Sleep supplements

I was getting help from Winters sun on withdrawal support page and recommended I post here. I am holding prescription medications.  What would anyone recommend regarding the use of 2.5mg melatonin, 12.5mg-25mg doxylamine succinate (unisom tab), and 15mg CBN (no THC) gummy I have been taking at night to sleep?  It seems these 3 combined give me sleep most of the time for the past few weeks (4-6 broken hours).  Just don't know of long term side affects of doxylamine succinate for a while.  Sleep is important to me however, and I am able to function to a degree, work and be there for my family better.  The nights I don’t take the unisom, I don’t really sleep any. Hardcore insomnia hit after over rapid taper (didn’t know any better), reinstated to original dose to no help, and proceeded to taper down to 11mg again too fast. Have been severely unstable (mainly due to insomnia) which is causing extreme fear and the feeling like I’m never going to stabilize. I’ve been holding for 7.5 weeks now and will most likely be holding for awhile with my wife delivering baby 2/25/23.  I have to keep working (fortunately have flexible schedule and can work as I’m able but have to get a lot accomplished when I do) and be there as best I can for wife and 6 year old son. Thank you all so much. Just figured to take it if it is helping me sleep some and furthermore function to a degree the following day. Again, thank you all for taking time to help.

 

I’m glad you’re going to hold for awhile, I’ve read members say very long holds can be beneficial and with a baby coming, you’re going to need to be at your best.  Have you noticed any improvement in your sleep since you’ve been holding?

 

The medications and supplements you’ve been taking seem fairly benign, I’ve read members need to switch their sleep routine up to keep them effective.  I don’t have much experience with supplements or medications but I wanted to acknowledge your situation and hope a long hold will do you some good.

Thanks so much for responding. I would say the sleep is maybe slightly better but different also.  Instead of sleeping hard and deep for 0-4 hrs and then awakening for good, I am now sleeping longer but not as deep, more broken, and now a lot of vivid dreams when I sleep. I did go longest period without a sleepless night last week for maybe 8-9 days, but then had minimal to no sleep 3 of 4 nights recently. I had 6 hrs broken in the middle and last night however.  But I’ve had a lot going on. Had Thanksgiving and Christmas with a bunch of different family functions, then immediately went on planned vacation to Florida where I still work, etc.. My son and wife love it. We are heading home Monday. I am blessed to have family so don’t want that to come across as ungrateful, as I am extremely grateful for my life and family.  I’m just stating that all this has been so hard on me (especially on little to no sleep) and probably helping me learn to fight and stay as strong as possible, but probably doesn’t help calm my CNS. I meditate, exercise and try and remain sharp, but wow is this hard. I cry quite often as I have not fully accepted my situation and worried subconsciously about my family, new baby, work, etc.. I know I don’t have to tell everyone on here, but I’m just trying to figure out what is best and short term game plan. I think holding all medicines until after baby, and using the sleep supplements if they are working for now. I don’t know what else to do. I’m trying to live in the present and not live in fear but I’m not there. It’s hard to laugh with my wonderful family and this is all consuming. Hopefully I will stabilize better so I feel more confident moving forward as I have a lot going on.

Thanks so much for responding. I would say the sleep is maybe slightly better but different also.  Instead of sleeping hard and deep for 0-4 hrs and then awakening for good, I am now sleeping longer but not as deep, more broken, and now a lot of vivid dreams when I sleep. I did go longest period without a sleepless night last week for maybe 8-9 days, but then had minimal to no sleep 3 of 4 nights recently. I had 6 hrs broken in the middle and last night however.  But I’ve had a lot going on. Had Thanksgiving and Christmas with a bunch of different family functions, then immediately went on planned vacation to Florida where I still work, etc.. My son and wife love it. We are heading home Monday. I am blessed to have family so don’t want that to come across as ungrateful, as I am extremely grateful for my life and family.  I’m just stating that all this has been so hard on me (especially on little to no sleep) and probably helping me learn to fight and stay as strong as possible, but probably doesn’t help calm my CNS. I meditate, exercise and try and remain sharp, but wow is this hard. I cry quite often as I have not fully accepted my situation and worried subconsciously about my family, new baby, work, etc.. I know I don’t have to tell everyone on here, but I’m just trying to figure out what is best and short term game plan. I think holding all medicines until after baby, and using the sleep supplements if they are working for now. I don’t know what else to do. I’m trying to live in the present and not live in fear but I’m not there. It’s hard to laugh with my wonderful family and this is all consuming. Hopefully I will stabilize better so I feel more confident moving forward as I have a lot going on.

 

It sounds like your sleep is gradually stabilising. It’s normal to have erratic sleep during tapering, and even when you stabilise from each reduction, your sleep most likely won’t be normal deep and long sleep. You do get used to it though. The main thing is that you are sleeping. I slept about 5 hrs in total last night, but I’m used to that now. It’s often broken. The fact that your vivid dreams have decreased is a good sign that your sleep is improving and that you are slowly stabilising.

 

Pam: thank you so much for that feedback on the medications and supplements. Changing things up also seems sensible to me, which is why I abandoned taking melatonin every night. It just stopped working, but I figure if I used it sparingly, it may be more effective when I really do need it, which lately, I’m glad to say I haven’t.

Thanks again for the reply. My vivid dreams have actually increased and stabilized now (I remember in full detail 1-2 dreams) but duration of sleep, though broken, has averaged more per week I’d say since last reduction on 11/14/22. I’ve been taking the unisom tab, CBN gummie and 2.5mg melatonin for about a month now though so don’t know if that’s why I’m sleeping a little longer on average.  I also believe when I now awaken in night, I’m not as terrified and don’t look at clock. I have actually gotten away from looking at clock bc I felt it was waking me up more and creating fear whereas I felt it was affecting me going back into light sleep again.  A good night is what you are describing. 4-6 hours of broken sleep with about 2 different vivid dreams. I’ve had 3 nights with little to no sleep in past 2 weeks, and 2 of those were when I didn’t take unisom.

Thanks again for the reply. My vivid dreams have actually increased and stabilized now (I remember in full detail 1-2 dreams) but duration of sleep, though broken, has averaged more per week I’d say since last reduction on 11/14/22. I’ve been taking the unisom tab, CBN gummie and 2.5mg melatonin for about a month now though so don’t know if that’s why I’m sleeping a little longer on average.  I also believe when I now awaken in night, I’m not as terrified and don’t look at clock. I have actually gotten away from looking at clock bc I felt it was waking me up more and creating fear whereas I felt it was affecting me going back into light sleep again.  A good night is what you are describing. 4-6 hours of broken sleep with about 2 different vivid dreams. I’ve had 3 nights with little to no sleep in past 2 weeks, and 2 of those were when I didn’t take unisom.

 

Ahh, thanks for clearing that up about your vivid dreams. When I was unstable, I had crazy vivid fear filled dreams, and as I stabilised, they became less fear based and normalised somewhat. 

Started taking a THC with CBN gummy. One gummy knocks me out for 8 hours. So far best sleep supplement I have found.

Hi there.

 

Was reading your post and saw you were taking melatonin in addition to a few other things for sleep. Melatonin can causes vivid dreams for some. I have experienced this in higher doses or with prolonged use. Just thought I would share that to see if there is the option to discontinue for a bit and see if that helps.

 

I hope you find the solution! You aren’t alone! ❤️

When I was suffering from sleep problems, I used diphenhydramine HCL, which you can get over the counter. I wouldn't use it long term, but to get you over the occasional hump, it's not bad. It's one of the old school antihystamines, so you can be fairly confident that it's not going to cause more problems than it solves, but it's not something you want to be taking long term. Like all meds, though, you can find people who say it didn't agree with them, but I think most people find them quite useful and problem free.

Magnesium is incredibly calming and helps me sleep soundly. So does just a sliver of Hydroxyzine 🙏

+1 on Magnesium

Magnesium really works. I took the InnoSupps Night Shred supplement which contained Magnesium, so I know it from my own experience. You can check the review here https://innosupps.pissedconsumer.com/review.html if interested. What else make me give this supplement a try was that it doesn't only help with sleep but also works like a fat burner, so I lost weight while sleeping.

It was a real find!