What do you take to sleep?

My doctor won't prescribe Xanax for me any more, as I relied on it too heavily. I DO have a lot of trouble sleeping, and this drug was wonderful to help me settle down for the night. At present, I just take over the counter Unisom. Makes me drowsy and tired next day, though.
Patty

I have had insomnia most of my life. And sometimes it leads to anxiety if I can't sleep. I swear I have tried everything. The Ambien worked most of the time, but for some reason, it causes a panicky anxiety the next day. So my psychiatrist put me on Serequel XR, it has only been a week, but so far, so good and not too much of a hangover effect. Just keep trying.

melatonin is natural, takes a few days to work, but is wonderful!

I hate pills, but my favorite sleep one is Sonata. It recently became available in generic form which is good because it was expensive. You only need four hours which is an advantage it has over the other pills. So if it's 2 am and you're still up, you can take it then as long as you don't have to be up until 6 for example. Works quickly too. It doesn't leave me hungover or give me any other weird side effects. Most of the other sleeping pills didn't work well for me or would leave me messed up for days. Only prob is it's not rated for long term use.

As for non-pill options, I've found that doing something that helps my mind unwind is good. Something that requires enough focus to keep me distracted but that doesn't involve too much concentration and still lets my mind unwind & do its churning thing in the background. Like a crossword puzzle, playing a computer game like Bejeweled, or reading something humorous or relaxing for a while.

Also, I've noticed I'll zonk out more easily in a certain position which I later saw touted as good for relaxation & sleep. You prop up your back & head with pillows & put some pillows under your knees so your body is almost in a V (w/ knees bent or slightly bent of course, not straight up in the air). I do one of the aforementioned activities (except the computer game) in that position & it helps make me sleepy.

I have a few things, depending upon how great the pain is. I have a CD of brainwave music/sounds, takes the brain straight to delta.

I take valerian (herb) an hour before bedtime and another smaller dose at bedtime. If the container also has skullcap, and/or passion flower that is even more helpful.

I do imagery. Taking my thoughts away from the day to day and the pain!

If you write things down that you need to do the next day, that helps clear it from your active mind.

Do thought-blocking. This means each time you realize you are thinking about something other than sleep, stop the thought, and tell yourself, you'll think of that later, right now you're going to sleep.

If you develop a routine for bed, that tells and trains your brain that you are going to sleep. Take a shower, read a book, turn off tv, computer, drink a milk product, any that helps not hinders for you... lock up the doors, turn off lights... maybe take up to an hour to prepare.

Also, don't do anything but sleep in bed *unless you're married. That confuses the brain when you are doing active things in bed all the time, watching tv, playing games on the computer etc. Limit caffeinated products at least 6 hours beforehand.

Good wishes!

Trazodone, klonopin, Topamax (sedating & mood stabalizing)

Other: Abilify, Lamictal

For excessive daytime sleepiness: Provigil 400 mg

For ADHD: Concerta 72 mg (also a stimulant)

At the mo tempaz (but my GP doesn't want me addicted to it so only meant to be 2x week); imovane the other nights (but it leaves a nasty taste in my mouth all night and the next day, as well as a hangover effect); but my pdoc doesn't want me addicted to that either so is changing it all to phenergan but this has a severe hangover-effect. I prefer only using serequel but have developed restless legs on any more than 25mg (after 4yrs of no problems on up to 225mg) and 25mg no longer sedates me enough.
Btw, what is ambien (couldn't find it in 'drugs' section)?!

I too have trouble sleeping. My routine is taking 300-600 mg of Seroquel and 2mg of clonazepam. The Seroquel keeps my Bipolar stable plus makes me sleepy. I then put in a (DVD) movie to calm my racing thoughts and curl up with the cats.
Doesn't work all the time, sometimes I just can't sleep no matter what.

i take lithium my whack job of a doc said it would help me sleep not instead keeps me up even longer i always thought a frying pan to the head works best lol but only if u want to sleep for long time

I take a 2-5mg s of Klonapin (Clonazepam) & it worked pretty well, up until recently.

I also drink a mug of warm milk and then do some deep breathing exercises with the lights off whilst listening to some calming music, works fairly well for me.

Oh yeah, and like Sky said, don't do any of those things in bed. The bed is just for sleeping & screwing.

i started having sleep problems when my child was about 2 years old.

medically i took benadryl, dramamine, eventually flexeril and trazadone. I have recently tried ambien at night - learning i must take it and get into bed or it may not really kick in. i've been given various anti-anxiety meds at times.

the real problem for me seems to be i have an addicts response to drugs, my body seems to need higher dosages to get the predicted response - which is a really big problem.

one of the best things that's occurred to me is to STOP FIGHTING INSOMNIA. I chose to make friends with it. I refuse to make my mattress a battleground and instead I learned peaceful ways to pass my time. Since doing this I do really well most of the time. I choose to meditate on important sayings from the Holy Bible, i pray for loved one's and others who come to my mind. i think of happy memories and happy times to come. Even if i do not sleep the whole time I do rest and knowing that helps me keep my cool. This kind of peaceful waking rest helps me. i sometimes get up and read something low-key until i get tired.

Mindset matters. If i can accept what is and not fight it frantically I will get past it with less turmoil and distress.

All the best,

leslie and her pixies

I have a difficult time sleeping at night... I drink decaf tea and stay up until I get tired....usually rather late... I used to take Ambien but took a lot once so they won't give me any more... My routine is to usually take a shower right before bed, this is supposed to help increase serotonin levels...or maybe it's melatonin...sorry can't remember...

TJ

I've taken just about everything everyone has mentioned at one time or another. This is a longstanding problem for me. My doctor just prescribed restoril (I forget the dose), it's a benxodiazapine I think, meaning it's addictive. I have to be careful with it.
Sky mentioned some good sleep hygiene advice. I think I will work on that. One has to train their body to sleep regularly, I guess.
I'm thinking of cutting out cafeine completely. Right now I won't drink it after 4 pm, but that is probably not enough. I have been drinking coffee since I was 9 years old. This is going to be hard.

10mg diazepam and 20mg temazepam works well...

Lots of good posts on here, especially like Sky and Nightbird...thank you. I once took a sleep workshop where they talked about stuff like that. Like Cedar, I have to use earplugs DAILY or I won't sleep at all, unless I medicate every night which is not good....

I live in a pathetically THIN, flimsy building with noisy upstairs people, so earplugs are necessary. I'd like to listen to soothing with headphones, but I wouldn't be able to hear it or enjoy it because of my neighbors. They have the stereo in the bedroom, directly above mine..."Manager" is useless, so don't go there. LOL

I have both Klonopin and Ativan, prescribed by different doctors of course! I take either/or, depending on how bad it is. The Ativan works faster, about 20 minutes, whereas Klonopin takes an hour. They are both in 1/2 mg doses, and they both KNOCK me out and leave me with a brain fog in the morning, but that only lasts 5 minutes. Because these things can be addicting, I take it as seldom as possible. Only take it when I'm really climbing the walls...Each time I have a conversation with myself, "Should I? Is it bad enough?"

One thing that has helped is NOT looking at the clock, tempting as it is. Otherwise, I get even more anxious worrying about how long I've been awake, and how long before wakeup time. Gosh, I haven't slept through the night in YEARS, and insomnia started about 2 years ago. I think it's due to anxiety about my life, as well as physical changes due to my age (46).

I don't drink caffeine after 12 noon, and warm milk helps somewhat. The sleep routine does help, but it doesn't work each time.

Like Sky said, any racing thoughts will usually be stopped by telling myself to stop, such as telling myself that error message I get on my phone at times: "STOP! Unknown file format!" It also helps me not to panic over being awake. I'll say, "I'll still be okay. I'll be tired, but I can still function."

I've tried MidNite, which claims to get you back to sleep FAST, but it does nothing for me but take the edge off. I could definitely drive after taking it. It is a combination of herbs and melatonin, but it's not strong enough for me. Plain melatonin does absolutely nothing. It might work if insomnia is mild or related to a melatonin deficiency.

Chamomile is somewhat soothing too--as well as scented things like lotions or room sprays. Basically it's a constant work in progress for me, unfortunately.

My boyfriend likes Ambien, and also Sonata but the Sonata is a "short-term" thing that works well in the middle of the night. It won't leave him groggy like other stuff, such as Ambien which you need 7-8 hours for!