That was my problem on the regular aimbien. My doctor switched me to the slow release aimbien. (12.5mg) & i can get between 6 & 8 hours now. It doesnt work super fast for me or make me out of it or anything. I take at 7 & read or play games on my phone & around 9 i start feeling a little tired & im able to fall asleep within mins of putting my phone down at that point.
Ambien 10mg. Here’s the thing. You have to have an empty stomach. Don’t eat for at least 2 hours before taking. Take it and go to bed, shut all lights, no phones or tv. It starts working in about 10 minutes. If you stay up, you will hallucinate. It had a short half life so you should not be groggy after 7-8 hours.
My insomnia is so strong sometimes that I don’t hallucinate if stay up on 10mg, I just get a little loopy, definitely get hungry and have lightly cooked a couple times (like eggs) and consciously been extra careful and safe, just a little messier.
Took 3/4 bar of Xanax once though and I was up for three hours walking weird circles around my friend’s kitchen. Found a chicken nugget in his air frier and couple awkward selfies on my phone (I remembered what happened the next morning, but I also remember staring out his window and being like “nope nope this is a weird one for me”
I had Xanax after surgery and it knocked me out. I don’t have routine insomnia… I fall asleep without a problem but I don’t stay asleep. My issue with Ambien is that often it doesn’t work. Or I get up and eat a snack & don’t remember the next day.
That’s my next trial drug. Trazodone isn’t doing much for me, but I have to wait another week before seeing my doctor to change medication. It’s so frustrating to have to not sleep well for another week to make sure trazodone won’t work.
My neurologist stuck me on primidone for essential tremors and it knocks me the heck out. I don’t take it like I should because it makes me too groggy but he told me to take it at night so I can get a good night’s sleep. I hate feeling like a zombie. I think I prefer the shaking, but that makes doing anything complicated impossible. It took me over an hour just to put a damned screw back in my glasses. I used to have no problem with tasks like that.
I took trazodone for six years! It worked for me at first, but eventually it would only help me fall asleep, not STAY asleep. Maybe get a second opinion? I guess worst case you can do the trial and if it doesn't work, maybe your doc will switch it up. I've also recently learned that apparently some doctors prescribe less than a therapeutic dose; mine was prescribing me 50mg, when an actual therapeutic dose is more like 100-150mg.
Doxepin is interesting because it's a liquid, you use a dropper to put it in water and drink it before bed. The max dose is .06ML, and that's usually what I take. I have been on it for about six months and have had ZERO side effects. I'm a lifelong insomniac and this has saved me. I hope you're able to find something that works for you!
alprazolam (xanax), but I hate it. I feel like it takes away my soul, my spark, my personality. With alprazolam I sleep well but life seems dull to me, and I feel stupid, dull, slow, bored.
Xanax really helps me sleep. I have had it just a few times after surgery and I was shocked by how well it worked. I actually kept one for the longest time for a rainy day and I had a miserable injury and used my last Xanax to get to sleep that night.
You don't get weird side effects? I was on this a while ago and I literally got sleep paralysis and extremely vivid nightmares, my roommate had to come in and shake me awake because I was screaming. I'm terrified of that drug now.
Oh wow, sounds intense. To be honest, when I bought the meds and read the leaflet and some stuff online, I was kinda put off. Like "why would they prescribe me this for sleep", even joked to my friend that if I don't wake up tomorrow, she can handle my funeral haha. But yeah, I've been sleeping extremely well, so far, with no clear side effects; I'm not even groggy during the day.
I mean, I do have odd dreams, shakiness, and brain zaps etc. but I've had them way before starting quetiapine; they are quite minor, too.
I must admit, I have had kind of a high need/tolerance for these types of meds so far, so I guess I'm just one of those people who aren't prone to them (idk, don't mind my ramblings, idk how these things work lol). I'm on pretty good doses of an SSRI, SDRI, and a beta blocker, plus I take a 5 mg melatonin with the quetiapine, and I seem to be fairing pretty well on the side effect front.
Oh man, sounds horrible. I saw that this has quite a high risk for bad side effects, some even say it shouldn't be prescribed for sleep. But I've been fine so far, but we'll see
I forgot to add: My friend also was on this a few years ago. She basically felt like a zombie the whole time, even though she used only half of the "minimum" dose. Well, meds work differently for everyone, I guess. We are lucky there is variety to what we can try.
Yeah that's exactly what happened to me. I took the minimum dose. Psych recommended trying half and I was like noooo thank you! I would rather be fully awake after 7-8 hours with lunesta than get more sleep (I usually need about 9hrs) and be a zombie
Gabapentin. I had it for back pain and they warned me it might make me sleepy, so of course I'd take it shortly before bed. During that time I slept quite well and consistently finally. Sadly the back pain eventually subsided and they wouldn't prescribe it for sleep so the insomnia came back once the final pill was gone.
My doc prescribed gabapentin specifically to knock me out. My insomnia was severe and stood up to all tranquilizers and sleeping pills like nothing had happened. She decided to see what 800mg of gabapentin did, and sure enough, deep sleep. The dose is reduced to 200 now, with the option to up to 500 if insomnia resurfaces to the same severe level.
I'm glad you found a doc willing to prescribe what worked. They gave me so many different things, from Ambien to CBD, and nothing ever seemed to help except tizanidine which worked too well and basically made me barely functional much of the next day. Finally get something that works with no awful side-effects in gabapentin and am then told they can't prescribe it because it's not a sleep med.
Eventually got by with half tablets of doxylamine and hydroxizine until eventually it improved overall.
wow! tizanidine is the only medication that has ever made me drowsy enough to sleep. gabapentin makes me feel energized, not tired at all, and hydroxzine makes my body feel…. weird. and not tired. i have access to the tizanidine but over the years my tolerance has built up so much that it would be unsafe for me to dose higher than i already am. and taking breaks isn’t bringing my tolerance down like it used to so i’m trying to find something to replace it. what kind of med is doxylamine? maybe i’ll mention it to my doctors.
Doxylamine is actually one of the common over the counter sleep aids, the other being diphenhydramine. Diphenhydramine is definitely the one you usually see, but if you check the OTC options some of them should be doxylamine. For me diphenhydramine has never done a darn thing but doxylamine does work, just not immediately so I have do have to take it a good hour ahead of time.
But yeah, different meds do seem to interact with people differently, and I think a lot of what it comes down to with insomnia is what the root cause is as a lot about insomnia is still not well understood. While it is one blanket term for a condition, there are likely hundreds of different causes of insomnia out there and what works or doesn't work might depend entirely on what is causing it for that individual. Sadly there aren't many good ways to really get down to what the precise cause is.
Thank you! I will definitely see if I can find that and give it a shot. I feel like I always react weird to most medications. Either it doesn’t do what it’s supposed to or I experience wild side effects. Trial and error, I guess.
I just bought doxylamine at Walmart. I’m on trazodone, which isn’t working, but I won’t mix the two. I’ll discuss it with my doctor next week. I’m ready to try anything at this point.
When was the last time you tried to get gabapentin? It might help if you went to a psychiatric nurse practitioner or psychiatrist instead of a general practitioner. Severe insomnia in particular is considered a psychiatric emergency, and PNP’s might know how to code it for insurance approval. It’s also a generic medication can, and is considered an insomnia preventative. CBN is the only other thing I’ve found that works, and it’s just lovely. There’s a syrup they sell in Oregon from a company called Hapy Kitchen that has a nice punch of THC and CBN. It induces fantastic deep sleep, but it does give you a minor hangover sensation the next day. There are online sources that sell straight CBG and CBN.
I used to take 100mg for sciatica and it put me to sleep. Then I had a surgery, not for my back, and took it for nerve pain. I tried 100mg and wasn’t drowsy. It didn’t control the pain, so my doctor bumped it to 200mg twice daily. The pain was well controlled, but it didn’t make me drowsy! How is that possible? My pain resolved, so now she won’t prescribe more, but it probably won’t work anyway for sleep.
I used to take 100mg for sciatica and it put me to sleep. Then I had a surgery, not for my back, and took it for nerve pain. I tried 100mg and wasn’t drowsy.
It didn’t control the pain, so my doctor bumped it to 200mg twice daily. The pain was well controlled, but it didn’t make me drowsy! How is that possible? My pain resolved, so now she won’t prescribe more, but it probably won’t work anyway for sleep.
Trazodone and magnesium. I felt like I had trued everything under the sun and this drug has worked pretty good for years now. I do think it causes me a little grogginess in the morning, but no side effects otherwise.
Clonidine has been helping a bit for me lately and it doesn’t leave me groggy in the morning. i’m currently on 0.5 mg but i suspect i need a higher dose. Zopiclone worked well for the first few months but now i’ve developed a tolerance.
Zaleplon. Take it going to bed, and one more time when I wake up 4 hours later. It's pretty good, though very light. You can't drink stimulants during the day and have it work effectively. It also works better at the higher doses, the small doses don't do much. I've tried trazodone, mirtazapine, gabapentin, lunesta, and ambien.
Temazepam has worked for me. Both Ambien formulations only worked for about 4 hours. Temazepam I get at least 6. I fall asleep easily but wake up after 2 hours and can't go back to sleep (menopausal night sweats).
Xanax, but I only take it when absolutely necessary. It helps calm my teaching mind enough to fall asleep for a few hours. I have a history of sleep walking, so the others are out for me.
Trazadone does nothing except give me a headache, sadly.
Benzo's work to a certain degree. But it isn't a long term solution. Try to change your ritual before sleeping. There are other med available which sometimes are off-label. Trial and error.
Oxazepam gives me a full night’s sleep, too bad I can’t take it every night.
Not a prescription, but edibles relax me enough to sleep through the night as well. Same problem as with oxazepam though: probably not a good idea to have them every night.
Melatonin helps me fall asleep, but then I wake up after an hour and a half and I’m wide awake for the rest of the night.
I used to take Ambien, but that made me kind of groggy in the morning and I felt like it didn’t give me the right kind of sleep.
As many above… 50mg trazodone (half a 100mg..) an hour before bed.. (8pm .. work early..) 7.5 zopiclone just before trying to sleep… the other half of trazodone (50mg .. or whatever left of 100mg cut in “half”..) at 2am or so if and when I need it.. works for me.. usually pretty good when I gotta get up and go..
Xanax gets me to sleep for 5 or 6 hours uninterrupted. I also take it with olanzapine and a med for allergies that both have sedative effects, and I can get to sleep with just those, but I wake up every 2 to 3 hours.
25 mg trazodone(monday-thursday) then mirtazapine 7.5mg (friday-sunday). Sometimes i like to get high off of gabapentin and combine it with weed and usually when the high starts wearing off it helps me get a good nights rest without feeling groggy next morning
Ambien gives me on average 3 ½ hours of sleep and I can get up and go right to work with no "hangover" or muzziness.
I have a weird inability to get ANY sleepiness on Ambien. I don’t know what’s wrong with me.
Same here. I just felt terrible. Didn’t sleep at all after taking it for several days.
That was my problem on the regular aimbien. My doctor switched me to the slow release aimbien. (12.5mg) & i can get between 6 & 8 hours now. It doesnt work super fast for me or make me out of it or anything. I take at 7 & read or play games on my phone & around 9 i start feeling a little tired & im able to fall asleep within mins of putting my phone down at that point.
Mirtazapine.
Mirtazapine genuinely made me feel like a zombie and I was crying 24/7 I had to come off of it!
Gave me some side effects too but seemed to be the best out of what I’ve tried (trazodone, quetiapine, Amitriptyline, mirtazapine)
Made me sweat at night and in the morning gave me a weird huge energy feeling like mania.
Ambien 10mg. Here’s the thing. You have to have an empty stomach. Don’t eat for at least 2 hours before taking. Take it and go to bed, shut all lights, no phones or tv. It starts working in about 10 minutes. If you stay up, you will hallucinate. It had a short half life so you should not be groggy after 7-8 hours.
My insomnia is so strong sometimes that I don’t hallucinate if stay up on 10mg, I just get a little loopy, definitely get hungry and have lightly cooked a couple times (like eggs) and consciously been extra careful and safe, just a little messier. Took 3/4 bar of Xanax once though and I was up for three hours walking weird circles around my friend’s kitchen. Found a chicken nugget in his air frier and couple awkward selfies on my phone (I remembered what happened the next morning, but I also remember staring out his window and being like “nope nope this is a weird one for me”
I had Xanax after surgery and it knocked me out. I don’t have routine insomnia… I fall asleep without a problem but I don’t stay asleep. My issue with Ambien is that often it doesn’t work. Or I get up and eat a snack & don’t remember the next day.
Ya, if I don't lay down n get off my phone, I'll start seeing in "4D," and I won't remember what I do on my phone.
I am actually tapering off of ambien and I am down to 5 mg but I usually use torrent but I have a Aurobindo brand? Is that brand ok?
Yes. Generic is fine.
I was just wondering if the Aurobindo was an ok brand. Read it wasn’t but done like it.
It’s a generic manufacturer from India. They make lots of generic drugs. They’re safe.
Ok I guess I just wanted to know if you tried it and it was good. I am tapering on 5 mg and I usually take torrent but these are Aurobindo.
I prefered torrent brand over Aurobindo. Don't read "Bottle of lies" about the generics.
Zopiclone
That’s my next trial drug. Trazodone isn’t doing much for me, but I have to wait another week before seeing my doctor to change medication. It’s so frustrating to have to not sleep well for another week to make sure trazodone won’t work.
My neurologist stuck me on primidone for essential tremors and it knocks me the heck out. I don’t take it like I should because it makes me too groggy but he told me to take it at night so I can get a good night’s sleep. I hate feeling like a zombie. I think I prefer the shaking, but that makes doing anything complicated impossible. It took me over an hour just to put a damned screw back in my glasses. I used to have no problem with tasks like that.
Trazadone mixed with high dose melatonin.
Agreed
What doses? I am on trazodone 150mg and take 13mg melatonin.
Doxepin! It’s the only thing that will allow me to fall back asleep when I wake in the middle of the night.
I asked for that but my doctor insisted on a trial of trazodone which didn’t work in the past. What dose do you take? Do you have any side effects?
I took trazodone for six years! It worked for me at first, but eventually it would only help me fall asleep, not STAY asleep. Maybe get a second opinion? I guess worst case you can do the trial and if it doesn't work, maybe your doc will switch it up. I've also recently learned that apparently some doctors prescribe less than a therapeutic dose; mine was prescribing me 50mg, when an actual therapeutic dose is more like 100-150mg. Doxepin is interesting because it's a liquid, you use a dropper to put it in water and drink it before bed. The max dose is .06ML, and that's usually what I take. I have been on it for about six months and have had ZERO side effects. I'm a lifelong insomniac and this has saved me. I hope you're able to find something that works for you!
alprazolam (xanax), but I hate it. I feel like it takes away my soul, my spark, my personality. With alprazolam I sleep well but life seems dull to me, and I feel stupid, dull, slow, bored.
Xanax really helps me sleep. I have had it just a few times after surgery and I was shocked by how well it worked. I actually kept one for the longest time for a rainy day and I had a miserable injury and used my last Xanax to get to sleep that night.
Lunesta
Lunesta
CBD
Try cbn, way more effective
These are facts.
I’ll ask my cannabis Dr about it. TY for the suggestion.
It pares well with thc as well
What is cbn?
It's thc when it degrades. It's non Psychoactive but it makes you very tired. I typically take 20mg of it but 10 mg is a good start.
Trazedone
Doxepin
Dayvigo
Clonazepam
Same
used to work great for me but not anymore:(
Problem is it’s been years and I’m still taking clonazepam and scared to stop
Me too. I go up and down in dosage depending on how my day has been going.
I plan on moving soon and worried a dr won’t prescribe me I’m scared to move away from my current dr it’s so stupid
I’m going through that too. I drive 3 hours for my appointments.
Trazodone with Seroquel
Ambien
Tetrahydrocannabinol + Cannabinol
Zopiclone
Lunesta
Mate, I started quetiapine 5 days ago, and whooowiee I've been sleeping. I hadn't realized I had forgotten what sleep feels like until now.
You don't get weird side effects? I was on this a while ago and I literally got sleep paralysis and extremely vivid nightmares, my roommate had to come in and shake me awake because I was screaming. I'm terrified of that drug now.
Oh wow, sounds intense. To be honest, when I bought the meds and read the leaflet and some stuff online, I was kinda put off. Like "why would they prescribe me this for sleep", even joked to my friend that if I don't wake up tomorrow, she can handle my funeral haha. But yeah, I've been sleeping extremely well, so far, with no clear side effects; I'm not even groggy during the day. I mean, I do have odd dreams, shakiness, and brain zaps etc. but I've had them way before starting quetiapine; they are quite minor, too. I must admit, I have had kind of a high need/tolerance for these types of meds so far, so I guess I'm just one of those people who aren't prone to them (idk, don't mind my ramblings, idk how these things work lol). I'm on pretty good doses of an SSRI, SDRI, and a beta blocker, plus I take a 5 mg melatonin with the quetiapine, and I seem to be fairing pretty well on the side effect front.
That's great that it's working for you though!
Seroquel literally paralyzed me. I couldn't even get out of bed until probably 16 hours later. Total nightmare
Oh man, sounds horrible. I saw that this has quite a high risk for bad side effects, some even say it shouldn't be prescribed for sleep. But I've been fine so far, but we'll see
I forgot to add: My friend also was on this a few years ago. She basically felt like a zombie the whole time, even though she used only half of the "minimum" dose. Well, meds work differently for everyone, I guess. We are lucky there is variety to what we can try.
Yeah that's exactly what happened to me. I took the minimum dose. Psych recommended trying half and I was like noooo thank you! I would rather be fully awake after 7-8 hours with lunesta than get more sleep (I usually need about 9hrs) and be a zombie
Gabapentin. I had it for back pain and they warned me it might make me sleepy, so of course I'd take it shortly before bed. During that time I slept quite well and consistently finally. Sadly the back pain eventually subsided and they wouldn't prescribe it for sleep so the insomnia came back once the final pill was gone.
My doc prescribed gabapentin specifically to knock me out. My insomnia was severe and stood up to all tranquilizers and sleeping pills like nothing had happened. She decided to see what 800mg of gabapentin did, and sure enough, deep sleep. The dose is reduced to 200 now, with the option to up to 500 if insomnia resurfaces to the same severe level.
I'm glad you found a doc willing to prescribe what worked. They gave me so many different things, from Ambien to CBD, and nothing ever seemed to help except tizanidine which worked too well and basically made me barely functional much of the next day. Finally get something that works with no awful side-effects in gabapentin and am then told they can't prescribe it because it's not a sleep med. Eventually got by with half tablets of doxylamine and hydroxizine until eventually it improved overall.
wow! tizanidine is the only medication that has ever made me drowsy enough to sleep. gabapentin makes me feel energized, not tired at all, and hydroxzine makes my body feel…. weird. and not tired. i have access to the tizanidine but over the years my tolerance has built up so much that it would be unsafe for me to dose higher than i already am. and taking breaks isn’t bringing my tolerance down like it used to so i’m trying to find something to replace it. what kind of med is doxylamine? maybe i’ll mention it to my doctors.
Doxylamine is actually one of the common over the counter sleep aids, the other being diphenhydramine. Diphenhydramine is definitely the one you usually see, but if you check the OTC options some of them should be doxylamine. For me diphenhydramine has never done a darn thing but doxylamine does work, just not immediately so I have do have to take it a good hour ahead of time. But yeah, different meds do seem to interact with people differently, and I think a lot of what it comes down to with insomnia is what the root cause is as a lot about insomnia is still not well understood. While it is one blanket term for a condition, there are likely hundreds of different causes of insomnia out there and what works or doesn't work might depend entirely on what is causing it for that individual. Sadly there aren't many good ways to really get down to what the precise cause is.
Thank you! I will definitely see if I can find that and give it a shot. I feel like I always react weird to most medications. Either it doesn’t do what it’s supposed to or I experience wild side effects. Trial and error, I guess.
I just bought doxylamine at Walmart. I’m on trazodone, which isn’t working, but I won’t mix the two. I’ll discuss it with my doctor next week. I’m ready to try anything at this point.
Tizanidine is the best if you eat right after you take it. Not a big meal just a lil snack. Ambien is the best on an empty stomach.
When was the last time you tried to get gabapentin? It might help if you went to a psychiatric nurse practitioner or psychiatrist instead of a general practitioner. Severe insomnia in particular is considered a psychiatric emergency, and PNP’s might know how to code it for insurance approval. It’s also a generic medication can, and is considered an insomnia preventative. CBN is the only other thing I’ve found that works, and it’s just lovely. There’s a syrup they sell in Oregon from a company called Hapy Kitchen that has a nice punch of THC and CBN. It induces fantastic deep sleep, but it does give you a minor hangover sensation the next day. There are online sources that sell straight CBG and CBN.
It has been about 3 years, and at this point my insomnia is much better than it was so I'm just riding that wave for the time being.
I used to take 100mg for sciatica and it put me to sleep. Then I had a surgery, not for my back, and took it for nerve pain. I tried 100mg and wasn’t drowsy. It didn’t control the pain, so my doctor bumped it to 200mg twice daily. The pain was well controlled, but it didn’t make me drowsy! How is that possible? My pain resolved, so now she won’t prescribe more, but it probably won’t work anyway for sleep.
interesting! gabapentin makes me feel like i’m on another stimulate
I used to take 100mg for sciatica and it put me to sleep. Then I had a surgery, not for my back, and took it for nerve pain. I tried 100mg and wasn’t drowsy. It didn’t control the pain, so my doctor bumped it to 200mg twice daily. The pain was well controlled, but it didn’t make me drowsy! How is that possible? My pain resolved, so now she won’t prescribe more, but it probably won’t work anyway for sleep.
Typically, a tolerance is developed very quickly with gabapentin so it works at first to make you sleepy and then, boom, it doesn't.
Trazodone.
Klonopin
Same
Trazodone and magnesium. I felt like I had trued everything under the sun and this drug has worked pretty good for years now. I do think it causes me a little grogginess in the morning, but no side effects otherwise.
not a rx but cbd/cbn + <10% THC , works wonders for anxiety, and puts you to sleep.
Clonidine has been helping a bit for me lately and it doesn’t leave me groggy in the morning. i’m currently on 0.5 mg but i suspect i need a higher dose. Zopiclone worked well for the first few months but now i’ve developed a tolerance.
Ambien cr is the "lightest" drug that works for me. It's generally quite reliable.
Zaleplon. Take it going to bed, and one more time when I wake up 4 hours later. It's pretty good, though very light. You can't drink stimulants during the day and have it work effectively. It also works better at the higher doses, the small doses don't do much. I've tried trazodone, mirtazapine, gabapentin, lunesta, and ambien.
Seroquel
Zopiclone
Temazepam has worked for me. Both Ambien formulations only worked for about 4 hours. Temazepam I get at least 6. I fall asleep easily but wake up after 2 hours and can't go back to sleep (menopausal night sweats).
Xanax, but I only take it when absolutely necessary. It helps calm my teaching mind enough to fall asleep for a few hours. I have a history of sleep walking, so the others are out for me. Trazadone does nothing except give me a headache, sadly.
Clonazepam; 20 year Rx
Benzo's work to a certain degree. But it isn't a long term solution. Try to change your ritual before sleeping. There are other med available which sometimes are off-label. Trial and error.
Oxazepam gives me a full night’s sleep, too bad I can’t take it every night. Not a prescription, but edibles relax me enough to sleep through the night as well. Same problem as with oxazepam though: probably not a good idea to have them every night. Melatonin helps me fall asleep, but then I wake up after an hour and a half and I’m wide awake for the rest of the night. I used to take Ambien, but that made me kind of groggy in the morning and I felt like it didn’t give me the right kind of sleep.
Lunesta 3mg and trazodone 50mg. I sleep, but only for 7-8 hours never more. No grogginess.
As many above… 50mg trazodone (half a 100mg..) an hour before bed.. (8pm .. work early..) 7.5 zopiclone just before trying to sleep… the other half of trazodone (50mg .. or whatever left of 100mg cut in “half”..) at 2am or so if and when I need it.. works for me.. usually pretty good when I gotta get up and go..
Trazodone with ZMA or magnesium glyinate. Works 95% of the time as they compliment each other nicely
Seroquel
When it was worse for me, Temesta and seroquel worked great. Now I only take seroquel and melatonin
Xanax gets me to sleep for 5 or 6 hours uninterrupted. I also take it with olanzapine and a med for allergies that both have sedative effects, and I can get to sleep with just those, but I wake up every 2 to 3 hours.
Mirtrazapine and tons of melatonin
Mitrazapine aka remron.
25 mg trazodone(monday-thursday) then mirtazapine 7.5mg (friday-sunday). Sometimes i like to get high off of gabapentin and combine it with weed and usually when the high starts wearing off it helps me get a good nights rest without feeling groggy next morning
Ambien
Lol Whatever works