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  • BDD Moderators: Keif’ Richards

Some Advice Re: Sleep Aids

7ca5p

7ca5p

Bluelighter
Joined
May 22, 2009
Messages
277
Location
England
Hi all.

So essentially, I'm prescribed Promethazine and Diazepam in order to juggle between the two to try and help stop me building up a tolerance to one or the other.

However, I've recently been prescribed Tramadol as a pain killer, and am well aware that there is a major interaction between Tramadol & Promethazine.

I do not want to regularly take Diazepam, so my question is essentially, what other options are there that I can ask the doctor for? My GP is a rather contemptuous and sardonic individual, and so pretty much says "yeah just carry on with the Diazepam". He has already declined to prescribe me melatonin.

So what other prescription sleep aids are there? And which ones are safe to be used with Tramadol? I know nothing of the sleep aid market.

Thanks for any advice.
 
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Zopiclone and zolpidem, they are lunesta and ambien. Also promethazine is a neuroleptic = horrible shit drug. You won't have at tramadol seizure with benzodiazepines, that is for sure. Idk about double sedation though. All three together is probably too much.
 
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^Haha. This is very true.

I've booked an appointment for later in the week with a new doctor, so hopefully they will be a bit more sensible.

DankOpi, I've heard that Ambien can be very addictive although I've never tried it so would not know. Would you say it was safe to use 3-4 nights a week? Also with Zopiclone, I gave it a quick google and there is some pretty nightmarish stuff about it!

Some days my nausea is bad enough to have me take several cyclizines, which sometimes make me fall asleep, so it wouldn't be every single night, but I guess I need it to be safe for semi regular use.

And agreed on the Promethazine being horrible. Very effective in terms of inducing sleep but makes me feel pretty horrid in the morning.

Cheers.
 
If you just take the recommended dose on roughly half of your nights that would probably be fine. If you find yourself with more difficulty to sleep than usually on off nights it is a bad sign. Don't try to stay up on the ambien and it shouldn't be addictive more than a normal sleep aid. I have only personally tried Zopiclone but they are both similar. I did not find it recreational. I think a good comparison is to that of a very light benzodiazepine. The are described as benzodiazepine-like drugs anyway but I do not believe they cause the same deathly withdrawals.
 
^What is considered a normal sleep aid?

I'm no doctor, but I recommend trying something less habit-forming & ideally you might even be able to find something.
 
Like an over the counter remedy. I meant besides the fact that it is helping you sleep which is addictive in and of itself.
 
I suffer with horrific insomnia and I have tried it all. Some helped a bit. In terms of HR I do not suggest this is anyway but tonight 3 Etizolam, 4 zopliclone, 2 melatonin and low dose 5HTP oh yeh and a bottle of wine all an hours ago have not touched the sides.

I would generally to start look at your diet and lifestyle first (says she) and exercise. If you aint physically active you won't sleep.

I would start with some over the counter velerian..which should be fine with the trams.

Give it a good 4 week chance then maybe melatonin which is best for sleep at the lower doses strangely. Zopliclone or similar from doc as last resort as highly addictive.

Maybe have another chat with doc as it is reported that Tramadol have a speedy effect compared to say a codeine based med (which make me sleepy). So speak to doc please? Some high dose vit Damongst others maay help too.

While Diazepam has some sedative qualities and works for some in much the same way as Etizolam you will build up tolerance and reliance quickly.

Do all the text book shit no caffeine, cigarettes, over stimulation of tv and pc for an hour or so before going to bed to.

Librium weirdly for me helped a lot with my sleep...Valerian or discuss with doc would be my first thoughts.

Then again I am a lost cause and it's hypnotherapy for me next on the conveyor belt after 30 years of this shit. Good luck,
 
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Tramadol for me was like taking speed or drinking 5 coffees.......it would keep me up all night so my doctor switched me to hydrocodone for back pain.

As for mixing a sleeping did with tramadol, have you ever tried temazepam?
 
For now it's best to take your diazepam as planned with semi-regular use. Maybe your new doctor can prescribe something different. Even still zolpidem, zoploclone or other meds for sleep tend to lose effectiveness over time. Melatonin works nicely for me but I can't use it every night for this reason. Tramadol makes me wired too, sure fire way to stay up all night without trying. Maybe limit that to daytime use?
 
Thanks all for the responses.

I have no trouble getting to sleep on the days with tramadol useage, as you guys have quite rightly pointed out, it's very stimulating and so I take it 6pm latest to crash out at a relatively normal time. I take cyclizine with it too, so that has the anti-cholinergic sedating effect. The thing is, I don't want to take Tramadol 8hrs after I've taken a Promethazine to get to sleep. As naturally it will still be very much in my system. I accidentally did it once before I knew of the interaction and was vomiting.

My issue is that Tramadol far more longer lasting than Codiene for me, and so it's preferable. But at the moment, I can't take it because I'm regularly taking Promethazine. So thus, the cycle is Promethazine, Codeine, and Diazepam. Some days I'll take Diazepam two nights in a row and then that day I can take Tramadol. But as with any health issue with Chronic Pain, it's hard to know which day will be bad. For example, I've just this minute taken a promethazine for sleep in an hour or so, and in doing so have now ruled out tramadol as a viable option for tomorrow.

I also don't want to develop any kind of tolerance to Diazepam. In October to December 2012 I was taking it every single night to sleep and it was not ideal. Having said that, I didn't find it particularly addictive in nature, and I never felt any sort of craving for it. Is ambien more or less addictive than Diazepam?

inflorescence, that sounds like one hefty cocktail! I hope you get a good nights rest! :)
 
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That's the problem with tramadol, because by itself it sometimes makes me nauseated. Plus it takes forever to clear out and so many side effects. With ambien, I think it can be addicting, perhaps not as bad as benzos but the risk is still there. Too bad your doctor wouldn't give you melatonin, yet told you to go ahead with diazepam. Was it helping you?
 
Yeah juggling the two has worked thus far. For example this week I had one 5mg Diazepam on Monday to sleep, then Tuesday & tonight has been one 25mg promethazine per night. I'm feeling quite tired from the promethazine now and will head to sleep pretty much soon as I've posted. I think the promethazine is more effective for me, but both do work for me and taking one or the other means I rarely miss a nights sleep. Without either, I'd probably be sleeping only 2-3 nights of the week. So they do help a lot.

One key issue with why I can't sleep without a sleep aid is that the accommodation I am in is quite noisy right from 2am till 9am, and I'm a very light sleeper at the best of times.

Is melatonin safer/less addictive/better than ambien/zopiclone then? I believe the reason he refused it is because I have a history of depression (been on SSRIs etc) and I've read online that it can worsen depression symptoms? He also told me about issues that it can cause in terms of hormonal imbalances and said that it can cause males to grow breasts etc. So he refused to prescribe it and at the time, sold me a pretty good reason for me not to take it. I don't know how much truth there is in what he said or whether it's straight out of the Big Book of Urban Myths though.
 
Bob Loblaw said:
Sounds like your doctor's being a cunt. Get a new one IMO.
Click to expand...

Pretty much hits the nail on the head. haha

Also is melatonin really require a prescription in England? That seems pretty stupid, and weird that a doctor won't prescribe it but writes off on all sorts of addictive and mind altering substances.

I've never used tramadol, as I assume my opiate tolerance means it won't do much unless I take seizure risking doses. But even oxycodone taken less than 3 hours before bed will keep me awake. It just seems that certain people cannot sleep under the influence of certain opioids, especially those with stimulating properties. Add in the long acting effects of tramadol and I would expect it owuld keep me up, too, if I took it anytime after 3ish in the afternoon.
 
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TheLostBoys said:
Tramadol for me was like taking speed or drinking 5 coffees.......it would keep me up all night so my doctor switched me to hydrocodone for back pain.

As for mixing a sleeping did with tramadol, have you ever tried temazepam?
Click to expand...

These two together is the bees knees.
 
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