I need a new sleep med....

My sleep med is going to be taken away in November because it is a benzo sleeper and they want to cut all people's benzos. Thing is, I tried plenty of sleep meds. And other meds for other things. I have been on a few atypical antipsychotic pills (low dose), and they give me bad akathisia and feeling of anxiety. I have tried most antihistamines they use here in psychiatric care (they are used a lot here) and they are related to typical antipsychotics (at least some of them). I don't tolerate them even at baby dosages, they knock me out in a very unpleasant day and holds my body hostage for 24 hours and then I am just drained and sluggish. Remeron acts like that too with me.

Z-meds worked but I got allergic.

Now my choices will be Seroquel or Nozinan. The first is an atypical antipsychotic and the latter is a typical psychotic (closely related with Thorazine). If I compare that to what other meds I have tried, I can't see how this will end well. But I will have to try something or I will have nothing to help me...

They OK'd me on being on a weaker benzo sleeper, Nitrazepam, but that did not make me sleep, just acted too long and made me tired in the day. I have a very short acting sleeper, Halcion, right now. It seems like meds that make me tired stays around in my system forever. That is what I liked with Z-meds, they wore off so I could function the next day.

I know I almost ask the impossible here, but any suggestion I could bring with me in November will be helpful, or I will have to try Seroquel and Nozinan.

We do not have Trazadone and I am not allowed to take Melatonin.

What drugs did they take away from you?

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The one they will take away is Halcion.

Just a warning about Seroquel, it made me gain 20lbs in less than 2weeks. Now I can't get the weight off

I'm more worried of getting panic attacks from the meds. Also I know some people who got diabetes from Seroquel. Both those are really scary.

I can't stand the drugged feeling where your body is like rubber and heavy as led. Just THINKING of it fills me with anxiety... I don't want to feel tired and drugged, just want to feel sleepy.

Is the feeling from Seroquel a normal type of sleepiness? Can you use your body normally until you fall asleep?

I read up about Nozinan and there isn't much at all about it. Most people seem to say it feels OK to fall asleep on but gives you a hellish hangover. One thing I really try to avoid. There is no use getting good sleep if you cannot function the next day, I'd rather ruin my day by staying up all night and sleep in the day..... More productive too.

I was on a low dose of seroquel 25mg - 50mg to help sleep and it worked. I would say it's a normal kind of sleepiness I got from it, could carry on doing what I wanted until I went to bed. It didn't really affect me the next day either, maybe a little sleepier than I used to be but I got used to it quick enough.

While on that low dose weight gain wasn't an issue. Overall it was good

Seroquel works great! I was taking 200mg and my pdoc took it away and I'm feeling it every night when I'm tossing and turning unable to fall asleep. And I didn't gain any weight from it...never have, even when I was on 800mg/day.

Here is a list of all the hypnotics available in the UK, there may be others in your country
http://www.evidence.nhs.uk/formulary.../411-hypnotics

Might try the Seroquel after all... It's scary though...

Would have been nice to see, but it's blocked here. Like why? Sigh, LOL.

jimi,

I take 400mgs of Seroquel (you probably won't need such a high dose) about an hour before going to sleep. I sleep well, but I do need a cup of coffee in the morning to come back to life.

What scares you about it? I think other than Abilfy it's the least scary AAP.

I agree

Most scary? Akathisia an non stop panic attacks which I got with Geodon. Even after I stopped it it took months to come back to a place without extreme anxiety all day every day.

You'll most likely have a different reaction to seroquel...or any other AAP for that matter. I've been on a number of AAPs and while 2 have worked (zyprexa and Latuda), even they were very different for me in how they acted and how I felt.

I'm going to have google akathsia. Why no melatonin?

Geodon was literally the weirdest medication I've ever been on, and I've been on a lot of meds. Geodon works for some people, but it doesn't work well for a lot of us. Seroquel is much more predictable. Geodon caused insomnia for me, and anxiety. Yikes . Seroquel has never caused me to be anxious and I can't say that about many meds, 'cause most meds cause me to be anxious and panicky.

Yes that is my dose too

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Akathisia is like your body having anxiety. It's very hard to describe. It feels better if you constantly move around but the second you stand still it feels horrible, like extremely bad.

Melatonin aggravates a physical illness I have because it affects your immune system.

It does? Didn't know that. How so?

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Is Trazadone an option?I've taken it and it works well for me. I take clonidine too, but it may be too weak if seraquel is an option.

It's not an option since it doesn't exist in my country. Oh, Clonidine doesn't either.

How about gabapentin? I've been doing really well on it and recently went from a moderate bedtime dose to a lower one and still am sleeping well. (I'm on other sleepy meds but really needed the help from gabapentin for a while). It works on the same receptors as clonazepam but without being a benzo.

May I ask what dose of gabapentin?

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