Jump to content

Sleeping Tablets


Chivas

Recommended Posts

Can anyone suggest a sleeping tablet that can be purchased over the counter at a pharmacy in Pattaya.

The pills Ive tried before have no effect. Diazapam has no effect, and valium at 50 g produces a calming effect but no more than that.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

A lot of people swear by Ambien , although I have no first-hand experience, nor do I know if it is available here under, over or around the counter. Self-diagnoses and self-medication can be hit or miss unless you are a doctor or pharmacist. Can you talk with a doctor here about your symptoms?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Its best to use the same phamacy and build up a bit of trust buy buying other stuff,I was able to buy alprazolam easily, for sleeping when not drinking,but be careful sounds like your building up a resistance,and as Neeranam will tell you Benzodiazepines are very very hard to get off

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Its best to use the same phamacy and build up a bit of trust buy buying other stuff,I was able to buy alprazolam easily, for sleeping when not drinking,but be careful sounds like your building up a resistance,and as Neeranam will tell you Benzodiazepines are very very hard to get off

Yes, I can tell you that it is a total nightmare to come off that drug!

I was hooked on it, up to 200mg a day(mixed with booze) for over 5 years and it took me a long time to come off it, doing a taper.

Worse than any other drug, including heroin, speed, cocaine and booze.

Even a slow taper means you are constantly feeling <deleted> - Depersonalization, derealization, cramps, insomnia etc etc and it can last for years.

It is very easy to build up a high tolerance.

Be very careful - especially if you have had any drink problem.

Here they call it "mao haeng", dry booze.

It is very hard to buy it over the counter now.

If you have to take one once in a while -Xanax is probably the best due to it's anxiolitic and hypnotic effects and short half-life, but also makes it the most addictive.

Don't trust what Thai doctors say about it either. it's criminal how they hand it out, telling their patients that it's not addictive, whilst getting flights to Singapore off the drug companies. :o

N :D N

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Lomatopo,

Have tried Ambien and its probably the best of whats available over the counter.

Sometimes effective sometimes not.

George-50 mgs may make you expire but if your constitution is that of an ox,

it only scratches the surface.

The query was that of an occasional user where on 7-8 nights a month I dont go out and drink, but the downside of that is that sleep just doesnt happen.

I'm pretty sure there are other forum members who on occasions have the same problem.

Edited by Chivas
Link to comment
Share on other sites

In the past, I have tried xanax and valium, but they are tranquilizers and leave me with a drugged feeling in the morning. I no longer use either. I have found ambien (known as Stilnox in Thailand) to be the best for a good nights sleep. Stilnox is only available in Thailand through a medical doctor. It is considered a relatively safe type of sleeping pill and has been around for a long time, hence, side affects are known and are few. While normally doctors do no have a problem perscribing it, some hospitals (notably Bamrungrad) will only dispense 15 tablets per day. This is a real pain given the difficulty of exiting Bamrungrad in the evening hours.

As with all sleeping pills, avoid drinking alcohol in the evening. I am sure it is dangerous, but also inhibits a good nights sleep which, after all, is the goal. Stilnox comes in a 10 mg tablet. While there is no problem taking the full tablet, I have found that often enough taking half the pill is sufficient. I would not, however, exceed the recommended dose as it still is a drug.

It isn't cheap. It normally costs between 40-45 baht per tablet.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

You'd better listen to Neeranam very closely. I have a similar experience. Two years bit by bit withdrawal. i know what unpleasant is, having had the DTs several times.

Instead of jumping to a pill bottle, balance the "nuisance" of making some non-medicinal effort to sleep to being addicted for the rest of your life. Addiction is a serious business. You must realise that both alcohol and soporifics/anxiolytics, after a few hours of having an effect, will cause a rebound, and you will feel more anxious/awake than you did in the first place. There is no such thing as a free medicinal lunch. A vicious circle that you're better off staying out of.

I suggest:

Modest or much better still no drinking.

Lots of exercise as late as possible, maybe teatime.

Meditation.

A balanced healthy and ethical life.

If after a LOT of effort...and i mean a campaign.....you have no joy, you might consider a very moderate dose of a trycyclic antidepressant. They aid sleep and not just to get you to drop off but to extend it. They are well understood.

Powdered kava root is another alternative that will help, but I feel the best route is to look for the root of the problem.

Good luck

Sleepyjohn

Link to comment
Share on other sites

You'd better listen to Neeranam very closely. I have a similar experience. Two years bit by bit withdrawal. i know what unpleasant is, having had the DTs several times.

Instead of jumping to a pill bottle, balance the "nuisance" of making some non-medicinal effort to sleep to being addicted for the rest of your life. Addiction is a serious business. You must realise that both alcohol and soporifics/anxiolytics, after a few hours of having an effect, will cause a rebound, and you will feel more anxious/awake than you did in the first place. There is no such thing as a free medicinal lunch. A vicious circle that you're better off staying out of.

I suggest:

Modest or much better still no drinking.

Lots of exercise as late as possible, maybe teatime.

Meditation.

A balanced healthy and ethical life.

If after a LOT of effort...and i mean a campaign.....you have no joy, you might consider a very moderate dose of a trycyclic antidepressant. They aid sleep and not just to get you to drop off but to extend it. They are well understood.

Powdered kava root is another alternative that will help, but I feel the best route is to look for the root of the problem.

Sleepyjohn, you give excellent advice. However, in answer to Chivas' original question, Stilnox is a safe sleeping tablet. It is not from the benzodiazepine family and has very short half life (2 hours).  It has been around since 1992. I have tried the kava root and it had no affect (on me). I don't know what the trycyclic antidepressant is and will research it.

Thanks,

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I found stilnox to be good to relax me so that i could "drift off" and i did not feel like i had a hangover in the morning. But i only took one weeks worth (my father had died) and i was able to get off them easily.

Read a really boring book, that'll get you to sleep...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 years ago, the day before my flight back to Sydney, I realized there were no more Temazepan tablets left, the package of 25 had lasted for more than 3 years.

Asked at pharmacies, they all said - go to hospital to get them.

So I did. What a grilling I had to go through. Finally, I was issued with 5 tablets but not until after the doctor in BKK made a call my doctor in Sydney to verify there was no addiction.

Some things can be had over the counter but those tablets I could not get, even received strange looks.

When back, I handed over the remaining 4 pills to my GP and was issued with another pack of 30. They may last past their expiry date (5 years) as I don't fly more than 6-7 hours any more.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Its best to use the same phamacy and build up a bit of trust buy buying other stuff,I was able to buy alprazolam easily, for sleeping when not drinking,but be careful sounds like your building up a resistance,and as Neeranam will tell you Benzodiazepines are very very hard to get off

Yes, I can tell you that it is a total nightmare to come off that drug!

I was hooked on it, up to 200mg a day(mixed with booze) for over 5 years and it took me a long time to come off it, doing a taper.

Worse than any other drug, including heroin, speed, cocaine and booze.

Even a slow taper means you are constantly feeling <deleted> - Depersonalization, derealization, cramps, insomnia etc etc and it can last for years.

It is very easy to build up a high tolerance.

Be very careful - especially if you have had any drink problem.

Here they call it "mao haeng", dry booze.

It is very hard to buy it over the counter now.

If you have to take one once in a while -Xanax is probably the best due to it's anxiolitic and hypnotic effects and short half-life, but also makes it the most addictive.

Don't trust what Thai doctors say about it either. it's criminal how they hand it out, telling their patients that it's not addictive, whilst getting flights to Singapore off the drug companies. :o

N :D N

Are you serious about the 200mg a day? I can't imagine how anyone could even function. Not to mention mixing it with booze... How many mg's did you start out at in the beginning? And how many years did it take you to get up to 200?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The Dude has 1st hand experience with Oxycontin, Codeine, Xanax, and Clonazepam. The Dude has experience and abused all of these drugs for about 5 years and combined them with Alcohol as well. The Dude has recommendations for the OP as well as anyone else taking, abusing or seeking to take any of these drugs; DON'T BOTHER WITH THEM. Yes they are "habit forming" if not outright addictive. The opiates (codeine oxys) are especially tough to get off and cause the abuser to go through a heroine like withdraw. It just isn't worth taking any of these drugs as they take you over. Each day you think about taking more, it consumes you. The Dude never went anywhere w/o a pack of tylenol 3s in his pocket. The Dude scrapped the whole drug thing about 2 years ago and shall never return. Everyone's best bet is to bypass the garbage. It will take you nowhere or do anything positive for you. Grab a large shovel and dig saying no to these drugs.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Are you serious about the 200mg a day? I can't imagine how anyone could even function. Not to mention mixing it with booze... How many mg's did you start out at in the beginning? And how many years did it take you to get up to 200?

I started on about maybe 10-20 mg a day, in the morning after drinking at night.

It gradually went up and over 5 years got to ridiculous amounts.

It took a similar time to get off it.

These drugs do have certain uses, but I wouldn't ever take it again.

OK, I'd say for combatting jet-lag, unless you are a frequent flyer.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 years later...

For two decades I used various soporifics (sleep inducers), narcotics, anxiety-reducers, hypnotics, many kinds - both prescription and non-prescription. Much easier to purchase in India and Cambodia than in Thailand. However, due to grogginess in morning, side-effects and tolerance issue I cannot recommend them. Exercise (although not right before bed) and kava root powder proved much more effective in my experience. See my kava post. A doctor in Mai Sae recommended Sangthip (Thai rum?) which just turned me into a drunk insomniac for the night. Certain varieties of a herb popular in British Columbia (best organic and homegrown) can induce sleep after initial 'up' but I find the effect too strong for purposes of sleep, plus Thailand seems to now have a zero tolerance policy to nature's herbs. And DON'T use Paxil if you want to have a love life. I suppose it depends on what is the cause of your insomnia. But for anxiety I highly discourage others from using chemical pills. They all have down sides. Kava (piper meythisticum?), taken at a maintenance dose rather than for recreational purposes - I find this the perfect solution for me.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Extreme caution with opiates

While I think the war on drugs mentality is ineffective, wasteful and anti-personal freedom, I also think that we have to use common sense with strong drugs like opiates. Speaking about health rather politics(lest I get on my soap box), opiates might be required if one is in extreme pain. But used habitually, there are huge tolerance and dependency issues. My aunt has moved on from 15 years of oxycodene (the non time released version of oxycontin) and now is on morphine sulfate. Opiates constipate too. Using codeine recreationally in CNX (purchased retail at a pharmacy, after consdierable searching) I thought my guts were going to explode and I had to manually clean out my rectum of what amounted to SAND! I'd like to have stash of 19th century style tincture of opium on hand for if I ever get cancer, but would never consider using it regularly. BTW, codeine and perhaps other opiates do not provide a restful sleep, but rather a sort of dumbed restful experience of zero pain or anxiety - great for writing. Lousy for health.

For anecdotal reports on using drugs alone or in combination see Erowid.com (or is it .org?) This is a rational, realitistic, freedom-oriented webiste that doesn't give a column inch to hysteria but rather reports what actually happnes when using drugs, according to individuals' own experiences rather than scientific studies or scare campaigns.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.







×
×
  • Create New...