[TRNRMOM]

i'm getting desperate for sleep. 72 yr. old female, bp2 (hypomania no depression) tried several mood stabilizers over yrs. and side effects are too many to handle, even at lowest dose. what USED to work: 1/2 of 25mg. seroquel, 15mg. temezepam and 5mg. melatonin. have great sleep hygiene, no alcohol or exercise in evening, and now these 3 in combination have quit working (become tolerant maybe??). my psych nurse agrees reluctantly to this combo. i have ambien 5mg. ambien which really haven't worked that well in the past, and i have xanax. any antidepressant pushes me into mania. i have tried zzzquill and hydroxyzine in the past but they really didn't work. IS THERE ANY SINGLE MED OR COMBINATION THAT I MIGHT TRY TO GET GOOD SLEEP. should i try any of the meds above again to see if i can get some decent sleep? i don't mind the morning hangover as i'm retired and after i have my coffee i go to the gym to burn off some of the hangover. would appreciate any feedback.

Hmm... Why doesn't Seroquel work anymore? Can you explain? Sometimes Seroquel and Ambien put you to sleep, but don't help you stay asleep. I say that because there is Seroquel XR and an extended release of Ambien, I believe. You could ask your doctor if you could combine xr's with regular release. Like, take regular Seroquel to put you to sleep AND Seroquel XR to help you stay asleep. Just a guess.

I used to take Seroquel XR and it kept me asleep.

[TRNRMOM]

Originally Posted by bluebicycle

Hmm... Why doesn't Seroquel work anymore? Can you explain? Sometimes Seroquel and Ambien put you to sleep, but don't help you stay asleep. I say that because there is Seroquel XR and an extended release of Ambien, I believe. You could ask your doctor if you could combine xr's with regular release. Like, take regular Seroquel to put you to sleep AND Seroquel XR to help you stay asleep. Just a guess.

I used to take Seroquel XR and it kept me asleep.

interesting suggestion, blue. i am beginning to wonder if i go to bed too early and i'm just not ready to sleep (never feel tired ever) and most times if the 1/2 of the 25mg. seroquel plus melatonin and temazepam, when an hr. or so later, i take the other 1/2 of 25 mg. seroquel i finally do sleep....so i'm wondering if i need that 25mg. seroquel or 37mg. seroquel and i'm taking too low a dose.

I'm going to throw my experience with melatonin out there. I took melatonin for more than 10 years, then quit for about 6 months or so. Next time I took it I was awake all night tossing and turning. Didn't sleep at all. Very jittery. Tried again a couple of weeks later and same thing happened. Threw the bottle away and have never touched melatonin since. I truly can't explain it, and don't even know if that is a common occurrence, or it was just something within me that reacted to it.

[~Christina]

Doxipin works for me really well for sleep, doesn’t cause any mood shifts

Knock on wood it’s been working for the most part for over a year.

Hope you find relief soon

[SparkySmart]

Here's what works for me (65-year-old female, BP I): Ambien 10 mg, Benadryl 50 mg, and melatonin 10 mg (plus lamictal). Oh my goodness. Eight hours a night, restful sleep, feel like a million dollars. I even bought a smart watch and can see my sleep patterns: 4 hours deep sleep, 4 hours light sleep. Technicolor dreams. Very refreshed. Absolutely can't wait to go to bed at night.

I stumbled on this combination about 4 months ago. But YMMV of course.

Have you ever tried Trazodone? Made me manic, but lots of people like it, I think. Sometimes stopping things for a week or so and then re-starting works; Ambien is this way for me.

[*Laurie*]

I so feel for you.

My experience with melatonin was that after taking it for 3 nights I felt very depressed. I've never heard anyone else say that, but it spooked me so I never took it again.


I almost hate to suggest this, but yes - I believe your Seroquel dose is too low. I'm taking 75mg. for sleep. Since you've been on a very low dose, my suggestion is to try 25 mg. or even 50 mg.

[TRNRMOM]

thx. for all the suggestions and i document any changes/additions of my meds. tonite i'm gonna go with no melatonin, 10 mg. ambien; maybe my body needs a change in sleep meds; if that doesn't work, i'll maybe `up' my seroquel from 1/2 25mg. seroquel to 25 or 37mg. of seroquel if the ambien doesn't work. i also have zzzzquill. i'm running out of options and i was on mood stabilizer for 35 yrs. of lithium (450mg.) but it ruined my thyroid, parathyroids and finally had kidney issues so i've been off mood stabilizer but psych nurse wanted me to try geodon which had horrid side effects and then last week tried 25mg. lamictal which had worse side effects and she wanted to just keep me at 25mg. so i've given up on mood stabilizers and only want some decent sleep. no stressors in my life but yes have anxiety as part of my spectrum.

I'm curious about what side effects you experience with 25 mg Seroquel? I've never taken less than 50 mg of Seroquel or Seroquel XR ever. My current dose of Seroquel XR is 600 mg. I sleep well on 600 mg for about 7-8 hours. In the very beginning, I had a "hangover" in the morning, but no longer do. My Seroquel XR dose goes between 450-600 mg, depending on my mood state, but Seroquel XR is used for my moodstabilization along with Tegretol XR and Lamictal, not just for sleep. I have only minor side effects from these doses. Nothing to complain about much. Sometimes one has to wait out side effects to find that over time they calm or even go away. I, personally, find Seroquel XR to be a better choice for me than regular Seroquel in many respects. Seroquel XR does not have any dosage lower than 50 mg. Cutting it would defeat the "XR" purpose.

Though not a pill, when I have more stubborn insomnia, I am often really helped by my sound machine. Some people may brush off this idea, but I'm really serious about it. It has ZERO side effects.

[Guiness187055]

Thorazine works great for me. It takes awhile to kick in but when it does I sleep like a baby.

[SparkySmart]

I had some serious backlash from Geodon. It did make me sleep, but it wasn't restful, and it gave me serious symptoms of dyskinesia, which is a real danger in us older folks. My pdoc reserves Geodon for mania only and only under close supervision.

I hope you get some relief soon.

[Blueberrybook]

I'm on Seroquel too, but a much higher dose. Usually, that knocks me out, but I am also on Clonidine for sleep along with melatonin. I used to take hydroxyzine & Trazodone (hydroxyzine to fall asleep, Trazondone to stay asleep, but it stopped working).

When I was trying to get pregnant, I kept psych meds at a minimum and combined Valerian & melatonin for sleep. It's not recommended to combine the 2, but it was the only thing that worked for me.

[seoultous]

I am a fan of clonazepam. It gives me a good night's sleep. I know some are reluctant to go with a benzo but I have not developed a tolerance to it and I have been on it for years.

[pirilin]

Anything but Trazodone IMAO.

[UpDownAround]

Benedryl worked for me. Recently I stopped needing it after my dosage of lamictal was increased. A while back I was taking low dose saphris and that knocked me right out with no med head in the morning. Crazy expensive though.

[Tkb1966]

Just my two cents but be careful with seroquel at your age. It's my understanding that it is dangerous to give to people in your age group. My dad was 76 and I am convinced seroquel is partially responsible for his death.

[Gabyunbound]

I think a lot of people are against it because it's a benzo, but the ONLY thing that has worked for me is klonopin (1 mg). It send me right to sleep. The only thing is that I need tons of sleep on it, but then I'm used to it because I used to take Seroquel (25mg) to sleep and it made me need an enormous amount of sleep to function. The Seroquel stopped working, I tried 3 other meds, and then my pdoc reluctantly prescribed klonopin (I already take 1mg in the morning, I suffer from a great deal of anxiety) and it's done the trick.

The only side effect I've had, aside from needing so much sleep, is being somewhat off balance and running into things a bit.

Good luck!

I also agree with klonopin/clonazepam.i am a terrible sleeper and I take an amphetamine during the day. Clonazepam knocks me out for the night.

[MoodyMountain]

I am on 100mg Seroquel and I had a seriously hard time trying to get off of it unsuccessfully. I went 75-50-25- and then lost like 3-4 hours of sleep a night and had to go back up. Honestly with how it affects my labs I'd rather be on Klonopin, at least that's just hard to taper off of.

[Unrigged64072835]

My solution probably wouldn't help but so far Trileptal and a muscle relaxer knock me out for most of the night. The big thing though is to clear my mind--if my mind is racing nothing will help me sleep.

[Tucson]

Valerian Root together with Melatonin. This combo actually worked for me, despite believing herbs do not work, or work in a very mild manner.

[TRNRMOM]

here's the update after all of you responded with what works/doesn't work: seems our insomnia and meds affect all of us so differently; my previous good working combo was 5mg melatonin, 1/2 of 25mg seroquel and 15mg temezepam; then i felt it pooped out on me; the night before last i was so desperate i took 30 mg. temezepam, 5mg. ambien and finally after a few hrs., a small piece of xanax: NO SLEEP but i realize i could have overdosed but didn't but yesterday's depression from all those meds. kept me in bed all day, so hungover and weepy from what those meds did or didn't do for my insomnia: but last nite after hearing from you that melatonin sometimes doesn't work, i upped my seroquel to 25mg. and took 15 mg. temezepam and slept 9-1/2 hrs. and feel almost like myself again. for years sleep was never an issue, but now at 72, it seems like the last 2 years have been hell with the insomnia.