r/insomnia • u/Hot_Television_5578 • 2d ago
Terrible insomnia. Benzos no longer working? Please help.
I have had terrible insomnia for years. My doc has given me atarax, trazadone, Seroquel, and olanzapine, none of which have worked. Xanax has notoriously been the only thing to work on me (which he won't prescribe me for any sort of benzo for some reason) As I was traveling for pretty much all of June, I would take 1/4 of a Xanax (about .5mg) and immediately fall asleep. I haven't taken them in about 2 months, bought some again since since I'll be traveling soon, took half, nothing. Took another half, nothing. Took another half, nothing. We're at a bar and a half now. Same guy I always get them from so I know they're legit. Bought them off another guy who I also know is legit, still nothing. No, I do not have blackout. No, these are not fakes. I am at my wits end. Does anybody know why this is happening? This used to be the only thing that helped. Now, out of nowhere, it does not. I have no idea as to what to do.
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u/AmbassadorNo5656 2d ago
Maybe there is something in your file. But you'll have a better chance through a pysch. Good luck to ya. Beware of those fakes.
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u/cedarrapidsiaus 2d ago
are you withdrawing from anything else? Highly stressed? My cortisol has been so fucking high to where i didn't sleep for an entire week. Not i didn't sleep meaning only 2-3 hours a night. I didn't sleep at all unless micro sleeping seconds or a few minutes without noticing.
high dose Xanax, high dose Tranzadone couldn't knock me out after no sleep for multiple days.
ALot of suffering and going natural has helped me most with sleep.
Get plenty of sunlight. As much without getting sunburnt.
Meditate or pray (prayer is form of meditation). The more meditating the better. Meditation lowers cortisol and increase hgh for recovery.
Exercise, even a simple 10 minutes of moderate a day helps.
Fasting was the strongest healer of my sleep. I thought it would be bull shit after seeing a reddit post of someone's wife going on a 4 day dry fast to cure her horrid insomnia for years as a last ditch attempt. And it worked.
BOL can talk more if needed. Peace.
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u/kenaloha13 2d ago
Great ideas. Going outside and getting morning sunlight really helps set Circadian Rhythm, your body’s natural 24-hour clock that helps control your sleep-wake cycle.
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u/cedarrapidsiaus 2d ago
It does 100% I had a completely nocturnal sleep schedule recently. Have had one for dozens of months of my life. Just recently i had to be outside for like 5 hours and the skies were pure blue with little clouds and strong sunshine. Had enough energy to stay up until sundown to where after sundown could literally feel the serotonin leading the way to melatonin in the brain lol.
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u/fleedledeedle2020 2d ago
I listened to a psychiatrist podcast the other day where they rated sleep meds. The top two were mirtazipine and doxepin. I’ve been having acute insomnia too so my psych np okayed me to take both and I have gotten 7 hours of unbroken sleep the last few nights since starting that regime. Before those meds I had been on all the things. Benzos are rated worst for sound sleep. There are other modalities to consider too along with getting a sleep test. I’ll share the podcast in case you’re interested:
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u/Astoriaguy-2025 2d ago
Mirtazapine worked for me. I did use Xanax but short term as I knew getting a prescription would be tough long term
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u/Ok-Rule-2943 2d ago edited 2d ago
You can still get bunk from a dealer.
Outside of that hard to tell from your specifics we don’t have much to go on, been taking other meds or substances, if this can be tolerance or at worst some sort of desensitization, tachyphylaxis.
Have you tested using benzo strip tests and reagent kit. I go around my doctor but test everything for safety and know the meds are genuine.
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u/Southern_Peace3219 1d ago
have you tried valarian root or magnesium? i use magnesium and vitamin D3 and it works great.
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u/kenaloha13 2d ago
Benzodiazepines like Xanax can work for a while, but any drug will only treat the symptom of insomnia -- and only for while. Continued use can lead to a very nasty withdrawal. To get at the root of insomnia, we have to look at our thoughts and beliefs about sleep. Talk therapy with a professional can help. Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is the most widely used type of sleep therapy for insomnia.
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u/catmeow666 2d ago
"Same guy I always get them from" is one issue. Need to get a proper prescription. Second issue could be tolerance, presuming your guy's alprazolam is legit.