Posted by Molybdenum on April 29, 2008, at 1:38:13
In reply to Delayed Sleep Phase Syndrome, posted by Quintal on April 28, 2008, at 14:38:36
Hi,
I've always had trouble sleeping too. Stress seems to make it worse of course. I've had trouble falling asleep, then staying asleep & my latest is waking up pre-dawn. Sometimes I just get up then but I'm super tired all day if I do that.
I was only zopiclone but it used to give me a bit of a hangover the next day. Then I switched to zolpidem (Stilnox). I have been taking it every night for at least 5 years and I've never built up a tolerance. I have central sleep apnoea (stop breathing, then hyperventilate which stops me going into deep sleep phases). So I have a sleep doc I see. He claims that because the zolpidem is more or less out of my bloodstream by the morning, I don't develop a tolerance.
I have mentioned that I've been on one a night for years to several local general practitioners (docs) and they always raise their eyebrows but don't argue with the sleep doc prescribing me 365 tabs a year. The data sheets say "short term use", but it's never caused me any problems completely defying that.
So maybe you should see a sleep specialist...?
The only change in dose has been that in the early days I was on 10mg, then they brought out the 12.5mg slow release, which for some odd reason is actually cheaper here (Aust.) Other than that, they always work & I've never had to have a break from them at all. Some nights I've not taken one and sometimes I've slept normally, sometimes not but I've never had what I would consider withdrawals.
Re the melatonin, I was a bit like you in that I would not feel sleepy til really late & then never wanted to wake up. Forcing myself out of bed early just made me tired - it never helped me to fall asleep at a reasonable hour. So the sleep doc got me onto the slow release melatonin (6mg) which I take at 6pm. That's really helped reset / keep my drifting body clock in sync with the humans ;)
Lastly, mirtazapine (Remeron) in small doses is also very effective for helping you fall asleep. Within an hour of taking it, you'll likely have great trouble keeping your eyes open. The good thing is that it doesn't interfere with your natural sleep stages very much - unlike Mogadon for instance. I told my sleep doc I got some Mogadon from the GP when I ran out of zolpidem. He said "throw them out, you might as well have a general anaesthetic".
Good Luck ;)
poster:Molybdenum
thread:826079
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20080420/msgs/826187.html