I Can't Sleep Anymore, Drug Advice

I want some drug options for promoting sleep. Despite claims of my ENT, CBT and talk therapies fail to relax me and promote sound sleep.

Exercise was helpful at boosting mood, promoting sleep, and even increasing sec drive at first. However, it very quickly ceased that so I stopped. Ultimately exercise failed to improve mood, and made my sleep more erratic than before.

Meditation, yoga, and other so-called relaxation exercises also fail or are highly likely to fail.

I cannot take Clonazepam forever so I need good drugs or medications that promote sleep without diet or exercise changes and do not boost mood and decrease stress. That rules our ineffective antidepressants.

I need something that is antihistamine (but not an antipsychotic or antidepressant) or a light GABA agonist. I'm starting to be as miserable as I was when this all started. Since I cannot cause permanent cell death in the DCN and damage dendritic trees so the brain cannot "heal" itself, I am stuck with this fucking noise.

I need a non-mood enhancing drug that will knock me out.

 

@Gl0w0ut
Sorry to hear of your struggle with sleeping, it's the worst.
I recently came of Remeron and although I have no trouble falling asleep, I was waking frequently during the night.
I have tinnitus that spikes if I wake up out of a sleep cycle. If I can sleep 4-5 hours straight, then it's fine, if not, it's raging.
Nothing I can think of to try, I too notice not much of an effect from melatonin which is disappointing....
I have to really relax myself to go back to sleep. I use masking (not to fall asleep, but if I wake during the night).
I wish I had something more to help you.... just wanted to let you know I feel your pain!
We are all stuck with this noise unfortunately... hopefully not forever.

 

Diphenhydramine, chlorpheniramine and other first-generation antihistamines.

I tried only 50mg diphenhydramine and slept about 7-8 hours instead of regular 3-5.

 

Doxylaminsuccinat

 

ENT's are about as useless as a chair witha sh*t on it, when it comes to anything T related..
CBT will not help you, unless you can get the person sitting across the room from you (who likely never had Tinnitus) to lower the volume inside your head, via some standardized therapy crap like "try not to think about it"..etc.

But there are few things you could try:
Valerian root tincture..make sure it is good quality.
There is a homeopatic remedy called R14 (Dr Reckweg)..I tried it myself with good results.
Be careful with melatonin..if your body is able to produce enough on your own, it will actually hurt your sleep..
Drink lots of chamomile tea in the evening.
Anything lemon balm is good as well (tea, capsules)
5 HTP is also good.

 

Sleep has been my main issue since getting bad T.
Some things that may help:
Montmorency cherry juice (contains melatonin) - Helped me at the start when T wasn't as loud.
Valerian tea - Still helps me sometimes
Hops / lavendar (in a bag next to your pillow) - can help you relax
Inulin (Prebiotic) - some evidence it can give you a couple of hours extra sleep.
Magnesium
Tryptophan / 5 HTP

 

- I would also recommend taking magnesium supplements, magnesium citrate is the most absorbable magnesium supplement. I tried magnesium oxide from the bargain bin for a very low price for about 2 months but its the least bio-available and did nothing, citrate works to mellow me out.
- Protein before bed also helps some for me.
- I just got the RAD Roller, tool for massaging yourself, I use it only for my lower back, its quite nice, been using it for a couple days now and if I can't sleep I go and massage my back for a bit, works some as well. Plus its just 25,-.

 

I take Magnesium Citrate most days for my Adderall pre dose

 

@Gl0w0ut,
How have you been the last couple of days and sleeping also ?
love glynis

 

Haven't been sleeping great. Yesterday my tinnitus was back to before my "reset" but today it's back to that anxiety provoking level

 

A low dose AD well bellow the therapeutic dose for depression will help you sleep long term.
I hope your tinnitus settles soon.

...love glynis

 

I'm done with those crappy drugs, including amitriptyline given how awful I feel in the morning. Hard to imagine how I can feel fine for so long, and then regress right back into it. This goddamn ringing may cause the death of me.

 

It's hard going when tinnitus doesn't let up.
My breathing is hard at the moment and a daily struggle ,I hate being this way so have to rest up and carn't do a thing about it only take maximum meds till it picks up......
love glynis

 

I appreciate the kind words. We will see if this gets better

 

Tinnitus listed as side effect of Doxylamin in Deutsch Wiki.

I can also say that 90mg of Magnesium Glycinate 1-2 hours before bed on empty stomach make me heavy and favors for sleep.

Daily intake of magnesium, mg/day:
Girls from 14 to 18 years old ― 360mg
Boys from 14 to 18 years old ―410mg
Men from 19 to 30 years old ―400mg
Men 31 years and over ―420mg
Women from 19 to 30 years ―310mg
Women 31 years and over ―320mg
Pregnant women from 14 to 18 years old ―400mg
Pregnant women from 19 to 30 years old ―350mg
Pregnant women 31 years and older ―360mg
Breastfeeding women between 14 and 18 years of age ―360mg
Breastfeeding women from 19 to 30 years ―310mg
Breast-feeding women 31 years and older ―320mg

 

My personal experience? No computer or cell phone use after 7:00 pm. Calm the brain down if you can do that. There are studies somewhere about people without tinnitus but having trouble sleeping because of cell phone usage and the brightness of the screen.

I haven't found anything med wise that really helps. I use a lot of calming teas if you are interested in that.

 

5htp seems to have the opposite effect on me. I tried it the past few nights and I was wide awake thinking why isn't tjit stuff working for me.

 

I used to use Albuterol. My NP recommended and prescribed Advair. I went from about 16 puffs a day to twice a day. Not sure if it can help you. I didn't think it could help me, but it works great for me.

 

After taking many sleep pills, I can say that 1mg sublingual melatonin works better on me, it does not calm you down like benzo, but it puts you to sleep as if you were falling asleep naturally.

The only disadvantage I noticed that melatonin sometimes makes vivid dreams.

 

Hi @Emster,
Thank you for thinking of me.
I take Salbutamol easyhaler
Fostair
Spiriva
Montelucast Singulair
Salbutamol nebulizer nebules.

love glynis

 

Pay attention to the dosage. More isn't always better: https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/E4cKD9iTWHaE7f3AJ/melatonin-much-more-than-you-wanted-to-know

I was taking too much before too, and even 300 mcg doesn't seem to provide a good ROI for me: it just doesn't feel good to me. But we're all different, so YMMV.

 

I tried a liquid melatonin and for me the side effect was much more sensitivity to any noise. It felt like my brain wanted to explode.

Recently we found this product called Super Slumber Helper by SuperiorSource. We both noticed that we slept better and didn't wake up as much. They are very small pellets and you just put one under your tongue disolves quickly.

Here it is:
https://www.amazon.com/Superior-Source-Slumber-Instant-Dissolve/dp/B008SC75KU

 

I would recommend skipping the supplements and putting a TV in your bedroom, I know that a TV in the bedroom goes against any sleep advice you could ever get, but what I do is find something on TV that's mildy interesting, watch it and then fall asleep naturally.

The more you stress about getting to sleep, the harder it is.

 

When I had trouble sleeping I took 1/2 ambien 20 minutes befor bed and took the other 1/2 at my bedside when I woke in about 4 hours and got a good 8 hours sleep.

 

Yes this is what we do. Turn the volume down low and set the sleep timer for an hour. That seems to help me better than the fan or even some of the sound machines.