Posted by galkeepinon on July 14, 2003, at 16:56:59
In reply to Re: HALCION-Questions..........Please help if possible, posted by SLS on July 14, 2003, at 16:43:59
Hi Scott, WOW! It is rather amazing you posted this. I have taken Halcion for the last 2 nights and although I have slept very well, I have had "bouts" of amnesia-or rather forgetfulness today-real quick moments of "I forget" kind of thoughts. Restoril never did a thing for me where as Ambien (10mg) helped a great deal for sleep, but I have never gotten a prescription for it. I am really, really hesitant to have posession of a sleeping pill. Although is Halcion considered a sleeping pill? I am kind of bent that this former psychiatrist had sent me home with it. I am glad that I hadn't used it up though. It's just until recently that because I haven't been able to sleep-that I took 1 the last 2 nights.
I do also take 2mg of Klonopin to sleep so I took the Halcion with the Klonopin both nights and slept well. I just hate having to do this because I'm a little skiddish about Halcion, I have done some research on it but maybe not enough.
This whole "anti-bezo thing is so pathetically overated it makes me sick! I think they are an invaluable tool that can be used safely if administered with care and respect also and I think a lot of doctors categorize patients as a whole sometimes and put them into the category of addicts-those that abuse and misuse benzos-manipulating the system. I do not enjoy taking meds, I have been through countless trials with them, and I am responsible in what I do concerning them. My biggest problem is because of this I have been known to be non-med compliant, meaning because I don't like to take them-I could never abuse them so my docs don't ever worry about me getting addicted:)What do you think about all I have said???
I really appreciate your input here Scott!Thanks again,
Gal> Hi.
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> Halcion is a particularly powerful benzodiazepine - the most potent, in fact. It works great to put someone to sleep, but because of its short half-life, wears off rather quickly. I think Halcion has received a lot of bad press regarding its potential to produce amnesia. It is probably no greater than that of Ambien. Ativan works fairly well to put someone to sleep and help them stay asleep. Restoril is milder and, although not so good to put someone to sleep, is great for having one stay asleep. I found that I had no hangover using Restoril. Ativan is probably more likely to produce hangover, but I never really had much of a problem with it.
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> If your problem is primarily that of falling asleep, Halcion will work better than Ativan, Restoril, Ambien, Sonata, or Klonopin. When I was taking Parnate, Ativan was not strong enough to put me to sleep. Halcion put me to sleep quickly, but I would wake up in a few hours and have to take more. The ideal solution for me was to take both Halcion and Ativan at bedtime. I fell asleep and stayed asleep until morning. Initially, Halcion was prescribed in the range of 0.25-1.00mg. After the uproar about amnesia, the drug manufacturer, Upjohn, reduced the recommended range to between 0.125-0.500mg. I would not be afraid to take 1.00mg if necessary. I took 2.00mg, and have no recollection of it causing amnesia. :-)
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> Benzodiazepines have become demonized as of about 10 years ago in the US. I understand that doctors in the UK won't prescribe them at all. I think they are an invaluable tool that can be used safely if administered with care and respect.
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> - Scott
poster:galkeepinon
thread:241371
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20030714/msgs/241822.html