during my entire life i didn’t suffer from insomnia. even at my first episode of schizophrenia i still could have deep sleep. now after 4 years of treatment I developed insomnia specifically unable to maintain sleep as i wake up alot during night and eventually i wake up so early at night.so why schizophrenics like me develop insomnia over time? is this because of the course of the illness or its because the medications we take? how to manage this? what is the best drug to treat insomnia?
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I take trazadone, non addictive sleep aid…200 mg.
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I take ambien 10mg
Mirtazapine 15mg
Seroquel 25mg
This puts me to sleep
But if I’m not well and can’t sleep, nothing can put me to sleep
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Everything I’ve tried has eventually stopped working. I’m asking for a different AP to see if it makes a difference, most probably risperidone
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Which ap are you on?
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i take lurasidone 80mg +quietapine 25mg to help me stay a sleep and it works but not 100% as i still awake several times at night. i thought lurasidone maybe activating and tried to take risperidone but it didnt help.
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I take a very small dose of abilify once a month.
It helps me sleep big time.
I’m on risperidone consta injection
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The best drug I ever took for insomnia was temazepam (Restoril). If you’re going to take it every night, it’s only for short-term use (7-10 days). It’s addictive and you’ll build up a tolerance very quickly if you use it everyday. I used it only when I knew I wasn’t going to sleep at all that night (I could feel it coming). It’s a benzodiazepine, so your doctor may not be willing to even give it to you. If you only take it very infrequently (and I mean infrequently), there’s no tolerance or addiction issue. You’ll be asleep within 30 minutes of taking it and you’ll stay asleep for 7 or 8 hours. I was a little tired the next day, since it disrupts your natural sleep cycle, but it’s better than not sleeping at all. It’s a pretty powerful sedative, but it’s effective. My insomnia was so bad, it gave me peace of mind just to have some on hand, which helped me to relax more and not worry about not sleeping, which helped me to fall asleep on my own. I used it with extreme caution when I had it.
There’s also a smartphone app called Insomnia Coach, which I actually found helpful. This one was free, but there were some others you had to pay for.
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Now, I just take 7.5 mg. mirtazapine and 10 mg. melatonin. Mirtazapine is more sedating at lower doses and I find 7.5 mg. to be noticeably more sedating than the 15 mg. I used to take.
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My abilify gave me insomnia. Even now when I take it in the morning I wake up a lot at night and wake early. I just saw a post on here that mentioned l theanine supplements lessening positive symptoms and allowing sleep.
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I think insomnia is a cause of sz
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Going to try this
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