it for life. And why would you want that..

 

[ShashaBella]

Just out of curiosity, has anyone ordered Zopiclone from the Internet without a perscription? I do not want the name of the website or anything like that, I was just curious about the safety and security?