Posted by valene on November 8, 2006, at 10:36:24
In reply to Re: Help!!! I CANT SLEEP » GavinJ, posted by Crazy Horse on November 8, 2006, at 10:31:15
I agree with Monte. Taking a "Z" drug such as lunesta or ambien is defeating the purpose of your xanax withdrawal as these drugs are nothing but benzo type drugs binding to the same receptors as benzos! Here is a quote from Heather Ashton: (I don't believe everything she writes about benzos but I do believe she is correct about the "Z" drugs):
"These are not chemically benzodiazepines but they bind to GABA receptor complexes which are close to or actually coupled with benzodiazepine receptors. They are said to be more selective, binding mainly to the a1 GABA receptor subtype which mediates the hypnotic effects of benzodiazepines. In practice they are not all that selective and have much the same actions as benzodiazepines. In the UK, the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE), which advises the Health Service on optimum drug use, recommended that Z drugs should be used for short-term treatment only (2-4 weeks) and then only as second line treatments after benzodiazepines. They concluded that the Z drugs produced the same therapeutic and adverse effects as benzodiazepine hypnotics, including tolerance, dependence and abuse, and were also more expensive.
As a clinical example, a psychiatrist recently asked my advice about the nursing sister he was helping to withdraw from lorazepam (Ativan). She developed quite severe withdrawal symptoms as the dosage was lowered and had trouble sleeping. To help her, the psychiatrist prescribed zopiclone (Zimovane) to take at night. She found that this drug completely relieved her withdrawal symptoms. In fact, it was so successful that she started taking zopiclone in the daytime as well. She ended up taking zopiclone six times a day as well as at night, ending up with a total dose of over 40mg/day (the recommended dose is 7.5mg at night). The psychiatrist was chagrined to find that he had merely replaced one form of addiction with another."
> > I just quit taking xanax about a month ago and know I am finding it hard to go to sleep. I usually only get 2-3 hours of sleep a night, but cant fall asleep until 7am. I have tried Ambien and Lunesta. Ambien doesnt do much for me and Lunesta has a horrible after taste that lasts for hours. My question is; has anybody tried a prescription medication that works? How about muscle relaxers, do they work for sleep? Any advice would be greatly apprecitaed
>
> Ask your pdoc about Trazodone. It's an antidepressant that is used more often than not by shrinks for insomnia. I have been taking it for about 10 mos., it works very well for me.
>
> -Monte
poster:valene
thread:701491
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20061104/msgs/701605.html