Hello! I'm a lifelong chronic insomniac. After 15 years of trying different meds and non-medication solutions with doctors, sleep specialists, therapists, etc., I've found that the only thing that works reliably for me is Zolpidem.
For the last couple years, I've had a prescription for 30x 10mg Zolpidem every month. The trouble is, 10mg doesn't always work. Sometimes I end up being awake for hours with almost zero effect. What I've done is break a third (or so) off a tab, so I end up taking ~13-15mg and that works basically every time. But then, there are 5-7 days a month where I don't have any left so I switch back to OTC Hydroxyzine. With Hydroxyzine, I sleep like crap and drowsiness can linger into the next day, either from the medication or just lack of sleep. Plus, I'm unable to use my CPAP machine because I can't get to sleep deep enough where that works out, so there's extra danger there.
I'm trying to understand more about how Zolpidem actually works. Maybe there's a way I can take it where I don't need that extra bit of it. Some observations:
A doctor once had me try combining with Hydroxyzine but that didn't really help much and then I just ended up with the antihistamine side effects. I've tried combining with vitamin aisle GABA and L-Theanine but noticed no difference. I always use Melatonin just to keep the sleep rhythm reasonable.
I feel that if I could understand more about what's happening, I could figure out what to do or try next to find a better balance. Any information would be most helpful. Thank you, friends.
For the last couple years, I've had a prescription for 30x 10mg Zolpidem every month. The trouble is, 10mg doesn't always work. Sometimes I end up being awake for hours with almost zero effect. What I've done is break a third (or so) off a tab, so I end up taking ~13-15mg and that works basically every time. But then, there are 5-7 days a month where I don't have any left so I switch back to OTC Hydroxyzine. With Hydroxyzine, I sleep like crap and drowsiness can linger into the next day, either from the medication or just lack of sleep. Plus, I'm unable to use my CPAP machine because I can't get to sleep deep enough where that works out, so there's extra danger there.
I'm trying to understand more about how Zolpidem actually works. Maybe there's a way I can take it where I don't need that extra bit of it. Some observations:
- Its effectiveness doesn't seem to matter how recently I had food... though of course it's good to not have food in your gut when you try to go to sleep. And yet, Zolpidem gives me the munchies. So, I will often have it with a light snack, like pudding so I don't end up eating the whole kitchen.
- When I first started taking it, I had bonkers visualizations... could see light racing into the past, could turn a knob and watch space and time bend around it, etc. All of that is gone now and I have none of those kinds of side effects.
- Some years after taking it, I actually had extremely productive hour or two of work while waiting for it to kick in, would forget what I did, and would wake up to a bunch of stuff that was done and remember then what I had done. Those side effects are gone.
- There was one time when I took it where it really knocked me and I had extreme side effects within 5-10 minutes of taking just a normal dose. I wasn't able to figure out what caused this... there was nothing special about that day, maybe a bit of dehydration from traveling.
A doctor once had me try combining with Hydroxyzine but that didn't really help much and then I just ended up with the antihistamine side effects. I've tried combining with vitamin aisle GABA and L-Theanine but noticed no difference. I always use Melatonin just to keep the sleep rhythm reasonable.
I feel that if I could understand more about what's happening, I could figure out what to do or try next to find a better balance. Any information would be most helpful. Thank you, friends.
