shorty28562

Ive been sober for 2.5 years, from alcohol, herion, coke, and anything else I could get my hands on. Ive recently started having issues sleeping, I wake up ever hour or two and have trouble falling back to sleep.

The dr (medical) gave me trazadone per my request becuase it worked when I first got sober. I was taking 25mg and it worked for a couple weeks but recently hasnt been doing much. I went back to the dr today and asked if we could increase the dose and she didnt want to. She insisted I try 5mg Ambian instead. Ive read a ton of horror stories with this stuff. There is also some good stories but not as many. Ive also tried the natural route, melatonin, magnesium/calcium, and various sleep aids from whole foods.

I eats very healthy, exercise daily/every other day, and go to bed the same time every night 10ish.

What else can i do? I dont want to depend on more drugs to fall asleep, especially one that is addictive. I cant get in to see a psyc until the end of the month so Im basically depending on my medical dr.

Impurrfect

((Shorty)) - I've had a lot of problem with not sleeping for years. My dr. knows I'm an RA, and we went through all KINDS of things to find something that worked. Some stuff would work, for a while, then I got tolerant. Other stuff worked, but had side effects that weren't so good.

Lately, I've gotten really busy with stuff and can sleep, most nights, with an OTC med that has the melatonin, l-tryptophan and something else in it.

I know I'm not much help, but I do sympathize. People always say "lack of sleep won't kill you" but it does make me really depressed and that's not a good thing for me.

I hope you are able to find something that helps.

Hugs and prayers,

Amy

BFD

I'm actually on Ambien, and I have never had any issues with it. I get a 10mg dose, and some nights when I just need enough to shut my brain off, I'll take a half of one. My husband takes a half every now and then, and hasn't had any issues with it, either. For some reason, chocolate really sets it off fast, so if you want to get comfy, take your pill and then eat a Swiss Roll or something, be in bed first lol. You do get pretty loopy if you have to walk. If you have children, make sure everyone is in bed first. I don't take my Ambien until around 9pm. I usually try to wake up around 545-6am, and I'm not usually groggy or anything. Ambien is pretty popular in the service industry bc those folks get off work around 2-4am, can pop an Ambien and be up at 10am for the next day's work. If you're worried about the side effects, you can see if a friend can stay with you one night while you try it.

Captaincrunch

I just kicked H again and I'm over the withdrawals, or so it would seem. But prior to this I had kicked alcohol and H for a few fears and I, too, had trouble sleeping. I thought it was just me. I know we're not supposed to give medical advice, but I had started using meletonin (which is natural) and it helped me, but other people I've talked with says it didn't help them.

Ainslie

Ambien got a bad rap due to silly celebrities mixing it with other drugs, ESP benzos and dying. It has a short half life so you shouldn't feel groggy the next day.

I recommend 'meta genics neuro calm. It mimicks the effects of benzos but is non addictive

FeenixxRising

1Dayatatyme

Sleep is quite an issue with me. I have 12 days off oxys and hydros, and I think 24 ? days off of alcohol and misuse of my prescribed Xanax, and did not sleep for more than an hour or two at a time the first 4 days or so of my cold turkey withdrawal from the pain pills. After a bad experience today from taking another prescribed drug last night, I went to the natural store and got an all natural supplement to help me sleep, and another supplement (an amino acid) to address my depression that is present during the day.
I pray they work, as I do not want to use again, and would like to be off all prescribed medications someday soon.
I will check back in after I try the supplements for a week or so (unless I get an adverse reaction, which means i am done in that minute).

FeenixxRising

Not sure what I did to make my post above appear in PHP code. Below is the orginal post:

I've used Melatonin with success. However, it's been my experience that most brands are ineffective. I prefer the type of melatonin that's sub-lingual; you put it under your tongue and let it dissolve. It's flavored. The brand I use seems to work well and doesn't leave me groggy the next morning. PM me if you're interested the brand name.

Be careful with the Ambien. If you suspect any problems call your doctor. It's my experience that anyone using Ambien should follow the Rx directions to the letter.

shorty28562

I tried the Ambien last night and it didn't do much, helped a little. I still woke through out the night. It did help me fall asleep, and the times I woke up I was able to go fall back asleep fairly easy. It wasn't a deep sleep though, and very vivid dreams. Nothing crazy though. Dr started me on 5mg, might try one and a half tonight.

Ainslie

My doc had me on 10mg and I found I'd get 3hrs solid sleep then would wake hourly (usual routine)

Everyone's different, what I've found stops me from waking hourly is 200mg Thorazine and 2mg Xanax. I wake a couple times a night still but usually to use the bathroom or get some water.

I battled with sleep issues for years before finding the right med combo - when you see your pdoc you may want to ask about the prescription of anti-psychotics for off label sedative purposes - seroquel is a commonly used one. It's not addictive.

Just my 2c

Stride34

Just speaking from experience, I've taken 100mg trazodone (still quite a low dose) for depression and sleep for awhile and have had 0 negative effects from it. Totally 100% non-abusable and no grogginess whatsoever, and I sleep very well on it. Would I rather not have to take it, yeah, but it helps me. I'm surprised your doc won't go beyond 25mg, that's an extremely low dose, even for off-label sleep purposes (which the range is usually is between 50mg-100mg). When prescribed for depression, the dosages can go as high as 500-600mg. I think at a low dose trazodone is a very effective and safe medication, and very cheap too. To refuse to increase trazodone and instead suggest ambien is very questionable, especially for someone in recovery, as ambien has the potential to be abused. Maybe you should find a different doc.

Ainslie

I agree Stride and should have commented myself.....

Addicts shouldn't be prescribed drugs that can be abused, doing so dishonours the Hippocratic oath, to the best of my understanding.