Posted by Scars R. Stories on March 29, 2013, at 11:31:18
I have taken all of the drugs mentioned as an adult. My insomnia began at age 6. I am a medical researcher (ABD Ph.D.). I DO NOT SLEEP without help. This is what I have discovered after MUCH trial and error and cocktails... PLUS, I no longer spend $500/month on attempting to sleep.
Seroquel gives me the worst hangover. It makes sleep kind of useless, because I do not get the benefit of having a productive day after that sleep. Tolerance also develops rapidly. Ex/ if I take 100 mg one night and I pass right out, later in the week 400 mg is required to sleep at all (using Seroquel).
Haldol/Thorazine - excuse me, these cause a much worse hangover than Seroquel. Do you like standing up and being blind for two minutes (because of their effect on blood pressure)? Haldol also has many bizarre side-effects and is intended for EMERGENCY USE in PSYCHIATRIC FACILITIES/HOSPITALS. It is not a long-term answer for anything.
Zyprexa/Risperdal give me a less severe, but still unpleasant hangover. And Zyprexa makes me eat 4000 calories in 1/2 hour.
Remeron is DANGEROUS. My psychiatrists in 2 different countries agree. It makes one sleep for 14+ hours when taken long-term, and its long-term effect on weight, blood lipids, etc. are severe. I gained 50 lbs. over 4 years, and when I stopped Remeron not only was I hospitalized for melancholic depression after a suicide attempt, but I lost 50 lbs in a month, making me rather weak.
Ambien/Lunesta/Imovane/et. al (hypnotics and "sleeping pills" made for no other purpose) do not work for much longer than a month. Sometimes a dose increase will then make insomnia worse. The sleep-driving/eating/sex/other behaviors bit is also a serious concern. These medications also tend to cause other physical issues, acid-reflux being perhaps most common, that require additional medication.
Benzodiazepines simply do not make me sleep. 60 mg Klonopin wouldn't do it the other night. Benzos will put you to sleep if you have never taken them before, but are intended to treat anxiety. If you have any anxiety issues/disorders, they will calm you down, but they will not make you sleep.
Now, think about the neurotransmitters that these drugs affect. Do you really want to be REDUCING DOPAMINE (are you depressed? NOT a good idea, then)? Messing with GABA? And Remeron has recently been removed from the SNRI class and put into one entirely of its own that little is known about.
What about giving dopamine, serotonin (most sleep-related, why eating tryptophan foods like bananas or turkey makes some people sleepy), and norepinephrine a little boost overnight? TCAs, TRICYCLIC (the first) ANTIDEPRESSANTS ARE THE ANSWER. (they're VERY CHEAP BECAUSE they were released 50 years ago) But not just any TCA...
Amitriptyline causes just as much metabolism-slowing and appetite-increasing as any atypical antipsychotic (ex/ Zyprexa) or Remeron. Even, yes doc, in small doses.
TRAZODONE IS THE ANSWER. It does not have these effects, and you will sleep. Start with 50-150 mg at bedtime. I take 200 mg if I want 8 hours. The FIRST couple of times you take it, you may feel groggy the following day. THIS WILL STOP HAPPENING if you take it for a week or longer.
NEURONTIN, in COMBINATION with benzos taken at VERY SPECIFIC TIMES has also proven useful, and this is also a cheaper option because these are all older drugs.
BEST OF LUCK - I KNOW HOW MUCH INSOMNIA CAN BE TORTURE. It is used ("sleep deprivation") by the CIA to torture, er, interrogate with enhancement. Anyone starts going psychotic without any sleep for 2-3 nights. ANYONE. This does not mean you have a psychotic disorder, and there is no reason for anyone to take an antipsychotic for sleep.
*(Once a doctor prescribed me Zoloft for sleep. Zoloft is not a good drug to take for sleep (or in my research and experienced-based opinion, for anything). SSRIs (SNRIs DO work for depression, quite well) are not a solution for anything unless you want to become a suicidal zombie. I have taken Prozac, Paxil, Zoloft, and Celexa, and they have all had negative effects. Except for Celexa, which did nothing. Evidence now shows no difference between SSRIs and placebos.)
**I currently take 450mg Effexor XR, 90 mg Adderall, 8 mg Klonopin, 300 mg Neurontin.... and 200 mg Trazodone. It's the best sleep/day-functioning I've experienced in my life, or over the 10 years during which I tried everything/anything else.
poster:Scars R. Stories
thread:1041295
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20130322/msgs/1041295.html