I’ve been struggling with sleep issues for over a decade now. My Doctor has prescribed me all sorts of medication, all of which has had many adverse side effects. What I do know that works, is Xanax. My wife was prescribed it for some stress issues and occasionally will give me one so I can finally sleep. Obviously asking my Doctor, “can I have Xanax” Will not go well. I’ve eluded to it in ways and the response has always been along the lines of “that’s habit forming, I’d rather you try this”. Of the many medications prescribed, none have worked. Resorting to the dark web is something I’d really rather not do. Fentanyl laced drugs took my sister and it’s a road I hope to not have to explore. Any suggestions?
Do you drink a lot of caffeine and sugary drinks?
No sugar, too much black coffee though. Only drink black coffee, sparkling water and regular water.
Brother, if you are having sleep issues and haven’t cut out caffeine yet, you owe it to yourself to start weaning off of it asap and see how that works for you. I can’t have any caffeine after noon, for instance, or else my sleep is fucked.
Other folks on here have already made the Xanax-anxiety connection for you, so I think it’s relevant to point out that in some people, caffeine is an anxiogenic, just saying.
I hope you find better sleep even if this is a dead end.
Thanks, giving up caffeine will be a tough one but sleep is more important for sure
Yeah you’re likely caught in a caffeine spiral. You don’t sleep, so you need caffeine, which means you don’t sleep, which means you need even more caffeine, repeat.
Also as strange as this sounds, multivitamin and magnesium (not magnesium oxide).
I am hyper sensitive to caffeine, I was having debilitating migraines almost daily and got horrible sleep when I was drinking coffee and coke all day. Stopped cold turkey and drink just water and sometimes juice, but I sleep better than ever and I no longer have migraines. You should really cut it completely out, you wouldn’t believe how much better you will feel just removing the sugary and caffeine drinks out.
It’s going to be tough to give up coffee. Bravo on going cold turkey. I may have to ween myself off with decaf.
Cold turkey sucked but the relief I got from cutting it out was well worth the week of pain. Once you’re no longer having to have caffeine to just function, you will find that you have more energy and feel way better without it.
Yeah it’s hard to help because you didn’t go into the nature of your sleep issues, but I had wicked bad insomnia for about 2 decades and sleep great now. CBD/weed helped immensely as well as getting a white noise machine.
Edit: also look up binaural beats and try delta waves. You’ll need a good set of over the ear headphones and you need to just lie in bed in the dark playing it. You can also try yoga nidra, which if you haven’t heard of it is not actually yoga. It’s a form of meditation that you do lying in bed that can help with falling asleep.
Thanks for the advice!
Here’s what worked for me when I was an insomniac.
Tune out. Turn off the news. Block it from your life. Disengage from all politics.
Meditate at least once per day. Start out with one minute of meditation and increase the time as you get better at it.
Try to get some physical exercise every couple of days if you can. Bodybuilding works great, but it’s a difficult habit to form if you’re a depressed insomniac.
Turn off all electronic screens at least 2 hours before bed time.
Use incandescent or color temp adjusting LED lights for warm lighting in the evening. Turn light intensity down a couple hours before bed.
No caffeine after 3 pm. None! That includes chocolate.
Eat a balanced meal a couple hours before bed.
Drink chamomile and valerian root tea an hour before bedtime, take 5 mg of melatonin, and then go to bed.
Go to bed an hour before you need to be asleep and start reading. Read something boring. The Bible often works for me, but you can pick whatever makes you sleepy.
Get a white noise machine if there is background noise where you sleep.
Don’t lay in bed at any other point during the day. Don’t have a TV in the bedroom. The bed and bedroom needs to be a place of sleep and rest. Keep it sacred.
It takes some discipline and it certainly requires changing your habits, but that worked for me. In 2020 I was getting less than 2 hours of sleep per night, and I lost 15 pounds. I felt like I was literally dying all day, and I probably actually was. I implemented all of those changes and my sleep returned. I slept like crazy for a long time, getting caught up. Now my sleep schedule is pretty healthy, and I feel safe saying that I’ve mostly cured my chronic insomnia. Good luck to you!
Not a doctor, but I believe people should be careful with selfmedicating melatonine. Each person needs a different amount and at different times to make it effective. Too much melatonine can actually make you sleepy during daytime, or have an adverse effect on sleep. Get help from a sleeping expert on whether this is right for you.
Rest of the tips are great.
Agree wholeheartedly with this comment and the parent comment.
It’s frustrating to hear but sleep hygiene is the answer for the vast majority of people.
Xanax and benzos in general will make your sleep worse in the long term. Medium term even. They should be avoided.
Too much melatonin–about about 5mg for most people–tends to cause nightmares.
I’m not a doctor, and certainly not your doctor. But agree with the comment about anxiety - if the Xanax helps, you are treating anxiety that’s keeping you awake, right?
Have you tried running? Or some other tiring physical activity? I’m wound pretty tight and without physical exercise, preferably to the point of exhaustion, it’s very difficult for my brain to let go. But with physical exhaustion from physical activity comes mental relaxation.
You know the Xanax helps, are there other times you’ve had good sleep? Do you know what the conditions were that let you fall and stay asleep?
Also one of my kids got relief by taking Adderall, as counterintuitive as that sounds, helping the ADD helped her sleep even though she was taking literal speed. So please go to a doctor who can evaluate you for anything that might be going on in your mind, you might have room for more improvement than you think. And really - exercise.
I have an unusual amount of fucked up shit that’s happened in my life and enough demons pulling on me to end the story. I have some months off soon so I’m going to focus on health and wellness hopefully. I started hiking at sunrise, which was great for a few months. I have the bad habit of reverting.
if the Xanax helps, you are treating anxiety that’s keeping you awake, right?
I am also not a doctor, but I just want to point out that xans can knock you out regardless of anxiety. I absolutely do not have anxiety, but I go straight to sleep if I recreationally take xans. Snorting some roxy’s and passing out doesn’t mean you’ve treated underlying pain you didn’t know you had either, you’re just taking something that’s a sedative and becoming sedated.
Correlation vs causation and all that.
I cannot believe I forgot yin yoga. Yin yoga knocks me out better than drugs. Do it in the bed. Lots of forward folds calms your nerves, tricks your brain into feeling safe. You can look them up online, and do them all with pillows stuffed in the spaces where you can’t reach (like if you are bending over your legs put a pillow between your belly and legs) don’t use effort. Hold each pose a long time - 4-6 minutes.
Seconding the recommendation for Nidra too, but Yin I find works better to lull my brain into sleep in an acute situation. Nidra is more like trippy, relaxing and between awake and asleep, healing in the long term.
One thing I read that stayed with me was “vigilance is the enemy of sleep”. Since you are so stressed with work, probably your mind stays on alert. It’s counterproductive but normal, it’s like it thinks it’s your turn to watch for threats all night long. The yin yoga fights that feeling very well.
So I have some experience with this and have a few things I want to tell you:
Consider a dedicated sleep study. If you have sleep apnea, medication will not fix your problem and some medications may actually make it worse.
Xanax (an anxiety medication) and Ambien (a sleep medication) are very similar drugs with respect to their mechanism of action. Xanax binds to a specific group of receptors to cause anxiolytic effects and happens to also make you sleepy. Ambien binds to a subset of those same receptors to make you sleepy, but don’t have the strong anxiety reducing effect. If Xanax works for you, Ambien should theoretically have a similar effect. In practice, it doesn’t tend to work as well because anxiety can keep you awake. If that has been your experience with Ambien, think about taking some steps to address anxiety even if you don’t think it’s that bad. Yoga, counseling, meditation, whatever. There are also guided breathing audio sessions designed to put you to sleep in apps like Fitbit and calm that may be helpful.
You can also supplement a prescription sleep aid with something non prescription, which is what I do. I take Ambien, and to keep my dose low I supplement with melatonin, tryptophan, and valerian root when I need an extra kick into sleepiness. I’ve heard CBD is also quite effective for this. Magnesium reportedly also helps with restful sleep, but get a sleep formulation because magnesium in the wrong form causes diarrhea.
Don’t underestimate sleep hygiene. For a long time I had the attitude of “I have real sleep problems, basic stuff like cutting back caffeine is not going to help.” The thing is, when taken together, that kind of stuff actually can help tremendously. I scheduled a month where I went hardcore on sleep hygiene. Strict caffeine limits, no late caffeine or exercise, don’t do anything on your bed but sleep and sex, wake up at the same early time every day even when you don’t have to, limit screens before, bed… I mean ALL of it. I found that it actually really helped. In combination with medication it might be a life saver. Might be worth doing your own experiment with it.
Good luck!
Thanks for the advice! I have a few months off this summer so going to dedicate that time to relearning how to live, hah
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Thanks so much for all this. I only intake caffeine, marijuana and alcohol. Going to start weening myself off coffee for sure and I’m always trying to minimize the other two. Going to spend some months this summer relearning how to live.
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Alcohol used to wreck my sleep. I’d come home, dog-tired at 7 PM, have a few (and a few more) drinks, look up and 6 hours had passed.
I ended up burning out, and having to quit both booze and weed. It was the best thing that ever happened to me. Along with all the obvious health, psychological and financial benefits, I sleep amazingly well now.
Wow. I just want to say thank you for such a thoughtful, informed, detailed response. You are an amazing person!
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Don’t know if you tried this. The only thing that stops me from sleeping is my own brain
Op, I have been suffering from sleep issues for years, what I found it works:
- Sleep/Awake (roughtly) at the same time every day
- No alcohol
- No Caffeine after 15:00
- Weed (if you don’t want/can getting high, CBD is legal almost everywhere, but tbh CBD does nothing for me
- Melotonin (otc, helps sleep, not adictive)
- Sports
Thanks for the advice!
I have really terrible insomnia too. Then I tried my friends Pregabalin, and oh boy. Never had such a restful sleep.
It is a bit habit forming, but if you keep it to just before bedtime it’s a wonderful sleep aid, and much less risky than Xanax.
It’s not without its risks of course, and some people are better with it than others, but might be worth asking your doctor about. They prescribe it for almost anything where I’m from.
Pregabalin actually has the opposite effect on me, it wakes me up so I take it in the morning. It also gives me some pretty bad withdrawals if I miss a dose by more than 24hrs. I’m only on 400mg and it’s one of the few drugs I’ve been on that actually help with my depression, so not bashing it, just sharing my experience. :)
eta: it’s been a long time since I’ve tried taking it at night, I’m going to try it again and report back. Maybe I’ve been missing out on a cure to my whack ass sleep this whole time
update: nah it actually didn’t make much of a difference for better or worse. I’m glad it helps for some people though!
That’s fair, I have also heard that effect happens to some people. I should also mention when I used it for sleep I tried to use it very sparingly, and never try to exceed much higher than 150mg for sleep. Otherwise higher doses get too groovy for me haha
I don’t have an answer and it may not apply to you but Benzos like Xanax are dangerous man.
Like it was nearly the end of me, yet I still get nostalgic for them. Be careful is alls I’m saying.
I hear you. I have addictive tendencies so it probably would backfire.
Honestly if this helps I was wasted on Xans one night and ended up falling in a canal alone and was terrified.
I threw away my stash, not knowing you should taper and can die just stopping.
What proceeded was a week of me lay in bed unable to eat but starving, twitching like a crack head at any movement, insomnia, shaking, sweats like nothing else, panic attacks and just generally wanting to die.
As I said before they feel that good that I would probably have been back on them if I didn’t stop going on the DarkWeb and falling out the loop with marketplaces.
I know it must be hard with your sleep issues, even more so as doctors are not keen on prescribing sleeping tablets due to the addictive nature of them, but I do hope you find a solution that works.
Finally I hope you don’t think I am lecturing you, just really wanted to stress how hard benzos are.
That said if a doctor prescribed them to you then they would manage any tapering off when it was time to come off them.
Good luck.
I get anxiety and have sleep problems too. My good friend gave me some of the cbd thc gummies. I take like 5mg and sleep great. Eventually you build up a tolerance, so for me, every 4 months I take a week off and sleep like shit to reset the tolerance and I’m good to go again. I don’t know if it’s a legal option for you, but it’s a game changer.
SoCal here. We have all the weed, thanks for the tips
There are no effective long term sleep medications except possibly THC. They’re all habit forming and you will get a tolerance, which will make sleeping impossible when you stop taking them. Benzodiazepines are garbage drugs and you will get addicted taking them for sleep. I had a nasty habit for years and kicking it was one of the worst things I’ve had to do. Please do not get involved with benzos.
For THC I’ve switched over to edibles and they do help sometimes. Had to stop smoking it for various health reasons.
Did you try cbd then? One of my coworker swear by it. One or two drop under the the tongue and he goes to sleep like a baby.
Edit: nvm i just saw you were already on it. You might try to slow down on the thc and give cdb a bigger chance since too much thc might give you more anxiety.
Totally. I’m 100% a burn out and need to tone it down. I’ve battled with learning moderation when it comes to weed but I’ve had lots of bumps in the road. Trying to ween myself off smoking and go straight edibles. I should try the “under the tongue” concentrates though. Thanks
I don’t discount your experience but I want to point out that benzos can be a very useful tool for people, especially with panic disorder, and they’re not inherently a trash drug.
While some people may develop a problem, others are able to use them on an as-needed basis long term. I’m sorry you struggled but glad you were able to overcome it. It’s absolutely understandable why you would feel negatively towards benzos as a whole.
It’s possible to be both a useful and trash drug. Benzos are inherently dangerous in ways that lots of other drugs are not, it is very easy to fuck up your life with them.
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Despite their effectiveness at treating anxiety I’d still call them bad drugs. I’ve seen more people get their lives fucked up than get better, as they’re frequently inappropriately prescribed for long term use to treat the symptom without addressing the cause. Benzos are also one of the few drugs that can kill you with withdrawal, and the withdrawal lasts significantly longer than opiates. They’re essential for treating acute anxiety, but I really think the manner in which they’re prescribed needs to be improved. I think it would be a good thing to move away from the benzodiazepine class altogether to a more specific drug that doesn’t just hammer GABA receptors so broadly.
What, specifically, have they tried? Did you try trazodone? I don’t think Xanax is the solution you think it may be even though it worked for you.
Is the issue falling asleep or staying asleep? Do you have an idea of what prevents you from falling asleep? What do you think about when you’re in bed falling asleep? What is your natural sleep cycle timeline? In other words, when do you naturally get sleepy and if given no restrictions, when would you wake up? How is your sleep hygiene (really, not just what you tell people)?
Do not, I repeat, do not go in there asking for Xanax or you will be labeled a drug seeker permanently. A doctor is not going to give you Xanax for this, full stop. They’re going to ask all of the above questions and try other avenues first. If they suspect an anxiety disorder they will move up that avenue and you may need a benzo but you have to be under care for a while and basically prove you’re trustworthy.
I have massive sleep problems too but you don’t have enough information in your post to give any other advice other than the standard sleep hygiene stuff you’ve already been told.
Trazadone was pretty intolerable with all the dry mouth side effects, plus it didn’t really help sleep a ton. I have a lot of problems with stress and anxiety. From a stressful job, to an insane family and some horrific life shit that happened over the past years. It’s tough to get my mind to stop racing sometimes. I’ve depended too much on substances in the past to manage it, and I know that probably means something habit forming may backfire. Honestly I’m always tired, but at times I’ll just lay there, tossing back and forth. Without restrictions, I can normally sleep from about 10PM-6AM, that seems to be the pattern for this point in my life. I’ve recently tried to start going for a hike at sunrise and that did help. Going to get back to doing that soon.
I know it feels tangential to getting a good night’s sleep when you haven’t had one in a long time, but if you have access to therapy consider making an appointment. Any one of those would be worth time with a therapist, and mental wellness definitely affects your sleep quality. This isn’t to say it’s all in your head or your fault you can’t sleep or anything like that, just that your mental health is as important a contributor to your wellness as your physical health.
I’ll definitely consider it again. I’m not a people person and find it extremely hard to trust people. But I also don’t talk much and things just end up festering.
All therapists aren’t the same, if you don’t click with someone after a session or two that’s completely a valid reason to dump them and try a different one. I know it can be disheartening if you have to go through a few, especially when getting to the point that you’re in therapy to begin with is already so much work. But from personal experience I would say it’s definitely worth it.
Be sure to bring up that you have a hard time opening up and trusting people, it’s definitely relevant to why you’re there and it’s a pretty common problem to have when seeing a therapist. Any good therapist will be able to help you find strategies for ways to work around it, like writing things out ahead of time if that’s easier for you.
It sounds like you’ve had a hell of a rough time with it, I hope you get some good rest and healing soon.
Thanks for the advice, have a good weekend
This. Anxiety has a lot of solutions now but a medical doctor (as opposed to a psychiatrist) probably isn’t the place to get them. A simple combo of things can work minor miracles. Good luck!
Thanks
Are you seeing a family doctor, or a sleep specialist? You want the latter, and a sleep study.
The classes of drugs that might help are imperfect at best, I’d be partial to a benzo before e.g., Ambien or related, given the inherent risks of sleepwalking and worse with those drugs.
I’m going to do a sleep study this summer. I have some months off so my plan is to focus on health and wellness.
Good choice, and as hard as it is, trust the boring “drop caffiene” and bedtime advice. After a few weeks your body will acclimate to the timing, too. Honestly though, the best thing for me is a long weekend backpacking trip. After a day or so of strenuous hiking, and a terrible first night sleep, it’s like your body sees the sun set and is like “I’m done”. Can really reset your clock.
Thanks! Definitely going to ween myself off coffee this summer. Finishing up an edit gig now and it’s all that keeps me cranking
Maybe like try massive amounts of CBD and THC. Max 1:1 ratio but better 10-20:1.
But I assume you did because this is like very popular and mainstream first thing to do
So maybe then L-Theanine? And broccoli sprouts, hard to explain the sprouts but they make me so sleepy.
Though nothing makes me as sleepy as when my phone battery runs out. Literally knocks me out
Thanks for the advice!
