Sleeping pills and your experiences with them

[Astramorte]

Lately I have been finding it difficult to fall asleep, and last night I was not able to fall asleep period; I simply lied on my bed waiting for myself to fall asleep. I am considering sleeping pills and I am wondering what experiences people have had with them.

 

Edit:

I probably should add in that my sleeping issues are starting to interfere with my classes in college.

Edited February 6, 2012 by Astramorte

[TheCalliton]

id reccomend not taking them. They put you out for longer than you may need, and certain foods can help put you to sleep instead

[Rabbit1251]

They are wonderful for those times when you just can't get to sleep. My doctor has me on Zolpidem Tartrate. I gently fall asleep and wake up about 8 hours later. The danger with them is that you can't let yourself become too dependent for it could lead to addiction. You should discuss this with your doctor if you are interested.

 

 

Rabbit

[gahnzz]

The poll is difficult to answer because we don't know specifically what your issues are... I wouldn't blithely answer Yes because I don't know the underlying cause of your insomnia.

 

I do currently take a sleep aid prescription and have for years, but my insomnia is clinically diagnosed depression. If you do take a sleep aid, only do so after consulting with your doctor. That said, I'd stay away from Ambien... try herbal if at all possible.

 

Just taking sleeping meds is more like curing the symptom and not curing the disease.

[Illiad86]

I wouldn't take them, you can become dependent on them after awhile. I've heard that Unisom and some other one you won't, but I don't believe it. There's foods like Calliton said..warm milk helps a lot. There's also Valerian root, I think it's called, that's a natural sleep aid. They sell it with the rest of the vitamin pills.

 

Really before taking any kind of aid, you should talk to your doctor. You could need some vitamins or maybe it could be something wrong with an organ.

[Balagor]

No way. As others have allready said you can become dependent, even addicted. I have tried, due to some depression, and quitting them was hell.

Did you know that drug addicts take sleeping pills, lots of them to get high, and without falling a sleep?

A good aid to help sleeping, is having a hot shower before bedtime. It is not the warm water that makes you sleepy, but the cooling down. The cooling down of the body tricks your body to believe that is is in rest, thus making you sleepy.

Also try not to think "I can not sleep. I can not sleep", but instead think your self to a nice place that makes you relaxed and sleepy.

[SubjectProphet]

Last time I took sleeping pills I ended up in the hospital with a closed throat. Mainly because I'm allergic to them.

[AliasTheory]

I would not take sleeping pills. My roommate here in college did for a while and managed to eventually stop using them, but I still say no. As mentioned earlier, there are negative reactions that can result from using them.You should consider making changes in your lifestyle instead.

 

Exercise is a huge factor in getting quality sleep, in my opinion. I'm an undergraduate student of engineering and hardly ever leave my room, since I am always buried in work, but I try to get out at least once a day and do something, even if it means just taking a walk around campus.

 

Another aspect to take into account is your diet. In my first year in college, I changed my diet to be considerably healthier since my parents weren't tossing food right in front of me all the time. In general, I have more energy to do things now than I did before. Among my changes was to lay off the soda and caffeinated beverages. I don't drink coffee, but I will tell you that I used to drink seven cans of soda a week in high school. (Now I have soda maybe once a week.) It almost goes without saying to not take anything caffeinated before bed, since you'll obviously stay awake for a while and will stimulate your bladder.

 

Don't eat large meals before sleeping, and give some time for them to digest. For some people, it causes some pain, but it is generally unhealthy to eat a lot and go straight to sleep right after, even if it may come easy.

 

Have a sleep schedule. I go to sleep at midnight or earlier and wake up at 7:00 AM. Eventually, you may find yourself not needing an alarm clock to wake up, and your body will naturally grow accustomed to your routine.

 

Finally, don't stress out. It's easier said than done; I've lost entire nights of sleep for that reason on the dawn of exams. Take a break and relax for a while.

 

Sorry if none of this helps you, TC. I have always slept like a rock and can sleep for 12 hours a day. Hope things go well for you.

[Werne]

Sleeping pills don't help (at least in my case). My doctor once gave me pills strong enough to knock out an elephant for a day and I was still awake all night.

 

Anyway, I don't recommend sleeping pills, they are not healthy and they mess with your brain (trust me, I know). I think you should consider using herbs, my grandma was a herbalist, she had leaves and stuff for just about anything. Though she was senile and crazy so I once asked her for something to help with my cold and she gave some diarrhea tea, I though my lungs will come out of my arse. And that's why I don't drink tea anymore.

[SubjectProphet]

Some advice on the sleeping issues:

 

When you want to fall asleep, lay in bed and switch on a TV or computer, and just kind of like watch some shows or browse the internet with no lights on. I do this, and it tires me. I don't know why. Worth a shot though.

 

You don't want to be energetic when you want to sleep. You need to tire yourself. Warm milk usually helps my girlfriend and roomate, as they recommended that several times.

 

NEVER exercise before sleeping. In the morning, you'll be cramping and hurting. If you do, stay awake and rest you're body instead, THEN fall asleep.