When I was desperate for a way to get off Ambien after two years, I had a physician recommend using High potency Valerian Root. I didn't think it would work , so instead i went with some other supposedly non habit forming scrip,but it didn't work at all. I finally gave the valerian root a shot and it  worked. I take 3 or 4 at bedtime and i am now sleeping well. I also use  a noisey fan to drown out the tinnitus (and the voices)

here is the stuff I take

Quoted: Melatonin tablets have given me some whacked-out, freaky dreams.  Dreams like I've heard descriptions of bad acid trips. Jim

Oh, I somehow doubt that

Quoted: Hmm...maybe I should hire a BUDs or Ranger School Instruction group.....in my present state of health i would last about 6 minutes.....

You'd last longer than me!

Weird.  I've pretty much only slept for the past three days.  Had a bad reaction to beupranorphine.  It was either sleep or dry heave all day.  I decided to sleep.

EDIT: BTW, opiates (a downer) do not react well to nicotine (an upper).  

One word

Ambien.





go see a doc

Quoted: 3mg Melatonin in the herbal section at your local Wal-Mart.  Take one and go to bed within 30 minutes.  About $5 for 180 of the little life savers.  I used to take Ambien but this stuff is smoother.

They work GREAT!!!!!!!!!!  I just started working mids shift, 1730-0600 and the first two mornings I tried to sleep after work I got maybe 2-3 hrs before waking up.  One of my people told me about Melatonin and I am dropping right off, take one 30 min before going to bed and within 30 you are OUT!!!

Better than Ambien, give Lunesta a shot.

Quoted: Quoted: your brain doesn't stop either huh?  The only thing that works for me  is popping two Wal-Som's (genaric) and Mozart on low volume.  If I don't do something to distract my brain function, its like a hive a bees, generating thoughts of everything from world hunger to the next civil war and everything in between. So, I'm not the only one?  Cool!

Glad I'm not alone.
Damn brain never shuts up!

Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: your brain doesn't stop either huh?  The only thing that works for me  is popping two Wal-Som's (genaric) and Mozart on low volume.  If I don't do something to distract my brain function, its like a hive a bees, generating thoughts of everything from world hunger to the next civil war and everything in between. So, I'm not the only one?  Cool! Glad I'm not alone. Damn brain never shuts up!

Sometimes I wonder if we are doomed to walk the earth in a sleep deprived haze, eyes black from exhaustion, praying for the day that when and if we can finally sleep; we don't have to wake up.

Get some sleep any way you can.  Going much longer will permanently alter your personality.

Melatonin tablets have given me some whacked-out, freaky dreams. Dreams like I've heard descriptions of bad acid trips.

Cut the pill in half or in quarters.  That worked for me.  Also, after you take it for a while the dreams stop.z

It's been so long since I have actually had a normal nights sleep cycle that I really can't remember when it last was.

So, I've decided that sleep is 'Over rated', fuck it, I'll sleep when I'm dead. (The way I'm going that could come when I least expect it!!)

So, till then I'm a happy little 'Night Owl' who says, Who,who whoooo, who,who whoooo....Yeah okay so I've gone off the deep end, what the fuck else is new????.....

Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: your brain doesn't stop either huh?  The only thing that works for me  is popping two Wal-Som's (genaric) and Mozart on low volume.  If I don't do something to distract my brain function, its like a hive a bees, generating thoughts of everything from world hunger to the next civil war and everything in between. So, I'm not the only one?  Cool! Glad I'm not alone. Damn brain never shuts up! Sometimes I wonder if we are doomed to walk the earth in a sleep deprived haze, eyes black from exhaustion, praying for the day that when and if we can finally sleep; we don't have to wake up.

Enough time to sleep when you're dead, sissy!

Not alone guys...I often have disturbed sleep, and have for the last few years.  I've been on a constant regimen of Benedryl to help keep me on a reglar sleep schedule.

I'll have a phase of undisturbed sleep for maybe a week sometimes, and then it's right back to the Benedryl.

Working out sometimes helps me, and so does laying down to get ready to sleep long before I need to so I have pleanty of time to go to sleep.  That way I don't have the "Well, 5h is good...4h is good...3h...awwww, fuckit" syndrome which has happened often.  Of course, I can't always do that...esp. at midnight at the end of a 16h day w/ a 5am flight....

Also try going to bed just slightly hungry--just drink some water do NOT have a snack!--and keep your bedroom slightly cool.

You also might try reading and understanding the fine print at the bottom of your car insurance policy.  Great sleep aid.

If all else fails, google sleeplessness or insomnia or other keywords relevant to your plight just for kicks.

I've had it like that, where I can't slow my mind down and drift from one ludicrous possibility to the next, or just obscess on something that'll be taking place in the next 24 hours or something. Occasionally it's even gotten out of hand and gone into a mild to moderate anxiety attack. Not to the extreme of not sleeping for 3 or 4 days though, I get myself in order quicker than that.

You have to accept that your mind is going to go a mile a minute and just seize control of the direction. I do things like think about gambling, imagine myself playing blackjack and rolling up a big jackpot, or even shooting. An activity that's repetitive, that you are familiar with enough to go right to it, that is also something you find relaxing. It always basically boils down to math though, counting cards, adding up x rings, but in a more soothing manner.  


It WILL lull you right to sleep, you should try it.


If you can't get it in line I'd go see a doctor or maybe even a psychologist.

For what it's worth, a really great bed might also help. Even when I do sleep, it's generally in 45 minute increments. I got a 4 inch memory foam tooper and a feather bed and now I'm getting 4 and 5 hours at a time.