Sleep

[< <Samson> >]

I take 10mg of ambien when I can’t sleep. It works most of the time but there are some nights when even that won’t put me down. I never feel great waking up but sometimes I find that the nights I use ambien I feel worse.

I honestly don’t know why everyone loves Xanax… I had it prescribed to me over two years ago and haven’t even finished my original script. They are .25mg and I believe I’ve taken as many as 3 or 4 and felt nothing… they maybe slightly take the edge off and make me a little drowsy but I definitely wouldn’t say I feel “good” or relaxed on them by any means.

.25mg < lmao. Jk jk

I’m down to 1 & a 1/4 bar from 2(that’s 2mg’s per bar) - I was doing real well & was down to 1mg daily, before I tried coming off the roids to get the wife knocked up. My anxiety spiked & now I’m working back down again as quickly as I can.

It sucks ass, cause I’m dependent on sleep & my sleep is dependent on Xanax. I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone tho. I was put on Valium when my head exploded. I still have plenty, but it was worse - I liked it too much, so asked to be switched to Xanax.

[yeahbuddy289]

.25mg < lmao. Jk jk

I’m down to 1 & a 1/4 bar from 2(that’s 2mg’s per bar) - I was doing real well & was down to 1mg daily, before I tried coming off the roids to get the wife knocked up. My anxiety spiked & now I’m working back down again as quickly as I can.

It sucks ass, cause I’m dependent on sleep & my sleep is dependent on Xanax. I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone tho. I was put on Valium when my head exploded. I still have plenty, but it was worse - I liked it too much, so asked to be switched to Xanax.

Maybe that’s why I didn’t feel anything from it lol I’m not too well versed on Xanax, I just know people love it and I do have anxiety so I figured it was worth a try. I didn’t go over 1mg because I thought the stuff was super powerful and addictive but maybe I needed to use more lol

[Euroholic]

Xannax can be rough. Was on 2mg for about a week and I felt hell anxiety. My heart was racing.

[s1nc1ty]

Just saying but good thing about Xs if you have prescription and dont need them you can sell them. Drug addicts pay like up to 5 eur per 1 1mg pill here and theres huge market for them. 5 eur per pill makes 180 eur for 1 mg box of xes.

[< <Samson> >]

Maybe that’s why I didn’t feel anything from it lol I’m not too well versed on Xanax, I just know people love it and I do have anxiety so I figured it was worth a try. I didn’t go over 1mg because I thought the stuff was super powerful and addictive but maybe I needed to use more lol

Last thing you wanna be is dependent on bars. I’m trying real hard to drop this shit as fast as possible.

Let alone I use bars from Mx - every batch is another fen kit & I’m getting tired of gambling. I’m not looking to die - and stopping cold turkey is impossible.

My PCP refuses to fill em now & only a psychiatrist can. Kinda funny since they are the ones that got me hooked on Benzos - ha ha, not

[Honkey_Kong]

Last thing you wanna be is dependent on bars. I’m trying real hard to drop this shit as fast as possible.

Let alone I use bars from Mx - every batch is another fen kit & I’m getting tired of gambling. I’m not looking to die - and stopping cold turkey is impossible.

My PCP refuses to fill em now & only a psychiatrist can. Kinda funny since they are the ones that got me hooked on Benzos - ha ha, not

Yeah my PCP and a local hospital were the ones that got me hooked on those things. I eventually found my way to research chem benzos (clonazalam) and on that stuff I ended up passing out while frying french fries and set my apartment on fire. I woke up to the fire and ended up trapped in a bathroom thinking I'm going to die. I had my phone on my luckily, called 911 and by sheer miracle I was rescued by the fire dept.

And that didn't get me to stop.

A year later or so, I was pretty depressed about being hooked on the benzos, so I did the most I think I ever did hoping that'd be the end. For whatever reason I decided to take a shower and ended up falling in the tub. On the way down I banged up a rib pretty bad and cut my side. I knew I was in a lot of trouble. Calm/high as fvuk from the benzos, but still I had one of those moments of clarity, where I begged Christ. I promised I'd never mess with it again if he got me out of it. Some how I crawled out of the tub and took a long nap on the bathroom floor.

And here I am rec-drug, benzos and alcohol free all these years later. It's funny how you can find God and kick drugs at the same time.

[Cuz]

We all gotta do what we gotta do to sleep but ill be a stubborn SOB i wont take anything to help me sleep bc once I do im afraid i would be dependent and that would be another medicine id need. No thanks

[s1nc1ty]

Lately I've started noticing that I'm having trouble sleeping. I had never had this problem before, I slept like a baby. Let me start in order. About a year ago I started smoking, I don't know why it happened, can be stress, there were a couple of unpleasant moments in life. At first I smoked about 5-7 cigarettes a day and in a month I got to a pack a day. Don't judge me too harshly. About two months ago and thought about quitting the nonsense. It doesn't do me any good. Because I had already started waking up at night to smoke. But I understood that I felt uncomfortable without cigarettes, so I couldn't give them up at once. Then a friend advised me to switch to electronic cigarettes. It's kind of easier to quit... But I got the following situation. Now the worst! Now I smoke both regular and electronic cigarettes. I wake up five times a night! It's hard for me to sleep! I couldn't even imagine that smoking can affect my body so much. I'm not an athlete now, I'm a heavy smoker. I haven't seen a doctor yet. I plan to see a doctor in two weeks when I get home.

Fuck the e cigarette shit. Fuck nicotine gum and patches. Fuck smoking 1 cigarette less every day etc all that shit. Just quit cold turkey its the most effective way. The first days are hard but are you a man or not. I promise every day that passes and you dont give in to the temptation to light one, it gets easier. After couple months its pretty easy already but you still might be tempted sometimes. After couple years like me you dont give a fuck anymore even when your coworkers smoke next to you all day. Youl just be happy that you are healthy, dont smell like shit and dont waste money on such stupid shit like smoking

[yeahbuddy289]

Last thing you wanna be is dependent on bars. I’m trying real hard to drop this shit as fast as possible.

Let alone I use bars from Mx - every batch is another fen kit & I’m getting tired of gambling. I’m not looking to die - and stopping cold turkey is impossible.

My PCP refuses to fill em now & only a psychiatrist can. Kinda funny since they are the ones that got me hooked on Benzos - ha ha, not

Never understood why they called them bars… always assumed they were “bar shaped” pills but when I got mine they were just regular shaped pills. Maybe because they were .25mg pills lol.

[< <Samson> >]

Bars are shaped like a bar - it’s 2mg quartered

At the hight of my insanity I was on two solid a day - I tapered down to 1mg, came off the roids & my anxiety spiked - back to a bar & a 1/2 or so - now, again on the way back down

That’s an insane story HK - also where I seen what I had to see is on my death’s end. I tried to quit by benzo use cold turkey - it landed me in ER with stroke like symptoms. I told my neurological team how much & what I was on - they don’t judge & don’t add this shit to my medical record. They told me to taper & try my best - I have serious medical PTSD and I don’t want to deal with a psychiatrist. So, I self medicate & for the most part. Now, I’m trying to prolong my stay here on earth. Unfortunately, I did encounter some semi serious issues.

[Honkey_Kong]

Bars are shaped like a bar - it’s 2mg quartered

At the hight of my insanity I was on two solid a day - I tapered down to 1mg, came off the roids & my anxiety spiked - back to a bar & a 1/2 or so - now, again on the way back down

That’s an insane story HK - also where I seen what I had to see is on my death’s end. I tried to quit by benzo use cold turkey - it landed me in ER with stroke like symptoms. I told my neurological team how much & what I was on - they don’t judge & don’t add this shit to my medical record. They told me to taper & try my best - I have serious medical PTSD and I don’t want to deal with a psychiatrist. So, I self medicate & for the most part. Now, I’m trying to prolong my stay here on earth. Unfortunately, I did encounter some semi serious issues.

When I quit, I remember I had problems using my throat muscles to swallow. I thought I was going to choke every time I forced myself to drink a glass of water (I didn't want to eat or drink anything while I was detoxing). I couldn't sleep at all. I remember seeing bright light in the middle of the night in a completely dark room with my eyes closed. Every muscle I had was tensed up. I had problems moving my feet when I walked, because I couldn't move the muscles. And the rest of my body was all tensed up nonstop. The smells I would smell were awful and strange. And the hallucinations from the lack of sleep were incredible. I couldn't hold a conversation.

Not to mention the worst anxiety I ever had in my life was going on while I was detoxing. And this went on for like 2-3 weeks.

You probably should suggest to your doctor to switch you to a longer acting benzo and taper down with that. Diazapam or Clonazapam would probably work better so that you can lower the dosage without feeling the stroke symptoms. There are similar long-acting research benzos you could use if you want to do this yourself.

[wango]

Dig my THC gummies. Thankfully, only have to use them rarely. Interesting dreams tho, but a decent nights sleep.

For regular usage, wine works wonderfully.

[almostgone]

Bars are shaped like a bar - it’s 2mg quartered

At the hight of my insanity I was on two solid a day - I tapered down to 1mg, came off the roids & my anxiety spiked - back to a bar & a 1/2 or so - now, again on the way back down

That’s an insane story HK - also where I seen what I had to see is on my death’s end. I tried to quit by benzo use cold turkey - it landed me in ER with stroke like symptoms. I told my neurological team how much & what I was on - they don’t judge & don’t add this shit to my medical record. They told me to taper & try my best - I have serious medical PTSD and I don’t want to deal with a psychiatrist. So, I self medicate & for the most part. Now, I’m trying to prolong my stay here on earth. Unfortunately, I did encounter some semi serious issues.

They call them a "totem pole" down South. Quitting benzos straight out can be a hard road for some...seizures, high level panic attacks, visual disturbances, just to name a few.

I'm scripted 1mg/ day, but limit it to .5mg or less.... depending on the day. Like you say, dig in and taper as best as you can. Some days, I'll just have a shot to a shot and a half of alcohol, other days, I'm not even interested in alcohol.
I think I would do better if I worked straight night shifts instead of rotating 12 hr shifts. I seem to ramp down easier when working nights.

[< <Samson> >]

I’m not even officially prescribed Xanax any more. I can be - if I go to a psychiatrist. But, it’ll make it impossible for me to keep my CDL.

+ I drink a solid 3-6 shots of hard liquor daily/nightly

It’s a slippery slope for me - I tried coming off the booze cold turkey too, but stay on he Xans - boy that wasn’t pretty. By, the end of week 2-3 I was fine. . . Cold sweats in the middle of the day are really a downer.


My benzo & booze use became daily ever since I have been released to drink 2 & a 1/2 years ago.

If it wasn’t for the previous years of probs with opiates, I’d b popping those instead. But, that’s one thing I ditched 99.9% - had to pop my last 2 5’s a few weeks when I had a head ache that was an equivalent of getting decked in the head with a 4x4 - that lasted for almost two weeks.

Good thing I don’t have more

[almostgone]

I’m not even officially prescribed Xanax any more. I can be - if I go to a psychiatrist. But, it’ll make it impossible for me to keep my CDL.

+ I drink a solid 3-6 shots of hard liquor daily/nightly

It’s a slippery slope for me - I tried coming off the booze cold turkey too, but stay on he Xans - boy that wasn’t pretty. By, the end of week 2-3 I was fine. . . Cold sweats in the middle of the day are really a downer.


My benzo & booze use became daily ever since I have been released to drink 2 & a 1/2 years ago.

If it wasn’t for the previous years of probs with opiates, I’d b popping those instead. But, that’s one thing I ditched 99.9% - had to pop my last 2 5’s a few weeks when I had a head ache that was an equivalent of getting decked in the head with a 4x4 - that lasted for almost two weeks.

Good thing I don’t have more

Watch those headaches, man. Please let your treatment team know if they become a persistent issue. You've had enough of a rough ride as it is.

[< <Samson> >]

Watch those headaches, man. Please let your treatment team know if they become a persistent issue. You've had enough of a rough ride as it is.

Surprisingly enough, they are quite uncommon

I’m pretty sure I know what was the underlying cause of the last one - not self incriminating here, but I don’t think I’ll ever do that again. Lol

[almostgone]

Surprisingly enough, they are quite uncommon

I’m pretty sure I know what was the underlying cause of the last one - not self incriminating here, but I don’t think I’ll ever do that again. Lol

Yes, let's not repeat that!

[Test Monsterone]

Surprisingly enough, they are quite uncommon

I’m pretty sure I know what was the underlying cause of the last one - not self incriminating here, but I don’t think I’ll ever do that again. Lol

Kevin Nash’s 26 year old son died from a seizure after cold quitting alcohol. I think he was on zannies, too. Just happened a couple of months ago. I didn’t realize how dangerous that can be. Be careful.

[Fresh2death]

Kevin Nash’s 26 year old son died from a seizure after cold quitting alcohol. I think he was on zannies, too. Just happened a couple of months ago. I didn’t realize how dangerous that can be. Be careful.

Damn that's scary ;(

[< <Samson> >]

Kevin Nash’s 26 year old son died from a seizure after cold quitting alcohol. I think he was on zannies, too. Just happened a couple of months ago. I didn’t realize how dangerous that can be. Be careful.

I read that right when it happened

Let alone folks with my condition are very seizure prone. Most have to stay on anti seizure meds - that shit made me feel worse than any other crap I have taken

I need to focus more/harder on tapering down.

[XnavyHMCS]

Just saying but good thing about Xs if you have prescription and dont need them you can sell them. Drug addicts pay like up to 5 eur per 1 1mg pill here and theres huge market for them. 5 eur per pill makes 180 eur for 1 mg box of xes.

I'm gonna hit up my doctor student buddies for some prescriptions... Fuck, I can sling X's and finance my gear and Viagra...

[XnavyHMCS]

My problem with sleep, as I age; I just can't seem to stay in bed for 8 hrs...

What about you older, long in the tooth members here; are you noticing that you can't sleep like you could when you were younger? For me, it seems that my body is waking me up and telling me, "you better get your ass up; you don't have so much time left; you can rest when you're dead, old man...".

[almostgone]

My problem with sleep, as I age; I just can't seem to stay in bed for 8 hrs...

What about you older, long in the tooth members here; are you noticing that you can't sleep like you could when you were younger? For me, it seems that my body is waking me up and telling me, "you better get your ass up; you don't have so much time left; you can rest when you're dead, old man...".

In bold above....that was me up to mid 40's or so. I think the heart damage slowed me down after that. Now I sleep in 2-3 hour increments usually, wake up, skim the current news, but damn sure don't feel like getting up, so I grab another few hours. Maybe when I hit 60, my second wind will kick in?

[< <Samson> >]

I think the heart damage slowed me down after that.

What kinda heart damage?

[wango]

My problem with sleep, as I age; I just can't seem to stay in bed for 8 hrs...

What about you older, long in the tooth members here; are you noticing that you can't sleep like you could when you were younger? For me, it seems that my body is waking me up and telling me, "you better get your ass up; you don't have so much time left; you can rest when you're dead, old man...".

Sleeping got progressively more erratic as the wife and I went from our 20’s to our mid-60’s. Retirement and a reduction in daily stress that comes with it has made sleeping well a bit more consistent. For me personally though, every 3 am, it’s interrupted to take a leak.

[almostgone]

What kinda heart damage?

I think I mentioned it before, but I'll give you a very brief overview....don't want to clog up the thread.

Started with pneumonia in 2006 or so.. A virus also slid in and I developed viral cardiomyopathy. At the worst point I had an ejection fraction of ~12%. Struggled with cardiac rehab and a shit cardiologist. Fired him and got in with a more knowledgeable cardiologist that had ties @ Medical University of South Carolina.

Had a biventricular pacemaker, kept it for 7 months and got staph in my blood. Was very sick, coughed pacemaker lead loose. Kept running crazy fevers for multiple weeks but the fevers would rise and then break. Finally, when they discovered I had coughed a lead loose, they admitted me to hospital for a lead revision. The admitting nurse told me I had a temp of 103.8°F. Fever topped out at 104.3 °F. Was in a very bad spot for a couple of weeks, wasn't expected to make it, to be honest.

Once they got me stable, they removed the pacemaker, so the staph strains could be cleared from my body. Was throwing lots of clots. They discovered I had a clotting disorder, Leiden Factor V. They wanted to implant another pacemaker and a Greenfield device Fought like hell to slowly rehab because I swore I would never have another implant in my body. LOL, now I have a neck full of metal ( that's another story).

All of the major heart shit took up about 2.5- 3 years years of Mrs AG's and my life

My cardiac deficiencies.....left bundle branch block, cardiomyopathy, congestive heart failure, mitral valve disorder, coagulopathy, atrial fibrillation.


Edit:My heart functions well enough most of the time. I work rolling 12 hour shifts, job is somewhat physical, but there are times I might be sitting at a bench fitting and assembling molds most of the shift. It just depends if we have development molds to machine and build, repair damaged molds from other plants, etc. Just don't have the energy I use to have.

[almostgone]

Come to think of it, I've been up since 1645 yesterday. This is my first of 3 days off......I'm either taking a nap now or going to crash for however long.

[almostgone]

Got a few hours nap in. Going back for round two, soon.

[< <Samson> >]

Thanks for replying, wow! These darn human bodies of our’s

[lovbyts]

I honestly dont remember what its like to have a good nights sleep and wake up rested. Ive worked graveyard shift the last 15 years and and off and on for 15 years before that.
Ive used Ambien (Zopenem) for the last 10+ years off and on as well as melatonin & benadryl off and on but not together with the Ambien. I try to go 1 or 2 nights a week without using anything but its rare it works.

Due to my graveyard shift work Im usually awake 24hrs 1x a week, 48hrs 1x a month and 72 hrs 1 or 2x a year. I use to hit a wall at 48 hrs and feel drunk but not its more of an adrenaline feeling and hard to go to sleep after 48 hrs without using Ambien.

Hopefully once I retire I can get back to a normal sleep schedule.

[< <Samson> >]

I can’t see regular ambien use being much better than Xanax - from what I can tell

[s1nc1ty]

I can’t see regular ambien use being much better than Xanax - from what I can tell

If you use xan as sleep aid i dont think its good idea. Its addictive etc. , probably many less serious medications could help in that regard

[almostgone]

I can’t see regular ambien use being much better than Xanax - from what I can tell

My body seems to be resistant to Ambien. When I had my C spine surgery, the nurses stated giving me one when they noticed I was only sleeping a few hours out of 24 hours. Once the catheter was yanked, I spent most of the nights and some of the days hanging at the nurses' station. They all seemed to want to hear your life's story, scar explanations, and swap jokes.

I think opiates tend to rev me up and Ambien just didn't do... anything?

[Fresh2death]

I've had young babies over the last few years...quite a rarity that I get a full night's sleep! One day soon I hope

[XnavyHMCS]

My body seems to be resistant to Ambien. When I had my C spine surgery, the nurses stated giving me one when they noticed I was only sleeping a few hours out of 24 hours. Once the catheter was yanked, I spent most of the nights and some of the days hanging at the nurses' station. They all seemed to want to hear your life's story, scar explanations, and swap jokes.

I think opiates tend to rev me up?

Thank God, for the opiates...!!!

[yeahbuddy289]

My body seems to be resistant to Ambien. When I had my C spine surgery, the nurses stated giving me one when they noticed I was only sleeping a few hours out of 24 hours. Once the catheter was yanked, I spent most of the nights and some of the days hanging at the nurses' station. They all seemed to want to hear your life's story, scar explanations, and swap jokes.

I think opiates tend to rev me up and Ambien just didn't do... anything?

Tramadol definitely gives me energy and keeps me up. So do other opiates… I think the problem is when I take them it’s the only time in my life now I actually feel good and not completely stressed out so I enjoy being awake lol

[< <Samson> >]

Tramadol definitely gives me energy and keeps me up. So do other opiates… I think the problem is when I take them it’s the only time in my life now I actually feel good and not completely stressed out so I enjoy being awake lol

Ugggh

I like opiates way too much, so I put em down completely

That’s kinda how Valium was too, that’s why I switched to Xans. They are no fun - I take em all at once an hour prior to sleep. I used to take em in portions prior to bed - my neurosurgeon’s office said, do em all at once. If it’s too much - do less

So, here I am - pulling back from 4mg max. Right under 2.5mg per nite rn. I never figured I’d become dependent on these.

[yeahbuddy289]

Ugggh

I like opiates way too much, so I put em down completely

That’s kinda how Valium was too, that’s why I switched to Xans. They are no fun - I take em all at once an hour prior to sleep. I used to take em in portions prior to bed - my neurosurgeon’s office said, do em all at once. If it’s too much - do less

So, here I am - pulling back from 4mg max. Right under 2.5mg per nite rn. I never figured I’d become dependent on these.

I’d like to say I’m not dependent on tramadol but if a weekend comes up and I know I can’t take it I get super pissed lol. I have been on it for 6 years now and only ever take it on weekends and have not increased my dose since the day I started it. There’s kind of a story behind this but I found out if I take tramadol I can last longer in bed. I literally have trouble lasting more than a few seconds without it. This was something I had previously discussed with my doctor and when I mentioned to him tramadol helped with this, he willingly put me on it lol. It does so much more for me than that though, that’s why I like using it on the weekends. It really helps me relax and decompress (even while dealing with two kids), while at the same time giving me motivation and energy to get everything done around the house I need to.

Im not sure what exactly constitutes an addiction but like I said I am very strict with myself on my usage- I have kept my dosage the same and never use it other than weekends. And I don’t use it on weekends when we have plans to go anywhere or do anything, because it defeats the purpose of using it to relax. I do know I get bummed out if I know there’s a weekend I can’t use it, but tramadol or not, I hate doing things on the weekends when I finally have a chance to be home lol

[lovbyts]

My body seems to be resistant to Ambien. When I had my C spine surgery, the nurses stated giving me one when they noticed I was only sleeping a few hours out of 24 hours. Once the catheter was yanked, I spent most of the nights and some of the days hanging at the nurses' station. They all seemed to want to hear your life's story, scar explanations, and swap jokes.

I think opiates tend to rev me up and Ambien just didn't do... anything?

There is a trick with ambien. Dont wait for it to kick in or feel tired. Go lay down. Ive learned from experience and when my wife uses it same thing. If you dont go lay down it wont work. You may not remember a good chunk of what you did the next day but you wont go to sleep. EVERY time she says its not working and I get her to lay down in bed she is asleep within 2 minutes.
Best thing about ambien when women take it there is no such thing as NO 30 minutes later. lol

[Honkey_Kong]

I'm gonna hit up my doctor student buddies for some prescriptions... Fuck, I can sling X's and finance my gear and Viagra...

Fvuk that shit. Those things are highly addictive and can kill you when you try to come off them (never mind the horrible withdrawals). Even people using them for legit medical purposes can get hooked on them and their lives get ruined by them. It's not even funny to joke about peddling that shit on somebody. I wouldn't wish that shit on even my worst enemy.