Opinions - UK sleeping pills?

[Shadow_Addict]

I can NEVER fucking get hardly any sleep. It's a nightmare, I geta couple of hours max and then i end up falling asleep at college...*not good* So I was thinking of going to the doctors and trying to prescribed something, i'm in the uk, anyone got any ideas what they could give me? And would they be suitable for recreational use atall...?

[sterling77]

I'm not an expert on sleeping medication, but from what I've heard Ambien is leauges ahead of all the others. I haven't heard of any recreational usage of sleep meds, but that's not to say there isn't.

[sands of time]

I've heard ambien works, but it is addictive and can have a reverse effect after a few weeks of solid use.

[OiledMandible]

I can vouch for ambien. I never recieved a script, but it
definately helps sleep after mdma/lsd trips. Definitely what I'd
go for...

[Mike177]

im glad i got here, SWIM has been on many diffrent doctor perscribed sleep aids for many years, here goes:

Trazadone: It was along time ago when I took it, so i dont remember it as well as other. 20-30 min after I took it i noticed being lazy, and lethargic. It seemed to work alright but its not by any means the best. Recreational value? I would say little to none. I took 3-4 of them and i just sleeped for awile.

***note*** I want to say here that I dont use non-benzo sleep aids recreationaly, though i have before, and im probly not the best judje for that part of it.

Seraquil: Wile it is an anti-phycotic, in low doses, 25-100mg it works as a sleep aid, It works for some, but It never really did a whole lot for me when compared to other sleep aids.

Sonata: This drug is, in my opinion, more suted for sleep than most listed here. i used them for sleep in the 10-30mg range. I liked being able to take 1 pill one night, and then 3 the other night if i needed to. I felt like i had more contol over my sedation with these. They are suppose to last only around 4 hours, and i wasent any more tierd in the morning when when i took them, than if i didnt. all around a good pill, it has a little recreational value (depending who you are) and some will halusinate off them.

Ambean: I regard this pill as......probly my favrote. Ambean in GREAT for sleep, 10mg on an empty stomich and you will feel them in as little as 15 min. they get you to sleep, and keep you there. There are some drawbacks. If you take it, and only sleep a few hours, or force yourself awake, you will have a HARD time staying awake for long. If you dont let the drug run its course than you will be hella tierd and groggy the next morning. Its the #1 perscribed sleep aid in america for a reson. it works. It also probly has the highest recreational value of any of the non-benzo sleep aids, and SWIM has freinds who use them recreationaly all the time and love them.

I hope things work out between you and your doc.

[greener]

I've been through many different sleeping medications available in the
US, due to an absolutely insane case of chronic insomnia... If I
don't take a sleeping med, I generally stay awake without any sleep,
the longer stretches of this running about 5 nights continuously.




It's hell, so I can sympathize with the desire to get sleep at any cost.



The sad thing, of course, is that nothing has truly solved my insomnia,
and it only gets worse as my tolerance to the meds grows...
Anyhow, enough of my experience, here are my thoughts for meds that can
help an intense case of insomnia like that I've described (should that
be similar to what you're experiencing...).



Trazodone: Knocked me out at first, but did not lead to a restful
sleep and left me feeling hungover the next day. I was not
responsive to typical doses of 50-100 mg (1-2 pills) and was eventually
prescribed 300 mg (6 pills) per night. After reaching this
dosage, I did find that it could put me out some of the time, though as
I say, I felt almost as nasty as I did without sleep. It's
possible, however, that a lower dosage wouldn't lead to such a bad
hangover. Zero recreational value.



Seroquel: Somewhat similar in my response to the trazodone, though it
was not effective enough to keep messing with. Zero recreational
value.



Zolpidem (Ambien, possibly different brand in UK): When I first started
taking this, I thought I'd found the solution. It quelled the
racing thoughts that would keep me awake at night and didn't leave me
with a hangover the next morning. It stayed this way for about
2-3 months, when I started to gain a decent tolerance and had my dose
raised from 10 to 20 mg (which most doctors will not even do, and for
good reason, as I discovered). Without helping my insomnia, this
drug led to pronounced mental effects and powerful amnesias...
Was it fun? Yes. Ambien has a high recreational value,
though if you're going to use it for this, don't count on it helping
your insomnia. With this drug, it's really one or the
other. Also, if you're going to go recreational, be smart enough
to stop when the effects are not TOO strong, or you'll just forget
everything that happened. One nasty effect of the ambien
experience is the urge you get (while under the influence) to take more
and more and more. Luckily it's hard to OD on this one, as SWIM
once took 20 or more in one night. Once your tolerance rises,
this medicine will not help with sleep, and will likely make it more
difficult or impossible to fall asleep naturally.



Zaleplon (Sonata in US): Same family (non-benzodiazepine
hypnotic-sedative) as zolpidem. It behaves similarly, the main
difference being that it was designed to only last 4 hours, so that you
don't need the full 8 hour night if you're going to use it. This
also means you can take it if you wake up in the night. To be
honest, I didn't start this one until I already had a substantial
ambien tolerance, so it wasn't very valuable to me. Generally,
however, Ambien did a much better job of getting me to sleep and
keeping me that way, though it was much more mind altering.



Benzos: Tried lots of these, and to be honest it would be hard for me
to think back and separate the different effects with the different
medicines. The more standard benzos to use for sleep are
temazepam, oxazepam, and nitrazepam, though there are lots of others
and different benzos work differently in everyone... Personally,
benzos reliably do the best job of getting me to sleep, provided that I
can get a dosage heavy enough, as tolerance builds VERY
quickly... The best for me was alprazolam (Xanax), though as I
say, I was dealing with a heavy tolerance and eventually it became
impractical to take 6 mg every time I wanted to fall asleep. The
three I mentioned earlier have a bit less danger in that way, so
they're understandably a bit more popular for sleep. One final
thing about benzos, though I'm sure you've heard it... These
pills have the nastiest withdrawal of any drug (except maybe alcohol)
and attempting to stop cold turkey will very often lead to seizures or
worse... SWIM was hit with 3 grand mal seizures about 36 hours
after ceasing to take Xanax at 8-10 mg/day. That is a stupid
dose, however, so if you're smarter than SWIM and work with a doctor,
you can taper off. Just be sure to keep it under control.



Anyhow, that's long and rambling enough, so I'll spare you of having to
read more of my writing and just quit. There are some more, but I
just really feel like an ass for making such a long post. There
are also some not-quite-so legal "sleep-aids" that one of my friends
knows a lot about. PM me if you want to talk to the guy, I can
get him to tell you his feelings on whatever.

[vaporglow]

There is a new one out in the US. It was approved back in December. It goes under the trade name Lunesta, and the chemical name eszopiclone, the s isomer of zopiclone. Its the only sleep med approved for 6 months of daily use. It's a lot like ambien as far as sleep effectiveness goes, but its closer to alcohol than ambien in recreational effects. Also it has a very strange side effect, which for me serves as the alert that it has taken effect. You develop this bitter/metallic taste in the back of you throat, even makes water taste strange. It is prescribed in 1, 2, and 3 mg pills. 1mg being reserved for old ppl. at 3mg I've found it almost as effective as ambien, except i still wake up occasionally. Taking 2 2mg pills will put you out good though.

[oldman]

Have taken Lunesta for last month and had not negative side effects. Previously although not recently I have taken Benzo's, Sonata, Ambiem, Tazadone, Remeron, Librium, and Vodka. They all work but naturally tolerance developes then you need more and then less won't get you to sleep then you run out can't get refills for a couple days and you think going out of your mind. Its a real chore getting off those things and on top of it you usually wake up with a little hangover feeling -- especially with trazadone and benzos. Lunesta is good in that If you're ready to go to sleep take it and you'll be asleep shortly. You do wake up with that metallic hallitosis though and you need to be sure that you're going to have 6-8 hours allowable sleep time otherwise you feel like a zombie. If you only want or are able to sleep a couple hours then take sonata. It isn't strong but its only purpose is to get you to sleep and help you sleep at least several hours. You see some people can't get to sleep while others can't stay asleep.I haven's felt the urge to abuse Lunesta like I have benzos and Ambien. I maybe have taken it 3-4 days per week.But I may be just getting wiser.Guys don't use sleep aidsas recreation except maybe to come down off of something (e, lsd, etc). Save these things for their purpose. There is no worse feeling then knowing you can't sleep without a half a bottle of meds. Then it's just a waste. If you really want a sleeping problem just abuse your sleeping medication.

[quinone]

Id say before you go the prescription route try Melatonin and Valerian Root (from a health food store). They are both pretty cheap, and neither of them have the nasty addiction problems associated to many sleeping pills. Id say give these two a shot, and if they dont work, they see your doctor about all the others described by others here. Just my $0.02





O and, I use melatonin when I cant sleep, and find it helps me to kinda 'fall' into my sleep a lot smoother, and stay sleeping ... not to mention it intensifies my dreams, which is cool.