How can I improve my sleep with drugs?

November 14, 2005 12:59 PM

My sleep schedule is very hectic. While I almost always have to get up early, I frequently have to stay up very late to complete projects or have at least a few hours to spend with friends. I try and use the weekends to catch up on sleep, and I have many tricks to haul myself out of bed in the mornings but I was wondering if anyone might know a relatively safe combination of drugs that would not only help me quickly fall asleep but also wake up quickly if I haven't gotten my "full" 8 hours of sleep?

I am not currently on any medications but I do smoke pot sometimes and drink socially. I know there's going to be lots of anti-sleep medication responses, so while I of course want to know about the side effects of the various options out there, I'd appreciate it if the quality of "drugs are bad!" comments was kept constructive.

posted by chason to Health & Fitness (19 answers total)

Well, reading has always helped me to fall asleep quickly. But I've found that Claritin-D, not the regular Claritin but the one with pseudoephedrine, makes me more sleepy early on but also makes me get up faster/earlier. That's what would work for me. I doubt it would be healthy for a long term solution though.
posted by rolypolyman at 1:05 PM on November 14, 2005

i find that napping during the day really helps. work 'til i start to fade; nap; start again; rinse, repeat. i have no problem waking up again after about 30mins and it really improves my ability to concentrate.
posted by andrew cooke at 1:17 PM on November 14, 2005

I've recently started using Lunesta and it works like a freakin charm. This after trying every known sleep aid, prescription, OTC, illicit, you name it. Nothing has ever worked for me, including my CPAP machine, other than Lunesta. As for waking up, I've found that 15-30 minutes in front of a sun lamp helps set your bio-rhythm for the day.
posted by spicynuts at 1:31 PM on November 14, 2005

All drugs/supplements affect people different. I have horrible sleep patterns, i have always felt I was designed to live on a 30 hour day. For me high doses of melatonin has worked pretty well (6mg), after a while I don't need it for a week or two, then I do.
It doesn't work for some people.
YMMV
posted by edgeways at 1:39 PM on November 14, 2005

Modafinil is given to narcoleptics but is safe enough to be prescribed to anyone who wants to wake up not feeling sleepy. So I've heard.

Also, it sounds like you're probably too busy, but exercise really helps me get good sleep (otherwise I'm pretty restless) and gives more energy the next day.
posted by billysumday at 1:41 PM on November 14, 2005

How about 15-30 minutes in front of the actual sun? Just wondering.

Here's something you might be interested in:
Polyphasic Sleep (wiki)

I don't think I could pull it off.
posted by pg at 1:42 PM on November 14, 2005

Cut out the weed, especially if you use it as a sleep aid when you really need to get to sleep. If you ever find yourself using it to get to sleep earlier stop. Not that weed isn't harmless but I found it ups the drowsiness factor several fold the next morning.
posted by geoff. at 2:29 PM on November 14, 2005

Best answer: Melatonin. Start with 3 mg, which is safe for all adults. Take it about 20 minutes before you plan to be asleep, then make sure you are in bed and relaxed at that time. The stuff only works during a window of about 30 minutes; if you miss the window, it's gone. Don't repeat-dose; it supposedly isn't so safe.

Focusing on your breathing, or any other meditative activities help.
posted by Kirth Gerson at 2:48 PM on November 14, 2005

Best answer: I don't want to be all "drugs are bad" since you don't want to hear that, but there are some things you should know:

- No drug will make your body need to catch up on sleep any less - period. Even with drugs, you will still need X hours of sleep per night (on average, X=8)

- Melatonin is dangerous if taken for a long time. It's a natural hormone - which makes it sound safer. The problem is, the brain eventually says "man, I got plenty of that stuff", and slows down production - or even stops it - if you've been taking it for a while. Some studies have shown that some people end up never producing it again. Bad news.

- All sleeping pills will deprive you of "quality sleep", which is what matters most. You need those periods of REM and the deep sleep periods. "Catching up" on sleep is actually a bad habit to be in.


I highly recommend the book "The Promise of Sleep", by William Dement. It's a relatively quick read, and will likely change your outlook on sleep. It changed mine, but my problem is insomnia and/or stupidity - not ACTUALLY being too busy to sleep - so I'm still battling with that (I posted to Ask MeFi not long ago about my addiction to staying up late...)

At the end of the day - the only way to be healthy and alert is to get the right amount of sleep. If you're burning the candle at both ends and must be both up early and to bed too late, you're doing your body and mind a disservice and should honestly consider a lifestyle change.

It sounds silly, probably.. but really, read that book - you'll understand what I'm getting at from the book way better than I can try and explain it.
posted by twiggy at 3:07 PM on November 14, 2005

If you know that you aren't going to be able to sleep too much, but definitely need to get up relatively easy, then I recommend trying some Ginseng. Its worked well for me and has little to no side effects. It certainly seems like a better option than getting into prescription medications. The Korean Ginseng (Panax Ginseng) is a bit stronger than the Siberian Ginseng (Eleutherococcus senticosus). Try it out and see if it works for you.
posted by Gazpacho at 4:39 PM on November 14, 2005

Benedryl (diphenhydramine HCl) - I take 2 tablets at night, it never makes me wonky the next day. Tylenol also sells it marketed as "Simply Sleep," but its the same old antihistimine.

Unisom also works for me - I take half a tablet, because I like to take the absolute minimum I can get away with, so that it'll keep working when I need it. But I find this has a small capacity to make me wonky the next day.

Melatonin has worked for me as well - I actually take WAY less than the 3 mg that's in most tablets. I used to have some tabs that were 0.3 mg, but the company stopped making them. I just break the tablet up, usually into quarters. Again, the minimum effective dose is always good.

One thing melatonin is GREAT for is if you want to get back on track with your sleep or combat jet lag. The body produces melatonin at nighttime, so take it when you want to "trick" the body into thinking it's night (for example, after that 10hr international flight, when it's dark out but your body thinks it's afternoon). Or, if you want to start going to bed at a reasonable hour, but your body thinks "11pm is WAAY too early," melatonin does the trick. Of course for this reason it is NOT so great to take at 4am. You really don't want to shift your body clock to thinking 4am is bedtime, or you're in for worse problems tomorrow night.
posted by selfmedicating at 4:49 PM on November 14, 2005

Oh and valarian root has also worked well for me. It's sold in health food stores.
posted by selfmedicating at 4:50 PM on November 14, 2005

Chason, you don't say how old you are but that also may have something to do with it. I've always been a serious night owl, capable of pulling all-nighters and walking in to work or school the next day and being fine (or at least faking fine). Then I turned 25. I could no longer do an all nighter. It was like a super-power had been stripped from me. Now I'm 36. If I'm short on sleep (meaning <7hrs) it takes at least a day and more often two or three days to make it up. And I have to make it up. Life is hard.
posted by selfmedicating at 4:55 PM on November 14, 2005

I'm a chronic insomniac and I need to get 8 hours of sleep to feel human. Which means that during the work week Ambien is a godsend for me. It has a fairly short half life (3-4 hours IIRC), which means that the way it works for me is to help me get to sleep, but then my normal sleep/dream cycles still have time to occur. It feels like "normal" sleep, I never feel groggy in the morning (unlike any of the antihistamine sleep aids like dimenhydrinate/diphenhydramine), I always feel well-rested, it works very quickly, and I can take just a half a tablet. I haven't tried Lunesta, but I might at some point, not least because it's approved for long-term use.
posted by biscotti at 8:03 PM on November 14, 2005

I once took a semester of Kung Fu. At the very beginning they recommended that everyone sleep in 90min cycles, where 7.5hrs is more productive than 8 and 6 is better than 7, etc. I started it, and having since dropped Kung Fu, I am always sure to follow that pattern. I wake up with my alarm clock feeling well rested on 3 hours, 4.5 or 6 each night. I never get more than 6 hours on any given night.
posted by vkxmai at 9:07 PM on November 14, 2005

Twiggy, one of the main advantages of Ambien et.al. is that they do not interfere with REM sleep, or normal sleep cycles. One can easily become dependent on Ambien to sleep, but it's also fairly easy to avoid--just don't take it more than a night or two in a row. As long as you get ~8 hours of sleep, you'll wake up reasonably refreshed, if not downright invigorated.

If you don't get the full 8, though, you will feel somewhat dizzy and woozy. Nothing terrible, but it's no cakewalk, either. Provigil, Adderall, or coffee are helpful to shake off the blah, but it usually ends within about an hour (even without a friendly, helpful stimulant).

My MD avoids lunesta, because a lot of patients have complained of a really nasty metallic taste in their mouths, even hours after waking up, along with the aforementioned wooze.

There's also a new melatonin-receptor sleep drug, rozerem, but the jury's still out on it.

that last link also has some good information about the other sleep meds

posted by LimePi at 10:21 PM on November 14, 2005

Drugs are bad!


No, really, for me it seems to matter much less when I'm sleeping or waking if I've been avoiding stimulants and depressants. Especially the stimulants. For the past couple months I've been drinking caffeine again, and it's making it much harder to wake up in the morning even though I am actually getting more and more regular sleep. It also makes it harder to get to sleep even if I haven't had any for 10 hours.

Relative to the stimulants, moderate depressant intake doesn't seem to make as much of a difference (though of course if you decide to hang out in a warehouse with a keg until 2 or 3 in the morning that will), but it is detrimental to the quality of your sleep, which your body will want you to make up for in quantity.

Basically, whatever drugs you end up using, you're probably best off using them as seldom as possible.
posted by fidelity at 7:10 AM on November 15, 2005

I'll second the recommendation for Dement's The Promise of Sleep."
posted by tdismukes at 7:27 AM on November 15, 2005

I think this is a bad idea, because eventually it catches up with you.

If I were prescribing for these purposes, though, I'd use Xanax or Halcion for sleep induction, and modafinil for the wake-up and stay-up parts.

I'd personally never use these drugs this way, though; they're habit-forming, build tolerance, and are rough on your body.
posted by ikkyu2 at 9:20 AM on November 15, 2005