65 replies to this topic

[renfr]

Phew. Thank God I finished my box of Zopiclone. But what would you use to induce sleep when you cannot sleep and tomorrow is an important day?
I tried taking glycine + magnesium + taurine + melatonin + hawthorn but it's not really THAT effective, it might help but is not powerful enough when you have real insomnia.
An antihistamine, a cholinergic drug (maybe COLURACETAM? which according to ScienceGuy at high doses induces tiredness), alcohol? There's bacopa that works when insomnia is dopamine related, cholinergic drugs also help for high dopamine and epinephrine/adrenaline highs. Does anyone know LEGAL drugs that require NO prescription to take for extreme insomnia?
I'm not looking for a drug you can use everyday, just a drug that is cognitively harmless and can induce fastly sleep and drowsiness when you have an important day (an exam, an interview, a job application, an important meeting, etc...).

Edited by renfr, 22 October 2012 - 05:06 PM.

[autopilot]

I have been prescribed zopiclone for a week only. My problem is i go to sleep around 1030 pm and i wake up every night around 3 AM and leaves be tired whole next day. One time out of ten roughly i would fall asleep again but rest of days its just futile effort to try to fall asleep again. I have no background on medical or neuroscience and i would appreciate two cents from you guys on whether i should try it. After reading all the cons about z drugs i am really apprehensive to take it.

[brainslugged]

Phew. Thank God I finished my box of Zopiclone. But what would you use to induce sleep when you cannot sleep and tomorrow is an important day?
I tried taking glycine + magnesium + taurine + melatonin + hawthorn but it's not really THAT effective, it might help but is not powerful enough when you have real insomnia.
An antihistamine, a cholinergic drug (maybe COLURACETAM? which according to ScienceGuy at high doses induces tiredness), alcohol? There's bacopa that works when insomnia is dopamine related, cholinergic drugs also help for high dopamine and epinephrine/adrenaline highs. Does anyone know LEGAL drugs that require NO prescription to take for extreme insomnia?
I'm not looking for a drug you can use everyday, just a drug that is cognitively harmless and can induce fastly sleep and drowsiness when you have an important day (an exam, an interview, a job application, an important meeting, etc...).

Alcohol is fairly harmless and can help sleep.

Theanine kinda helps.

I don't want to preach it too much, but either ephedrine or piracetam + pseudoephedrine can be really helpful if you are trying to sleep and you constantly feel uncomfortable. It allows you to feel kinda cozy, at least in my case. Paradoxically, though, it decreases fatigue, so you have to actually go to bed after taking it or else you could stay up for a while and not feel tired (but still be able to go to sleep if you try).

Phenibut is REALLY good for sleep at higher doses (like 2g), but I cannot find a good medium; it either has no effect or I end up sleeping for 15 hours and feeling dizzy when I wake up. If you can partition off the time, and you take about 2g about 2 hours before going to bed, I don't see how you could possibly have any trouble falling asleep.

I have friends that SWEAR by diphenhydramine, but I can't stand the stuff, makes me feel horrible. I feel like there is cotton in my head when I take it, but one of my friends says it makes it feel like he doesn't have to think, and he can fall asleep super easy with it.

When I take melatonin with/or other weakish supplements, it doesn't help my sleep much either. Especially, melatonin, I can use it if I am kinda tired and just need a catalyst to help me go to sleep, but otherwise, it just makes my eyes really dry/sleepy but my mind is still wide awake.

If you haven't tried 5HTP for sleep, it wouldn't hurt to try.

As a temporary solution it may just be best to cut your losses at take a hypnotic until you can find a nootropic supplement that is good for you. Yes, there are risks, but probably not worse than the risks of not sleeping. Not saying long term, but just for now. Also, maybe modafinil for wakefulness in the day. Sometimes taking something that increases alertness will help you sleep when it wears off.

[machete234]

Alcohol is fairly harmless and can help sleep.

Theanine kinda helps.

I don't want to preach it too much, but either ephedrine or piracetam + pseudoephedrine can be really helpful if you are trying to sleep and you constantly feel uncomfortable. It allows you to feel kinda cozy, at least in my case. Paradoxically, though, it decreases fatigue, so you have to actually go to bed after taking it or else you could stay up for a while and not feel tired (but still be able to go to sleep if you try).

Alcohol makes you tired and then ruins your sleep and you wake up at 4 in the morning and ephedrine is the best way to stay up all night, seriously Im not able to think of a better way to not sleep.

Melatonin works for me under normal circumstances but not when agitated, 1mg is always a good idea and can be combined with a lower benzo dose.
For sleeping when my nervous system wants to have a party because I have a 2nd try exam only benzo like drugs work, Im just a light sleeper and nothing else seemed to help.

Edited by machete234, 25 May 2013 - 10:23 PM.

[chemicalambrosia]

I agree with machete on pretty much all counts. If I take ephedrine six hours before bedtime I will be lucky to get more than an hour or two of sleep that night. Alcohol seems to work to help me fall aslseep, but its not restful and I will wake up in the middle of the night unable to fall asleep again. That might be dependent upon the person though... it might be glutamate from the alcohol that some people are more sensitive to, I'm not sure.

My best advice to people like Machete that are light sleepers are a sleeping mask for the eyes and ear plugs. For those of us with trouble falling asleep and staying asleep depriving yourself of noise and light that can wake you up is one of your best options. I've found it more helpful and sustainable than any OTC drug or supplement that I've tried.

[Sunwind]

Diazepam isn't listed here, does that mean it's not associated with increased mortality?