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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 8 of 8. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by linkadge on September 14, 2010, at 11:40:40
I've been wondering lately, if taking something to sleep at night is too late?
Usually, I know I am going to have insomnia by noon or early afternoon. Sometimes, taking a low dose of lithium or clonazepam at noon helps my insomnia. Wheras, if I take it at bedtime, it does little, or might even make it worse.
My problem is that if I wait till bedtime, sometimes the ball is rolling too fast to abruptly stop. For me, the key seems to be to slow down *earlier* in the day. If I expect to go 100 miles an hour right up till one minute before I sleep, its not going to happen.
Linkadge
Posted by Phillipa on September 14, 2010, at 11:52:52
In reply to Targeting insomnia at noon?, posted by linkadge on September 14, 2010, at 11:40:40
Wow I need to borrow some then. Is it physical or mental? I don't wake up til about now. But wouldn't you be tired then during the day? Phillipa
Posted by ed_uk2010 on September 14, 2010, at 13:54:28
In reply to Targeting insomnia at noon?, posted by linkadge on September 14, 2010, at 11:40:40
They do say nitrazepam doesn't work until the following morning.
Posted by SLS on September 14, 2010, at 16:22:18
In reply to Targeting insomnia at noon?, posted by linkadge on September 14, 2010, at 11:40:40
> I've been wondering lately, if taking something to sleep at night is too late?
Chronobiologically, some people must take melatonin in the morning or early afternoon for it to effectively treat insomnia. Perhaps the same is true of some longer-acting benzodiazepines like Klonopin. Have you thought to try Rozerem?
- Scott
Posted by linkadge on September 14, 2010, at 18:18:00
In reply to Re: Targeting insomnia at noon? » linkadge, posted by SLS on September 14, 2010, at 16:22:18
I guess what I mean is that, for natural sleep, I need to be in the right state of mind. If I happen to be *way out* of the zone, it can take a while to get back into the zone.
I am finding, that if I am experiencing a lot of anxiety during the day, and I start to think it will affect my sleep at night, taking a benzo earlier seems to help me sleep much better at night than just popping the drug at 10:30 and wanting the light to switch off immediately.
The way I think of it is this. Whenever I open a door during the day, my mind needs to close that door in order to calm down and feel balanced. If I am opening too many doors during the day, and then just popping a pill at night, I don't give myself time to close those doors and so my brain doesn't want to shut off. It almost resists the drug.
By taking the drug earlier, I am better able to shut doors (while I still can) instead of opening them. That way when it is time to sleep, I feel more balanced.
Perhaps this is (hypo)mania though, the desire to open way to many doors and less ability to close them.Maybe I am making no sense...
Linkadge
Posted by weatherfreak on September 14, 2010, at 18:57:23
In reply to Re: Targeting insomnia at noon?, posted by ed_uk2010 on September 14, 2010, at 13:54:28
> They do say nitrazepam doesn't work until the following morning.
Not when you first start taking it, it knocks you out very quickly, and leaves you groggy the next day until you get use to it. It doesn't do much for me these days which sucks because it was by far the best sleep aid I have ever taken. It can also cause very pronounced retrograde amnesia.
As far as the rest of the thread goes, I always take my clonazepam between 3-4PM so I do sleep. If I leave it too late I don't.
Posted by ed_uk2010 on September 15, 2010, at 1:48:54
In reply to Re: Targeting insomnia at noon? » ed_uk2010, posted by weatherfreak on September 14, 2010, at 18:57:23
>Not when you first start taking it, it knocks you out very quickly, and leaves you groggy the next day until you get use to it.
I was just being dumb really :)
Posted by weatherfreak on September 15, 2010, at 2:59:34
In reply to Re: Targeting insomnia at noon?, posted by ed_uk2010 on September 15, 2010, at 1:48:54
> >Not when you first start taking it, it knocks you out very quickly, and leaves you groggy the next day until you get use to it.
>
> I was just being dumb really :)
>
>:) ed you crack me up.
Actually, once you get use to nitrazepam it's fantastic for SP but you really don't want to be trying that trick out at all unless you have a very good understanding of how benzo's work for you. It's not something you pop and go out on straight away. You'll pass out cold as it is a powerful hypnotic. Once you get use to it though it can work for SP for a select few. Mainly people who have a strong tolerance to benzo's. I'd hate for someone to try that and wake up in a gutter somewhere, just be careful as it's very closely related to Rohypnol (flunitrazepam) I've put my warning out. One of my friends still uses it for SP but you absolutely cannot mix it with alcohol if you are going to use it this way and go out and drink, it will end in tears.
Link, if I remember correctly you're in Canada. It's available there, and if you haven't already tried it for insomnia, I'd definitely ask you pdoc for some. If you're using a low dose of clonazepam for sleep, nitrazepam might be great for you. It's also closely related to clonazepam but much, much better for sleep. You can take it later too, even with the looming feeling that it's going to be one of those nights. I get that same feeling that you do re insomnia, I can usually tell by mid afternoon. You actually don't need to take it at first until 1-2 hours before you want to go to bed.
It's not available in the US.
Ed, you must have tried it in the UK?
I haven't had any for months and since I've started bupropion I'm not sleeping that well at the moment. If I have a break from it, it can work again for me.
This is the end of the thread.
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