Falling asleep

Hi guys. About 2 weeks ago I stopped taking my sleep aid. I was doing fine until recently. Getting to sleep about 11-12 every night. Last few nights that's changed and I'm wide awake past 1, 2 and later.

Last night I tried sipping a glass of red wine to help make me drowsy, but all it did was give me a headache and I had to take an Advil so that I could even have a chance of falling asleep. I drank hot tea last night too.

In the past, melatonin never worked on me. Benadryl has, but it leaves me drowsy and out of it through the morning.

Because I'm on so few meds now, I'm worried that I might slip into mania with getting less sleep, even though I am able to sleep in lately. So my question is, is there anything without resorting to temazepam that will help get me back into a sleep rhythm?

I know about relaxing muscle groups and I try that too. It seems to keep me awake, as does counting. The more I concentrate the more I stay awake. Maybe I should just take temaz. I'm bummed because I'm trying to quit all my meds.

Hello thinker22, I like to have either a little white noise or nature sounds in the background to help me sleep. shaggy

Hi Thinker,

Alcohol usually wakes me up after an hour or so (unless I've totally overindulged). Why are you trying to not take some of your meds? I'm just curious. Everyone's choices are their own....I was really resistant and wouldn't take/would quit just about everything until one of my Doctors in a two-week program convinced me of this:

If every organ in the body has something that can go wrong with it (from eyeglasses to downright organ failure), why wouldn't the brain? The most complex and delicate organ. I don't let my emotional side creep up when I want to reduce meds....because I'll just end up miserable (I dunno, I've just done it too many times and really hate that feeling).

I would talk to your doc (because I don't know your reasons for wanting to avoid sleepiong meds), but I would think preventing a manic episode would be important enough to take something to sleep that works. Just my opinion =)

I hope you sleep well tonight! =)

Dollar General (if you live in the US) sells a night time sleep aid that works wonders. I use it when I run out of Ambien before I can get to the pharmacy. It costs $2 for a 2 week supply of it.

If it were me I would take the sleep aid for one or two nights to see if that helps; you might not have to go back to taking it every night, just now and then as needed. Other than that, I don't know what to recommend; I have Primary Insomnia in addition to other dx and none of the things that help others do anything for me...I have to take my sleep aids. Best of luck to you! I hope you are able to get a couple of good night's sleep!!

I appreciate everyone's input. I suppose I am being stubborn about the sleep aid. If I've been off of it for two weeks, I must not be addicted. Using it to get me back into a sleep rhythm for a couple of days won't hurt. It's just my pride that I want to get off all of my meds. Clearly I still need some of them.

Thanks for the support. I'll take my meds tonight. Staying out of a manic episode is most important. If not, I'd be forced to take more meds. Simple logic sometimes eludes me.

I use a Pillow Speaker from Amazon and I use music with a solid beat such as Podrunner They say workout mixes and in days long gone when I had the motivation they were excellent.. I focus on the deep beats and I nearly always drop off to sleep. If I don't want that music I pick stuff I know and really like.
I don't know if I've slept better as a result because I'm in an early waking patch but I do get to sleep better, I do not lie there wondering what I need to do to get the eyes to close and sleep to work.
I recommend them.

I'm worried I've got "addicted" to my sleeping meds. I was given them to help me sleep, as I was waking up often in the middle of the night. Also having nightmares, or just generally spending too much time dreaming and still waking up exhausted.
The active ingredient in my meds is zopiclone.
My pdoc gave me a month worth, and after that prescription ran out, along with my other psych meds, she just wrote a new script.
I did some research on this drug, and I believe you are not supposed to take it for more than 14 days uniterupted. She never told me.
Now when I don't take it, I battle to fall asleep, sleep very lightly, wake up frequently and much too early.
I'm a bit concerned about this..?

Thinker, I would take the Temaz to ensure I get some good sleep. If you are worried, why not try 1/2 a tablet? I find that anti-anxiety meds work well for me to get a bit drowsy too.
I think you need to look at your situation and prioritise your concerns. And it seems like getting a decent amount of sleep to avoid a manic episode seems to be it - rather take your meds.
If they make you too drowsy the next morning, maybe discuss this with your pdoc so you can try something else

Thinker, let us know if you got some sleep last night and how it went! =)

Sugahorse, please voice your concerns to your Dr. - I agree with your reasoning. Perhaps they can taper you off while starting something else?

PufNStuf - I haven't tapered. Some nights I've just felt tired enough to not feel the need to take my sleeping tabs. and then I don't sleep properly. I've just recently thought to research this medication.

Hi. I slept 10 hours last night. I'm not too drowsy this morning. It's still morning here. I was able to fall asleep at 11:30. I took the pill at 9:40, so that's pretty good. I only take 15mg and they're gel caps, so you can't cut them in half. But I also have 30mg, so it is like taking a half.

I hope to get some more writing done today. I wrote a short story yesterday. That's 2 now in well over a year. I miss it all the time, but usually I'm too overwhelmed to do it. Trying not to beat up on myself if I don't do as well as yesterday.

Sugahorse, I agree that you should talk to your doc about your concerns in taking that sleep aid long term. There has to be something safer that could still get you to sleep.

Hey there Thinker. Glad you got some sleep. I was feeling sleepy at around 9PM y/day (Don't laugh!) so I got into bed. Took a while to finally fall asleep though (Without a tab) I also kept waking up all throughout the night, and experience a stage where I was so hot I kicked the blankets right off (Strange, as my boyfriend was still under the duvet with a full tracksuit and it actually was freezing). Slept nearly 10 hours and feel fine this morning, but I hate waking up intermittently.

I took a temaz again last night because I had a final this morning, but still couldn't get to sleep until 1am. So I got 8 hours, but I don't feel as tired as I did after the 10 hour night. I have to work tomorrow, so I'm debating about whether to take another temaz tonight, but I wish I could do it on my own. It's hard to even with a pill. Why does taking meds make me feel guilty or weak? I just want to be rid of them all. Sometimes I hate my brain chemistry. Other times I appreciate its creativity. I wonder if I could be fully balanced and still produce interesting art and writings.

Luckily I don't feel too much guilt around taking tabs. Maybe try read the book "An Unquiet Mind". Awesomely written by a psychiatrist who herself battles with BP, and has issues with taking her meds. I'm half-way and loving it.

Took a zopiclone last night, and while I dont think it helps me get to sleep, once I am asleep, it is a lot more restful

The benadryl will also lose it's effectiveness after a while. Even with sleep aids I have major sleep problems, and the more you fixate on the problem the worse it gets. Now what I tell myself when I'm trying to fall asleep is that "nothing matters right now" and I try to see a "slide show" of random pictures in my head. I just read an article about sleep that talked about the slide show. random images just sort of flash and you don't think about them but they are what happens before you really fall asleep.

Really stressful day today. Going to take the sleep aid early tonight. Have another final tomorrow and I just want today to be over with.

Hi Thinker,

I was just coming here to check on how you were sleeping and I see your message above. It's TOTALLY okay to have had a stressful day and to just want the day over with! I'm glad you allowed yourself that =)

I'm hoping you got some sleep...do let us know!

xoxo

I wish our bodies just wouldn't build up such a tolerance and we could take the tabs all the time.
I've definitely become worse - I used to sleep like a log without sleep meds. Now I keep waking up and sometimes wake up with anxiety. Even when I take a sleeping tab, I can happily read my book for another hour after that before I have the slightest incling of being tired.

I got 7.5 hours last night. I think I sleep better almost without them. It's the falling asleep part that's hard. Even if I take it at 8pm, I'm still wide awake at midnight. My body absorbs things super slowly. Maybe I should try to take it with dinner. Then with my luck I'd probably conk out at 9. I should ask the sleep aid gods when and with how much food I should take it so I can get to sleep at 10:30. I'm trying with dinner tonight. Will let you know how it goes.

I got permission to quit one of my meds from my p-doc, so I'll be down to just Geodon and the sleep aid starting tomorrow. Hope I don't feel worse.

Thanks everyone for your thoughts and support.

All the best for the upcoming medication change!

So I took temazepam at 7 right after I ate my dinner. Was still wide awake at midnight. I don't think the stuff works on me at all. I was getting to sleep around 1 or so without anything. Not taking any tonight.

This morning I had no Geodon or Nuvigil. I honestly can't tell the difference. I mean, I'm anxious, but I was more anxious yesterday and the day before when I had taken them. It's so weird. All the meds I cut out of my life, it's like they're doing nothing anyway. Maybe nothing works on me. Maybe my mood just recovers and plummets to its own tune. It's unmedicatable. Not a real word, but should be one.

I wish I could feel happy again, though. All I feel is numb or sad or anxious or a combination of them. I had the same problem when I was on a ton of meds too. At least comedy shows can still make me laugh sometimes. Colbert and Daily Show and the Ricky Gervais Show mainly. So my emotions are there, they're just usually buried.

Update: I didn't take my sleep aid last night and got 11.25 hours of sleep. Why is my body/brain so whacked? Maybe it was not having Nuvigil in the morning (energy aid). I only started to get tired around 6. So, moral of the story, I just need Geodon to get to sleep now. I'm only on one med! Yay!

I think sleep aids are horrible worthless things! I have tried otc stuff. Have you ever heard of calms forte? It contains no addictive properties and is OTC. I think it helps to relax at least in a way it calms my mind a bit. The greatest thing for me is to have clean sheets, comfortable clothes and pillow, the right temp in the room helps too. Yoga is wonderful as well as meditation (which I've just recently got into meditation) and also if you are physically exhausted during the day... Definitely emotional exhaustion too lol. I'm just not a big believer in pills. I believe more in homeopathy with what you eat and how you live being the best remedies of all.

BTW why are you on nuvigil? Is it for the bipolar?

Nuvigil was because Geodon was making me comatose during the day. It's mainly for people who have narcolepsy or work night shifts so that they can feel awake during the day. I had to cut Nuvigil because it may be causing burst capillaries. We don't know. We're just testing it. Otherwise, Geodon is the culprit, then I'll be on nothing, which is scary. I haven't heard of calms forte, no. Most herbal or natural supplements do diddly for me. In fact all that I've tried don't work. But I'm sleeping now without anything but Geodon. Got 10.5 hours last night. Thanks for your ideas.