Strong sleeping pills
I have been on ambien for over 5 years, since I was 18 years old and it's just not working the same way anymore. My doctor increased my dosage to 2 ambiens which has helped some but sometimes I will stay up all night and not sleep and it affects my school and grades. And my school is the most important thing in the world to me- it's my future so I have to do good in it. Does anyone know of a stronger sleeping pill? My doctor will precribe almost anything for me besides painkillers cause she's a pcp but she's really awesome so she lets me almost pick out what pills I take. But i could really use some advice on stronger sleeping pills cause I'm soo tired of this insonmia thing it's messing up my life and makes it almost impossible for me to get a job with the strange hours I sleep. Thanks for any help/
I have tried numerous sleeping pills and prefer xanax over all of them... Restoril (Temazepam) is another option your Dr might try...Both xanax and Restoril are benzo's and have a calming, relaxing affect... only thing is don't take them to late or to much in the evening as they will make you groggy in the moring...
I understand its hard enough going to school, and having to whipe your mind of the days thoughts in order to fall asleep can be difficult...That is why these meds have worked better for me than Ambien. Don't get me wrong, Ambien wasn't bad, just very expensive for the brand...
Also, the best way to get your body to sleep IMO, is to exercise during the day... that way your body needs to sleep in order to recover...for me, excercising tends to put my body back in a normal routine..If you could fit this into your day, watch and see what happens
I can't really exercise because I have bad arthritis in my feet and I can't stand on my feet for more then like 15 or 20 mins at a time without being in large pain. So that kind of ends any possibility of exercise not to mention when I don't sleep I have no energy to do anything espically something pyshical.
That is very unfortunate. You are very young to have arthritis. Are you sure that that is what it is? You don't have to do physical exercise, mental exercise is just as exhausting as physical but in a different way. Try reading chapters out of your text book. That will really make you tired.
I agree with spence. Reading, taking a warm bath, yoga....those are all good for relaxing. Have you tried Trazadone? Going up to a stronger sleeping pill at your age will land you in a heap of trouble. What happens when you are 45 like me? Your tolerance will be waaay up there.
KK
KK, Trazadone? YUCK!, lol. The hangovers and zombie-like effects of Trazadone are a real turn off with that med in my experience. If I was in the OP's position I would ask the doc to rotate between Restoril which is a benzo indicated for sleep and Ambien. Take Restoril for a month or two then switch back to ambien. One Restoril 15mg cap is just about as effective as Ambien 10mg in my experience, but most doctors are more than willing to prescribe 30mg restoril caps as the starting dose. Another poster mentioned Xanax and I know a lot of people take it for sleep but I dont really think that is a good use for it. There are much better benzos that are actually indicated for sleep other than xanax. There are other options besides benzos like barbituates, a common one being Seconal. There are also other non-benzodiazepine sleep aids in the same class as Ambien, those being Sonata and Lunesta I personally havent tried either but there are some people that like them. Lastly, the herbal sedatives Kava Kava and Valerian, both of which work very, very well for being herbal compounds.
Out of all these options I would ask the doc to rotate between ambien and restoril since IMHO they work equally well and equally fast without too much hangover the next day.
For me, ambien was the only pill besides xanax that has worked for longer than a week in helping me to sleep. But I believe ambien to have less negatives on the body than xanax over the long haul for those people that it works well for. You seem to be one of those so it would be a shame to have to give up something that has worked so well for you.
What I had to do was occasionally take breaks from prescribed sleep aids all together, just to let your body and brain get a rest and a "reset" from all the drugs being thrown at it. I reduced my dose to half an ambien, as another poster has suggested to you, and also included 1.5 to 2 mg of melatonin along with the ambien at bedtime. That has worked for years, and on those nights where I still can't sleep but really need to (important day the next day for being wide awake), then I take the other half (10 mg ambien total). If that doesn't work, and I'm really desperate, I will take a small dose of xanax on top of that. I have only had to do it a couple of times and don't recommend it, but its nice to know you have a last option if all else fails.
None of the other sleep aids work for me, and I have tried almost all of them, including the over the counter herbal remedies. But you may be different, so don't give up until you have tried them all, because something may work very well for you that doesn't work for others.
Solo,
Yeah you are right. YUCK on the Trazadone. Sorry. I don't know where my thoughts were at. 
KK
I have tried almost everything before they gave me ambien because of course at 18 my doctor didn't want to give me ambien. She gave me restoril, lunesta, I've tried xanax and it doesn't make me sleepy at all used to take it in the morning. She only gave me ambien as a last resort and since nothing else worked she had to keep giving it to me. Made it almost impossible to get it again from another doctor when I switched doctors I had to have a $500 dollar sleep study done to show I have insomnia to get it again. But without some kind of sleeping pill I won't sleep at all. Like for days and it's super unsafe to drive like that. And I read my textbooks almost every day and they don't make me sleepy I just zone out. And I'm sure I have arthritis. I got it at 21 just like my mom, unfornately it's an inherited thing in my family. Totally unfair cause I can't work anywhere
and take Restoril 30mg for a while then Chloral Hydrate 500mg. I am 60 years old and from your post I gather you are in your mid 20's? My advice is to try and keep a log of your activities before bedtime, maybe there are things you can change IDK. Either way I usually take sleeping meds 1 or 2 nights a week. KK is right if you are tolerant now it's not going to get better. I wish you the best of luck in sleep and please try to take them only when needed (not preaching just trying to give sound advice). Take care and have a great day and a restful night. Greg
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The best advice that I can give you is something that you might not want to hear. I also am on ambien and it really helps. However when I started to take my dose everyday it started not to work as well. My suggestion to you is to wake up early in the day. like at about 7am or 8am. Stay up all day and be active, (school work, exercise, or whatever) then by the time 10pm rolls around you will be ready for bed. So when it gets to 10pm take a half of an ambien. This way it sort of tricks your mind to think you are getting a dose but in reality you are cutting your dose in half and help from your activity during the day will get you to sleep. Stay on this routine and I guarantee it will help without having to take stronger sleeping pills.