Anyone else using sleep aid medication nightly?

[Anonymous]

It occurred to me that I’ve been using otc sleep aids nightly for several months since the pandemic. Using them has been the only way I can get a full nights rest. Can anyone relate? Are they harmful long term?

[Anonymous]

Yes. Benzos. I’m not happy about it at all but a few months are really nothing in the general scheme of things and I feel like I will be able to wean off. I know it’s stressful.

[Anonymous]

Yes. Long term use has been correlated with dementia I believe. I use unison or Tylenol PM once or twice a week and melatonin on the other nights. I’m with ya.

[Anonymous]

Weaned myself off Unisom mid-April.

[Anonymous]

I’ve taken trazodone for years. I suffered from insomnia for even longer.

[Anonymous]

Yep. I’ve never been a drinker, but I can’t settle for bed without wine since the pandemic.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes. Benzos. I’m not happy about it at all but a few months are really nothing in the general scheme of things and I feel like I will be able to wean off. I know it’s stressful.

Yes, thanks for saying this. I’m trying not to beat myself up for it, because there’s enough to worry about. All it proves is that I’m not superhuman or bigger than all this, which is fine because I’m not trying to claim otherwise.

[Anonymous]

Yes. OTC

[Anonymous]

Yes. I live in a place with legal dispensaries, and I'm doing an edible marijuana chew every night. Not getting high -- it just knocks me out after about 75 minutes, and it seems to be a restful sleep.

I had never tried marijuana before the pandemic. Had smelled it from someone nearby at a concert once or twice, but that's it.

My sleep is good, I'm less wound up during the day (and getting more work done), GI issues are quiet, and haven't had a migraine.

[Anonymous]

Yes. It’s been only in the past few weeks that I’ve not needed it. Before March I was exhausted at the end of the day from errands and the gym and life. Plus the gym and the occasional pedicure or massage were the tools I used to manage stress. All that’s gone now and so is my quiet time. Plus worry. I picked up Unisom again because I figured if it’s safe for pregnancy-induced insomnia it was safe enough now.

[Anonymous]

Yep. Tylenol or Advil PM. Probably not the best choice, but, it's that, or stay up all night, all day, and be a major jerk to everyone.

[Anonymous]

Yes. Absolutely would be falling apart without nightly help. I alternate amongst unison, Lunesta, melatonin, and CBD. Essential to my survival right now.

[Anonymous]

Yes, melatonin five nights a week. I hate that I have to take it but I can’t sleep otherwise. On weekends a couple bad nights sleep doesn’t matter but I need to sleep workdays.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes. Benzos. I’m not happy about it at all but a few months are really nothing in the general scheme of things and I feel like I will be able to wean off. I know it’s stressful.

Yes, thanks for saying this. I’m trying not to beat myself up for it, because there’s enough to worry about. All it proves is that I’m not superhuman or bigger than all this, which is fine because I’m not trying to claim otherwise.

My doc okay’d me on 0.5 mg Klonopin nightly. For a neuro issue, but it makes me sleep like a baby (after 39 years of insomnia). He said this amount is safe for indefinitely long nightly use. What is your dosage? As long as you keep it low and don’t escalate, maybe okay?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yep. Tylenol or Advil PM. Probably not the best choice, but, it's that, or stay up all night, all day, and be a major jerk to everyone.

Same here. Thank God for economy size bottles of Tylenol PM. Definitely not ideal, but I appreciate you starting this thread, OP. It's kind of comforting to know I'm not the only one having to cope this way.