Opinions - What to tell my doctor to get an effective sleep aid

[laws0n]

SWIM has had problems sleeping throughout the last year. SWIM's doctor perscribed SWIM Cyclobenziprine or Flexerol, and that didnt work. SWIM is now taking Amitriptyline for sleeping problems and that doesnt work either. SWIM is having troubles falling asleep and then staying asleep but mostly falling asleep. SWIM's doctor is very conservative when it comes to perscriptions and SWIM's parents wont go to another doctor. What do you think SWIM's doctor will perscribe next? and what should SWIM tell him so SWIM can get the perscription SWIM needs? SWIM is thinking about purshasing soma online as an option. SWIM already asked his doctor and he said "No Way, I dont perscribe that"

Thanks for all your advice =).

[DrMuffy]

Well flexeril and Soma are both muscle relaxants, which do cause drowsiness, but are not intended for treatment of insomnia. So those probably wouldnt help SWIY out too much, unless his insomnia was due to muscle tension or something along those lines. Common sleep medications prescribed nowadays are: Lunesta (eszopiclone), Ambien (Zopidem), and Sonata (Zaleplon). In SWIdr's oppinion, Ambien is the best of these three medications. For SWIY's situation, Ambien CR (Controlled-Release) would probably be best, its first layer disolves quickly to get him asleep, and the second layer dissolves much slower to keep him asleep. There are also benzodiazepine medications for insomnia, but SWIdr doubts SWIY's doctor would prescribe him those since they can be pretty addictive. Hope this helps SWIY out in his predicament! Good luck!

[Nicaine]

Ditto DrMuffy's suggestion -- ISO, SWIY should directly request Ambien or Lunesta. Ambien has better recreational potential ISO, and no nasty-taste-in-mouth side effect like that of Lunesta. The immediate release formula tends to work faster/better than Lunesta, but unfortunately not KEEP a person asleep as long... so Ambien CR would be perfect for a full night's sleep, otherwise Lunesta.

Be sure to hit Google & print out several drug-company studies 'proving' no signs of addiction or tolerance after prolonged use. Whether it's true matters not, doctors generally love official pharm-industry propaganda and believe it as if written on tablets of stone by a burning bush.

[BlueMystic]

forget the pills. Cyclobenziprine and Flexerol are shit. Excersise and a good diet/state of mind is all you need.

[wojsmack]

Allright ill keep it short and sweet... request ambien cr and get the ambien cr trial from the website it works well.

[laws0n]

thank you very much for the help. Yes SWIM have TMJ so SWIM's muscles have problems relaxing but SWIM also has insomnia so SWIM thinks directly asking for Ambien CR (and saying or even showing how its non addictive) is the best option. And for the free trial how does that work? They dont just mail a 7 Day supply to SWIM's house do they? Or do you still have to consult a doctor but dont have to pay for it?

[Nagognog2]

Contact their website for that. And SWIM would need a prescription for such. Major pharmaceutical companies aren't in the habit of mailing out drugs to people. Likely a coupon the pharmacy would submit and SWIM would get a refund-check in the mail.

[laws0n]

So I went to my doctor today and she uped the dose to 50mgs, (from 20mgs). Of the Amytriptyline. My mom mentioned Ambien and Lunesta and the doctor said that those are benzo (even though they arent) and that they can become "habit forming". If the amytriptyline doesnt work do you know what they will most likely perscribe next?

[DrMuffy]

If SWIYs doctor really thinks those are benzodiazepines, SWIY should go to another one. SWIdr wouldn't trust his mental health with someone who seems to barely know anything about the medication they are prescribing.

[Nagognog2]

Aside from that - amitriptyline is a benzodiazepine derivative! Leave a live duck loose in his waiting-room. Kwak! Kwak!

Reputation Comments on this post:

Almost all of Nags posts are intelligent and insightful and have a very wry but often very funny sense of humor to them.

[laws0n]

i told my mom to schedule me for another doctor. She also has sleeping problems and when she was medicated for it she said nothing worked for her except Alprazolam (Xanax). I think this was before the ambien lunesta stuff came out. But she cant use those anymore due to her nighttime job. SWIM has been experimenting with oxy (snorting 20mg). and that has been a very good sleepaid for SWIM but is not for long term use obviously. Do benzos work like opiates or are they a completely different effect?

[pillz]

benzodiazepines wont cause long term effects and swim has even snorted a few. benzos go up nice and smoothly and klonopin even has somewhat of a methall smell/feeling for some reason lol. however it isnt very effective so swim never blew benzos again. benzos will cause some type of long term crap also.... withdrawl. lawson..... mixing xanax and oxy will probly put u to sleep really well and the mixture between the two will exagerate the effects of eachother. benzos do not take the same mode of action that opiates do.

[laws0n]

SWIM found an understanding doctor who doesnt just hand out scripts but looked at me very thoroughly and made SWIM fill out alot of questionares. He gave me 15 1mg Lunesta. He said that if SWIM wanted to keep taking this daily SWIM should visit a Psycyacrist and then he would be happy to write a script for 1 everyday. Hopefulyl this will work, if not then what would they move the script to, Ambien and then benzos?

[Psych0naut]

Originally Posted by laws0n

SWIM found an understanding doctor who doesnt just hand out scripts but looked at me very thoroughly and made SWIM fill out alot of questionares. He gave me 15 1mg Lunesta(s-zopiclone). He said that if SWIM wanted to keep taking this daily SWIM should visit a Psycyacrist and then he would be happy to write a script for 1 everyday. Hopefulyl this will work, if not then what would they move the script to, Ambien(zolpidem) and then benzos?

Please always include the chemical name of pharmaceutical drugs in your posts. This can be easily obtained from Google or other search engine. Doing so will avoid confusion on this international forum. Thank you.

[Laudaphun]

SWIM was given trazadone which he hated due to side effects, then given restoril and never looked back... Be careful... trazadone made SWIM think he was going to die, but it works real well for a lot of other people. SWIM likes restoril because he gets no side effects... other than memory loss if he stays awake, or wakes up in the middle of the night... no sleepiness in the morning when he wakes up. Everyones body chemistry is different, you just have to find the right one. Many drugs that work wonders for others, give SWIM horrid side effects, and vice versa.

[chrisdahl]

ask for zolpidem they work a treat

tell the doc you were advised them by a friend

[Henfer]

there's also diphenhydramine or dimenhydrinate. it's OTC, and a first generation antihistaminic. be catious, higher doses can result in deliriant states (hallucinations in their utmost literal meaning, not possible to tell if true or not, unlike, for example, LSD).

the usual maximum dosis for one intake is 100mg, which converts in two 50mg tabs. take 200mg, and you should be ready to sleep withing 20 minutes. be sure to not take more to avoid deliriant states. diphenhydramine (the other one is the same, with same effects, just a stimulant mixed in and less body load) makes swim SO sleepy and drowsy, he can't even fight it really.

and, it's very cheap (be sure to take the generics, not the brands) and OTC. if swiy wants to give it a shot, try out ONE pill first, to test if the body load is too much for you. then two. it's an antiemetic, antihistaminic and strong sleeping aid.

[laws0n]

SWIM has tried diphenhydramine many times, they make SWIM really tired but SWIM cant fall asleep on them and has very bad restlessness on them.

SWIM has an appointment with a sleep specialist in a week and is going to ask about Zolpidem, SWIM's sleeplessness is also due to being stressed, does Zolpidem give you that buzz needed to keep your mind off things inorder to get to sleep? SWIM would like to not be benzo dependent if necessary.

[Henfer]

yep definately watch out to not get benzo dependant. firstly, this can be lethal, as most people don't know that benzo withdrawal after prolonged use can lead to death.

secondly, benzo withdrawal is the f**** a** hard. his father went through it. trust swim, and avoid getting benzo dependant (physically as well as psychically) at all costs.

[ojos_de_brujo]

Zolpidem is OK. Just if you want to sleep, take it and go directly to bed.
It does build up a tolerance, but not that quick.

Trazodone, well, it made me sleepy, but it has some nasty side-effects. They are probably not that common, so it's worth a try.

Definitely do not get hooked on Benzo's. Swim was one of those ignorant fools Henfer spoke about. Benzo's can be great for some people, if they can moderate their use, but Swim couldn't. From a high dose to nothing, on the weekend, it pretty damn well hurt. Swim didn't know benzo WD could be lethal. Someone must have been watching over Swim.

[laws0n]

SWIM has gotten Soma's (Carisiprodol) SWIM is supossed to take 1 3 times a day but instead takes 3 at night, they do the trick/

[sl8b]

Congrats Swim. I just read this entire thread, and it ticks me off you had to go through all of that just to get some rest. I wish your doctor had to do that same type song and dance to get his money.

[toe]

In order to get prescribed effective sleep meds, my lab rat had to actually put into practice the rituals of what doctors will call "sleep hygiene". SWIY has probably heard this all before, but it entails:

-going to bed/waking at the same time daily, including non-work days

-using the bed only for sleep/sex (no TV/reading in bed)

-abstaining from caffeine after a certain hour (noon, usually)

-regular physical exercise, generally at least a few hours before sleepytime

-no eating right before bed

There are other rules, and the lab rat isn't particularly bright and may have screwed up some of the particulars, so SWIY would be advised to hit up a search engine for details on "sleep hygiene". And would also be advised to check out a dictionary to clarify the proper spelling of "hygiene", because it doesn't look right to SWIM.

The lab rat also found that it was generally a good idea to go accept and give every medicine the doctor suggested a shot. All doctors are different, though. With some, there is no maze. With others, there is no cheese.

Reputation Comments on this post:

good post, noticed that you had negative rep and couldn't see any reason for it in your past posts.

[radiometer]

Originally Posted by laws0n

SWIM has gotten Soma's (Carisiprodol) SWIM is supossed to take 1 3 times a day but instead takes 3 at night, they do the trick/

Great, I'm glad that SWIY has connected with a drug which helps with his sleep problem as well as agreeing with his doctor's scruples! Sorry about all the hoops you had to jump through, but hey some people are not so lucky - all's well that ends well. The post above mine gives good advice regarding those hoops.

Looking through the replies, I wonder if some of our members are even reading threads before responding. Like, who mentioned anything about mixing oxycodone and and alprazolam (for one example)?

Also, to echo what psychonaut said, it's great if members can use chemical rather than brand names, since this is a very international forum and brand names are often only used in one country.

[Laudaphun]

SWIM once was in a car accident, a Dr. had put him on hydrocodone 5/500, cyclobenzaprine, and vioxx (Rofecoxib) for a few months...

Awhile later SWIM moved back home, scheduled an appointment with a new, random Dr. that he just pulled out of the phone book and his new Dr. took him off all that except the vioxx and gave him a bunch of garbage... This new Dr. did not even care to see SWIM's records from his past Dr, physical therapy or anything. The Dr. scoffed and said that he wanted SWIM to be on non-sedating meds so he could "function". SWIM doesn't even remember what he gave SWIM to replace the cyclobenzaprine and hydrocodone as he ripped the scripts up and threw them out the window when he left in disgust. Basically the guy was a total dick. He acted like SWIM was walking around all whacked out of his mind from a 5mg hydrocodone pill and a 10mg cyclobenzaprine pill every day, or unable to get off of the couch.

The point of SWIM's story is that as long as your Dr. isn't a total ass like in the example cited above, to get an effective sleep aid, just be honest. If your Dr. treats you like crap, then go to a different Dr.

If your Dr. seems reasonable, try what they give you and if it works then great, if not then go back and tell them it is ineffective... A good Dr. will work with you, they will most likely try the least addictive medications first (in most cases). SWIM has found most doctors to be very understanding and very few that treated him like the one in the story... actually SWIM has yet to run into another Dr. like that.