Sleeping pill - any advice please?

I have been an insomniac all my life, starting at age 15. It wasn't as tough as a younger person as I was out till late and had to be up for work!

I have had prescription pills which work, but the dose needs increasing if you take them long term to get to sleep. Then, even if you are a cold turkey type person and can resist the urge, your body feels rough without them, so you have to taper off.

Finally I found that instead of Nytol, which has a weak antihisamine, I switched to Somminex which has a better antihisamine ingredient, promethazine hydrochloride.

But wait! Somminex comes in small packages, so now I buy Phenergan 25mg 56-tablet packet which is promethazine hydrochloride marketed as an antihistamine, travel sickness remedy, or sleep aid. Cheaper in the long run that the Somminex one

Boots are so nanny-state about giving them out, so I go to an independent chemist who knows me and why I take them. Or you can buy online. (Caution, Somminex sells an herbal version, not the same thing).

One a night along with a couple of Valerian root capsules (the good kind, not cheapie low-grade) does the trick now.

Do not drink any caffeine after 3pm in he afternoon... very important!

I am sleeping as well now as when I took a whole host of strong prescription meds. I get 6-7 hours with only waking up a couple of times to wee, but have always had that. Then back to sleep.

Zopiclone do the trick and knock you out, I was prescribed them once when going through a very stressful time. Doctor's only give you two weeks worth as they are addictive but hopefully in that time you would break the habit of not sleeping. I didn't take them for two weeks as I didn't feel in control! But it was good to have one occasionally when exhaustion set in after several sleepless nights. I hope you get some decent sleep soon as without sleep we are pretty useless.

I have been taking zopiclone for many years, and yes, they are addictive.
So be very careful.

They are short acting, so only designed to get you of to sleep, but not keep you asleep.
Sleeping for about four hours seems to be the norm. If they were designed to last longer, it would make more sense to me.
I very rarely get back of to sleep again.
Unfortunately, sleep deprivation can take over your life if you let it.
We just have to get on with it, sleep,or no Sleep

By the way, Temazepam are much stronger than Zopiclone.
Reduce dosage by a half and if you still have problems seek drs advice.

Just to add to my last message, on You tube you can find and listen to sleep hypnosis they are very good and relaxing and get you into the zone on dropping of to sleep. All without the awful after effects of the dreaded sleeping pill.

As a very reluctant pill taker, I'm also someone that doesn't sleep well but the after effects of sleeping pills for me was worse that not sleeping. I felt groggy well into the day became dispondant and felt pretty useless.I read up on them and found out an induced sleep is not a good sleep and you don't wake feeling refreshed.I decided I would throw them away and try the natural way.Good luck

I get the most terrifying nightmares with practically anything I take....the last one involved Lenny Henry asking me to help him bury numerous dead bodies, and I was still too scared in the morning to open the blinds in case the police were on the doorstep. Yet, put something on the telly that i really want to watch and 10 mins in, I have nodded off...........

No matter what, my GP will never prescribe any sort of sleeping tablets, suggesting hot milk, walks etc! I do the hot milk, but not good sleeper as carer for disabled DH and also being disabled myself. When at my wits' end I take a couple of Nytol or Boots OB equivalent. If that doesn't work, get up and make a cup of Clipper "Snore & Peace" herb tea. It doesn't do much, but allows DH a bit of rest.

Hi,

I have just started to take Amitriotyline. My GP said it was an old fashioned pill for mild depression but has a side effect of relaxing the muscles and aiding sleep. I take 10mg an hour or so before bed and usually helps, but he did tell me I can take 1 or 2 pills. These are not addictive and I know several other people who use them. I do not take them every night, only when needed. Cheers.

Perhaps you could view this as 2 weeks when you will just do less than normal whilst these tablets are getting you into the habit of sleeping better. I would definitely take them earlier in the evening - unless you are a night owl and don't want to go to bed early. Most of these things affect you more at first so maybe it will settle in a few days. Or could you take a lower dose?
I used Piriton recently to help me sleep but it's much milder than sleeping tablets.

I find the soporific effect kicks in about half an hour after I've taken the tablet - if I took it an hour or two earlier it would have worn off!

Hello Nonnie

You have my sympathy, anaesthetic knocks me for six, too!!

Although not currently on sleeping pills, I have for quite some time been on medication for anxiety/depression.

It took a few tries to find one that suited, and then a bit more experimentation on my part to find the best time of day to take them.

Although the prescription advice is to take the last one at night, I have found that 6pm works for me, although as a Radio 4 listener, I find I'm living proof of Pavlov's theory, in that I hear the "bongs" that herald the news, and automatically head for the cupboard where my tablets are!

Sending you every good wish.

There are two doses of zopiclone. If you have been given the 7.5 mg ones ask if you can try 3.75 mg as you sound very susceptible to their effects, Nonnie. Also try taking it an hour or two earlier in the evening so that the effect wears off earlier in the morning.( retired medic)

www.telegraph.co.uk/wellbeing/sleep/25-tips-and-tricks-to-help-you-get-a-better-sleep/

The link takes you to an interesting article about sleeping. You could perhaps keep a sleep diary for a couple of weeks, as suggested in the article, to see if there's a pattern to your wakefulness. I don't suppose that would work if you're taking sleeping pills though. Good luck with sorting it. My sleep tends to be disrupted by worry. I sleep well when I haven't got anything to worry about! Mindfulness can help you too. There's a FutureLearn mindfulness course here:

www.futurelearn.com/courses/mindfulness-wellbeing-performance

It's a really enjoyable, totally free course and doesn't require too much study time. I really looked forward to the course materials arriving each Monday for six weeks and was quite sad when it ended! No qualifications are needed for these courses. This one starts on Monday the 19th Sept so take a look and join soon ?

I tried those Kirkland Sleep Aid tablets and I felt like a zombie the next day after taking just half of one. Nytol gave me nightmares (and the herbal ones were even worse!)

People's reactions to various drugs are of course different, I'll stick with zopiclone for semi-regular use - past caring about addition issues!

Kirkland Sleep Aid from the USA are very effective for me on occasional basis, but they're strong with some potential next-day after-effects. A third of a tab is a good way in. These pills are very old-fashioned anti-histamines. Try googling them. They're not cheap, but it might be worth trying them.

I use Kalms night time if I havent been able to sleep for a while but even they can be addictive.

Taking stronger pills long term is not a solution.

I have found Boots Sleep Ezy (sp) very effective on odd occasions. It's an over the counter one and I think is quite like taking a strong travel sickness pill? Only seems effective for a couple of successive nights so won't become a habit. I agree with previous posters re Melatonin which is a sleep hormone, but made me feel zonked the next day. Canadian sister in law was amazed you could not buy it over the counter here as in North America.

I'm the opposite. The only time I've had sleeping pills is in hospital and they did nothing. Also nothing works very well on me, which no one seems to believe either. Hope you can work it out.

I love to dream! (Internal locus)

Yes, I know it's addictive too, but better to have one addiction than two?! I suspect I have more than two if I include chocolate etc

wot! Enjoy your trips.

Zopiclone is addictive too, wot!

Isn't Temazepam a really strong one TriciaF? Are you sure you should take that without the doc knowing?

And yet melatonin is banned in England!!

Doctors tell me off for still taking sleeping tablets but it's their fault for prescribing them to me. I was supposed to stay on codydramol but had the sense to know they could be addictive so I don't use them.