Sleep meds & not sleeping; I think I'm headed for trouble

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.

i'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.

I had terrible insomnia for the longest time. I can relate to your suffering. The only thing other than sleeping pills that helped me was Seroquel at 150 mg. It is not addictive & you don't have to start this high. Start by using less & work up. I am now on 75 mg & sleep quite well. Seroquel is a medication for schizophrenia, but don't let that scare you. I have been using it for over 10 years. Of course, ask your doctor before using.

Mayoclinic.org has a section on insomnia diagnosis and treatment, suggest to review as a way to have a n informed discussion with your health care provider. Best wishes.

All of the suggestions here were good but yours was the best. I told my GP about all of this and, surprisingly, he gave no judgment and just said "you've been through a lot this past year so let's figure out how we can fix this." I told him about frequent nightmares I have where I'm ridden with cancer or dreams where I'm drowning or dying. He suggested I resume talking to the psychotherapist I saw during cancer treatment, and also said vivid dreams (and nightmares) can be an Ambien side effect.

I've almost weaned off Gabapentin by dropping 100 mg a night every week (600, 500. etc.). We agreed to stop hydroxyzine as that was the biggest culprit in me feeling terrible In the morning and that was relatively easy to give up.

I've also been dropping down 1 mg of Melatonin per week, so am down from 10-5 mg and will start on 4 next week, then 3, etc. I am still taking Ambien and Ativan. I will wean from Ambien next.

We agreed I will stay on Ativan for now since it has been helpful with panic and severe anxiety. I've also temporarily rearranged my schedule so I take a nap from 2-3 every afternoon but no more than one hour and even if I don't sleep I close my eyes and rest. I've also stopped exercising after 4 PM. I used to workout from 4-6 or so but now go first thing in the morning.

Finally, since my cancer treatment ended, the side effects of the meds I was taking, which include insomnia, are finally tapering down a bit and I'm actually now sleeping 4-5 hours despite the decreases in meds which is a huge improvement and hopefully will get even better over time. So some progress being made in a relatively short period of time.

It’s time to stop self medicating. Go to your GP, report what you have been doing and ask for a referral to a specialist who can help you. Adding marijuana or other remedies won’t stop the problem. And you would only be adding another layer of issues.

Hi Denise, if you have severe anxiety, the 1/2 klonopin you are taking is not helping the anxiety. I'm surprised you are also taking temazepam, because most doctors won't prescribe 2 benzodiazepines. But anyway, I take 1.5mg Lorazepam (Ativan) daily for sleep and anxiety issues. And this works fantastic for both issues for me. Just a suggestion because it's just 1 medication for both issues you have. Sleep and Anxiety. Good luck!