to ask for actual proper sleeping tablets from my GP to help me sleep?

[Mintyy]

My inability to sleep is pushing me over the edge.

I've had two temazepam prescriptions before (2001 and 2004 iirc). Would GP refuse to let me have a third?

I honestly fear for myself if I can't get some decent hours of kip in some time soon.

I had sleep problems for years. Two years ago I got a prescription for a weighted blanket which I was told would help. I didn't believe that a quilt with metal chains in it would make any difference but was desperate enough to try. OMG how wrong was I. I'd fight to death now to keep it. This wasn't in the UK though. My friend in London tried it when she came to stay and then went home and made one for herself.

Perhaps this is worth a try?

Newer evidence is showing that the Z drugs are as addictive as benzos Matilda and extend sleep by as little as 15 minutes a night so many GPs will only give a few days or none at all now. A lot surgeries are now working on weaning off the people who have had them for years.

Just as "talking therapies" are now a popular recommendation for depression, anxiety, etc. sleep hygiene advice is the thing for insomnia

I feel your pain too though Mintyy, I can never get to sleep until 1am at the earliest, often an hour or two later, so am knackered when the alarm goes off. I average about 5 hours a night

I occasionally use sleeping pills. My GP prescribes them when I ask for them in boxes of 30. Zolpidem. I ask every 6 months or so and take them when I need sleep. Really need it. So sometimes two days in a row. Sometimes one a week. Sometimes less.

I really don't see why your Dr would refuse tbh. Yes they don't give you the best quality sleep but they do give you 6 hours of something which is better than nothing.

I would go back! I have PTSD and, at times (and I can sometimes tell which times) can have serious difficulty sleeping. Thankfully, I have a very understanding GP and do not use them unless I have a very, very bad jag. This he knows.

Also, get some Nytol One a Night (aka Boots Sleepeeze). I use those with melatonin every night. At least.

All the sleep hygiene in the world and talking about it will not expunge my memories, which are the chief cause of my problems.

It has improved with time, I meditate and do yoga, too, but at certain times of the year, it truly sucks.

I'd ask for a referral to psych, too.

I buy melatonin in the US where it is not prescribed and take it every single night. I know people who have taken it for decades.

Frankly I would buy any drug at all right now. The huge frustration is I have no explanation for my insomnia (unlike you expat) and that irritates the hell out of me.

Can I buy melatonin online?

Yes. Takes a while to get to you as it is sent from the US. Ebay sellers carry it so it can take a while to get to you. Nature's Bounty is a good brand. It is sold in the US. That is what I buy there.

Take it with Nytol One a Night/Sleepeeze.

I have stopped treating my insomnia as anything other than the chronic affliction it is. It's like having PTSD and being a bereaved parent, part of who I am and I do what I can and need to get on the best I can.

I find that Passiflora and Valerian are very good. Buy them separately in capsule form.

Hops tea will also knock you out. Try to get the dried flower heads online. Soak on hot water and drink. The tea tastes very bitter, but it does work.

Celestial Seasonings Sleepytime is good, too.

I will exhaust anything before taking the prescribed sleeping tablets, my GP knows this.

You can get melatonin on prescription, the brand is circadin

I'm currently taking Zopiclone as I'm in hospital, it's definitely helping.

Or if you just cannot be arsed with seeing someone who grills you, just order it online and have away. I cannot be arsed seeing doctors, tbh. I do as little as possible to a fault, I realise (has major problem with acid reflux just now and gobbling 6 ranitidine a day).

What ever you do DO NOT ask for any meds by name. Instant no in my experience.

I have well managed anxiety/OCD but very occasionally need a diazepam to sleep (maybe one every two months 2.5 mg!). Mostly if I've had an anxious day but need to sleep/relax so I can function the day after.

GP refuses to prescribe them. I buy them now instead. This year I've taken 4 in total. Utter madness!

Follow expats suggestion for melatonin or see if you can buy the other ones online.

You can get omeprazole and all the other 'prazoles' for acid reflux OTC in the US, so I tried them all. They did fuck all. I mean, fuck all.

Expat completely agree, I cannot be arsed with suggestions to "go for a walk" or have a "warm bath". Totally patronising, I'd rather just buy them, I'm not stupid and I'm sure 4 diazepam in 8 months does not make me an addict.

Yes, that's why I see no one about this acid. I am normal weight, I exercise, I drink perhaps 10 units a week, I do not smoke, I have a good diet. Yes, I've tried Rennies and all natural remedies, sleeping propped up on pillows, etc.

Fuck it, I'll gobble whatever I can get my hands on that I can buy. Actually, there are these OTC tablets in the US that are 10mg famotidine, 800mg calcium carbonate and 165mg magnesium hydroxide that work a treat if I take three a day. I am just waiting for more to arrive as I didn't have room in my bags to bring more.

Nothing will get rid of what happened, or the memory of it. So I will do what I can as time dulls the edges and accept that certain times of the year, it's probably going to suck.

If I could not get a doctor to prescribe what I need, I would see the local drug dealer and get it.

Which is exactly what I do. (By local drug dealer I mean people with Diaz prescriptions they've finished with) .

I've actually sat in the GP and told him this. He still refuses to prescribe! You end up feeling like a naughty stupid child.

OP go and try to get some, don't ask outright! If not then the internet or your friendly local prescription hoarder!

scousadelic my gp will only prescribe short term. I can see how it would be problematic, I have had both zopiclone and diazepam short term and found zopiclone harder to stop.

The only other tablets I know of are mirtrazapine and trazadone but there only licenced as an antidepressant I think.

I have been on low dose mirtrazapine two years and sleep well 90% of the time only struggling when I lost my son.

'I've actually sat in the GP and told him this. He still refuses to prescribe! You end up feeling like a naughty stupid child.'

Yeah, I've had that happen. That's why I mostly don't bother anymore.

Tbh OP, you seem more occupied in getting a few "mother's little helpers" rather than actually addressing your actual sleep issues

All ears about addressing actual sleep issues. Please talk me through how I might do this?

Slightly unfair, after all OP has had sleeping problems since 2001 at least. I'm pretty sure that if she could address her sleep issues then she wouldn't be posting here would she!

Three times in 13 years?

oops. x posted!

Expat you can also buy those acid tablets in the UK, they are called pepcidtwo.