Insomnia help

[Headshotterer]

Last quarter I had anxiety and insomnia. That caused me to miss several 8AMs and fail the class. I saw my GP and he gave me some useless advice on "sleep hygiene". If I go to my college health center, how likely is it to get Ambien etc?

And I know that this drug is addicting and I only need it to help regulate a sleep schedule in the long run.


My GP referred me to a sleep doctor, but there are no appointments and I go back to school next week! And for me, weed is hard to get and my parents would get mad. I truly believe prescriptions will only help me.

[SoBad]

I'd stay away from college health center and pharmaceuticals. Are there environmental factors, such as malfunctioning heater, noise, stressful people in the house, people you are sleeping with, etc.? If not, I'd try natural remedies (weed/booze/herbal depressants) before pharmaceuticals.

[dlk]

I would not recommend my stategy, but it works great fro me; Ambien 10mg PO QHS & TYL PM x2 PO QHS. Go to sleep and stay aseep, no hangover. But consult your physician for your individual conditon/plan tailored for your life.

[Povl Carstensen]

Have pretty regular sleeping hours. Keep the sleeping place dark (curtains). Dont go to bed hungry. Look out for coffee, also bad for anxeity. Carbohydrates can work as a sleeping pill, have for instance half a banana with milk, or some bread with honey or something like that when you want to sleep. It can also work if you wake up and want to go to sleep again (one half ripe banana, try it). Cammomille tea does also help you feel drowsy imo.
Also look out for alcohol, a hangover can make you uneasy, making it hard to sleep.

[ollinger]

^^ Most of the advice here seems to be sleep hygiene, which he didn't find helpful previously. I try not to prescribe too many sleep meds but sometimes they can be helpful. The best (and most recent evidence) on Ambien is that it's not addicting, which makes complete sense in that it never made sense to psychopharm experts how a medicine with a half-life of about 3 hours could be addicting if it's only taken once a day. Meds need to be in you nearly constantly for the body to become acclimated to them and needy of them. A large recently published Ambien study found no tolerance and no withdrawl syndrome from Ambien, i.e. no addiction. That's not to say some people don't become emotionally dependent on it, but there's no reason to believe it's addicting. (The government automatically classifies prescription sleep meds as controlled drugs). The "PM" drugs like Tylenol PM mentioned above help you sleep because they have benadryl (diphenhydramine) in them. Might as well take just benadryl 25 or 50 mg. once in a while if you need it, the tylenol serves no real purpose for sleep. With any sleep med, try not to use it too regularly, always try to do without it, remember that eventually you'll fall asleep, and get some psychological help with your anxiety. Missing your 8AM classes can't be blamed on your sleep issues; blame it on yourself for not being responsible enough to get up and go to class. You can do that even with a not so great night of sleep.

[Bartelby]

Ambien works and is not a problem except that they won't let you take it all the time, with good reason.

The reality is that you can probably sleep perfectly well, but its just that your activities cause anxiety and the resultant delayed sleep conflicts with your timetable.

This is why sleep hygiene is not a solution. You need some help to cope with your schedule without developing anxiety.

Or simply do something else that does not cause you anxiety, but such activities are hard to find if you're not a part of the idle rich.

[Povl Carstensen]

Yes anxiety points to some issues you might be dealing with, and some kind of coaching/psycological help could be an answer. It is hard to sleep when something is troubeling you. I think more or less everybody knows instances or periods where we have lost sleep because of worrying. Hard to fall asleep, or waking up and unable to sleep again, speculating at four o'clock in the morning. This is also one of the symptoms of depression.
Once these issues that are troubling are dealt with, normal sleep resumes. I am not saying this is your case, just sharing an experience.

[TBZ]

Have you tried melatonin? It's natural hormone and helps to regulate sleep cycle. It worked for me at least. I think you can get it without prescription in most countires.

Also i've heard that using computer at night is one of the common causes of insomnia so if you have to use computer at night (try not to) i would recommend you to to download this free program called flux which makes the screen darker. It gets some to to get used to it but i'ts worth it.
http://stereopsis.com/flux/

[Ano]

http://www.charlespoliquin.com/Blog/...-of-Sleep.aspx

[IA-SteveB]

Melatonin worked for me. That and a white noise alarm clock. I didn't want to get involved in any prescription crap because non habit forming is something I don't believe.

[Bowtiesarecool]

Sorry but chemicals are not the answer. You said you had anxiety and insomnia without saying why. People don't just get anxious or have trouble sleeping for no reason. If you're worried, confront the issue. If you're just not tired, spend an hour exercising or doing something really monotonous before bed.

[El Diablo]

Melatonin is probably a placebo, and not necessarily a safe one. The best data indicate it MIGHT be useful for jet lag but isn't very useful for sleep in placebo controlled studies. FDA noted in 2010 that there is evidence of carcinogenic effects when taken orally and also damage to retina cells.

[Vlad_C]

Get a GF, and get on a regular sexercise program. You'll sleep a lot better.

[r2473]

Turn on a WTA match. You should be out in seconds.

[double barrels]

Originally Posted by Headshotterer

how likely is it to get Ambien etc?

And I know that this drug is addicting

My GP referred me to a sleep doctor, but there are no appointments and I go back to school next week! And for me, weed is hard to get and my parents would get mad. I truly believe prescriptions will only help me.

very likely
it's not that addicting
sleep doctor is the way to go for sure

i have taken just about every single sleep drug imaginable, had severe insomnia for 2-3 years, i recommend starting on something to help you sleep, but get off the drugs as soon as possible
as for Team Green, take all you want and if sleep is ruining your life, your parents will understand you cause

i would love to help you out with insomnia as i have been through potentially the worst of it and am no sleeping 3-4 hours a night with no medicine and still improving

no matter how tired you are get out of bed at the same time every morning (preferably early, 6-8am ish), take a nap in the middle of the day for 20-30 minutes if you feel the need to, and exercise like ferrer

[sureshs]

Play tennis

[Povl Carstensen]

Originally Posted by double barrels

no matter how tired you are get out of bed at the same time every morning (preferably early, 6-8am ish)

Originally Posted by sureshs

Play tennis

Second both!

[Avles]

Play tennis sounds good-- watching tennis actually might help as well (matches I'm not involved often make me doze off, and practice videos do as well-- something about the repetitive sounds maybe).

But more than tennis I've found swimming to be sleep-inducing. When I was swimming semi-regularly I think I slept as readily and soundly as I ever have.

[sureshs]

Also recommend Science/Discovery channel programs about dinosaurs, universe, Amazon animals, etc. Great for dozing off.

[luishcorreia]

You could try valerian tea. Or melatonin.

But most important is to relax. try and go to bed always at the same time. You need to associate the bed with a plave where you sleep, not a place where you have difficulty to sleep. Read a book, take a hot bath before going to bed. Drink a glass of hot milk. All of this will induce sleep.

Melatonin worked very well for me.