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No sleep or sleep meds

Posted by cherawgirl @cherawgirl, Sep 15, 2023

I have been unable to sleep since stopping Ambien (5 months ago) and Ativan(2 months ago). I have not slept for over 2 hours a night. I understand I supposedly have rebound insomnia, however I have had a sleep problem since I was very young. I have researched this question on the web but only found answers that sleep aids ARE BAD!

My question is: What is worse? No sleep or sleep using sleep meds?

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kawanhee | @kawanhee | Oct 15, 2023
In reply to @con123 "I will put a word out there about melatonin. I had a psychiatrist who was very..." + (show)
Profile picture for con123 @con123

I will put a word out there about melatonin. I had a psychiatrist who was very knowledgeable about drugs and natural supplements who told me that the most effective dose is .5mg and no more. Apparently more is not better. Also best not to take it every night. My best sleep was when I was taking Klonopin 1 mg at bedtime. I always slept through the night and had many dreams. I didn't know this drug was bad for our brains. Now that I'm off it for the most part (I have some 0.125mg tablets I take occasionally), my sleep has been rough, but it is improving. I take mirtazapine 7.5mg nightly Sometimes I have difficulty falling asleep even though I feel very tired. I use this time to meditate or pray, and even if I am lightly dosing for hours, if I stay relaxed, I eventually fall asleep for about 6 hours. I feel alert and ready for the day when I wake up. Same for when I wake too early or in the middle of the night. I just meditate and pray. I do fine the CBD/THC gummies helpful, but don't take every night. I wish I could just sleep unaided but I have had insomnia for a very long time. I tried practicing CBT-I but it doesn't work for me because it requires you to get out of bed if you are awake 20 minutes. I was up and down all night and it just fueled my anxiety and made it impossible to fall asleep. I'm better off staying in bed with lights out because I will eventually fall asleep.

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Your comment resonates with me because it’s very similar to my story. On lorazepam but my pcp wanted me off it and wasn’t working for sleep anymore. Plus reading about benzos made me understand that taking them long term can wreak havoc with your brain. Cbt-I….exact same experience. Mirtazapine is working for me along with 1 mg melatonin. But after reading what you wrote about melatonin, I’m going to cut back on that. Is sleep perfect every night for me? No, but it’s far superior to what it once was.

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kawanhee | @kawanhee | Oct 15, 2023
In reply to @lisaschultz327 "Cindi sue, I am a long term insomniac (50 years) which only gets worse the older..." + (show)
Profile picture for lisaschultz327 @lisaschultz327

Cindi sue, I am a long term insomniac (50 years) which only gets worse the older I get. In answer to your questions, I tried Mirtazapine, and maybe it is just my psychology, but I had terrible nightmares. When I complained to the psychiatrist, he upped my dose and the nightmares got worse until the third time the dose got upped and my nightmares took on the style of horror movies. I had never had a nightmare before that drug and I don’t have them now. I have been on everything from OTC drugs through probably a dozen RX drugs. Ambien was the best although I never got a full 7 hours sleep - only about 5. It too finally stopped working and now I make sleep cocktails out of a few different types of rx drugs which get me about 3 hours sleep and when I wake up I take a few more and get another 3 hours sleep. While on Ambien, I never sleep walked, ate or drove although I have read about that happening to some people. I am planning on asking my doctor for an Ambien CR rx since I have not had any ambien in at least 6 months. Maybe I’ll get lucky.

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So sorry you’re going through this! Not sleeping and thinking about not sleeping every night is tortuous. Although it didn’t work well for me, have you tried cbt-I? Also, mirtazapine is used for sleep at low doses, 7.5 mg

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kawanhee | @kawanhee | Oct 15, 2023
In reply to @con123 "Clonazepam worked like a charm for 15 years, then I couldn't have it anymore (doctor's choice,..." + (show)
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Clonazepam worked like a charm for 15 years, then I couldn't have it anymore (doctor's choice, but my research convinced me that long-term benzo use has its risks). Mirtazapine is a tricyclic antidepressant which is sedating at very lose doses, but acts as an antidepressant and appetite stimulant at higher doses. I would say the effect is mild and inconsistent but I do think it helps. Seems to be a safe drug.

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Everything I read about mirtazapine says it’s safe compared to benzos. A sleep therapist prescribed it for me, and my pcp is fine with my staying on it long term. I’m 68 years old and if I’m on it the rest of my life, so be it.

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cindisue | @cindisue | Oct 15, 2023
In reply to @gramps "Hi @cherawgirl , I really feel for you. Sometimes there is no alternative to medication. But..." + (show)
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Hi @cherawgirl , I really feel for you. Sometimes there is no alternative to medication. But if someone had told me decades ago about the long term effects I would have tried to wean myself off them long ago. So now I'm paying the price of long-term use and I try to use sleep aid as little as possible. I'm generally tired during the day and a good day for me is one in which I can function at a reasonable level. For a while I used CPAP but when that didn't help enough a sleep "specialist" prescribed a sedative and when that wasn't enough he simply increased the dosage. When my GP heard that I had been using the tablets for a long time she was shocked and weaned me off them, which was hell. I don't want to ever go through that process again. Right now I'm trying meditation everyday 10 to 20 minutes and hoping that that will make my sleep calmer.
Wishing you a calm, restful night!

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Your GP shouldn't have taken you off the sleep med you had been taking. GP's are Soooo against sleep meds and that is Soooo WRONG!! Sleep is VERY IMPORTANT and if taking sleep meds helps you get good sleep, then by all means, you should take sleep meds. Because not getting good sleep is very detrimental to you!! Not getting enough good quality sleep makes your life a living hell. And if the quality of your life is greatly improved....well then, of course, take the sleep meds!!

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cindisue | @cindisue | Oct 15, 2023
In reply to @kawanhee "Everything I read about mirtazapine says it’s safe compared to benzos. A sleep therapist prescribed it..." + (show)
Profile picture for kawanhee @kawanhee

Everything I read about mirtazapine says it’s safe compared to benzos. A sleep therapist prescribed it for me, and my pcp is fine with my staying on it long term. I’m 68 years old and if I’m on it the rest of my life, so be it.

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Hello Kawanee, I am thinking about trying Mirtazapine...and I'm wondering how it's working for you? It has lots of great reviews on Drugs.com! And yes....it's a sleep med that doctors would rather prescribe than a benzo. And it's not one of those SSRI's that may or may not work and could very possibly give you horrible side effects!

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cindisue | @cindisue | Oct 15, 2023
In reply to @kawanhee "Everything I read about mirtazapine says it’s safe compared to benzos. A sleep therapist prescribed it..." + (show)
Profile picture for kawanhee @kawanhee

Everything I read about mirtazapine says it’s safe compared to benzos. A sleep therapist prescribed it for me, and my pcp is fine with my staying on it long term. I’m 68 years old and if I’m on it the rest of my life, so be it.

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What strength of mirtazapine are you on?

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cindisue | @cindisue | Oct 15, 2023

In answer to your question.....what's worse, no sleep or sleep meds?? Of course, not getting sleep is waaaay worse...than taking sleep meds. I don't know why doctors don't agree with this...PEOPLE NEED SLEEP!! Stop the war against sleep meds and give them to people who really need them and let them sleep!!

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gramps | @gramps | Oct 15, 2023

This is a very tough issue. The sleep meds worked for a while, then stopped. Increasing the dosage solved the problem for a while, till I developed a tolerance for that dose as well. Then changing the drug to another one helped for a while - until it didn't anymore. And reading the warnings and research about the side effects of the drugs convinced me to go without them.
I agree it's no fun to be tired, and right now I'm trying alternative methods to improve my sleep (meditation, exercise). Just my luck that being in the middle of a shooting war doesn't improve anyone's sleep, and definitely isn't helping with mine. But I'm counting my blessings. Compared to what other people are experiencing, my life is wonderful!

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con123 | @con123 | Oct 15, 2023
In reply to @kawanhee "Everything I read about mirtazapine says it’s safe compared to benzos. A sleep therapist prescribed it..." + (show)
Profile picture for kawanhee @kawanhee

Everything I read about mirtazapine says it’s safe compared to benzos. A sleep therapist prescribed it for me, and my pcp is fine with my staying on it long term. I’m 68 years old and if I’m on it the rest of my life, so be it.

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It is supposedly a very old, very safe drug - for sleep low dose is the key as it is sedating at 7.5, maybe up to 15mg but after that point the appetite stimulate and anti-depressant factors come into play and it can actually be stimulating. We don't want weight gain and if we are not depressed we would not want higher doses! I'm 65, so we are in the same boat - not a lot of "safe" sleep meds for us.

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con123 | @con123 | Oct 15, 2023
In reply to @kawanhee "Your comment resonates with me because it’s very similar to my story. On lorazepam but my..." + (show)
Profile picture for kawanhee @kawanhee

Your comment resonates with me because it’s very similar to my story. On lorazepam but my pcp wanted me off it and wasn’t working for sleep anymore. Plus reading about benzos made me understand that taking them long term can wreak havoc with your brain. Cbt-I….exact same experience. Mirtazapine is working for me along with 1 mg melatonin. But after reading what you wrote about melatonin, I’m going to cut back on that. Is sleep perfect every night for me? No, but it’s far superior to what it once was.

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#metoo! Not the kind of sleep I got while on Klonopin, but I have to remind myself that was a drugged sleep. As good as it felt to sleep, I'm glad to be on the other side on benzos. And my anxiety about sleep is about gone.

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