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0Melatonin has never really worked for me. Ive been on and off it for at least a week each time, and for me both sleep quality and length improved but minimally. And at the start I’d wake up with a groggy hangover, worse than even from benzos, but that improved the longer I took it.
Didn’t do much for me to ease anxiety, except in the start when I was too groggy to feel much. But as someone mentioned earlier, everyone’s body chemistry is different.
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11-01-2017, 08:40 PM
(This post was last modified: 08-01-2019, 09:52 AM by IceWizard.)
There's also clonidine and guanfacine, which reduce norepinephrine by stimulating a2 receptors in the brainstem. The problem is they can be extremely sedating. There's a similar med called moxonidine that has less side effects, but it's only available in Europe. It can be bought from certain online pharmacies.
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there isn't much info (that I could find) but I guess the new thing is mixing clonidine and gabapentin?
my pharmacy is making me wait 30 days on either the clonidine or gabapentin, they made me choose, so I choose the clonidine. It is now treated as a controlled medication in their eyes. I had no friggin idea what was going on so had my Dr. call to see if I was being singled out. I wasn't. But she shared with me what the pharmacist would not. apparently if taken correctly, or I should say INcorrectly, mixing those two will give you close to a opiate high.
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Is clonidine strong enough to knock a person out like say Ambien or midazolam or is it more of the gentle lunesta type of sleeping help?
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11-04-2017, 02:41 AM
(This post was last modified: 11-04-2017, 02:45 AM by cutstack.)
(11-03-2017, 05:41 PM)invisiblejungle Wrote: (11-03-2017, 08:16 AM)cutstack Wrote: Is clonidine strong enough to knock a person out like say Ambien or midazolam or is it more of the gentle lunesta type of sleeping help?
For some people, it could be strong enough. The first time I took it, it was right after breakfast and I had to nap for a couple hours immediately afterwards.
Are the side effects permanent in any way? I heard some mixed reports from different people about this. Also it's considered a mild sedative. Would this work for someone like me with a high tolerance to hypnotic benzos and z drugs? Thank you
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I'm disappointed to read all the bad experiences with buspirone. I was just given it today to help with anxiety and insomnia to replace the mirtazapine that I had been taking, because even though the mirtaz was better than nothing--it wasn't really helping either issue that much. Has anyone had any luck with buspirone? I'm a recovering alcoholic, so the docs are very careful with what they will give me (and I understand why.) I have been meditating and doing yoga and both help for sure. I also take melatonin. But a big trigger for my relapses have been anxiety and insomnia--so it would be good insurance to take a safe non-addictive med for help. (And I can't take the zolp anymore because I just abuse it...even though I really miss it.)
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I don't think anyone has mentioned atarax yet (hydroxyzine hydrochloride), apologies if I'm duplicating but didn't find in the search for this thread).
It makes me quite sleepy, but I expect a small dose would be useful for anxiety. It is a "sleepy antihistamine", so won't cause addiction per se, but you would grow tolerant to it if used regularly. Might be a useful one for unusually stressful periods if you want to avoid benzos.
