Tonight I Shall Take Two Melatonin

reply to post by ANOMALY502


Well, that happened too. The thing was, there were nights like that, and then I started feeling tired during the day, then the days and nights started blending together and I would have vivid dreams here and there while my reality became less and less real.

is everyone here just a drug addict?

Originally posted by OpinionatedB
is everyone here just a drug addict?

That sounds very troll-like to me. Just because people talk about experience with sleep-aids and their effect on dreams doesn't mean they're taking them every night. In fact, I doubt anyone is taking any of these sleep aids every night except melatonin -- which is a hormone, not a drug, that you buy in the vitamin supplements section, not the pain killer or sleep aids section.

Some people are curious. SOME people.

reply to post by ClintK


It was a perfectly legitimate question for the strangest thread I have ever come across... an entire thread of people speaking of taking handfuls of drugs....whatever....

Originally posted by ClintK
reply to post by thisisnotaname

 

I've tried melatonin, diphenhydramine, doxylamine succinate and ambien. For me, ambien was by far the best as far as helping with a good night's sleep. It was like a took it, woke up 7-8 hours later with no memory of any dreams but I felt refreshed.

Doxylamine was by far the worst. It leaves you with a hangover -- a sort of groggy, sleepy, unpleasant haze that stays with you all day. You will definitely have dreams, but it's almost like it forces dreaming.

Diphenhydramine, which is the most common sleep aid (found in Tylenol PM, Advil PM, etc., and you can buy pills that are only diphenhydramine) works well for inducing dreams, but you build up a very quick tolerance and after 4-5 days it does nothing. Plus, it also has a bit of a hangover. It's not unpleasant, but you can feel sleepy until 13-14 hours after you've taken it.

As far as dreams, I haven't found any of them make me have any more lucid or unusual dreams than what I have without sleep aids at all -- except doxylamine. But those dreams usually seem stressful and/or tedious.

Dreams are fantastically interesting to me and I'd love to find something that alters my dreams in a good way. But the only thing that altered my dreams was doxylamine and, like I said, those dreams seemed forced and rather unpleasant.

I can attest to the tolerance for Diphenhydramine. I started taking that years ago. I also started with taking two. Now, years later I am at 6 for the initial dose and will take about 1 more every hour until I am down for the count. I have tried several times to come off of them and at one time took Ambien.

I slept walked and ate. Got choked on a cookie, threw up in the floor and left it to go to bed. Disgusting and a bit scary so I stopped that ASAP.

I am thinking of trying the melatonin myself. It has to be better on the liver than Tylenol PM.

ETA, that insomnia is an awful thing to live with day after day. Those trying to find relief from over the counter aids shouldn't be classified as drug addicts IMO.

Originally posted by OpinionatedB
reply to post by ClintK

 

It was a perfectly legitimate question for the strangest thread I have ever come across... an entire thread of people speaking of taking handfuls of drugs....whatever....

No, it wasn't. Nobody was talking about taking "handfuls" of drugs. Everything mentioned, except Ambien, is available at every Walmart, Every Walgreen's and nearly every grocery store in the country. And if this is really "the strangest thread" you've EVER come across, wow. I take it you've just started surfing the web.

Originally posted by Kangaruex4Ewe


I can attest to the tolerance for Diphenhydramine. I started taking that years ago. I also started with taking two. Now, years later I am at 6 for the initial dose and will take about 1 more every hour until I am down for the count. I have tried several times to come off of them and at one time took Ambien.

I slept walked and ate. Got choked on a cookie, threw up in the floor and left it to go to bed. Disgusting and a bit scary so I stopped that ASAP.

I am thinking of trying the melatonin myself. It has to be better on the liver than Tylenol PM.

ETA, that insomnia is an awful thing to live with day after day. Those trying to find relief from over the counter aids shouldn't be classified as drug addicts IMO.

Believe me, at this point it's all in your mind. Diphenhydramine starts losing it's effectiveness after the first night using it, and does almost nothing after the third night. That's not my opinion -- it's a pretty well known fact. This is why it is so widely used in many "PM" versions of OCT sleep aids -- minimum exposure to lawsuits. Increasing dosage may extend its effectiveness for another day or so, but at this point, after years, a placebo would give you the same effect.

Melatonin would be a better choice. You can take it every night for the rest of your life.

reply to post by ClintK


I'm definitely going to look into it! It would certainly make my liver happier . All of the OTC sleep aids I (and most people I know) have tried can quickly turn into a vicious cycle.

Originally posted by satron
A good way to facilitate dreams is by waking up early, only sleeping for 4 or 5 hours, then waking up and going a part of your day like normal. Then take a nap in the afternoon. Instant vivid dreams.

Agreed ive had very good experiences with this too, also some crystal clear visions of tress / clouds while meditating.