Sleep aids

[Cutnstuf]

Anybody using a good, over the counter sleep aid that you would recommend. I'm still having difficulty getting under with this vacuum clean sitting on my face, I'm running out of Ambien, and my worthless sleep doc won't give me a refill. I've tried an herbal remedy from Whole Foods which gave be nightmares, and tried Benadryl which did nothing at all. Help!

[Wulfman...]

I can't speak from personal experience but Melatonin has been used and recommended by many on the board over the years.


Den

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[49er]

Anybody using a good, over the counter sleep aid that you would recommend. I'm still having difficulty getting under with this vacuum clean sitting on my face, I'm running out of Ambien, and my worthless sleep doc won't give me a refill. I've tried an herbal remedy from Whole Foods which gave be nightmares, and tried Benadryl which did nothing at all. Help!

Hi Cutnstuf,

Any possibility of getting another sleep doctor who would be willing to prescribe it since it seems to work for you?

If you try melatonin as Den has suggested, I would start with as low a dose as possible such as .5mg and work your way up to 2mg. It seems according to my research, a lower dose is usually more effective. Of course, your mileage will vary.

49er

[locust78]

I can't say I've actually tried it, but from what I understand, blocking blue light as bedtime draws near can help produce melatonin and lead to a better sleep. To help you in this regard, you can download software that will gradually eliminate blue light from your computer monitor as it becomes nighttime. You can also purchase glasses/goggles that you can don in the evening to get your body ready for sleep. Check out these links:

http://www.health.harvard.edu/newslette ... -dark-side
http://www.amazon.com/Uvex-S1933X-Eyewe ... +filtering
http://justgetflux.com

[RandyJ]

Have you tried Benadryl (diphenhydramine HCl)? 50mg at bedtime can make you drowsy (it's the active ingredient in Tylenol PM, but much cheaper as generic diphenhydramine). It 's considered safe at that dose.

It can be drying, but if you are using sufficient humidity it shouldn't be a problem.

[avi123]

show this to your Doc:

See here that Zolpidem (generic Ambien) is top rated sleep Rx by the Consumer Reports from a survey of about 9,000 persons with sleep problems (including Insomniacs), in 2012:

{Notice that over the counter sleep aids were only about half as effective as Zolpidem}

[Sir NoddinOff]

I kind of had a bad reaction to melatonin ... sometimes it'd work and other times not (usually when I was anxious or tense). Eventually there were some new sleep problems and I think the melatonin contributed to those issues of sleep fragmentation. Lots of people on this forum swear by it tho, so it's probably a person by person experience. Let us know if you find something that helps. Here's a thread from awhile ago: viewtopic/t91690/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=87 ... om#p802914

One other thing: I tried diphenhydramine (Unisom etc) but with my higher treatment pressures it seemed to affect my inner ear channels (maybe dry them out?). Anyway, the result was an earache which went away a week after I stopped using diphenhydramine.

[shaggyzack]

My father had been on Ambien for years, and because he was doing some crazy things, I substituted a product called "Night Time". It is from ProCaps Labs, a Andrew Lessman product, and is 1.5mg of Melatonin. He sleeps well with it and has never complained about wanting his Ambien back. Good Luck!

[RandyJ]

Reactions to melatonin are not uncommon. For one thing, melatonin is a hormone and the only way to tell if you have a deficiency is a blood test. If you take melatonin and you are not deficient, it may cause anxiety, sleeplessness, vivid dreams, etc.

For melatonin deficiency, a recommended dosage would be in the neighborhood of 0.3 mg, two hours prior to bedtime. Many melatonin supplements come in dosages many times the recommended dose, so overdosage is also quite common.

Even though it is OTC, I would not fool around with melatonin without knowing that my body needed it.

[ChicagoGranny]

Reactions to melatonin are not uncommon. For one thing, melatonin is a hormone and the only way to tell if you have a deficiency is a blood test. If you take melatonin and you are not deficient, it may cause anxiety, sleeplessness, vivid dreams, etc.

For melatonin deficiency, a recommended dosage would be in the neighborhood of 0.3 mg, two hours prior to bedtime. Many melatonin supplements come in dosages many times the recommended dose, so overdosage is also quite common.

Even though it is OTC, I would not fool around with melatonin without knowing that my body needed it.

+1

[avi123]

Anybody using a good, over the counter sleep aid that you would recommend. I'm still having difficulty getting under with this vacuum clean sitting on my face, I'm running out of Ambien, and my worthless sleep doc won't give me a refill. I've tried an herbal remedy from Whole Foods which gave be nightmares, and tried Benadryl which did nothing at all. Help!

Reply,

Seek another Doc and go for 10 mg of Zolpidem (generic Ambien).

It's safe:

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/ambien/AN01812

Doc, would have agreed.




My experience with it:

Taking a 10 mg of Zolpidem ( generic Ambien) helped me before CPAPing with my fragmented sleep, for years. But long before starting CPAP I managed to withdraw from this drug by cutting the doze in half every week.

When I started CPAP, 2.5 years ago for plain OSA, I started to take half a tablet of 10 mg Zolpidem at 11:30 pm as soon as I mounted the mask on my face. This allowed me to fall asleep within 15 min but the sleep lasted for 3 to 4 hours. Then I got up to pee and took another half a tablet (5 mg) which let me sleep for 3 more hours. For the hangover the next morning I took two tablets of Tylenol and for the ingested air I took Pepto Bismol.

After I sort of got used to the CPAP I have decided to withdraw from the Zolpidem. So I repeated my previous method. I think that I could do it easily b/c I kept taking a low dose all along. Otherwise, see here what would be involved with withdrawal:

http://www.non-benzodiazepines.org.uk/zolpidem.html

Presently, I take 0.5 mg of Xanax (not ER!), once daily for anxiety. Also 300 mg of Gabapentin, before sleep, for Neuropathy and sleep . Usually, I sleep for 7 hours, with one or two wake ups for peeing.

When I can’t fall asleep within 30 min after masking I take also 5 mg of Zolpidem, and fall asleep within 15 min. This happens about once a week. Rarely, I take another 5 mg.

[Cutnstuf]

Anybody who likes old Doc Watson is a friend of mine.