17- need better sleeping tablets - Sleep Disorders Message Board

papillon09 · 03-23-2009, 01:33 PM

I am 17, and have recently been transferred to the adult psychiatrict team in my area.
I have been on melatonin for two years and it has done nothing- although child psychiatrists cannot prescribe anything stronger.
I was hoping my new psychiatrist would prescribe me something, but my child psychiatrist said she wants to stay in charge til i am 18- i am now at college, my days are longer, work is harder, im more active etc etc- so im not sure i can do without sleep for much longer

Any specific drug good that i could ask for from my adult team?

sorry and thanks

light the world · 03-23-2009, 02:01 PM

First of all do you get any sleep at night?6-9 hours of sleep is good enough at your age. What meds are you taking in total.Just to see whether or not you are currently on anything that could help you fall asleep.

papillon09 · 03-23-2009, 04:32 PM

Just fluoxetine 60mg (which is getting changed soon as it is not helping at all), melatonin as much as i want (which does not help me sleep at all!

), risperidone, 6mg, librium average of 20mg per day (though somedays less and somedays more), propanolol 10mg (just to disconnect the link between bad memories and anxiety- you might have seen the documentary on Horizon on BBC2 last year) and lorazepam on PRN

I get very little sleep- if i averaged it out over a week, i probably get 1hr per night. (though one night i may have 3 hours and the next 2 days have none at all)

light the world · 03-23-2009, 05:21 PM

I notice that you say you have psychosis. One of the antipsychotics out there is called seroquel. It can cause a really heavy sedation. Some sleep doctors even use low doses just to help people with insomnia. But the main reason for someone to take this is if they are experiencing manic symptoms and psychosis. Maybe talk to your pdoc about this med. I was on it at a time and it helped me sleep. Then I was taken off of it just because it didn't help with my psychosis at all.

melanie in mary · 03-24-2009, 10:01 AM

I was on Seroquel for a while, it helped some. My doc only would give me 25 mg since I needed it only for insomnia, sometimes I think if she would have upped my dose it would have worked better. Look into Trazadone ( my doc said I could use up to 150 mg on that). It seems to be helping so far. I take it about an hour before bed. It is an older antidepressant. I take Celexa as well. Explore all your options. My doctor told me Melatonin is only for occassional use. If you are a young student your body probably makes enough Melatonin on it's own! If you use it constantly every night I have heard that the brain stops making it's own natural melatonin. I only use this rarely. Good luck.