Why am I not ASLEEP??

Are you bipolar? Sounds like you might be in a manic episode.

Come see us in here OP.

Why all that stuff.

All I have to do is open a book and after 2 pages zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Try lithium.

This is likely a joke post, but in the off chance you are sincere, we'll try to help.

Very few humans require that many drugs to get through a day.

However, we do need more information. Do you work 9-5? How often are you checking DL? Are you watching TV (what programs)? Are you drinking coffee (how much)? Are you exercising? Meditating? How much alcohol do you drink?

Tell us your typical day and we will get you off that drug cocktail.

I heard cyanide works wonders.

Damn. That's one hell of a drug cocktail.

Do you try to sleep with noise? TV (on a boring program - like Science Channel, or Discorvery ID or AHC)? Or maybe classical music? I always need "noise/sound" to get to sleep. I let it play all night in case I wake up.

For the nights that I absolutely cannot sleep, I take seroquel. You should ask your doctor about it.

Take some Oxy’s until you stop breathing. You’ll go right into a deep state of unconsciousness.

how about an ambien or two...works for me

Ask your primary care provider about JB-318

I have insomnia - but multiple nights of not sleeping more than an hour or 2 is crazy. Understand need for sleep. But that drug cocktail is either an EST or crazy. Not sure why you wouldn’t take ambien instead of all that. I try to minimize how often I take it and dosage - 5 mg and if necessary another 5 mg - but am grateful I haven’t had a period of multiple nights of no sleep in a long time. I know that can set off a manic or depressive episode.

OP R U Michael Jackson?

Drop an anvil on your head, OP. It works for the coyote.

Have you tried watching a recent Terrence Malik film?

R15 Oh yes Tree of Life puts meth heads to sleep.

Shoundsh shenshational! I'll take two of thoshe, with a chasher!

Call your friendly black doctor and tell him to give you propofol, fast! Tell him MJ sent ya.

Try the Calm app, OP!

Most of what you are taking doesn't work for sleep. You are mainly taking beta blockers amd neuropathy meds.

Oh, and you're taking Dramamine

Stop taking all that and ask your doctor for Trazadone..

Get you some Ambien

My brain has always reacted to stress by putting itself(me) to sleep as a coping mechanism. I think sleep itself has therefore become my one addiction. I wish I had more natural energy.

Anyway, good luck. Your situation sounds like hell.

I think the fear of getting dementia from taking all that shit would keep me awake.

I second the trazodone, which is an old antidepressant that’s used in small doses as a (heavy, in my experience) sleep aid. Seroquel, an antipsychotic, can also work in small doses. Unlike klonopin, it isn’t habit-forming.

Trazodone helped me sleep but I was exhausted for another 24 hours. Not a good sleeping aid - I could barely function next day. Ambien works fine for me.

Are you alive OP? RIP

r26 Trazodone doesn't have that effect on me.

Ambien works everytime without fail.

OP - I'll give you the benefit of the doubt you're telling the truth - if you're that far gone, you need an anti-psychotic. SEROQUEL !!! - 25mg. If that doesn't knock you out, get a buddy to hit you over the head with a hammer.

^^forgot to mention, I was going thru some time of psychotic break and was wide awake for close to 76 hrs. I had taken a different variety of drugs. The seroquel did it.

[quote]I think the fear of getting dementia from taking all that shit would keep me awake.

I'd be more worried about OD'ing!

FAKE "NEWS".

If your body is tired but your mind is racing, focus on your tired side.

Works for me, usually.

Otherwise, stay up all night, and you'll be extra-tired the next.

op if this isnt an est, I will sat why are you on 2 beta blockers? Toprol and proponalol. I think you need a new md.

. Op, I am your twin, I too have been virtually sleepless for a week. I have had terrible insomnia for twenty yrs. fucked up my life beyond belief.

Want to die

Good Heavens!

Delayed Sleep Phase Disorder.

Great on the ambulance and during war time. You might naturally have 33 hrs up, 9 hours sleep, 33 hrs awake.

Misdiagnosed as bipolar mostly. It's a nordic problem for Scandinavians, Inuit mixed people. Anyone close to the pole.

There-is no cure

R30. Yes seroquel is the last ditch for delayed sleep disorder patients. That does it!

R30 is correct. Also Seroquel dreams answer a lot of questions and set me on an upward note for days.

Both of those beta blockers can cause insomnia. Why are you on two and why are you taking them before bed?

[quote]Why am I not ASLEEP??

Not enough DRUGS!!

If I take something to help me sleep a few nights in a row, I get terrible rebound for at least a couple days when I stop. It's a stupid cycle to get caught up in. I typically manage 3-4 hours sleep a night, maybe 5 if I'm lucky. I'd rather not take drugs, though, because it fucks me up worse in the long run. I know this sounds datalounge-y, but my best sleeps are when I regularly take a walk in the evening for an hour or so. The exercise plus the air gets me sleeping. It gets me pooping, too.

Judging by OP's absence maybe he got t sleep? Maybe his mother submitted him to Intervention and he is at the intervention.

Seriously?

R43 how do you function on 3-4 hours sleep. When I get that little, I’m absolutely miserable all day and feel like life is a chore. I don’t function properly and it sends me down a path of depression and makes me wish for an early death.

I’ve decided I would rather take basic doses (5mg sometimes 10) of ambien 3-4 nights week and be able to function and get some enjoyment from life than live without sleep and go though life miserable and barely able to function at work. I think it will be solved with retirement from a 7am-8pm routine but I’m not sure I will live that long and need to make today matter.

My cocktail for when I want to get some sleep is 30mg melatonin + 4mg chlorpheniramine (an OTC sinus medication). If I have trouble, the next night I take 40mg melatonin + 8mg chlorpheniramine.

Don't take Benadryl (diphenhydramine) as it's an anticholinergic, and will interfere with REM sleep. chlorpheniramine does, too, but not as much.

Same problem OP... I take 10mg of Ambien and 5mg of Klonopin and still stay awake. It is awful. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. I never know.

R47, antihistamines are associated with dementia.

Everything that helps you sleep is not good for you. Ambien has been shown to shorten life, antihistamines and klonopin have been show to increase chances of dementia and the harder ones are even worse.

Personally, I’ve made the decision to take ambien despite the increased death risk because not sleeping makes me want to be dead. If I cut a few years off the end, I’m ok with that because it’s allowing me to function today. Have spent years trying every non-drug route but have accepted that I will take as needed to function when non-drug methods fail and I need sleep.

Actually, r50, what you say about the harder drugs being even worse for risk of dementia isn't necessarily true. Every drug has a mechanism of action and different classes of drugs have different mechanisms of actions and impact parts of the body differently, which is why an antihistamine can be worse than, say, Trazodone when it comes to dementia risk.

R40 Seroquel is like the LSD of sleep. The dreams can be unbelievable.

Sleepiness is a side effect with seroquel and people tend to get used to it quickly so the effect wears off. It's also not good for cholesterol and weight loss.

Ih, and seroquel also raises blood sugar.

The problem with seroquel or the antipsychotic meds is rebound insomnia (you don't fall asleep the next night without it, so the problem starts again). Also, r38's point about delayed sleep phase (or any circadian disorder) is important because traditional sleeping treatments don't really work for that group. Melatonin, Ramelteon, and hetlioz are all that is available for people with sleep phase issues. Actually, now I think Hetlioz is only available to blind people through insurance (it's very expensive).

R55 Great point. I sometimes get manic episodes where I cannot sleep for days. Even then I won't take seroquel.

I'm not saying OP should take Seroquel and stay on it forever. Everything listed above has side effects, and Seroquel is probably the worst. BUT - the poor guy can't sleep. I think of Seroquel as a last resort, and it sounds like OP is at that stage.

Op is at that stage, r57, because he's either an EST or he has a terrible doctor. Aside from the klonopin, he's taking medication that isn't for sleep and, in fact, may actually keep a person awake.

Which one of those keep people awake?

The beta blockers screw with melatonin production, r59.

OP is Judy Garland.

Belsomra is terrible! My doctor gave me some samples and it gave me terrible dreams and woke me up every two hours. I’ll stick with temazepam, thanks.

[quote]I take 40mg melatonin

Good christ, you have to be mistaken. Most sublingual melatonin comes in 2.5, 3 or 5 mg dosages. My melatonin plus l-theanine capsules are 3mg.

You'd take 10-13 of those a night? So one bottle would last 3 days, maybe?

OP is dead

If you have daytime obligations, it is obviously important to sleep at night. I’m retired so I just sleep when I’m tired and don’t worry about what time it is. If I’m awake at night, I read or watch a movie or check out DL & Twitter. If I’m sleepy during the day, I take a nap. I can never sleep more than a few hours at a time anyway, but I’m used to that.

Probably, R64. He didn't OD, he just died after all his drugs fell over and squished him.

R63 actually, no, not a typo. You can get 5mg and 10mg tablets now. People don't understand that when it comes to melatonin, the dosing can vary greatly. Normal adult male's dose ranges from 0.5mg to 70mg per a pharmacist I work with, though checking LexiComp, it appears they think 20mg is the higher end of normal.