Sleep medicine

[natway09]

A warm shower & a good bonk, I'm gone

[Nemises]

Taking drugs every night for the rest of your life…just to sleep??

You are kidding. 
 

Lots of daily exercise, no heavy boozing, don’t go to bed early. 
 

Next.  

[swm59nj]

It sounds like substances to induce sleep will not be that helpful for you. You should speak to a doctor that specializes in sleep disorders. You might need to take a sleep test. 
Possibly you have an underlying condition you are unaware of. 

[scorecard]

On 2/16/2022 at 6:09 PM, Neeranam said:

I suggest not to look for something that is sold illegally OTC, go to the local psychiatric hospital and get the medicine very cheap and legal. 

Change diet, exercise, but not too late and meditate twice a day worked for me(after being addicted to valium).

The best non-addictive thing is melatonin. https://www.lazada.co.th/products/melatonin-10-mg-gummies-strawberry-90-gummies-i2891348216-s10560723100.html?spm=a2o4m.searchlist.list.5.1a3332aa5gDzRB&search=1

Melatonin works and it's claimed to be non-addictive. My Dr., in Australia pushes for short-term use of all medications where possible.

 

He presribes using Melatonin for say 10 days and says this is enough for many people to provide more permanent natural help to fall asleep.  

 

For years I've been drinking hot milk with a very small amount of sugar of honey about an hour before bedtime. It works. Prescribed decades ago by a psychiatrist who was helping me with PTSD issues from my Vietnam war service.

 

There's solid research behind using quite warm milk as a sedative:

 

- Milk naturally contains a natural chemical tryptofan to stop calves drinking (sucking) too fast from their mother and it therefore prevent the calves from choking.

- It's more effective if the milk is quite warm (the natural state when the calf drinks from the mother)

- And it's more effective in humans if a small amount of sugar of honey is added. 

 

It works.

[Headgame]

Been an insomniac for decades and have tried just about every purported solution.

 

if you want 8 hours sleep, do not nap through the day. Be tired.

 

I then take 2 Axprazol and I’m gone for 8 hours and even need the alarm set. Not widely available. May be addictive but not for me, i.e. increase dosage.

[Chris.B]

1 hour ago, Nemises said:

Taking drugs every night for the rest of your life…just to sleep??

You are kidding. 
 

Lots of daily exercise, no heavy boozing, don’t go to bed early. 
 

Next.  

Is that exercising your left hand or your right?  

 

[LukKrueng]

Sounds like you suffer from insomnia. It is very well treated by cannabis oil in Thailand. Legal, not expensive, and not addictive. Look for a cannabis clinic in your area. Few drops under your tongue can improve your sleep greatly. Wake up in the morning good and fresh with no hangovers. And no, you don't get high from it.

[Plurals]

I suggest 3-6 mg Melatonin. Works great for me. Two hours before going to bed.

[xxeo]

Melatonin can work... but I am among those with little effect of melatonin only. Instead, I find sleep with throwing in an antihistamine from time to time.

 

Where they sell herbal medicine, you can buy cassia siamea. I take it quite often, but the effect is slowing down with the time as well. I am shying away from taking hard tranquilizers. Addiction.

[Barley]

I would recommend visiting a doctor of Traditional Thai medicine and (s)he will prescribe you some applicable herbs and maybe a regimen for your condition. 

 

There are different body types, different kinds of sleep impairments (f. e. not being able to fall asleep vs. waking up in the middle of the night and not being able to fall asleep again vs. not being able to wake up in the morning) and different causes for these symptoms. 

 

A professional TTM doctor will be able to determine the proper treatment procedure for your individual condition - something a doctor in Western medicine is usually not able to do. 

 

TTM doctors undergo a thorough university training in this country. Why not use this blessing Thailand can give you. 

 

For me it helps to get a pack of WHOLE (not ground) fenugreek seeds and take a teaspoon at night with water and without chewing. This gives me a better all around quality of sleep after a few days of intake. 

 

I can recommend TTM doctors in Chiang Mai and Bangkok on request via PM. 

 

Good luck. 

[malibukid]

Trazodone 25mg.  comes in 50mg. dose.  split one tablet in half to start with

Edited February 19, 2022 by malibukid

[arithai12]

Biphasic sleep is a condition, perhaps it's what you have OP. If so, learn to live with it, it's not so bad - it was actually the normal thing when humans lived in a cave in northern climates, no one could sleep through 18 hours of darkness.

The key is that you get enough sleep, even if split in two. So instead of staring at the ceiling for 4 hours, do something that makes you sleepy (reading, watching tv).

 

 

[thecyclist]

On 2/16/2022 at 9:02 PM, nightfox said:

As I work nights and have a hard time sleeping in the days, I found out the closest sleeping pills to Lorazepam, Clonazepam and Zolpidem at walk in Pharmacies these days that you can get is Desirel (Trazadone) which is a sedative and at only 60 bht for 10 pills, I take 2 about half an hour before sleep and I'm out like a light.

I assume you are taking two 50mg tablets. You might not even need that much. As little as 25mg might do the trick. 

 

[thecyclist]

On 2/17/2022 at 6:46 PM, PAV123 said:

Natural sleep? When you use medication to sleep, it is not a natural sleep, or what do you mean?
What about addiction? Side effects?

 

Any sleeping aid that does not disturb the REM and deep sleep phases of your sleep cycle could be regarded as natural. Benzos and most other sleeping pills do decrease the particularly important deep sleep phases. Zolpidem does it less so, and off-label low dose (25-100 mg) administration of Trazodone is supposed to maintain the normal pattern of the sleep cycle. 

[rickudon]

No one has mentioned Valerian? A natural herb used to reduce anxiety and help fight insomnia. 

I rarely suffer from insomnia but the 2 things which help me get a good sleep are playing computer strategy games (makes the brain work) for an hour or two before bedtime, and not sleeping early. But for me 5 hours sleep is sufficient.

[Foxy52]

Try Piriton, a first generation antihistamine. I've been taking them on and off for years, with no addictive or other ill effects. And at THB20 for 50, they won't break the bank

[Pedrogaz]

Try hemp.

[NoshowJones]

On 2/16/2022 at 8:39 PM, connda said:

I have no side effects from melatonin at all. Everyone's metabolism is different.  Like any drug (melatonin is a hormone) you take it and be aware of any consistent side effects and adjust as necessary.

I used melatonin the last time I came back to Thailand from the UK. It was brilliant, cured jet lag completely when it used to take me a few days, but I do take regular exercise and don't drink or smoke. so that could also have something to do with it.

[unblocktheplanet]

On 2/16/2022 at 6:56 PM, Mormolin said:

I am alternating between Lorazepam, Clonazepam and Zolpidem. They are all very effective to put you to sleep and rest well.

These are all VERY heavy & addictive meds. I was second time stupid on Alprazolam but you get to a certain point when you're so desperate for a night's sleep you throw common sense out. Comes with consequences, you know.

 

The worst of it is, I don't care at all if I'm addicted & sleeping. But all these stop working in due course, leaving us strung out. And stopping is possible but requires great dedication, willpower & suffering.

 

Think of Nancy Reagan & don't start: this is your brain on benzos.

[unblocktheplanet]

On 2/19/2022 at 3:19 PM, Nemises said:

Taking drugs every night for the rest of your life…just to sleep??

You are kidding. 
 

Lots of daily exercise, no heavy boozing, don’t go to bed early. 
 

Next.  

Don't buy the bedtime angle. Religious bedtimes at 10 or 11 work great.

 

Sure is a bummer that many of us just can't sleep naturally.

[unblocktheplanet]

On 2/16/2022 at 8:36 PM, Neeranam said:

I can vouch for that, benzo withdrawal is worse than heroin or alcohol. Took me years to recover. 

After they become ineffective, the big worry in old age is cognitive decline. None of us wants that.

[jimn]

Xanax occasionally if you can get it. Or Atarax 25mg freely available at pharmacies.

[spidermike007]

Many years ago I developed a serious ear infection and after treating it with massive doses of antibiotics I ended up with tinnitus which has never gone away. It's been almost ten years now. Within the first year of getting tinnitus I couldn't sleep anymore because  the sound was too loud. I ended up consulting with a neuro and a shrink and they told me I had a year to live, that if I didn't start sleeping well my organs wouls start failing!

 

Ever since then I've taken rivotril, started with .5 mg of now I take 1 MG. a day. I sleep fantastic every night and wake up every morning refreshed. I don't care that I'm addicted, I have a life again, so go for it, it'll change your life

[howlee101]

On 2/16/2022 at 6:09 PM, Neeranam said:

I suggest not to look for something that is sold illegally OTC, go to the local psychiatric hospital and get the medicine very cheap and legal. 

Change diet, exercise, but not too late and meditate twice a day worked for me(after being addicted to valium).

The best non-addictive thing is melatonin. https://www.lazada.co.th/products/melatonin-10-mg-gummies-strawberry-90-gummies-i2891348216-s10560723100.html?spm=a2o4m.searchlist.list.5.1a3332aa5gDzRB&search=1

100% agree on melatonin.  It may not work for everyone but it seems to help me, and hopefully it can help the OP.  Lazada even has options for 12mg (which I'm currently taking).  Another suggestion from a member suggested diphenhydramine.  I used this also but mainly due to my allergies but it is a great sleep inducer.  

[cyril sneer]

22 hours ago, jimn said:

Xanax occasionally if you can get it. Or Atarax 25mg freely available at pharmacies.

problem with atarax is that the next day you feel like you haven't slept, worse than a booze hangover

 

herbal stuff mentioned doesn't really work

 

trazadone is a good shout

 

benzos (valium, xanax) are wasted if used for sleep

[TacoKhun]

low dose of Amitriptyline

[Mormolin]

On 2/20/2022 at 6:59 PM, spidermike007 said:

I don't care that I'm addicted, I have a life again, so go for it, it'll change your life

That's the spirit! ????

[unblocktheplanet]

Consumer report: Poster above suggested one teaspoon of whole fenugreek seeds with a little water before bed. Tried that last night & got 10 uninterrupted hours of sleep. No hangover on rising.

 

Okay, could be placebo effect. Caveat is fenugreek can reduce thyroid & cortisol so i would not recommend this for daily use.

 

Just because a product is all-natural or herbal does not mean it can't have serious side effects depending on each person. Pharma started out herbal.

 

I'm glad Clonazepam is working out for another poster but, again, can stop being effective and produce cognitive decline long-term. Tinnitus loud enough to keep you awake sounds terrible!

 

[GroveHillWanderer]

On 2/16/2022 at 7:58 PM, BE88 said:

Side effects of melatonin are drowsiness ...

Isn't drowsiness the exact "side effect" we're looking for here?

[BE88]

1 hour ago, GroveHillWanderer said:

Isn't drowsiness the exact "side effect" we're looking for here?

Why did you stop reading after seven words?  As you can see I was talking about the negative effects of the day and not of the night ????

 

Side effects of melatonin are drowsiness, fatigue, headache, dizziness, and temporary depression. People suffering from depression, or those taking medication for depression, should therefore avoid this substance, as should those taking medication for blood thinning or type 2 diabetes. Due to the drowsiness that may occur, it is It is preferable not to drive vehicles or operate machine tools in the hours following the intake of melatonin. Melatonin could increase the hypnotic effects of other substances such as medicines, plants, alcohol or drugs. It may also interact with high blood pressure medications. Please note that fluvoxamine (Floxyfral, Generic Fluvoxamine, a drug for depression and obsessive-compulsive disorder) greatly increases the absorption of melatonin by the intestine and can amplify its effects.