Treatment Medications for insomnia

[markosheehan]

Hi
Im easily able to fall asleep at night in fact around 7pm I get really sleep and I nearly feel a stoning effect. I go to bed at 10 and fall asleep within 45 minutes. However I'm waking up around 4 am with really racing thoughts and completly unable to fall back asleep and I just end up lying there 6 am when I get up incredibly irritated and emotional and depressed. I've looked into so many drugs to try and help but im still hoping theres something out there that might help that I have not found yet. could somebody give unusual/uncommon meds that maybe helpful with this type of insomnia?
thanks

 

[Jabberwocky]

I have had that experience of waking early to racing thoughts and anxiety. I found the best thing to do was to get up as soon as I woke up and start my day then to distract myself. Plenty of people start their day that early. Lying in bed for 2 hours feeling shit is not doing any good. I also found that I needed to address the root cause of the racing thoughts I was having and get to the root of my anxiety.

But to answer your question about drugs that will keep you zonked until 6 AM. I did try taking 2.5-5.0 mg valium if I woke up after midnight feeling anxious. That often let me stay in bed relaxing pretty peacefully if not actually sleeping. Seroquel can be extremely sedating at low doses and a lot of users complain about difficulties waking up so that could be an option. Although there is a lot of dispute about whether it is a safe sleeping aid. One drug that really helps get your circadian rhythm in sync is Valdoxan which has an anti-anxiety and anti-depressant effect but works on your melatonin receptors. Unfortunately it is not available in the US if that is where you are.

 

[n3ophy7e]

100% agree with Atelier. Valium is a very effective sleep aid (but should only be used short-term as it is very addictive). Personally I love using very low doses of Seroquel as a sleep aid, literally the smallest dose possible, 25mg :D I find it very effective for me. Valdoxan can also be used, but personally it didn't help my insomnia much, but it is worth a try.
Natural supplements can also help immensely, it doesn't have to be a hardcore prescription medication. Valerian root extract, melatonin, chamomile tea, essential oils etc can also help.

These days I am in a very good place mentally and physically, with my sobriety and mental health, so I am actually sleeping well without medications (for the first time in my entire life). However if I do have insomnia I will use melatonin, or valium if it's really bad.

 

[Nurse Ratched]

100% agree with Atelier. Valium is a very effective sleep aid (but should only be used short-term as it is very addictive). Personally I love using very low doses of Seroquel as a sleep aid, literally the smallest dose possible, 25mg :D I find it very effective for me. Valdoxan can also be used, but personally it didn't help my insomnia much, but it is worth a try.
Natural supplements can also help immensely, it doesn't have to be a hardcore prescription medication. Valerian root extract, melatonin, chamomile tea, essential oils etc can also help.

These days I am in a very good place mentally and physically, with my sobriety and mental health, so I am actually sleeping well without medications (for the first time in my entire life). However if I do have insomnia I will use melatonin, or valium if it's really bad.

Feels really good when you get your mind and body in synch doesn't it. Congrats on your hard work to get there.

 

[LordOfThisWorld]

I've been taking Ambien prescribed the doctor for awhile now, and it's starting to not have effect, I'll sleep for two hours and then I'm up again, is there anything better than Ambien for sleep that I could probably suggest to my doctor, or should I just keep taking two Doxylamine sleep aid pills together with the Ambien, the way I've been doing, to help potentiate the Ambien?

 

[n3ophy7e]

I've been taking Ambien prescribed the doctor for awhile now, and it's starting to not have effect, I'll sleep for two hours and then I'm up again, is there anything better than Ambien for sleep that I could probably suggest to my doctor, or should I just keep taking two Doxylamine sleep aid pills together with the Ambien, the way I've been doing, to help potentiate the Ambien?

Oh I forgot all about doxylamine! I've used that a lot in the past too, very effective, even at low doses.

Which country are you in Lord? Have you considered doing a sleep study? You're taking Ambien plus 2 x doxylamine and still not sleeping...that's unusual. It would be interesting to see what's going on when you try and sleep, so that they can try and prescribe something more effective for you.

 

[LordOfThisWorld]

Oh I forgot all about doxylamine! I've used that a lot in the past too, very effective, even at low doses.

Which country are you in Lord? Have you considered doing a sleep study? You're taking Ambien plus 2 x doxylamine and still not sleeping...that's unusual. It would be interesting to see what's going on when you try and sleep, so that they can try and prescribe something more effective for you.

I'm American, sorry just saw your post now, I don't have the time right now to do sleep studies, I'm too busy at the moment. I'll also use Diphenhydramine 75mg combined with Ambien, but I think the Doxylamine potentiates better and is stronger than Diphenhydramine.

 

[n3ophy7e]

I'm American, sorry just saw your post now, I don't have the time right now to do sleep studies, I'm too busy at the moment. I'll also use Diphenhydramine 75mg combined with Ambien, but I think the Doxylamine potentiates better and is stronger than Diphenhydramine.

Fair enough. Does your insomnia get worse when triggered by certain events e.g. stress, certain drug use? Or is it consistent?

 

[mr peabody]

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[Burnt Offerings]

I've been taking Ambien prescribed the doctor for awhile now, and it's starting to not have effect, I'll sleep for two hours and then I'm up again, is there anything better than Ambien for sleep that I could probably suggest to my doctor, or should I just keep taking two Doxylamine sleep aid pills together with the Ambien, the way I've been doing, to help potentiate the Ambien?

I'm a long-time sleep medicine patient. I currently take zolpidem but I've taken a variety of other drugs as well (trazodone, hydroxyzine, an assortment of benzodiazepines, etc.).

Zolpidem...it definitely isn't for everybody. You can find lots of bad reviews online involving people taking it and behaving in messed-up ways. It's kind of underrated though IMO. I've never experienced problems related to blackouts, erratic behavior etc. The highest dose I've ever taken is around 15 mgs (one and a half tablets). It's also not particularly addictive, IMO, and doesn't appear to have a long-term effect on your normal sleep patterns, if you choose to get off it. It's also a pretty effective medication, at least if your problem getting to sleep originates in your restless mind...it works by basically calming the mind and thus priming the body for sleep.

I would agree that it's probably not great to use long-term, but that's not because of any kind of addictive potential...it's more to do with the fact that it's just kind of a weird drug and I don't think that long-term use is necessarily "healthy" for your brain. I feel that way about many psychotropic drugs though. I've gone off and on it, spending long periods consuming the drug consistently but also long periods of abstinence...I've been taking it for many years though.

I remember that the drug companies also put out some pill a while back that you were supposed to take for wakefulness in the middle of the night. I can't remember the name of it though.

As far as OTC drugs go, some of the 1st generation antihistamines like the previously-mentioned doxylamine (the antihistamine in "Nyquil") are actually pretty effective IMO, at least initially. They induce a really heavy sedating "drugged" feeling, IME. Efficacy gets reduced relatively quickly with repeated use though. That's a problem with a lot of hypnotic drugs. I would look into some natural, drug-free methods of getting the best sleep available to you, then look into drugs if you still need help. I obviously have no judgements when it comes to taking drugs to induce sleep, I just feel that it's best to exhaust all other methods through trial and error, etc, before you start on a chemical dependency for something as frequent as sleep.

 

[Burnt Offerings]

I remember that the drug companies also put out some pill a while back that you were supposed to take for wakefulness in the middle of the night. I can't remember the name of it though.

I think what I was remembering is this drug "Intermezzo", which as it turns out is nothing more than a low dose of zolpidem

Middle-of-night sleeping pill Intermezzo approved

The FDA has approved Intermezzo, a sleeping pill designed for people who wake up in the middle of the night and have trouble falling back to sleep.

www.cbsnews.com

 

[ChemicallyEnhanced]

Hi
Im easily able to fall asleep at night in fact around 7pm I get really sleep and I nearly feel a stoning effect. I go to bed at 10 and fall asleep within 45 minutes. However I'm waking up around 4 am with really racing thoughts and completly unable to fall back asleep and I just end up lying there 6 am when I get up incredibly irritated and emotional and depressed. I've looked into so many drugs to try and help but im still hoping theres something out there that might help that I have not found yet. could somebody give unusual/uncommon meds that maybe helpful with this type of insomnia?
thanks

I'd highly recommend Trazodone if you want something without any potential for addiction. I've been on pretty much every sleep med out there (Z-Drugs, Benzo's, Barbiturates, Anti-histamines etc etc) so have a lot of experience with this.
Trazodone has absolutely zero recreational or abuse potential. As far as I am aware, it does not cause dependency (it might in high doses used for depression, but not a sleeping med doses as far as I am aware; I have been taking it for 4 years most nights and have never experienced any physiological or psychological withdrawal or side-effects if I don't take it for a while.
I'm prescribed the 150mg strength tablets (and am actually prescribed 300mg/night) but I find 75mg works perfectly well for me. I take half a pill (75mg) about an hour before I plan to go to bed and when I do usually fall asleep within 10-15 minutes of getting into bed. As an added bonus, I also don't experience any grogginess or aftereffects the next morning.

I wish you luck and hope you find this helpful!

 

[Snafu in the Void]

Hi
Im easily able to fall asleep at night in fact around 7pm I get really sleep and I nearly feel a stoning effect. I go to bed at 10 and fall asleep within 45 minutes. However I'm waking up around 4 am with really racing thoughts and completly unable to fall back asleep and I just end up lying there 6 am when I get up incredibly irritated and emotional and depressed. I've looked into so many drugs to try and help but im still hoping theres something out there that might help that I have not found yet. could somebody give unusual/uncommon meds that maybe helpful with this type of insomnia?
thanks

Are you on any other medications or drugs? What is your average level of anxiety during the day? How long has this been going on? Does this only happen when sleeping?

 

[LordOfThisWorld]

Fair enough. Does your insomnia get worse when triggered by certain events e.g. stress, certain drug use? Or is it consistent?

It gets worse especially when I think about my job or a certain project will be going on at work, but it's also consistent.

 

[n3ophy7e]

I completely understand.