• HEALTH & RECOVERY
    Welcome Guest
    Posting Rules Bluelight Rules Thread Directory 1 Thread Directory 2
    Mindfulness Links Addiction & Mind
    Sober Living Partner Program (SLiPP)
  • H&R Moderators: VerbalTruist | cdin | Lil'LinaptkSix

Sleep Problems

Status
Not open for further replies.
L

lswanie

Bluelighter
Joined
Apr 2, 2007
Messages
29
I am not sure if this post belongs in this forum but could not think of a better place to put it. Feel free to move it or recommend another forum for me to use.

I have been struggling with sleep problems for a pretty long time and have done everything short of taking drugs to get through it (this includes therapy and herbal remedies). My main problem is not actually falling asleep so much as waking up soon after falling asleep and not being able to go back to sleep for hours. This really sucks and it happens pretty much every night which really affects my ability to function from day to day. My girlfriend also says that when I am asleep I toss and turn quite a bit which leads me to believe I have some kind of restless leg disorderesque condition.

So I decided Id go to a normal doctor and explain my situation and received pretty much the same advice I got from the therapist even after I explained to her I had tried pretty much everything short of taking rx drugs. She claims that there are no drugs available to help you "stay" asleep and they are only really for helping you fall asleep but I know this cannot be the correct answer. Has anyone had to deal with a similar sleeping disorder and had success treating it with a particular medicine?

I used to smoke weed which was a great crutch for my sleep but for legal reasons I can no longer do so. My sleep was BAD right after I quit and got better for a couple of months but then reached this state which I just cannot deal with anymore.

Again this can be moved or if you guys know of a better forum to post in I would gladly take the advice. I just remember this little gem from my pot smoking psychedelic chapter and decided to start here. There are some really educated people here when it comes to drugs, legal or otherwise
 
in the past i have had sleeping problems similar to yours and still do suffer from it. mainly i would have problem initially falling to sleep but i also would have troubles staying asleep. the restless legs i have never been able to pinpoint on why, perhaps bad dreams i don't remember. maybe it has something to do with my spondylolysis. i do suffer from bad nightmares occasionally where i wake up terrified and cannot get back to sleep for hours on end, if at all.

do you have any recurring back or spinal problems? or suffer from nightmares?

i also have a big dependence on marijuana aiding me to sleep. it's more of a mental than physical problem. when my supply is out i normally suffer from a few bad nights of sleep until i get back into some routine.

i've also been prescribed valium for a few years now to aid with my back pains(muscle relaxant properties) as well as sleep problems and it lead to nothing but abuse and addiction. i prefer to use temazepam, a hypnotic benzo, for initially getting to sleep. and it keeps me asleep.

after trying a lot of herbal remedies and meditation type activities, breathing exercises etc etc the only success i've had is with either weed or a benzo, namely valium and temazepam.

it may be worth doing a little reading and research on temazepam and presenting this to your dr as a short term option. dr's don't like to prescribe benzos for anymore than a few weeks at a time because of the possible addiction and because theyre widely abused. all it may take is a short course of a benzo to help get your sleep pattern into whack.
 
leftwing said:
in the past i have had sleeping problems similar to yours and still do suffer from it. mainly i would have problem initially falling to sleep but i also would have troubles staying asleep. the restless legs i have never been able to pinpoint on why, perhaps bad dreams i don't remember. maybe it has something to do with my spondylolysis. i do suffer from bad nightmares occasionally where i wake up terrified and cannot get back to sleep for hours on end, if at all.

do you have any recurring back or spinal problems? or suffer from nightmares?

i also have a big dependence on marijuana aiding me to sleep. it's more of a mental than physical problem. when my supply is out i normally suffer from a few bad nights of sleep until i get back into some routine.

i've also been prescribed valium for a few years now to aid with my back pains(muscle relaxant properties) as well as sleep problems and it lead to nothing but abuse and addiction. i prefer to use temazepam, a hypnotic benzo, for initially getting to sleep. and it keeps me asleep.

after trying a lot of herbal remedies and meditation type activities, breathing exercises etc etc the only success i've had is with either weed or a benzo, namely valium and temazepam.

it may be worth doing a little reading and research on temazepam and presenting this to your dr as a short term option. dr's don't like to prescribe benzos for anymore than a few weeks at a time because of the possible addiction and because theyre widely abused. all it may take is a short course of a benzo to help get your sleep pattern into whack.
Click to expand...

Hey thanks for the input

Actually I indeed have a pretty messed up back which also irritates me way more now that I cannot smoke. I have a leg length difference which is cause either by actual leg length or the fact that my pelvis is crooked, either way they both make by back pretty crooked and uncomfortable most of the time.

I have looked into benzos and actually used to dabble with them (namely clonazepam and alprazolam) occasionally before I started getting drug tested. I could always get them but never routinely did them to the point of building a tolerance so I feel I could use them short term and not face any dire consequences, although I have never had an entire bottle with my name on it.

Temazepam sounds interesting and I will have to look into it. Is it relatively mild and less recreational compared to the others? because I do not want to sound like a druggie if I asked about it. One of the problems is that I am a college student and I feel like that would make it even harder to get some kind of medicine like this.
 
I got the idea from this forum - valerian root and melatonin. I drink alvista(sp?) melatonin and valerian root tea. It works great!

I had reservations at first, because it wasn't working. After about 3 days of not using tramadol to sleep, the tea started to work.
 
dude, you have a lot of the same problems i have. my right leg is also longer than my left and my pelvis is crooked and on top of that i have curvature in the lower spine. have you been diagnosed with anything at all? if not it would be very beneficial for you to get some mri's, xray and possibly cat scans to know whats wrong with you. it will definitely aid you in getting the medications you need.

temazepam is considered a strong hypnotic benzo and is very reacreational to many users. it does have a high potential for addiction, one of the reasons it is only supplied for a few weeks at a time my most dr's. mg for mg dosing compared to other benzos it has a higher dosing range but that has nothing to do with the overall effectiveness.

don't be intimidated by mentioning this to your dr, you have a legitimate problem and a short course of temazepam is a legitimate treatment.

something else you may want to look into are the two "Z" drugs, Zopiclone and Zolpidem. even other alternatives such as melatonin and 5htp.
 
Hey op I use diphenhydramine for sleep. Its the same thing as benadryl and is sold OTC as a sleep aid.

If you think your bones are fucked up go to a chiropractor. It only costs me about 30 bucks a visit and it works wonders for me. He started by weighing each foot independently and then finding where you're out of line. I'm telling you dude its well worth it and cheeper than you think. Especially if ya think it may be the reason you can't sleep, its a no brainer.
 
Havent slept more then 4 hours a day since last wensday.. barely see straight
 
^good point JB.

anti-histamines always go over the top of my head when i have sleeping issues. i used to be quite fond of doxylamine succinate. i was prescribed doxy/codeine and they would put me to sleep or make me very drowsy at the very least when i first used them.
 
yea I have been using melatonin for at least 4 months now and it has kind of lost the little effectiveness it once had.

Yea I should probably get my back checked out now that Im getting older or I will have some serious problems down the road. For some reason I can pretty much go to the doctor and complain about straining my back and get hydros whenever but that is something I only do when shit is bad. I have considered going to the doctor to try and get a high strength muscle relaxer (i have skelaxin now and it is garbage that actually makes it harder to sleep for me) but I never seem to have all that good of luck explaining whats wrong with me to my dr. I know stuff like valium can cause bad dependence, but so do hydros obviously, yet they give that stuff out way more easily in my case

They always just tell me to go to physical therapy but after I go a few times I realize they are just telling me to do the same thing over and over again. I already know how to appropriately stretch pretty much every major muscle in my back and only seek physical therapy if something new is wrong.

Doctors a huge expensive time consuming pain in the ass sometimes
 
i can definitely relate to the physio situation. i only go to physio once every now and then for a bit of a check up and learn a few new stretches or exercise, whatever.

think yourself lucky you can walk in with no medical records of a condition and get yourself hydro. i'm counting my blessings that now after 7 years in pain, 2 1/2 of those were "treated" with NSAIDS mainly until i was put onto tramadol for 3 years which helped me greatly. now i'm on slow release buprenorphine patches.

you guys have it a lot easier in america than pain patients in australia in my view;)
 
O ya that's right leftwing you're on sub patches. I think I talked to you about em. Anyways my buddy is getting em next month for maintenance, should be interesting...
 
^yeah man, been on them for a year now.

interesting to know they've been adopted into the american prescriptions now. ill shoot you a pm in second.
 
think yourself lucky you can walk in with no medical records of a condition and get yourself hydro. i'm counting my blessings that now after 7 years in pain, 2 1/2 of those were "treated" with NSAIDS mainly until i was put onto tramadol for 3 years which helped me greatly. now i'm on slow release buprenorphine patches.
Click to expand...

Wow man I know what that's like I've arthritis problems in my big toes which sounds pretty benign but causes all kinds of leg and knee problems for me too, and the doctors only solution is to give me crappy NSAIDS... they just don't help.

As far as sleeping problems, I've always been the same way lswanie. The only thing that really helped me a lot was cannabis, but unfortunately after a few years of overuse it doesn't help as much. It's frustrating waking up and being unable to get back to sleep!! Wish I could help more... but good luck!!
 
have you considered seroquel? it is an antipsychotic but it is used in low doses for sleep. it is prescription only so you would have to see a dr the smallest pill they have is 25 mg. try and get a script and cut the pill in half with a pill cutter (they do not have the line thingy where you can break it in half and they fall apart easily). if that isnt enough take the other half. just make sure you can get at least 8-9 hours of sleep and seroquel can make you pretty lethargic and sleepy when you first wake up for like the first hour or so.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top