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Misc Sleeping medicine/ sleep hygiene MEGA-THREAD

Pegasus

Pegasus

Ex-Bluelighter
Joined
Aug 15, 2006
Messages
8,073
I'm just going to start this up since it's such a popular topic. We can talk about anything from GABAnergic herbs to benzos and z-drugs to sleep hygiene (how to prepare body for sleep behaviorally).

What works for you? What doesn't work for you? Have any questions about sleep or sleeping medicines?
 
Benzo's will knock me out without question. The problem is they knock me out for around 14 hours. Anyone else have this problem?
 
^I find benzos make you sleep for a really long time, but the sleep is of poor quality, since benzos suppress REM sleep.

Personally, I've found magnesium (chelated or citrate) to be the best sleep aid ever. It helps me fall asleep quicker, and REM sleep is increased with magnesium. 6 hours of sleep with mangesium is as restful to me as 7-8 hours without it. Potassium Citrate is good too, but not as important.

If I can't sleep, I take some Doxylamine (Unisom tablets; the sedating ingredient in NyQuil). I find using benzos daily just for sleep as counterproductive: I hate the feeling of waking up feeling like I'm in the bottom of a pool, with no energy to even get up.
 
I take Mogadon 5 mg pills for insomnia. I usually take 2 of them. Works great for my insomnia. I get 7-8 hours of sleep.
 
Doxylamine (6.25-12.5mg) and melatonin (3mg melatonin + 10mg vitamin B6 per tablet) is an excellent combination for me if I can't sleep. The grogginess is pretty nil with a lower dose of doxylamine, and melatonin always helps me feel more rested in the morning.

Benzos used to be my go-to, but after a lengthy addiction and withdrawal I try to keep my (ab)use minimal. Never got quality sleep with them anyway, doxylamine is just as/more effective IMO.
 
benzos-they put me to sleep just fine bu i wake up feeling very groggy and lethargic...i usually feel like this for 3-4 hours after waking up..not good

Nyquil-this stuff for some reason actually stimulates me, i cant get a minutes worth of sleep on it..terrible for sleep in my case

Melatonin-umm pretty useless for sleep...

Tylenol PM-ehh it helps me feel relaxed and groggy enough to sleep but my actualy sleep is lower quality..plus i wake up feeling a little groggy..

Phenibut-so far this has been the most effective sleep aid for me..it allows me to fall asleep and STAY ASLEEP for the most part...it is like a coma like sleep too, i feel rested when i wake up..in fact i feel elevated mood the morning after taking phenibut..

trazadone-did nothing for me...

Restoril-i remember it working ok..
 
Hello belfort.
What is Phenibut? Is it something you buy OTC in the US?
It's not available where I live (Norway).
I read it was discovered in the USSR in the 60's.
 
^It's not really OTC here as it's sold as a supplement rather than a drug... I guess in effect it is OTC though.

Doxylamine is really good at inducing sleep, I agree. It only takes me around 6.5mg to fall asleep... Any more than this will leave me considerably groggy in the mornings. For the above mentioned reasons, I agree benzos in general are poor for sleep, namely because of the effects on deep sleep cycles and addiction/ rebound effects. As for botanicals, I find mulungu (GABAnergic) to work extremely well at making me ready to sleep, and also make dreams much more vivid! I'd say that overall, mulungu is the first thing I'd recommend to someone wanting to fall asleep faster.

@sekio, handy link
 
Nice post.

I have also run through the gambit of sleep meds/aids

and in terms of a sleep aid w/o the morning after grogginess/inability to wake up, you might wana check out something called "Top Secret Sleep Melts" they work really well, kick in very quickly, taste GREAT, and there isn't that diphenhydramine groggy hangover
 
For OTC I've had good experiences with Alteril. Has valerian, melatonin, L-Theanine, hops, t-tryptophan. I sleep quite sound for atleast 8-10 hours easy.

If I had a choice, zolpidem is my favorite. It just puts you to sleep. Works everytime unless you're in full withdrawl or something.
I worry when taking benzos just cause I have trouble waking up when on them plus it's one of the few drugs I have no tolerance with and like to save them for special occassions.
 
I totally disagree with the others here about doxylamine. I take 50mg and still barely get 4 hrs of poor quality sleep. Granted, my present state is probably exceptional (I just started Wellbutrin which is highly stimulating) but the point is that whereas doxylamine 50mg barely puts me out, a Z-drug like zolpidem does a far better job, and a good, strong, hypnotic benzo like temazepam is absolutely the best for sleep.

I find that weaker benzos like diazepam and oxazepam don't really work for sleep. But any of the hypnotics like temaz, flunitraz, nitraz, and so forth, work an absolute fucking treat.

I also take magnesium but I wonder what the point is if I'm using any of these other things...
 
With doxylamine, less is more IMO. I find I have to combine it with something else sometimes, melatonin usually, but not always.

Natures Best "Drug-free Sleep Aid" work excellent combined with doxylamine as well. The 200mg of l-theanine is pretty effective mixed with whatever other snake oils it contains.

On the other hand, it obviously affects everyone differently. Maybe it just isn't for you, or maybe you need 75mg.

My grandma says it doesn't do jack shit, but she can't sleep without 10mg of ambien and 2 beers.
 
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Damn, I'm surprised more people haven't tried mulungu. It's pretty popular in regions of South America for its hypotensive effects. The effects as a hypnotic are really wonderful though IMO... it gives me a really dreamy, pleasant state before falling asleep, followed by really vivid dreams! This is from around 3-400mg of the extract that is common (20x I believe? could be wrong)... Making a tea from the bark is pretty popular as well but I haven't tried it.
 
Simple Melatonin works wonders. You gotta take it about 2 hours before you plan on falling asleep. It takes roughly 2 hours to really kick in. Perhaps that's why none of you have had any good experiences with it?
 
I've been on Trazodone for about a year now. I can tell you it knocks me the fuck out and I feel amazing when I wake up, but I have also had 0 motivation and done absolutely nothing for my life but sit indian style in front of a computer all day


As far as other things go, I'd say stuff like zolpidem or zaleplon give me nightmares and I always feel weird when I'm about to sleep/wake up. Seroquel works but it's also basically an antipsychotic. Melatonin is great, just make sure your room is dark. From what I have read, melatonin is responsive to light, and if you see too much light, you're melatonin is going to be antagonized
 
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