[bht96]

I have been in therapy for three months which is paid for by my father since I have no job. I went to this CBT (individual and group) therapy to help guide me in the right direction towards developing coping mechanisms to work on my SA. This was mainly due to the fact, other than a lifelong battle with SA, I quit a phone collections job after the third day. I then practically on the verge of tears pleaded with my father to continue to support me while I get help. The main problem wasn't SA it was my lifelong battle with sleep problems. Just going through Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday with all the training exercises mainly slanted towards interacting with your co-workers and playing silly little games that had nothing to do with any training of substance, I felt my mind was constantly running wind-sprints. At the end of those days my mind was so worn down due to the constant pounding fear that I was going to have to stand up in front of the class and make an *** out of my self, that I was a zombie after 5:30 pm. I very nearly got into a bad wreck leaving the facility and had trouble concentrating on the most minute things. When I got home, my mind just wouldn't shut up even though it was exhausted. The sleeping pills (lunesta) were working the first two nights but on the third night it did not. I tried taking melatonin, friggin NyQuil, meditation, everything I could think of. I could not get to sleep. So, I stayed up ALL night. I don't do very well when I don't sleep. I guess its because my mind need the rest in order to the 8 hours of beating me down its got to do the next day. So, I call in sick, called my psychiatrist to send a prescription of ambien in, thinking surely I will be able to sleep tonight. Nope. I didn't sleep at all. Now, with the way my body reacts to no sleep I knew continuing this job would be an impossibility. I went to sleep on Wednesday night fully expecting to sleep well and get up in the morning and go to work, as I was exhausted, but no dice. Anyway, I have gotten all I can get out of therapy that I know what to do and where to look if I need to rationalize my thoughts, do some exposure, etc. Which is great. I really have taken strides towards understanding that any negative irrational thinking can be disputed and disarmed, etc. But, the problem remains. I got to sleep. I am going to be getting a new job in the very near future and the only way I am going to work is if I can pull a 7-8 hour sleep consistently. That's just the way I am wired. Ambien works when I am not under a particular amount of stress but it won't sometimes when I am. I need something else. Does anyone have any suggestions about medications or anything other than Ambien, Lunesta, Rozerum (all I have tried), Klonopin (I take 2 mg before bed)? The thing that had worked the best for me is ambien along with benzotropine (sic?) which is a muscle relaxer. I need 10mg of that coupled with the ambien to guarantee sleep. I wonder if any doctors would be willing to prescribe that for me. I hate taking these damn pills but I feel I am trapped and to be honest, I don't care as long as I can be assured that I will be able to sleep. Please help me sleep. Thank you.

 

[MaidMarian]

Trazadone works really well for some people. I know someone who takes it, and I've taken it myself a couple of times. Ask your doc about it. Being unable to sleep really sucks, and I sympathize with you, because I'm a chronic insomniac, too.

 

[jjyiss]

i recommend trazadone as well. i have it prescribed for me because of the insomnia of nardil. works well, is not habit forming, and is cheap.

 

[UltraShy]

Yeah, trazodone is very sedating, which probably explains why it's almost never used for depression and almost exclusively as a sleep aid. If used at the dose needed to treat depression I doubt many would get out of bed all day.

It's also dirt cheap. It's part of Walmart's $4 a month program and I'm sure others like Target have it on their cheap drug list too.

 

[livingnsilence]

trazadone doesn't work for me but 100mg amitryptiline does the trick and isn't a control med and is $4 as well

 

[Northpark]

I tried Ambien. It worked ok but not all the time. Im usually good with a medication for a couple days then have to switch to something else as if my insomnia has caught on to my plans and tries to thwart every medication I use. I've suffered from insomnia since I was a child. Not all the time these days but I always have trouble falling asleep in a bed other than my own. I'll try this trazadone and see how it works. My usual remedy though I don't mean to advocate this is to have a shot of liquor before bed. Only works for me because I rarely ever drink hard liquor or alcohol for that matter and my tolerance is pretty low so I fall out pretty quick and stay out.

 

[Hypnotoad]

One of my other brain wiring problems is that I have delayed phase sleep disorder. My body and mind feel most awake around 3:30am. I'm almost too tired to function around 5pm. I am a night owl in the truest sense of the word. Hence the reason I'm writing this at 6am. When I'm trying to sleep for a 9-5 job, I have to get regular sleep so the doc prescribed me Ambien CR and Serequel. The Serequel helps relax my brain, because my constant thinking would keep me awake. The Serequel puts me to sleep. The Ambien will not put me to sleep, but it is used to keep me asleep. Without it, I will wake up at *EXACTLY* and I do mean exactly 3:30am every day.