What do you take to sleep?

My doc put me on Seroquel for my insomnia and it's been working amazing. He warned I would only be on it temporarily until I was on a stable sleeping pattern. He is starting to ween me off it now. My concern is that I won't be able to sleep without it! My insomnia is BAD.

Fellow insomniacs...what works for you? I'm thinking I'll need to take something else to sleep when I come off the Seroquel.

I'm taking a drug that is called Etomine and from what I have researched, it is not in fact a sleeping med but an anti-psychotic. My doc prescribes one a day which I cut into quarters. So my script lasts a long time. Lately though, the quarter doesn't seem to be helping but I am reluctant to move up to half as I don't want to be groggy in the morning. We shall see.

Hi Lady, I had trouble sleeping for so long. Nothing seemed to help. Three years ago I had a minor manic episode and they put me on Seroquel. It helped the mania but I started sleeping. I kept on the Seroquel for that reason alone. I share your worries about not sleeping without the Seroquel.

Just a word of caution. I had been put on a higher dosage of Seroquel. I started to get general anxiety problems and it lasted for many weeks. I finally realized that it was working against me and the doctor agreed that I should lower the dosage. My sleep is not as good but I feel so much better. I am waking up between 5 and 6 am quite often. I still get 7 hours sleep but I am not used to being up and about so early.

I secretly would like to get off the Seroquel but I share your concerns about sleeping without it. The doctors have tried various things in the past but I never really found one that works.

I hope you get it sorted. I hope you get some good sleep and find something that works for you.

Clive

Hopefully your body reset it's sleeping pattern, that is what the doc is thinking. But, if not, tell him. He will make sure that you have something to help you.
I am terrified of Seroquel. It gave me vivd, violent dreams that I could not wake up from....my body doesn't like it, lol. I am glad it is working for you......everyone is different.

I am taking 500mg of seroquel before bed. I agree with you, it works fantastic for getting to sleep.

I hope you are still able to sleep well when you're off the medication.

I have taken Seroquel before, but not for sleep, I took it with paxil, I took it for my hallucinations and as a boost for the paxil, Im sure its to help you in both ways, Its side effect is probly to help you sleep, but its good for your condition too, Who knows, Theres so many meds, for so many things. Myself I take benadryl to sleep, It works good for me, and you can get over the counter, BUT you shouldnt take while your allready taking meds. I take it because I take nothing else. It also helps keep me calm.

After trying trazadone, ambien, restoril, remeron, elavil, or a mixture of those, I take Melatonin now. I take 3.5mg each night, with the option of more if needed. Great thing is that it is natural! One less prescription drug in my system. My pdoc says that I can take up to 12mg of it if I need to, the most I have taken is 5mg. I get the sublingual kind because it works faster and the bonus is that it is peppermint flavored.

Hi all! Here's my "recipe" for getting to sleep (unfortunately, this doesn't guarantee I remain asleep):

• pre-bedtime "ritual"
• clonazepam
• "paradoxical intention" - some light stuff (music, talk, comedy, etc.) on in the background to take my mind off the process of falling asleep (long experience has taught me that, in my case, consciously trying to relax and fall asleep actually works against me; getting my mind off of sleep altogether ironically works much better for me)

Zopiclone!

Sorry about your sleeping problems. <3
I kinda know how you feel too: I was on a temporary sleep med and when I was taken off of it, I still had sleeping problems.
Right now, I take Trazodone. It's a "mood stabilizer" as well as a sleeping medication. It's really the only thing that works for me, and it's really wonderful. ^^
Hope this helps!

trazodone worked well for me. It also really curbed the anxiety

I was previously on trazodone, but be careful with that stuff cause I soon built up a tolerence. I'm now trying mirazipine, but it is waaaaaay strong and I have been sleeping up to 20 hours a day. And thats 1/4 of a 15mg pill. Different medicines work in different ways and you should be careful about finding the right one for your body.

Fortunately for me, my insomnia is only transient, and these are the meds I've tried:

+ Temazepam - absolutely useless for my case, I might as well have taken lollies. A psychiatric registrar gave some to me to tide me over a weekend and I shouldn't have bothered.

+ Dothep/dothiepin/dosulepin - I was naughty and borrowed some from a friend who swore by it for sleep issues [he also took it for migraines]. I took 50mg and it made me drowsy, but didn't knock me out as much as I'd expected. It's a TCA.

i have trouble getting to sleep too - nothing really seems to work for long - sometimes the sleep meds work and sometimes they dont - if you have something that works - that is fabulous - use it till it doesnt work anymore - sleep is sooooo important

I use Ambien CR, and sometime a Klonipin if I'm anxious. You may have some trouble, but that doesn't mean you won't fall asleep ever again. Just do the weening slowly, you'll be fine. And if you're having too much trouble sleeping talk to your doctor. But if you can, get some exercise in there, that should help your sleep a little too.

I take symbyax which is actually a bipolar med but it helps me sleep. I still have some difficulty falling asleep, but once I'm asleep I sleep sound. I used to use melatonin which is sold over the counter and it helped some. I've also took trazadone which caused me to have headaches. I'm pretty happy with the symbyax as far as helping me sleep.

Right now I'm trying Neurofeedback to "retrain my brain" as a last resort - I've taken in the past Seroquel, Somnote, Restoril, Lunesta, Sonata, Ambien & Ambien CR; Mellaril, Flurazepam, Klonopin, Trazodone, Rozerem, Melatonin, 5 HTP, and various combinations of all of the above - all with little/no success. "For Sleep" I currently am aided by 2mg Klonopin and 12mg Melatonin, and take the drugs that have sleepiness as a side effect at night - and still average just 4-5 hours. The Neurofeedback hasn't yet increased my HOURS of sleep but the QUALITY has improved quite a bit. Holding out a flicker of hope!

I have been on Seroquel 75mg for almost a year. Trazodone seemed to work until I started falling over putting on my socks, then when driving if I looked to the right that is the way the car went.

Klonopin did nothing, 7.5 mg and two hours later waiting in bed for it to work then I only slept 2 hours.

With the depression/anxiety meds and then the Seroquel for sleep, and I usually get 11 hours. Tried going to bed later but only wake up later, so I have learned to accept this is what I need to heal. If you can't fight it enjoy it.

My pdoc only changes one medication at a time so it could be some time before I get to see how I am sleeping on my own. We are still narrowing done what is needed for a stable mood with my depression.
In the beginning I did not have that much trouble falling asleep just staying asleep.

Due to how serious insomnia do not hesitate to contact your doc if you have more than 3 nights in a row, so the insomnia does not become the pattern. For me it can trigger or indicate a return of major depression symptons.

take care,

Zopiclone worked wonders for me. I found it incredibly difficult to wean myself off it though so be careful. I think the problem with all sleeping meds, especially the ones that work really well, is that you feel like you'll never be able to sleep without them again. Take care

Thanks you guys for all the great suggestions! I've done some research on Melatonin and I will be talking to my pdoc about it. I think it just might be the alternative I was looking for

I wish you all Luck and Love

i take seroquel

trazadone and it makes my hands and insides shake very badly. 100 mg tabs. Not sleeping is a new problem for me. In the last month I average 3 hours a night. And with the trazadone only 5.

I totally know what your going through. Ever since my pdoc lowered my seroquel I wake up atleast two times a night for no reason. I just wake up. Fortunately I am usually able to fall back asleep after about 15 mins but what concerns me is if I'm waking up every 2 to 3 hours how am I getting my REM sleep? Plus I never wake up feeling like I got any sleep now. this sucks

I hope you find something that works for you. If you do let me know lol.

Hey guys,

I have took Mirtazipine 10mg and 20mg- didn't even touch me or make me feel tired. Zopiclone 0.5mg and 3.75mg- didn't even touch me or make me feel tired even slightly. Have now been put on Lormetazepam 0.5mg(today) so fingers crossed. I actually can't function now I despreately need SLEEP!!!