Posted by Quintal on September 1, 2008, at 17:17:25
In reply to Re: Ixel (milnacipran), posted by West on September 1, 2008, at 15:21:13
Hi West,
I found the same thing with zolpidem - it put me to sleep very quickly when it worked. Walking around on zolpidem was quite interesting but not very pleasent like with zopiclone. I like to take half a tablet before my supper for two reasons, first because if I eat anything fatty it takes so long to get into my bloodstream that I feel no benefit, and second because I like to unwind at the end of the day with that nice warm, floaty 'beery' feeling. Zolpidem was almost wearing off by the time I'd actually got into bed, and if I tried to take only while in bed I found myself putting it off until the sun came up. That completely threw my sleep patterns out of whack.
My consultant prescribes the sleeping tablets in order to spare my GP's feelings. He has no hangups about benzos and isn't too bothered if I abuse them, so long as it's nothing genuinely serious. He's a good guy. I suggested alternating zolpidem with zopiclone and he thought it was a good idea, but that didn't work out in practice. I saw a schedule that (I think Heather Ashton) had made, alternating various sedatives on different days of the week. I have wondered about trying zopiclone and zolpidem on random days rather than a month on month off kind of thing, but I haven't run that by him yet. I was using carisoprodol as a sedative when the zolpidem ran out, but it didn't help me sleep. For some reason it was causing palpitations and irregular heartbeat - not a relaxing sensation. I've also been vaguely worried about having a serious accident and being found to have traces of meprobamate in my bloodstream.
There was a time when I would take literally handfuls of tablets and capsules with every meal and it didn't bother me. I think we tend to become more sensitized with time and maybe a little more cynical from experience. Right from the beginning I needed the maximum dose of lorazepam (and often a lot more) to acheive a proper sedative effect. My nervous system seems to lack an off switch. Have you read about the catatonic schizophrenics that 'wake up' when they're given benzos and barbiturates? There seems to be an imbalance in the tone of the central nervous system. I think I have a touch of that. Stimulants aren't very helpful, but sometimes an (ever so slight) boost in noradrenaline has a head-clearing effect.
I was going to suggest tianeptine to you in my last post, but when I checked in the archives I saw you'd tried it already. I'm lucky in that it worked first time and has worked every time I've gone back to it. My pdoc knows I'm taking it, but he has never heard of it. Like the other stuff he doesn't seem bothered either way. He's pretty malleable. It's funny, I was thinking of asking for modafinil next. I've taken adrafinil but it wasn't helpful because I don't have any difficulty staying awake. I was just wondering if with modafinil having a bit more punch it would give me an incentive to get out of bed around eight instead of lying in until noon? Someone here said it was one of the best 'sleep aids' she'd tried because she could get into a better routine that way.
Anyway, regarding the Ixel, I don't think it's a drug for me. Like most of the other drugs I've taken, I took it because I was curious more than anything. If I were to need a noradrenergic drug I might try taking smaller doses, but I think it's best just to leave it alone. Reboxetine is the closest thing I've taken to Ixel, and that made me feel very ill and with no improvement at all. I'm waiting to hear my pdoc's verdict on Subutex, so that's what I'm hoping I'll get next. I took the buprenorphine studies in and he read them and said he'd consult with a collegue who is an addiction specialist. It's probably best not to commit to any new trials until I find out what's happening about that. I have a feeling the addiction specialist will say no, so keep me posted on the modafinil!
Q
poster:Quintal
thread:847800
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20080822/msgs/849784.html