My understanding is insomnia is a common symptom of this. Personally, I had both sleep onset as well as sleep maintenance insomnia (meaning I didn't sleep at all for close to 3 years). So ... I had to research and experiment with just about every drug out there on my journy to getting better. Here is what worked for me.
First of all ... there are lots of sleep aids out there ... most work on GABA. Think of GABA like the brakes on your car. I tried a lot of these and they worked a bit for me ... but I found I was often drugged into the next day unless the pill had a half life of no more than about 6 hours. Imovane was the best of this lot for me.
I also learned that there are other sleep aids that work on completely different systems. Low dose quitiapine 12-25 mg for example works on histamine (H1) and adrenalin (A1) receptors. Think of H1 and A1 as the gas pedal on your car. Now .. don't freak out, but Quitiapine is classed as an antipsychotic. This classification is due to the fact that in higher doses it is. In low doses it simply is an antihistamine and adrenalin agonist (search the last psychiatrist for detail on this .. fun read btw)
Anyway - while I no longer need any sleeping pills, it was a combination of Imovane and Quitiapine that worked amazingly well for me. It's like taking your foot off the gas and putting on the brakes. Both have a short half life. One word of caution. If you can convince your Dr. to let you try Quitiapine ... you will sleep really deeply and may get very vivid dreams!! It can be freaky! This goes away once you catch up on your sleep deprivation.
Hope this helps.
First of all ... there are lots of sleep aids out there ... most work on GABA. Think of GABA like the brakes on your car. I tried a lot of these and they worked a bit for me ... but I found I was often drugged into the next day unless the pill had a half life of no more than about 6 hours. Imovane was the best of this lot for me.
I also learned that there are other sleep aids that work on completely different systems. Low dose quitiapine 12-25 mg for example works on histamine (H1) and adrenalin (A1) receptors. Think of H1 and A1 as the gas pedal on your car. Now .. don't freak out, but Quitiapine is classed as an antipsychotic. This classification is due to the fact that in higher doses it is. In low doses it simply is an antihistamine and adrenalin agonist (search the last psychiatrist for detail on this .. fun read btw)
Anyway - while I no longer need any sleeping pills, it was a combination of Imovane and Quitiapine that worked amazingly well for me. It's like taking your foot off the gas and putting on the brakes. Both have a short half life. One word of caution. If you can convince your Dr. to let you try Quitiapine ... you will sleep really deeply and may get very vivid dreams!! It can be freaky! This goes away once you catch up on your sleep deprivation.
Hope this helps.