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Sleep meds & not sleeping; I think I'm headed for trouble
During prostate cancer treatment, the medication I had to take caused bad insomnia as a side effect. I'd go to bed at 11, not fall asleep until 1-2 AM and wake up at 4 AM.
I was prescribed Ambien by my oncology team. It worked--for about two months. So I figured I'd boost it a bit by taking 10 mg of Melatonin with it. That worked, again, for about two months.
So I added 300 mg of Gabapentin that my brother-in-law gave me because he pretty much has an unlimited prescription and doesn't take it. This worked for a couple months. So I doubled the Gabapentin to 600 mg.
Then, a couple months later, I added hydroxyzine a psych nurse practitioner prescribed me for anxiety and half an Ativan from my GP also for anxiety, which became a whole Ativan and now I'm taking five different meds to sleep and, while they work, I wake up feeling like I've been run over by a bus.
I've kind of dug myself into a hole and am not sure how to get out of it. I don't want to be taking so many drugs to sleep and I know they're not good for me in the long term. I know that most of them, other than Ativan, are not addictive but it sure feels like they are.
Anyone have any ideas on how to stop taking them AND be able to sleep? I'm afraid to even tell my GP I'm taking all of them especially the Gabapentin because I'm obtaining it in an unauthorized way.
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I worked as a Prison Officer for 12 years and seen things and was involved in a number of incidents that left their mark on me. As a result, I began laying there all night and the same as you, I was getting to sleep at 2am. I started taking Temazepam 5mg every night. This was sufficient for the better part of ten years, despite reading that it causes irreversible damage I was fine. I did however start to find myself waking at 3-4am so I mentioned this to my doctor, he prescribed me nitrazepam which I have been taking since, I still have my days where I struggle to sleep but overall, this works for me. Recently I began taking medicinal cannabis 25/25mg/ml of THC/CBD. I take 0.5ml at 5pm and find myself not needing Nitrazepam every night. When I wake up, I have a bit of a foggy feeling and take 0.4ml of 225mg/ml CBD and within a minute feel fine. Now I am weaning myself off benzodiazepines and feeling better. I am not sure what the laws are in your state, but it has worked for me, and I have never had a better sleep now I have to set an alarm to be up on time.
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1 Reactioni'm in az. where m/j is legal and also have hypomania on bipolar spectrum. usually take progesterone/temezepam and 1/2 klonopin followed later by melatonin. yes, i know that's alot of meds but been on them for yrs. and most nites i can get 8 hrs. but after having covid, some nites i have broken sleep. for me, anything with thc is activating so i have found cbd/cbg/cbn gummies and take 1/2 during afternoon and maybe another 1/2 prior to bedtime. they help with my never-ending anxiety.
There are some great sleep meditations on YouTube. There is a channel called the "Mindful Movement." I have found that it helps me fall asleep.