Insomnia

[laws0n]

SWIM has been dealing with insomia for around 4 months. A good night sleep for swim on a school night is 5 hours.

SWIM has tried these natural sleepaids and have found all to be ineffective even in combination:

5-HTP
Melatonin
Valerian Root
Chamomile and "Sleepy Time Teas"
Hyoscyamus Niger
Kava Kava

SWIM's doctor is very conservative and has only perscribed:

Cyclobenzaprine
Amittiptyline

SWIM's mother has also had very bad sleep problems that mimic SWIM's. She called a sleep specialist for an appointment. She has gone through every kind of medication possible and said the only thing that helped her were:

Alprazolam
Clinazopam

SWIM knows the addictive risks of Alprazolam so SWIM and SWIM's mother agreed that Clinazopam would probably hit the nail on the head with the insomia.

SWIM sugguested Ambien but SWIM's mother disagrees with that totally having hears the hype about the "sleep walking side effects".

SWIM would have to agree that a benzo would be more effective too.

Does anyone have any advice on any benzo's or non-benzos that have been effective for SWIM? Keep in mind that SWIM's doctor is probably going to be conservative (same branch as past doctor) so something like "Versed" is out of the question. Also SWIM doesnt want to deal with extremely addictive properties, probably nothing that is as or more dependant than Alprazolam.

Thanks for your help!

[El Calico Loco]

Xanax is a good option if one is only using it for insomnia. It's a short-acting benzo, so it shouldn't lead to lethargy the next day. If one is only taking it once per day (before bedtime), the addictive qualities shouldn't be much of a problem.

I would recommend a combination of Xanax and melatonin. Melatonin may not have done much for Swiy by itself, but it does do wonders for REM sleep. Xanax to knock the patient out, Melatonin to make the sleep of good quality.

One great thing about melatonin is that it's good for you - it's an antioxidant like vitamin C, only it can't undergo the reduction reaction to become a pro-oxidant like some others can. That means one can take as much of it as one wants and it will never be anything but healthy. It tends to come in 3mg doses; Swim has taken 30mg in one night when he wanted to have some cuh-razy dreams (and he did!).


ECL

[darkglobe]

Originally Posted by laws0n

SWIM has tried these natural sleepaids and have found all to be ineffective even in combination:

5-HTP
Melatonin
Valerian Root
Chamomile and "Sleepy Time Teas"
Hyoscyamus Niger
Kava Kava

Thank you very much for this post, laws0n.

I, too, have tried some of these (with the exceptions of Melatonin, Hyoscyamus Niger and Kava Kava), with negligible or no effect.

I took 5-HTP for its mood-balancing qualities, rather than sleep-aid qualities, but nevertheless noticed no effects (in both respects, actually).

Valerian root smells like rotting feet, which would be totally acceptable if the stuff actually fucking did something. I paid £3.50 for some herbal sleeping tablets which did sweet nothing.

"Sleepy Time" teas and the like are a purely psychological relaxation thing. Maybe not the best option for someone suffering from true insomnia.

I'm going to go check out the Kava Kava forum as I'm not certain if the stuff is legal or illegal in the UK.

[D.U.M.B]

SWIM has often suffered from not being able to sleep and then he would get to sleep during the day and be in bed all day. It made SWIM's father suspicuous as SWIM was always in bed, most presumed SWIM was using hardcore drugs or something but that wasn't the truth.

SWIM has used a combination of things to get proper slip. The relaxation method posted above used while either on some benzo, cannabis or kava kava.

A long run before going to bed can help too. And try to avoid certain drinks lot coffee, tea, soft drinks etc. a good few hours before going to bed

[Mona Lisa]

I find long cycle rides can be good. Think it also helps to get out in nature and experience the elements; when you come back in, you're grateful to go somwhere cosy.

[darkglobe]

Someone's happy...

Kava Kava looks brilliant for sleep problems. Shame it's Illegal

[pankreeas]

One could always go back to basics and try a glass of warmed milk, slowly sipped.. Chugging it isn't gonna do you any good.

[darkglobe]

I find warm milk with a touch of rum or brandy does the trick in making me slightly more relaxed. Unfortunately not enough to sleep, though.

Refer to Nagognog's post on the first page. It's shocking how easily modern people have forgotten how to actually chill out and relax their muscles without turning to drugs. In some people it may well just be a stree-related issue, in others something deeper. Drugs may be overkill in some cases.

[Overdoze]

Originally Posted by Riconoen {UGC}

no I mean fighting ambien without taking stimulants becuase it puts you to sleep jesus christ...

hahahhahahahhaha




i have insomnia. Sleepy time teas dont work, gonna look up kava.

Reputation Comments on this post:

This post was a bit silly. Try to write more useful stuff in posts, please.