Sedatives

[Ashes]

Anyone not affected by sedatives?

    I have had problems getting to sleep for years and have been treated by many different doctors in many ways. They have been treating my bi polar but they are trying to get my sleep under control. When they started treating me they used sleeping pills lunesta, ambien, trazodone, and restoril. More recently the doctors have been using anti depressants and mood stabilizers with a sedating effect. ( deoxpen, lithium and haldol ) I don't understand how these medicines aren't helping me sleep. Is there anyone else who has had these problems?

[clarissa 27]

I don't know whether sedatives are effective in helping someone sleep. There seems to be no pattern where I'm concerned. One minute I'm groggy and can't keep my eyes open. So I usually sleep throughout the night. Other times, I am so restless I can't sleep at all. So my sleep patternseems to operate independently. My sleep or lack thereof is related to the disorder and whether or not I have been keeping a regular sleep schedule. I'm getting off sedatives. They can affect memory and cause confusion even in small doses. I can't stand being compromised that way. And you build up a tolerance. My doctor had me on 8mg and then wanted to test me for early-onset Alzheimers! I told him I'm fine, just get me of the sedatives, which he did at once, causing horrible withdrawal and contributing to a major psychotic episode that put me in the hospital. I'm using Visteral and Propanalol now and that seems to help me sleep better. We bipolars are noctornal creatures!

[Phyllis]

I couldn't answer yes or no.... Because I begin to tolerate the sleeping pills. I will take them for a month or two and then they stop working. I've been on Lunesta, Restoril, Rozerem, Ambien, and even went the natural route by taking melatonin. The longest any pill has worked for me has been 6 months. But that is during fall / winter seasons. Now the doc is having me try Renrom? Which is an anti-depressant with and antihistamine in it which is supposed to have a sedating affect. If this doesn't work, I'm supposed to call her.