sleeping pills after quitting

[907baby]

so im doing really great with staying clean off fentanyl and percocet.  Today is my first day without WD drugs (Librium and clonidine) miracle drugs I should call them.  Anyway I'm having problems falling asleep and staying asleep.  I use melatonin and benedryl to fall asleep but then I wake up at weird hours and if I take more of them then I'm crazy tired when I wake up for work the next morning. So I need sleep meds, but my question is do you think my doc will give me some since they can be abused. My mom kept all the WD drugs and administered them, so she'd do the same with sleeping pills. But will my doc give them to me?

[snowflake620]

For sleep I have been using Alteril,it is over the counter along with L-theanine and 5htp also otc.
snowflake

[lady67]

I know it is going to be hard Baby, but a good night's sleep will eventually come.  You will also be amazed when you see how great you feel after a natural night's sleep.  If I am having problems sleeping, I take Rapid Sleep PM from Wal-Mart.  It is all natural, but it works.  At first I had to take about 5 of them to get results, but now I only take one every now and then.  

Good luck to you

[worried878]

There are some safer sleep meds that ur doctor may try..i also abused narcotics and ambien has never been a problem for me..but i know it can be for others...phenergan, elavil/i used eleavil 10 mgs for 2 years after my dicvorce for sleep/i couldnt sleep to save my life and when u have to work then u have to sleep..it can threaten ur recovery if u do not addres this...other meds that help sleep are trazodone, nuerontin, lyriica altho i do hear of this one being abused...anyway..talk to ur doctor..sleep is important to recovery

[907baby]

thank you for taking the time to share your story with me. its unimaginable to see how a seemingly harmless drug can cause so much damage.  Ive abused ambien and lunesta before and done some crazy stuff (took my DOG'S medicine) and had no recalection.  i guess i was thinking maybe i could do it and take it as prescribed but i can just see myself slipping up.  im so proud of myself for these five days i dont want to do anything to jepordize it.  i guess im just gonna be tired for the next few months. but its sooo worth it.

[lady67]

Please be careful about taking any prescribed sleeping pills.  I was clean from hyrdos and then my dad got sick and I couldn't sleep.  They gave me Lunesta and I became addicted to it.  I am friends with a lot of people who work at the clinic and they would give me samples because the doctor had prescribed it.  The problem was that I was calling different friends and they would give them to me and the others knew nothing about it, so the cycle continued.  When they figured it out, I went to another doctor and she prescribed me ambien CR.  Long story short, it destroyed my life.  What started out as a simple fix to a legitimate sleeping problem turned into a two year nightmare.  Not only was I now addicted to the sleeping pills, but I slipped back into taking the hydros again also.  

This cycle continued for 2 years.  Even after I wrecked 3 times in 4 months, (thank GOD no one was ever injured) held more conversations than you can imagine--that I don't remember, and I gained 50 pounds to sleep eating and just not caring about life in general.  I continued to let them run my life.  My father was put back in the hospital at the beginning of December 2007 and was there for almost the entire month.  On the 23rd they allowed him to come to my house for Christmas with our entire family since the doctor was honest and told us it would more than likely be his last.  I was on my usual dosage of sleeping pill and hydro and don't remember much about it.  He returned to the nursing home and they called me Christmas morning and told me he had another stroke and it didn't look good.  After staying by his side non-stop for the next week, he continued to struggle to breathe.  He was fighting for every minute of his life.  I finally laid down beside him on January 1, 2008 at 1:30 am and whispered in his ear that I loved him dearly, but if he was ready to go "home" I would take care of mom and he should go.  They were married for 59 years and the most devoted couple you will ever meet.  My brother came in and I went home to get a little rest.  My brother called me two hours later and told me that Daddy had died.  It was so rough for the next few days, but at his funeral I made a promise that I would never let that happen again.  I can't remember my final Christmas with him because I was selfish.  

Since January 5, 2008 I have not had any sleeping medication and have been clean of hydros since May 21, 2008.  I had to take a couple following my gallbladder surgery, but I took them as prescribed


You probably weren’t expecting a reply such as this one, but I wanted to share my experience so you would know what could happen.  Even though the Ambien and Lunesta are non-narcotic and the ad says they can be taken as long as needed, they are very dangerous and can make you change entirely.  My 17 year old daughter told me just the other day that she was so glad to have her mommy back.  She broke down and told me that the last few years were really hard on her and her sister but she thanked God everyday that I was better.  It broke my heart.

Good luck to you, and if you need to talk I am here.
Susan

[rello]

I see by your tracker that your 5 days clean ....
Well done to that m8.. 5 days is not long though for getting your sleep back because sleep is the last thing to return . Give it about a week or two before you try taking pills. the melatonin takes a few days to work anyways.
Your sleep will come back naturaly you just have to have a bit more patience. I know thats sounds hard because you have been through so much already but natural sleep is much better for recovery.. Have you tried getting any exercise? It makes the melatonin work better

[wannabefree330]

I take trazadone for sleep....have for years and thats also what they gave me in detox.  It is not habit forming.  Benadryl made me feel groggy when I woke up in themorning.  I would suggest this if the melatonin isnt working.  He may prescribe 25-50mg thats the usual starting dose.  

[stephaniejo]

My opinion is that you should tell the doc exactly what you said here. They are doctors afterall and should know what to do for you. If they don't prescribe you a narcotic, there might be something else he could recommend, or maybe giving you something that is non-addictive.