What are some good sleep meds besides Klonopin? The clinic I go to will not prescribe it or Xanax either.

[Angry1541]

over the counter...melatonin works for me...or Benadryl, though that tends leave me feeling kinda hung over.

[Nessa213]

I've tried almost every OTC sleep med there is out there and for my personal case of insomnia, none of them really work all that great.

I first was on Trazodone, which gave me a hang over the next day and only worked so-so to begin with.

Then Vistaril. Which gave me INSANE dreams, but did help me sleep. Unfortunately my dreams were so realisitic that I would wake up not really knowing where I was, what time it was, what day it was... wake up running, kicking, screaming... things like that.

Now I'm on Restoril. WHICH. IS. THE. STUFF. Unfortunately it's a narcotic, so I can't take it every night. But it's by far the most effective for me so far.

[Angry1541]

Hmm...my wife takes trazadone, it works some nights...she couples it with melatonin and that seems to help.

[Dix888]

seroquel helps me a lot. but the normal dosage was too high & the side effect of that is that your throat feels constricted, like you can take a breath. so I went down to 100 mg. Just using a pill cutter to half the 200 mg. ones. I don't take it during the day, only at night. It starts working after about 16 days of taking it nightly. I hope this helps!

Originally Posted by Lmciyah

What are some good sleep meds besides Klonopin? The clinic I go to will not prescribe it or Xanax either.

[BlackSheep79]

I use Benadryl and Klonopin, although some nights they just don't work. I'm in the same situation as you, it sucks.

[Blitter2014]

Seroquel worked for helping me sleep, but at the cost of locking my jaw, causing hospitalization due to muscle spasms and cramps, anxiety attacks and heart palpitations.

Id rather be on here and tire myself out talking than take seroquel again!

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[r010159]

Triple dose of the original Niquil.

[SingDanceRunLife]

I use Seroquel to help me sleep...and it's nice because I also use it as my mood stabilizer! For sleep I take IR though and for mood regulation, I take XR. At night I take 300-400mg of Seroquel (200mg XR and 100-200 IR).

http://forums.psychcentral.com/bipol...-insomnia.html

Originally Posted by Lmciyah

What are some good sleep meds besides Klonopin? The clinic I go to will not prescribe it or Xanax either.

Quetiapine(Seroquel) can certainly work, however if you don't need it for other reasons than using it solely for sleep should probably be a last resort. The possible side effects really outweight the gain since there are many other options.

I've tried a few different things.

Trazodone(Desyrel) has worked for me to some degree, but one of the more common side effects can be a pronounce "hangover" feeling or headaches the following morning. The headaches were particularly rough for me becuase they felt a lot like dehydration headaches and took a long time to go away.

Benzodiazepines [alprazolam(Xanax), clonazepam(Klonopin) and similar] tend to be habit-forming in the least and also it is easy to build a tolerance to them. They, too can sometimes create a hang-over type feeling.

I've tried eszopiclone(Lunesta) before- I found it really helped with staying asleep, but not as much getting to sleep. At one point I was taking a low dose benzodiazepine [I think it was alprazolam(Xanax)] with the eszopiclone(Lunesta) and it helped to get me to sleep and more often stay asleep with very little occurrence of hangover or fuzzy headedness in the morning. Eventually I just really realized I don't like the benzo class as a whole, and using just the eszopiclone(Lunesta) didn't help for ME to take care of everything all together. However, it is a helpful med for a lot of people. Overall I have the impression that there are fewer occurrences of strange sleep behaviors as can occur with zolpidem(ambien). One thing many people do notice with the eszopiclone(Lunesta) is a strange taste in the morning- it's kind of like a strange penny-type taste, but easily goes away.

I tried ramelteon(Rozerem) at one point, a melatonin-like medication that has little to no potential for abuse and can be very affective for people who have trouble getting to sleep initially. One of the other positive things is that there is also low report of withdrawal symptoms. I found it had a couple side effects-the most notable being that it made me extremely irritable [actually, it made me beyond irritable]. I have seen a few reports here and there of similar experiences but I have not found indicators of any factors which could consistantly predict who might also have that experience. The good thing was pretty much as soon as I stopped that went away. Ramelteon(Rozerem) has been helpful for a lot of people, just didn't work out for me.

What I most often use now is diphenhydramine- so Benadryl or ZzzQuil.
Please note that the ZzzQuil, while made by the same company, is NOT the same as any of the other actual Nyquil formulations.

I know one other poster mentioned taking triple dose of Nyquil- but this should be done with caution. Depending on which formulation, it approaches the recommended limit of acetominophen intake for an adult [4000mg/day]. It may seem like a lot, but one of the Nyquil's at triple the dosage already brings you to 3000mgs. If you take anything else with acetominophen in it, and if you do this regimen on a fairly regular basis you are giving your liver quite a work out. Depending on the frequency and amount of acetominophen you take, you could eventually start to damage your liver.

So it's important to realize what ELSE might be in cough and cold medications, not just the sedative.

What is sedating in the Nyquil formulations IS an antihistamine however, this is the same class of medications as diphenhydramine and they are the same generation. If the Nyquil is effective one could try diphenhydramine (Zzzquil or Benadryl) and it may work just as well- if you are taking the Benedryl for sleep, however, please ask your doctor or pharmacist for guidance on dosing.

I recieved the recommendation regarding dosage and frequency of Benedryl/diphenhydramine from two psychiatrists but that may not be appropriate for someone else's situation, and I also do not take it every night.

Another thing I will occasionally try is extremely strong-brewed chamomile tea. because I don't do it very frequently, sometimes this is in fact just enough to calm me and push me over the edge. There is significant evidence to support that chamomile has pharm anti-anxiety properties.
Valerian can also be helpful, but I've personally found chamomile to be more effective.

However, as with all altering substances, it is important to investigate any interactions with your usual medications- even if you are considering OTCs or herbs/supplements.

Both medscape.com and drugs.com have good drug interaction checkers and, of course, your pharmacist is always a good resource.

[Blitter2014]

Agreed....use for sleep only as last resort........if all else that pdoc suggests fails then consider....just toooooo many side effects....

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[Curiosity77]

Zopiclone works great for me, but i don't think you can get it in the US. (I'm in Canada). Similar drugs are eszopiclone and zolpidem. I've never tried those 2, but all the Z drugs are pretty similar.

Trazodone does nothing for me, and seroquel sometimes works, but not always. Saphris makes me sleep well as a side effect, so i haven't needed much more than that since i started it.

I do like zopiclone though.

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[Blitter2014]

Originally Posted by Curiosity77

Zopiclone works great for me, but i don't think you can get it in the US. (I'm in Canada). Similar drugs are eszopiclone and zolpidem. I've never tried those 2, but all the Z drugs are pretty similar.

Trazodone does nothing for me, and seroquel sometimes works, but not always. Saphris makes me sleep well as a side effect, so i haven't needed much more than that since i started it.

I do like zopiclone though.

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Ive been on Saphris for a month now and the insomnia is tiring....no punn intended. I tend to fall asleep soon after taking, sleep really deeply, usually nightmares, awaken feeling depressed because the dreams have been so vivid and memorable. Usually wake up half way through he night. I like that I wake up not feeling drugged like I did on seroquel, but not sleeping long enough.

Can I pls ask how much saphris are your taking?

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[Curiosity77]

Originally Posted by Blitter2014

Ive been on Saphris for a month now and the insomnia is tiring....no punn intended. I tend to fall asleep soon after taking, sleep really deeply, usually nightmares, awaken feeling depressed because the dreams have been so vivid and memorable. Usually wake up half way through he night. I like that I wake up not feeling drugged like I did on seroquel, but not sleeping long enough.

Can I pls ask how much saphris are your taking?

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I'm on 10 mg of Saphris at night. It usually makes me fall asleep within an hour of taking it, but i sometimes wake up in the middle of the night and can't get back to sleep. It's 4 am now, so i should probably take some saphris and go to bed, lol. If i miss any doses i do not sleep at all.

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[Blitter2014]

Thanks...same dose about same waking time ;-)

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[Beepee]

My clinic won 't prescribe benzos either. Trazodone not working for me now, switched to seroquel. Not working well either.

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[Dix888]

I took melatonin to get over jet lag on a trip from the US to Germany. Kept me awake for 3 days. Benadryl does work. I don't get hung over from that. But in Spring, I suffer badly from insomnia & only seroquel plus xanax helps (I take xanax for OCD, it's the only thing that works to make me stop cleaning 24/7)
And I once just smelled a jar full of mugwort at a health food store. Slept for 10 hours!! Each of us has different reactions to different things

Originally Posted by Angry1541

over the counter...melatonin works for me...or Benadryl, though that tends leave me feeling kinda hung over.

[Blitter2014]

It wss 4.15 am thus morning. ...wish xould get another even 2 hrs sleep before meds worse off. Most os all hate how saphris makes you wake up feeling sad and heavy emotionally from nightmares

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[hinzc7711]

Benadryl or Tylenol pm and exercising after you wake keeps the hungover feeling to a minimum. The more
You exercise the less
Sleep aid you'll need! Took me several years to understand.

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I agree with exercise. However, I've limited myself with exercise due to prolonged back injury which has created other problems. Anyway, I have taken a generic sleep aid for years, but sometimes I just wish I could relax. Kind of like when I used to relax after drinking a fifth of Crown Royal. I quit drinking years ago and ain't going to start back anytime soon.

It's just the dr. don't seem to listen to me. They just hope that their magical pills fixes everything overnight, or maybe I'm the one that hopes that. You see, I so damn confused that I don't even know myself. This confusion didn't start last night, it started when I was a young teen. No wonder I am such a loser and a waste to society.