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Misc Sleep aids

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Robomarley1

Bluelighter
Joined
Jul 25, 2011
Messages
65
I was wondering if there were any non-benzodiazepine sleep medications. I recently got off of a benzo habit and have been having a lot of trouble sleeping.
 
zopiclone, soma, pregabalin, promethazine to name a few. All quite addictive. If you gel well with cannabis, maybe try edibles but importantly full spctrum, maybe even with added CBD/CBG. I wasn't a beliver in CBD until I started buying CBD dstillate and used much higher doses than recommended. It really does relax me without making me stoned and if combined with THC, I get much less anxiety or other negative effects that come with high dose THC.

Try natural things like cannabis, valerian, chammomile, ashwaghanda etc before trying any pharama stuff. Less chance of addiction or other health complications this way.
 
Not sure how you feel about taking a partial MU opioid agonist....but 6 grams of kratom has me sleeping like a baby.
 
Robomarley1 said:
I was wondering if there were any non-benzodiazepine sleep medications. I recently got off of a benzo habit and have been having a lot of trouble sleeping.
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depends quite a bit on what country you are in?

are you looking for OTC or prescription?
 
Robomarley1 said:
I also am not only looking for drugs that are addictive.
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Well. kratom is out. Have you tried diphenhydramine ( benadryl ) ? melatonin? Valerian root? L-Theanine?

Those are all relaxing and somewhat sedating and non addictive.

Sucks to not sleep well. Before kratom I slept like crap myself and took the non addictive ones I mentioned. They work. Kratom just works better for me.
 
Hi , i recommend trying Phenergan / Promethazine , sold as 'sominex' in the UK
(Anti histamine, Over the counter)
For me personally it tends to hang around the next day, however it does buy me 1 or 2 nights sleep a week if i use it
 
personally I cannot take things like diphenhydramine or other antihistamine OTC sleep aids, they give me some bad side effects

I found valerian root to be somewhat effective, cannabis is effective

I found daily exercise to be the #1 most effective

I found eszopliclone to be VERY effective and least addictive z-drug (prescription) - I was on it for 9 months and stopped with zero issues or dependence, it's very potent like other z-drugs

also look into hydroxyzine works great too and relatively easy to get a script in the US

melatonin works but it's more to do with your circadian rhythm, if it's messed up

just my 2 cents and recommendations (from someone in the US)
 
Another OTC drug that may help short-term is dimenhydrinate (motion sickness med).
I've used it on occasion but don't know anything about long-term effects, so do your research.
 
Robomarley1 said:
I was wondering if there were any non-benzodiazepine sleep medications. I recently got off of a benzo habit and have been having a lot of trouble sleeping.
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I find Trazodone very helpful. I usually take 75mg 1-2 hours before bed. I probably use it about twice a week and have been on the 75mg for 3 or 4 years and not needed to increase my dosage.

Quetiapine (Seroquel) is excellent for sleep in low doses. 25mg-100mg works for most people. Any higher and it actually starts to lose it's sedative effect.

If you want something milder or OTC any first generation anti-histamine can help (Chlorphenamine, Promethazine, Doxylamine, Diphenhydramine, Dimenhydrinate, etc). Hydroxyzine probably works best of all the anti-histamine sleep aids, but it is a prescription-only medication.

My grandma finds low-dose Mirtazapine helpful, but personally I hate it. Caused dysphoria for me and I was groggy well into the next day. Also, it can cause significant weight gain.

One of the best options, IME, is actually not a med at all. I have these teabags that are 50% Camomile and 50% CBD. I leave the bag in to infuse for 5-10 mins (and sometimes use two bags) and it makes me feel really warm and relaxed. It almost feels like a small dose of a light benzo, like Chlordiazepoxide (Librium).
 
Most of these drugs were already covered, but for the sake of clarity we should group them by their pharmacological action:

1. Magnesium (OTC obviously). You might have to test several different forms of magnesium to see which ones makes you most drowsy. Take 100% daily recommended dosage, but obviously not every day as you already get some from food.
2. Melatonin - one of the most mild and non-addictive sleep aids with virtually 0 side effects (OTC)
3. CBD, works well but can be expensive depending on dosages needed (OTC)
4. Weed also has varying degrees of CBD depending on strain and i would group it into the same class, if drug test is not a problem then its cheaper than CBD oil. Also works well
5. antihistamine - this includes doxylamine (OTC), diphenhydramine (OTC), hydroxyzine. Good thing about them you cant get addicted because they stop working after a few days.
EDIT: Gabapentinoids such as pregabalin or gabapentin. Since pregabalin is more of a recreational drug i'd recommend gabapentin if it works for you.
6. Baclofen, GHB, phenibut (OTC) affect GABA-B amongst other things. But i'd only use baclofen as a sleep aid personally.
7. Narcotics. they aren't really good for sleep long-term and also risk of addiction.
8. GABA (OTC). Z-drugs, benzodiazepines, carisoprodol affect GABA-A levels and can be a very slippery slope to addiction (except pure GABA).
9. Antipsychotics are prescription only and a lot of them like quetiapine have anthistaminc activity at lower dosages just like antihistamines, so there's really no point. I'd avoid them personally. UPDATE: selective antipsychotics with dopamine inhibition like sulpride, amilsulpride, tiapride etc. don't affect serotonin and don't have a hangover like quetiapine, so they're FAR better for sleep, however they're still antipsychotic medications :/

So if i had to rank them in order of health or addiction: Some BS plant extract from your pharmacy > Melatonin >Magnesium> CBD > GABA > Weed > Antihistamine > probably baclofen or gabapentin> GHB / phenibut > Narcotics > z-drugs & benzos (addiction)

If everything up to baclofen works then do not go futher imo, because you risk serious addiction.


EDIT: i forgot to add good ol' magnesium. I use trimagnesium bicitrate (make sure its quality) 100% dose couple of times a week before bed and it makes me noticably drowsy and sleepy. Now if you're going through benzo withdrawal it might not help on its own (but neither will melatonin or CBD), but if some time has passed it will work and you can combine it with other sleep-aids.

EDIT EDIT: OTC supplements combined such as GABA, magnesium, l-theanine, oleamide etc. can be surprisingly effective hypnotics and great if you're not used to benzos.
 
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jasperkent said:
Another OTC drug that may help short-term is dimenhydrinate (motion sickness med).
I've used it on occasion but don't know anything about long-term effects, so do your research.
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Yea I tried Dramamine. 1st time I did, it knocked me on my ass. And was only taking it for nausea. VERY good for sleeping if you ask me.
 
I don't want misinformation to be spread around, because dimenhydrinate is a combination drug of diphenhydramine and a mild stimulant. The reason it's used its because stimulant helps combat the drowsiness of diphenhydramine, because its primarily used as motion sickness medication and not as sleep-aid. if your only reason to use it is for sleep then logically pure DPH will be better (and its OTC as well - benadryl)
 
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