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  • BDD Moderators: Keif’ Richards

Sleep medication, what next?

BabyGurl3171

BabyGurl3171

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May 25, 2010
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In my mind. The choices are many, the consequences
Here's what I take at night to go to sleep (supposedly) but as you see I'm wide awake at 2:21 am. What else should I ask my dr to try?
Right now, at night, I take:
  • Trazodone
  • neurontin
  • xanax
  • requip
  • geodon

What would be the next best thing to ask my dr for to help me actually sleep? And I can't take Ambien. I took it once and quit breathing, had an ambulance ride and all that night. What could replace some of these meds? I'm basically looking to lessen what I take now with something that works well.

Anybody have any experience?
 
If your problems are to do with both falling and staying asleep, temazepam and nitrazepam are good choices, although temazepam lost its hypnotic strength with me pretty quick. Nitrazepam is more potent but unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on whether you have a job etc) it lasts longer than my typical sleep and will leave me groggy in the morning.

Triazolam and midazolam are short-acting, knock-you-out benzos like Xanax, except they're actually hypnotics. However they stop working very quickly and won't keep you asleep all night if you have issues with that.

Then there's some sedative antidepressants, antipsychotics, antihistamines and stuff, but if Xanax won't put you to bed I doubt those will. Triazolam and midazolam are just about the strongest generally available - I doubt you'll be getting propofol or anything from anywhere.
 
It sounds obvious but have you tried Codeine?
I too have great difficulty sleeping (3 or 4 hours a night) and find that 200mg of codeine will have me out within 2 hours, and for several hours - I just put up with the tired feeling the next day.

Although watch yourself mixing the benzos with opiates.
 
If you wanna try something for just sleep and not to ever use recreationally. Take seroquel that's what o have and it works really well
 
I find that 30mg temazepam works well for making me fall asleep. I am prescribed 2 mg clonazepam daily, but often switch it up and take temazepam (30mg) at night. I've also been prescribed: remeron and risperdal to help me sleep (but didn't use either of them so I can't say whether they are good or not). I'd suggest ambien but it loses its effect quick.

So? temazepam. Sounds like you'd need 30mg minimum.
 
Risperdal is not a reliable enough for a sleeping med. The sedation varies quite a bit. Sometimes the sedation wears off 2 hours after taking it, other times you have to sleep.
 
-how late do you sleep, by the way? It's important to set your alarm clock and wake up at a regular time EVEN if you can't fall asleep until a ridiculous hour (such as 3 or 4am). This will help your body establish a natural time clock, a regular night/day (sleep/wake) rhythm.

I have trouble sleeping (better now than previously) and set my alarm for 6:23 during work days and for 8am when I don't have to work. I find that when I sleep in I have a horrible time falling asleep. Also, balanced diet is terribly important ;) - is your diet decent?
 
I will preach about this med, my doc gives it to me, it's called Seroquel and when you take three 50 mg pills or one higher dosage of 150 mg it will FORCE you to sleep, you wont be able to stay up even if you tried

It's an anti-psychotic so don't tell anyone you take them or they will think your crazy, just take before bed and enjoy the best sleep you have ever had
 
I would not recommend using a anti-psychotic such as seroquel as a sleeping aid ever. Seroquel is not really anything like typical drugs that are used as sleep aids and it can have long and short term effects. Basically using seroquel solely for insomnia is a bad idea
 
Seroquel is a great sleep drug if you're really suffering from insomnia and the resultant sleep deprivation is making your mental health much worse. But I recommend it only as a temporary solution. Also, I would avoid extended release Seroquel XR unless you have a very fast metabolism, because for many people it creates a state of unbelievable grogginess for up to 16 hours after taking it. Plus it takes 3-4 hours to kick in at night. It's just a shitty drug. The IR formulation is okay though.

Before recommending Seroquel though, I suggest just switching your Xanax for a benzo that works better (as suggested by most of the posters above) and adding Melatonin to your combination. Melatonin works great for many people and it extends your sleep cycle.

Also, for long-term improvement in the quality of your sleep, I suggest practicing yogic breathing and doing gentle, nighttime yoga routines (no stimulating poses. You can find suggestions for sleep-enhancing routines on the internet.) And intense exercise early in the morning will help improve the quality of your sleep over time as well. These are changes that take effect over a period of months.

I have had a weird relationship with sleep and insomnia for many, many years and I've taken a lot of meds for it. What works best for me is .5mg Xanax at night, 9-12mg Melatonin, chamomile tea, pranayama (yogic breathing), yoga before bed and intense exercise in the morning with gentle exercise in the evening.

But my current regime is the result of almost 2 years of gradual cessation of years of taking a combination of heavy-duty sleep medications (Seroquel every night for 3 years for one). So do what you need to do for now and keep in mind that when your mental health improves or you're not facing as many challenges, you can taper off the meds you need now. Sure, it's not easy. But basically, when you're ready emotionally and mentally, half the battle is already won and you just have to act on your intentions.
 
Damn, you remind me of me; almost nothing can make me go to sleep.

I've been prescribed three of those five meds you're currently on [Trazadone, Xanax, Geodon], as well as tons others in the past to help me fall asleep. I'd say the one I've tried that's definitely the strongest in that it works the best is Seroquel.
Also, as odd as it may sound, I've found the antihistamine Doxylamine to be more potent & more effective at putting me to sleep than the majority of the different medications I'd been prescribed for sleep had been. According to Wikipedia it's actually been proven to be "more sedating than some prescription hypnotics. One study found that doxylamine succinate is possibly more effective than the barbiturate phenobarbital for use as a sedative." ... But, that's just Wikipedia, so who knows how true it is.
 
zopiclone is what I get and it works pretty well. I just take double the recommended dose and if I lie down and actually try to sleep im out like a light
 
TheFDA said:
According to Wikipedia it's actually been proven to be "more sedating than some prescription hypnotics. One study found that doxylamine succinate is possibly more effective than the barbiturate phenobarbital for use as a sedative." ... But, that's just Wikipedia, so who knows how true it is.
Click to expand...

No! Hell, no!

I agree that Wikipedia is a little a-wall on some articles.
 
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