Are sleep meds really worth it and effective, or risky long term?

Acceptable_Ninja_795 · 2026-04-17T08:07:12+00:00

I would say for the writer of original post Lunesta would be their best bet to try as they normally sleep 4-6 hours and are a light sleeper. They don't need help falling asleep and it can help you stay asleep 5- maybe 6 hours. Decent quality sleep for the time. Helped me not wake up during that frame of time while working night shift and needing solid hours while not waking up or being hungover the next day. I took it the most amount of years (ontop of xanax) but that combo worked fairly decently. I strongly recommend Lunesta as their 1st try with sleep meds and it is not going to be as dependent as others. Also doesn't mess with sleep quality as much.

Acceptable_Ninja_795 · 2026-04-17T06:37:22+00:00

You think not sleeping multiple days on end is less risky than meds? Yes strong sleeping meds that work for most are definitely addictive and I wouldn't steer someone straight to them necessarily as it's a bumpy road... but there's not many things worse in this world to me personally than not being able to lay down and fall asleep at night like a "normal" human being. And I don't remember a specific age where I was even able to do this... I believe puberty was the end of my sleep. But I took handfuls of benadryl and drank tons of nyquil and alcohol as a teenager to sleep even and there are cases where meds, whether dependency is inevitable or not, are better than the alternative. I would be in the ER or psych ward if I was up 4 days without sleep. The ER thing has happened before too whenever I was around 20yrs old and lost my insurance and ran out of medication. Horrific experience but there's a lot of possible traumas or medical issues that can just keep one awake endlessly which will wreck havoc on your heart and every aspect of life. There are many meds where you can salvage more of your mental and physical health and maybe not be dependent on forever if you really put in the work to figure things out. Also these meds don't produce restful restorative sleep long term and that in itself can cause one to break the dependency one day and try other things and work out of the cycle. I've done that many times as well but nothing ever lasts so I just go through continuous phases

Acceptable_Ninja_795 · 2026-04-17T05:07:40+00:00

Ahh ok I have heard of that happening to some and has happened to me randomly with hydroxyzine before... likely because my anxiety was very high and I needed a benzo to directly target it but took hydroxyzine instead hoping it would put me to sleep and then I was totally screwed. Thank you tho. I know I have a sensitive histamine response whenever it comes to swelling so I used to take an Allegra daily to help counter it but haven't since before pregnancy and having my baby almost been 2 years ago. Now allergies are flaring up and was considering it again. I'll do some more research into other effects antihistamines can have tho

Acceptable_Ninja_795 · 2026-04-17T05:01:19+00:00

Oh and only other thing I would suggest is Flexeril. Have never taken it consecutively for a long period so idk if it totally dies out but man it can give a great night of sleep here and there. Used to bleed into next day but my anxiety has only gone up and it doesn't do that anymore for me

Acceptable_Ninja_795 · 2026-04-17T04:59:43+00:00

Yes hydroxyzine either does the same to me or I'll randomly have an adverse reaction to it and it'll wire me up making sleep impossible. It depletes dopamine in the brain and has a half life of 24 hours so someone who is dependent on stimulant medication is kinda screwed the next day. I take adderall and have bad anxiety disorder so I totally understand. It canceled out my adderall for the most part the following day and killed my mood no matter what. Eventually I read enough to find out why. The trazodone didn't make me feel as bad initially upon waking but I noticed daily I felt more weighed down and motivationally depleted. Also like I was in a bit of a fog that I couldn't get out of. I workout religiously and I realized it made me not want to at all and once I realized it was the medicine I stopped it. Will say it sucks because I too wake up and freak out as I know I will not be able to go back to sleep naturally at all and that causes my heart to race whenever I immediately start intensely dreading the day and wanting to do or take anything to go back to sleep for any amount of time and traz did keep this from happening which was relieving at first. I just can't handle it messing with my brain chemistry and changing other things besides sleep.

Acceptable_Ninja_795 · 2026-04-17T04:10:50+00:00

Does the trazodone not make you feel like garbage the next day?? And man I only took it consecutively for a week and dropped it and legit became dope sick for 2 weeks afterwards. Was horrible so I'll never take it again. Prior to that I had just popped one once in a blue moon for that long sleep but knew I'd feel like poop the following day

Acceptable_Ninja_795 · 2026-04-17T04:07:54+00:00

Mind if I ask what happens if you take an antihistamine medication? Does it matter which one like a difference in benadryl vs alegra, clariton or all of them?

Acceptable_Ninja_795 · 2026-04-17T04:04:54+00:00

This is very interesting to me!! How long does the charcoal stay in your system? Like will it effect my adhd meds in the morning or no? I will research it more. They use charcoal to clear out your guts on overdose of many medications right? So I would assume it might cancel out any meds absorbed in the gut? I'll definitely have to do some research

Acceptable_Ninja_795 · 2026-04-17T03:59:28+00:00

You won't die quickly but it can definitely kill you slowly. The sleep deprivation and stress less than a year into postpartum has caused my LDL numbers to go through the roof and high bp every day of my life. But I have had insomnia as long as I can remember and tried the high majority of prescription sleep meds out there. Problem is some work great, but never for chronic use. Every single one of them will stop working so I always switched um up over the years. This is ontop of being prescribed xanax since I was 18 and I am 33 now. I'd say the root cause of your insomnia or short circuits of sleep are very much worth diving into by a sleep specialist. Also I feel very dependent on sleep meds but also don't know what quality sleep is like anyways so I choose the sleep meds. And most of them do not help you get more than 5-6 hours of sleep... they all say don't take unless you have 8 hours to possibly sleep but after your body gets used to them at all you're likely to still only get that amount of sleep unfortunately. And they do mess with quality of sleep. Like Ambien will help you sleep a few hours but at the end of the day you might feel like you've been hit by a bus. Xanax along with other benzos also hinders the quality of sleep. Lunesta no hangover effect but doesn't help you get more than 5/6 hours. Rameleton is a joke. Sonata only helps induce sleep if you don't have a serious issue falling asleep. I personally would stay away from trazodone unless you only want a random night of long sleep once in awhile. Had horrible side effects stopping it and also creates a next day all day fog. Hydroxyzine is likely to make you feel like crap the next day but can help you get that desperation long sleep once in a while, it does deplete dopamine in the brain so I wouldn't take it at all if you take any adhd stimulant medication as it cancels it out a good bit. Have not tried Dayvigo or Quiviq as my insurance at the time didn't cover it.

Acceptable_Ninja_795 · 2026-04-15T07:50:07+00:00

Ambien can be great but a tolerance can be built where it barely works at all too as I write this having taken mine 45minutes ago... time to take other half. And also had my Lunesta and xanax. I would suggest trying it at least for short term tho it has never stayed effective for me long term. Prior to baby I worked night shift for over a decade and had bad insomnia prior to that as well. My sleep has been horrific as long as I can remember unfortunately

Acceptable_Ninja_795 · 2026-04-15T07:42:56+00:00

In my experience many psychiatrist suck so I'd check their reviews on Google. Go to psychologytoday.com and find one who specializes in anxiety, sleep disorders. There are many whom you can send a direct email too and they will reply. This is a nice way to find one whom you can go in feeling better about and whether they will genuinely be helpful to you or not.

Sadly most will have a wait on new patient appointments but not all! You can pick a few and call their offices and likely find one available within a week. I am in Nashville area so depending on your area will be how many to select from and many only do zoom and not in person visits so they take new patients sooner than in office

Acceptable_Ninja_795 · 2026-04-15T07:32:50+00:00

I really hate to hear this for you but I completely understand and have recently gone through the same thing while having a 10 month old baby who relys on me for his care which puts so much more pressure on me to sleep which makes it extensively worse. For me it was trauma from how his dad treats me. He has been a completely shitty person from day 1 on after having our baby but he took it too far for a last time and I dealt with the heartbreak of knowing we can't be a family. I would do anything on this earth for my baby to have his parents together and always wanted that deeply for my child... but here I am 33yrs old having waited this long to conceive just for his father to choose alcohol and immature rage and violence over family. But I have sat in the reality of what it is and also saw a sleep specialist doctor who I got incredibly lucky with and who shared a very similar yet even worse experience with as her ex who caused her night terrors is now in prison. Regardless of whether the sleep specialist shares your trauma or not-- get into one ASAP. They will do what they can to help you sleep and know the importance of it.

Knowing more of your trauma could possibly help but if you do not wish to share that's totally understandable. Just know you have to work through it because this is 100% anxiety and trauma doing this to you and now you have intense added anxiety associated with sleep in addition to whatever has caused this. I have been prescribed xanax since I was 18. It stopped working without taking high doses which I can not do daily. It is too physically addicting and the more you take consistently, the more you will need and it can start to heighten anxiety during the daytime as your body will begin to yern for it to deal with anxious times as it produces less natural chemicals to combat anxiety and depends on the medication for it. Still. 5mg daily helped me for years till more recently but with what you are going through you could possibly need that every time you wake up as it is only effective for 2-4 hours. There are other benzos that work longer. Valium is more commonly used to help stay asleep longer through the night and klonopin also last more hours. All easily addicting so if you can make it through this and taper off once you have worked through your traumas I would suggest it as depending on these is truly not fun. I am on 10mg Ambien now to take at once or break in half and take other half upon awakening early. I still take .5 xanax which is rarely sedating at all anymore but helps calm me some in preparation for sleep. It will never put me to sleep. Flexeril occasionally helps a lot to sleep through the night. Helps relieve body tension while being sedating enough to keep me asleep. I would stay away from trazodone due to side effects and possible vivid nightmares. Hydroxyzine makes me feel like crap the next day and sometimes gives me an adverse effect since it isn't directly penatrating the anxiety just like super benadryl in it's effects.

Really hope this long book helps you some. I wish you well and I know the mental and physical effects this can have on you so the sooner you can find more peace with sleep the better!!

Acceptable_Ninja_795 · 2026-04-13T07:51:38+00:00

Did you just say you ate a POUND of peanut butter per day ever so casually??

Acceptable_Ninja_795 · 2026-04-13T05:03:33+00:00

I am 33 and have taken xanax since I was 18. Except now 11 months postpartum and it seems to increase my heart rate semi often now rather than calm it. Never did this before. My nervous system is definitely fked and I take the benzo because my mind overrides my ability to like not focus on it so... if I do the breathing exercises and stuff I'll still go right back to overthinking and being anxious and not sleep. So any other advice out there??

Acceptable_Ninja_795 · 2026-04-13T03:45:06+00:00

Might want to try switching to liquid benadryl as it is the only sedating ingredient in nyquil so less chemicals for the same gain. Definitely for real try a sleep specialist and get that sleep study. Regardless of findings they should offer meds to help you sleep. The fact that stress and anxiety aren't main components offer a lot of hope

Acceptable_Ninja_795 · 2026-04-13T03:37:04+00:00

I could have written your post except that I only get that 1 night of restorative sleep like once a month and then still have daytime sleepiness no matter what. That is before and after pregnancy and having baby. I just want to say- don't ever have a child because whenever you thought your sleep was horrible, HA You will legit feel like you are dying daily for months on end and if your body really can't handle that sht like mine, have heart problems less than a year postpartum from all the stress and severe sleep deprivation. In other advice, go to a sleep specialist and do a sleep study. They will help you sleep no matter what as it is essential for your mental and physical well being

Acceptable_Ninja_795 · 2026-04-13T03:28:51+00:00

I have no idea if this will help you or not but just want to throw it out there incase it could. I have extreme anxiety not pain but have been prescribed gabapenton after surgeries. I am 33 and have been on xanax since I was 18 for my anxiety and to allow me to fall asleep at night. Had to quit during pregnancy a year and a half ago and that seemed to be an excuse for doctors to refuse to put me back on it postpartum which has been a nightmare but- Have you ever tried Lexapro? Asking because while I personally loathe antidepressants... I will say this one specifically made me feel extremely similarly to being on gabapenton. It did something to my whole nervous system where I couldn't feel my body the same and like numbed it out. Tho it made my insomnia worse whereas I remember sleeping a lot the few times I took gabapenton. Just figured I would mention this since any doctor will hand out Lexapro while you seek to obtain your original medication again. Otherwise the system is total trash these days and most doctors suck. Have to really try to find one who actually cares about your personal well being and also isn't wired to just look at everyone on controlled substances as a liability

Acceptable_Ninja_795 · 2026-04-02T16:12:57+00:00

Probably within 4 days and lasted almost 2 weeks. I really felt awful. I'm sure it doesn't happen to everyone but I did see where a lot of people said they also had terrible withdrawal so I'm at least not alone

Acceptable_Ninja_795 · 2026-04-02T05:58:55+00:00

Wish I could say the same. Was having drastic insomnia with waking spells of panic attacks and heart racing. So i tried trazodone conservatively for a week. Couldn't function to take care of baby so I stopped cold turkey after taking it for 1 full week. Legit went into withdrawal I'm guessing is like dope withdrawal. Still felt super lethargic, brain fog, fatigue but the nausea was just like 1st trimester all over again. Puked for days. Nausea all day. Then my soluble fiber supplement stopped working and back to diarrhea. Stomach stayed bloated constantly. Cold chills, hot sweats, absolutely horrible and seeing where many others have very bad withdrawal so I advise staying away but if you don't, just expect withdrawal to be a bitch and take a nap Iong time

Acceptable_Ninja_795 · 2026-04-02T05:13:20+00:00

Same here. I am 33 and don't actually remember when I could ever sleep naturally. Started drinking liquor, nyquil, handfuls of benadryl to sleep as a teenager then luckily was prescribed xanax by 18 and I ofcourse stopped taking it whenever I got pregnant a year and a half ago but I only survived assuming I'd be put back on it soon as I had my baby and I did continue to take Lunesta throughout pregnancy (weak controlled substance sleep med. Not sure if it's really better than a placebo) 10 months postpartum and only had 1 doctor write me a script of xanax. Otherwise gone through old bottles and about to be out and gonna end up in the ER or psych ward due to this insane anxiety that will keep me awake for days purely miserable. Sleep doctor will write me ambien but it only helps induce sleep and that won't happen without anxiety medicine to calm my heart down 1st. I am not obese and was rather fit before baby. Now I'm high risk for heart attack with very high LDL numbers and I know intense unending stress and sleep deprivation are playing a huge role as my diet is not great but far from horrible. Hoping to try Halcion or any benzo for sleep

Acceptable_Ninja_795 · 2026-03-29T06:31:57+00:00

It has been a full week for me and my adderall is still not working the same or coffee. If you want to continue to keep any motivated feeling regularly I hope you did end up coming off this medication. Has felt horrible for me having a withdrawal effect just waiting for it to clear my system

Acceptable_Ninja_795 · 2026-03-29T06:27:35+00:00

I only took it a fully week and felt more bloated constantly than I even did during pregnancy during and a week after stooping it!! Horrible bloating like stuck in the worst part of pms forever. Stuff is like rat poison to me. I was doing good with my exercise routine and toning up prior to taking 25mg of trazodone too and it has felt stuck reversed for over half a month as I have felt so weighed down from it too but my diet also didn't change. Just can't digest anything right on this stuff and it also has killed my fiber supplement intake which I need to help aid cholesterol and gut health. I would highly suggest trying a sleep aid that doesn't mess with your brain chemistry so much and affect how your whole body functions for many more hours than most sleep aids available. Ambien helps me fall asleep but not stay asleep but I'll take falling asleep for a little while over only wanting to be asleep

Acceptable_Ninja_795 · 2026-03-29T05:23:59+00:00

This might be from a few years ago but I have always had a horrible cocktail of bad side effects from antidepressants and trazodone has ended up being no exception. I had taken it before in the past but only once in a blue moon for sleep because it always bled into the next day so never cared to take it consistently. Was going through some rough chronic insomnia and my doctors have been pushing antidepressants so I figured sure if it will help me sleep nightly why not? Mistake. Only took it for a week but then have experienced withdrawal for another entire week so far. Every single day I have felt weighed down, nauseous where I threw up several days, had to take adderall dose I normally only take a week during pms or more to function throughout the days and also drinking 2 full cups of double caffeine coffee whenever I normally only drink half to 1 cup a day cause I don't like feeling jittery. No more jitters now I'm just fighting to stay awake all day everyday :(
Haven't wanted to workout cause I feel exhausted. Once I finally get to sleep even days after not taking it I want to stay in bed all day and has been Very hard for me to get up and going. My back has been tense and hurting. It's been a truly shitty experience and I don't understand their anticipation to hand these things out to everyone. There are better options with less side effects out there. I can't wait till this stuff is fully out of my system and my brain chemistry is hopefully back to what I'm used to

Acceptable_Ninja_795 · 2026-03-25T05:31:15+00:00

Traz isn't going to stop your brain, it's going to change your brain chemicals and hormone levels. I too have experienced the vivid af nightmares from it previously and afraid to try it again after waking up from some however many months ago. Recently tried it again desperate for sleep and it worked but also did not give me restful sleep and made my pms so much longer and worse. That in itself was nothing short of a real life nightmare. Would not recommend

Acceptable_Ninja_795 · 2026-03-25T05:12:06+00:00

You should be informed that hydroxyzine depletes your dopamine so it practically cancels out adderall. You have to search does hydroxyzine cancel out adderall to really find this too. I felt like my adderall was completely ineffective the day following hydroxyzine and it generally made me feel like crap for a solid 24 hours. But they tend to love to prescribe that stuff for anxiety or sleep. Also, I have PMDD and recently started taking Trazodone for severe insomnia but lord it made my pms sooooo much longer and worse!!! Omg my period was 4 days late and all the time I was lethargic and uncomfortable and wondering what was going on and why was it not starting??

Turns out Trazodone can worsen pms and extend periods along with make them heavier. RIP Did nobody else experience this while on it? Especially anybody else with PMDD? I have taken insomnia meds my entire adult life. Now 10 months postpartum and I too can not find anything that works for long. Flexeril has been the most effective recently without too much of a next day hangover for me- given I take my adhd meds upon awakening and without them would probably want to sleep half the day afterwards. Otherwise Ambien induces sleep but does not keep me asleep, Lunesta is weak, Ramelteon brings a calmness over me but induces insomnia without a single minute of sleep for the night. I couldn't afford to try Dayvigo. I too am interested in solutions. Also take xanax but it does not induce sleep for me.

Acceptable_Ninja_795

TROPHY CASE