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Benzos Benzos for sleep

Coffeeshroom

Bluelight Crew
Joined
Jan 17, 2019
Messages
4,041
I have been taking temazepam for my insomnia lately but not finding it to work. Im prescribed 20mg before bed time but find that it just puts me in a tired state but not enough to sleep. If i up the dose to 40mg i fall asleep but only for roughly 4 hrs and then im tossing and turning in a broken sleep again for the rest of the night. Now i have had flurazepam before at 15mg a night that made me sleep better but also only for 5hrs max but if i dbl the dose then i get my proper nights sleep. I have also tried nitrazepam at 10mg a night and it worked but left me with a slight hangover so to speak. Even 20mg diazepam gives me better sleep overall for the night.

So why is Temazepam (the go to insomnia benzo) not really working for me. I have also used midazolam and triazolam but find the amnesia effect to hectic to deal with (or maybe that is just me)

Any advice from the Benzo experts on here

Sidenote: My current benzo experience are; alprozalam, lorazepam, diazepam, bromazepam, nitrazepam, triazolam, midazolam, clonazepam and maybe one or two i forgot.

I normally use the long acting during the day, short acting if i need instant relieve and the hypnotics for bed time.

Guess im just wondering why temazepam is so weak for me or why i need such high dosages for proper sleep. Im really looking for alternatives for better sleep and i dont want to go the Z drug route.

I also found that taking 300-600mg gabapentin with my night time dose to help a lot also but now im just using more meds at the end of the day to sleep which is not on.

Any advice or input from someone
 
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My responses to benzos for sleep are pretty similar. Temazepam doesn't well work for me either, it basically has no effect. Haven't tried flurazepam. IIRC nitrazepam also leaves me groggy. Diazepam is not reliably sedating for me, but when it is, I get excellent sleep & am never groggy, even if I have to wake up early & don't actually sleep much.

Clonazepam leaves me groggy & isn't reliably sedating. Alprazalom is super stimulating & essentially gives me a panic attack. Lorazepam is great for acute anxiety but not sedating. I haven't tried midazolam, & can't remember how I liked bromazepam except I didn't find it useful, so either groggy or not sedating enough. Triazolam is definitely my favourite med for sleep by far & away, never fails to knock me out with no grogginess. The amnesiac effects don't bother me as I fall quickly asleep, & I only have trouble falling asleep, generally. I think etizolam is my 2nd fave, like a weaker, less reliable triazolam.

The Z drugs work well initially but I build tolerance very rapidly & then they don't work reliably, & I also get WD after just a week on them - nasty rebound insomnia. But if I rotate them with benzos or only take them occasionally that's not a problem; I just can't take them daily. Why don't you want to go that route?

Everything else leaves me groggy including gabapentin. In any case, you're not the only one who finds temazepam lacking.
 
Thanks for the reply and input. Think month end Im going to ask my doc to switch me over to Flurazepam as that one is working the best for me so far, only problem is, is the price. But I'm sure i can make a plan. Plus maybe i will give halcion (triazolam) another try in the next few days just for a short trail run. When you saying alternating between meds does this only include benzos and Z-drugs or are there other stuff to look into and melatonin isn't really an option as it makes my depression worse.

Oh and i also smoke MJ night time and keep it to pure indica strains but only sometimes help as a combo with the benzos.
 
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Only Z drugs & benzos & nothing. No other meds are good for sleep for me. I don't like weed.
 
I've never found Benzos useful for long-term insomnia issues; sure if you have no tolerance "knock yourself out" - but those sedating effects dissappear after one or two day's continued use IME.

Z-Drugs never hit home for me.

To be perfectly honest - I don't think anything works nightly for sleep - I take Seroquel (quetiapine), Restavit (Doxylamine - an anti-histamine) - and loads of other meds, including Temazapam. But all of them only work if I take them occasionally, nothing works nightly - not for me. YMMV obviously.
 
Hate to be that guy; but super red maeng da will help with sleeping through the nigh. Experience for close to two years.
 
GABApentin or lyrica why hasn't that been mentioned I am prescribed 1200MG of it three times a day I take like 1200MG 1 Hour apart I take another 1200MG and the more u use of gabapentin less u absorb lyrica seems to be better suited for sleep but depending on the person like for me as an example I never experience any hint of withdrawal from gabapentin I also take 60MG of Baclofen at night for sleep.


Without a tolerance 40-60MG Baclofen alone should knock u out and it is short acting so give it a try the withdrawal is not as bad as benzos to have any that is as I don't seem to experience withdrawal from it not sure if it's because I don't use the universal standard 20MG 4x Daily Dosing my pharamacist said to take 20MG every four hours they make 10MG and 20MG baclofen pills.


Best of luck to u dude insomnia is a bitch but this is the only long-term cocktail with a relatively good safety profile that I have found. FYI GABAPentin is classified as a Sedative but it literally seems to have barely if any Sedative properties and it is certainly not as dangerous as mixing for example Benzos with other downers like Baclofen which without a tolerance 40-60MG will either knock u right out dead asleep or give u a super relaxing body relaxing effect and should make you comfortable enough to sleep.


Anyone who does not like weed should simply trying tinkering with the strains u use since some help anxiety some make it worse u canse use cbd only strains or extracts that have none of the positive or negative effects and seem to provide some good medical relief... at least from what I read that is.
 
Hate to be that guy; but super red maeng da will help with sleeping through the nigh. Experience for close to two years.

Have been looking into Kratom for some while now but after my flurazepam and triazolam experiment i will add kratom to the mix, swapping between the lot.
 
GABApentin or lyrica why hasn't that been mentioned I am prescribed 1200MG of it three times a day I take like 1200MG 1 Hour apart I take another 1200MG and the more u use of gabapentin less u absorb lyrica seems to be better suited for sleep but depending on the person like for me as an example I never experience any hint of withdrawal from gabapentin I also take 60MG of Baclofen at night for sleep.


Without a tolerance 40-60MG Baclofen alone should knock u out and it is short acting so give it a try the withdrawal is not as bad as benzos to have any that is as I don't seem to experience withdrawal from it not sure if it's because I don't use the universal standard 20MG 4x Daily Dosing my pharamacist said to take 20MG every four hours they make 10MG and 20MG baclofen pills.


Best of luck to u dude insomnia is a bitch but this is the only long-term cocktail with a relatively good safety profile that I have found. FYI GABAPentin is classified as a Sedative but it literally seems to have barely if any Sedative properties and it is certainly not as dangerous as mixing for example Benzos with other downers like Baclofen which without a tolerance 40-60MG will either knock u right out dead asleep or give u a super relaxing body relaxing effect and should make you comfortable enough to sleep.


Anyone who does not like weed should simply trying tinkering with the strains u use since some help anxiety some make it worse u canse use cbd only strains or extracts that have none of the positive or negative effects and seem to provide some good medical relief... at least from what I read that is.

I have used gabbies together with benzos and on its own and didn't really help except with the mix of benzos. Another thing is gabbies are very expensive my side so in cant really afford to use those high dosages
at such a long time.


Think i will stick to Fairnymph's advice and keep swapping between benzos and add kratom to the mix too. So i can swap between certain benzos and kratom and also take breaks in between off everything and then only dose it up with CBD high cannabis that is especially for insomnia in the Pharm free times

Oh and @mostly-human i use to use seroquel for sleep but that stuff just made me to groggie the next day and depended again.
 
I've never found Benzos useful for long-term insomnia issues; sure if you have no tolerance "knock yourself out" - but those sedating effects dissappear after one or two day's continued use IME.

Z-Drugs never hit home for me.

To be perfectly honest - I don't think anything works nightly for sleep - I take Seroquel (quetiapine), Restavit (Doxylamine - an anti-histamine) - and loads of other meds, including Temazapam. But all of them only work if I take them occasionally, nothing works nightly - not for me. YMMV obviously.

Yeah I agree pretty much. Thus why I rotated back when I had severe insomnia. I'm so glad that's not an issue anymore. 12hrs of sleep a week for months is pure hell.

Seroquel, trazadone, doxylamine, & skeletal muscle relaxants knock me out usually, if not used too often, but all leave me groggy. Especially the last. I'm soooo not a morning person & sleep through all alarms as is. But the few meds that work without grogginess actually make me more alert the next day bc I sleep so much better on them.
 
I have used gabbies together with benzos and on its own and didn't really help except with the mix of benzos. Another thing is gabbies are very expensive my side so in cant really afford to use those high dosages
at such a long time.


Think i will stick to Fairnymph's advice and keep swapping between benzos and add kratom to the mix too. So i can swap between certain benzos and kratom and also take breaks in between off everything and then only dose it up with CBD high cannabis that is especially for insomnia in the Pharm free times

Oh and @mostly-human i use to use seroquel for sleep but that stuff just made me to groggie the next day and depended again.

Sounds like a solid rotation plan. Let us know how it works for you.
 
Okay well my Pharmacy was out of Halcion (triazolam) and just got myself 8x5mg nitrazepam tabs for the next few days till i see the doc and get a script for flurazepam and also get triazolam when that is in stock at my local pharmacy again.

So tonight and the next will be nitrazepam @ 10mg-20mg. Think tonight it will be 15mg and the next 20mg to see how that works and how i feel the next day. Hopefully after that i will have the flurazepam by then, run that for 3 days and then swap to the triazolam for the next 3 days and then make my assessment after that, plus im not sure when the kratom will arrive but will keep this thread updated for those interested and just for general information purposes.

Thanks for all the interest and help so far
 
Okay so had my nitrazepam last night @ 15mg at around 10ish. I also want to add yesterday we had a family function where i did consume alcohol, not a lot but enough to be over the limit. My alcohol consumption stopped roughly at 7ish that night so not sure if that influenced my nitrazepam dose after 10. Anyhow roughly an hour later i rate (not sure as i did not check the time) but i was out for the count and fast asleep but i woke up for the first time @ 7am when my alarm went off. Then it took me another 20-30 min odd to just wake up properly. It was not that i felt still drugged or groggie just lazy in a sense as i didn't feel like getting out of bed. As for the rest i actually felt fine and carried out my morning routine awake and aware without issues.

So an overall assessment for day 1 on the nitrazepam was good. No real amnesia effect, gave me a proper nights sleep, not very dreamy but proper rest. Will follow this for another 2 days and then its triazolam. Obviously today no alcohol will be involved and tonight i will take the exact same dose of nitrazepam at the exact same time and see how that influences me for day 2 of this little experiment if you wanna call it that.
 
Morning Everyone, yay to another nights good sleep but again no real dreams or any that i can remember and no amnesia effect either, plus no groggie (deur die kak) feeling either . I woke up twice through the night, once to go to the bathroom and once to just randomly re position my pillow formation (weird storie). But i fell asleep quicky if not instantly after both times, so the Nitrazepam @15mg before bed is an 8/10 for me so far. One more night of the nitrazepam and then it will be the triazolam for 3 days and then the flurazepam. Think a 3 day or should i say night dose should be long enough time to gauge between the lot.
 
Hey there OP! Sorry to hear that you're wrapped up in the Benzodiazepine game right now. While Benzodiazepine therapy typically begins with good intentions and great efficacy, however, the tale typically features a less-than-happy ending.

If you want my honest opinion here it is. You shouldn't have been on Benzodiazepines for longer than the few weeks or so mandated by the medical community at large. It's not your fault, but it is well-known and nearly expected for addiction and dependence do occur following chronic administration of Benzodiazepines. The fact that your Temazepam (Restoril) is no longer working is a sign that it is time to address the role of Benzodiazepines in your life. Your dependence/tolerance will certainly not decrease on its own.

Increasing the dose is absolutely not the answer. By increasing the dose, you will be further increasing your tolerance and will reach a point where the newly increased dosage is no longer effective and you will be repeating this very same process. Please, and I say this as someone who actually gives a fuck, absolutely, positively do not be experimenting with a higher dosage. I understand how appealing this practice may seem when you're lying awake, unable to sleep, but in the long-run, you will feel better.
 
^^^I agree with this, but IME, with a severe sleep deficit, it's best to fix that first then pursue more long term options like exercise. OP, what is the cause of your insomnia, do you think? Is tiring yourself out via exercise an option? Long distance running works great for me. That said, there are some people who have no option but to take benzos long term, like myself. Though fortunately I don't take them for insomnia.

I don't really have much of a benzo tolerance, & even when I had none, 100mg of temazepam wouldn't knock me out, or have any observable effects.
 
MOrning all, sorry for the late reply or feedback

Okay so basicly the 20th of feb went like the previous nights with nitrazepam except i noticing my sleep pattern getting shorter or me waking up earlier every morning. Cant really imagine that my body got use to it that quickly so maybe it's just a coincidence. So that is the only feedback so far as the rest was the same regards to onset time and memory the next day.
But now The 21st of Feb which was yesterday or last night i took nothing to sleep and it ended up to a night of tossing and turning in bed feeling uncomfortable with the odd feeling of temp fluctuation. This went on till 2ish this morning that i was just got so frustrated that I got out of bed and watch tv till sunrise.. Where after sunrise i took my normal morning dose of meds and felt a bit less irritated and so on. Tonight i wanted to start the Halcion (triazolam) but the chemist is still out of stock so im switching over to the Dalmadorm (flurazepam) which i already got the script for and my first fill. So it will start at 30mg tonight and see how that helps.
Please keep in mind this a thread to give more individual info for the rest especially on a personally experience level. Maybe this helps people in the future and not in a bad way.

So that ia my exp so far on my little mission im on.
 
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