Discussion Does anyone else abuse sleeping pills?

[Sphinxi]

For a few years now, I've used various medications to allow me to "skip" days. Some weekends I sleep upwards of 20 hours a day. Sometimes I use otc stuff like melatonin or dramamine, but most of the time I take a higher dose of quietapine (which I am prescribed), vistaril, ambien, or really anything else I can get my hands on that has a side effect of being drowsy.

I imagine that my doing this has something to do with my suicidality or desire to not be conscious. How common is this? Do any other users do this?

 

[whocaresnobodycares]

I would if they didn't all make me feel lousy.

Melatonin increases depression in frequent or high doses. More chemically ones fuck my body up in various uncomfortable ways. I once used Trazadone and HATED it. I'd be half asleep then BAAAM!!! SUDDEN SENSATION OF FALLING, i.e. severe surge of vertigo. I'd be on my mattress then feel like I just fell 10 feet off a platform. Valerian root makes me fall asleep, then wake up 30 minutes later needing to pee.

Right now, I'm a month free of marijuana and weeks after quitting drinking. At first, I had tons of anxiety. NOW I have much more vivid, long dreams that upset me. Even non-nightmares bother the hell out of me. I went to sleep at 2am and woke at 4 after dreaming all night about a Invasion Of The Body Snatchers/ They Live scenario, a very freaky dream where I'd banded with other "regular" humans against some sort of alien-zombies that were after us, with indescribable ways/ sensors to track us down. If I was a film director, I could probably use that for something, but I'm not a talented writer, it was all vague and barely understandable how things were operating (i.e. a fr0iggin dream) and all it accomplishes me is I ain't goin back to sleep and barely got 4 hours worth.

I'd smoke a ton of grass to suppress dreams, but my workplace is gonna do random tests this year, so had to quit. As it was, marijuana was making me anxious as often as being calming, so I've ha a drinking problem for 5 years and just quit, which ALSO is fucking my head up entirely with anxiety, and now depression.

I'm high on Life...
I'm average....
as this guy said:

 

[JassieDusk]

Absolutely yes. I am also prescribed quetiapine which I abuse on the weekends to keep me asleep for as long as possible. Today I slept for 17 hours. I just hate being awake. Every time I wake up I crave going back to sleep.
Similar to someone who has nightmares except that I wake up into a nightmare. Non consciousness is all that's good for me. Sleep is the only escape I know apart from death.

 

[Sphinxi]

Absolutely yes. I am also prescribed quetiapine which I abuse on the weekends to keep me asleep for as long as possible. Today I slept for 17 hours. I just hate being awake. Every time I wake up I crave going back to sleep.
Similar to someone who has nightmares except that I wake up into a nightmare. Non consciousness is all that's good for me. Sleep is the only escape I know apart from death.

Yeah, this is how I feel when I am using. It's crazy how despite taking quetiapine every day, slightly upping the dose reliably knocks me out. What do you normally do when you want to sleep, but have already slept for too long and are physically incapable of sleeping more?

 

[metfan647]

If it wasn't for the headaches and dependency, I'd probably be a habitual user.

 

[Kayla]

I abuse quetiapine and promethazine. If I'm struggling, I just take a bunch of them to sleep the day away.

 

[mimimisaki]

I sometimes abuse clonazepam, which I'm prescribed as an SOS, on top of the trazodone that I take every night.
Last time I overdid it quite a bit though, and after waking up spent several hours feeling extremely empty (more than usual I mean), so I might have to be careful with that in the future.

 

[dontletthembribeyou]

I used to take Benadryl whenever someone i loved was mad at me so that I could sleep until they were ready to talk, but i read an article about them causing dementia and got scared, so I stopped. I know that sounds kinda nonsensical given the forum we're on but I've operated under the "who cares, I'll be killing myself anyway" mindset before and it has screwed me over massively

 

[Sphinxi]

I used to take Benadryl whenever someone i loved was mad at me so that I could sleep until they were ready to talk, but i read an article about them causing dementia and got scared, so I stopped. I know that sounds kinda nonsensical given the forum we're on but I've operated under the "who cares, I'll be killing myself anyway" mindset before and it has screwed me over massively

I absued benadryl twice in high school, it was a bad experience and yes dph is very bad for your brain even in small but regular dosages. I wouldn't advise trying a safer drug, though, because being addicted to sleeping pills is a very rough addiction to get out of.

I sometimes abuse clonazepam, which I'm prescribed as an SOS, on top of the trazodone that I take every night.
Last time I overdid it quite a bit though, and after waking up spent several hours feeling extremely empty (more than usual I mean), so I might have to be careful with that in the future.

That's funny, my partner in high school would abuse clonazepram, and yes it can be very dangerous. How often do you use?

 

[Forveleth]

I have insomnia. Maybe I should

 

[mimimisaki]

I absued benadryl twice in high school, it was a bad experience and yes dph is very bad for your brain even in small but regular dosages. I wouldn't advise trying a safer drug, though, because being addicted to sleeping pills is a very rough addiction to get out of.

That's funny, my partner in high school would abuse clonazepram, and yes it can be very dangerous. How often do you use?

I try not to do it too often, because as I said that one was prescribed as an sos, so if I start buying more of it too often it'll look suspicious. Usually only do it when things get rly bad, and in those times I honestly just end up dumping a random number of pills and taking them, which is definitely not the safest thing to do, but hey shit happens and that's that.
On the daily the most I will do if I feel like it is take a higher dose of trazodone than I'm supposed to, although the effect doesn't come even close to clonazepam

 

[Sphinxi]

I try not to do it too often, because as I said that one was prescribed as an sos, so if I start buying more of it too often it'll look suspicious. Usually only do it when things get rly bad, and in those times I honestly just end up dumping a random number of pills and taking them, which is definitely not the safest thing to do, but hey shit happens and that's that.
On the daily the most I will do if I feel like it is take a higher dose of trazodone than I'm supposed to, although the effect doesn't come even close to clonazepam

Yeah clonazepam is very strong, I think the only thing that has knocked me out better was ambien. Be safe with it, though.

 

[xBrialesana]

This thread is personal to me lol. I had a (HORRIBLE) quack doctor; I was on 30mg ambien/6mg Xanax a day at TWELVE. And then my family would give me more benzos/sedatives (bizzare situation, was an abusive control thing). My dose escalated highly from there and (although it almost killed me) recently got off most of it.
my point being is yeah that is all I know. They put me in homeschooling and kept giving me more pills; and more abusive things kept happening so I literally would just take them 24 hours/day… was never taught how to deal with literally anything, only to take pills, and I had a never ending extra supply from them.
I called them my "fuck it" pills because literally I could just say "fuck it" and go to sleep whenever… or try to at least. I really did/do have severe insomnia (although I'll never know how much of if is real at this point or I'm just so tolerant of the meds) so my use always felt "justified" (I was also a freakin KID when this started). and literally nothing helps but prescritions. and at that, only Ambien. I have taken endless amounts of every other the counter and supplement, even the strongest Ca medical weed won't touch my sleep. I'm awake right now after 3 days & bronchitis, no meds because I ruined myself with my tolerance again but 700mg edibles and still no sleep lol.

I used to take Benadryl whenever someone i loved was mad at me so that I could sleep until they were ready to talk, but i read an article about them causing dementia and got scared, so I stopped. I know that sounds kinda nonsensical given the forum we're on but I've operated under the "who cares, I'll be killing myself anyway" mindset before and it has screwed me over massively

It absolutely doesn't sound nonsensical; I have been on this website for a long time and this place has given me desire to live above no other resource in all my years, which also includes practicing safety & taking care of one's self and practicing harm reduction; caring for the mind + body we do have while we can.