When you wrote first .. I wrote a lengthy reply and then deleted it because it is not safe to hand out medical advice in a forum.alfa wrote: ↑Mon Mar 12, 2018 11:23 pm An update on this experiment.
For the first week or so, it was working well. I slept well. If I went to sleep at 11, I'd wake up at 6 or 7.
But after ten days or so, even though the pill helped me fall asleep I kept waking up at 3 am instead of the usual 6 or 7 am.
Is it just one of those things, or a specific side effect of the pill?
God only knows.
Decided that if it happens again, I will work out at 3 am instead of tossing and turning in bed.
Let's see how far this experiment goes.
Alprazolam is an anxiolytic meaning it helps with anxiety. Since most people develop insomnia due to anxiety .. doctors prescribe it as a sleeping tablet.
Ask your doctor for a sleep initiator. I will not spell out the chemical since you are in India and sleeping tablets are easily available and you might be tempted to experiment.
Have your doctor prescribe it for a month.
Also .. you cannot ask for advice regarding sleeping tablets without disclosing your age, gender, weight (do you wake up due to sleep apnea), your mental history in reasonable detail .. and your life in reasonable detail (what causes you anxiety, are you anxious now .. on a scale of 1-10 what is your anxiety level .. so and so forth)
My best suggestion .. try and maintain good sleep habits .. exercise daily, no caffeine after 5 PM .. have a bath before you sleep, do not read in bed .. no internet or tv (except a boring news channel) for one hour before bed .. no talking or arguing before bedtime .. the bed is for sleeping not for storing CDs or a closet .. keep it clean.
But you are from India .. and if you are from typical Indian family what I advised is tough ask.
Try it out for two months .. if you still cannot sleep go to a psychiatrist .. general practitioners or internists can prescribe wrong medication .. antipsychotic drugs such as olanzapine by mistake (one prescribed it to my best friend and now he is hooked on it)
There are so many things to know before one advices .. do you have mood swings .. do you have normal libido .. do you keep rocking from foot to foot, shuffling of legs, or swinging one leg over the other while sitting .. do you take medications like prozac for depression .. it goes on and on ..
One of the hardest things to diagnose is why someone cannot sleep and there never is a conclusive answer (and you end up paying the psychiatrist for 2 years)
Best of luck .. but you might have to live with your condition for a life time .. I am an insomniac for last 25 years .. and I envy those people who can fall asleep in a bus ..
Also ask your mom about your sleep habits as an infant .. after the turbulent teenage years when everyone sleeps well .. infant sleep pattern returns as an adult .. if you fell asleep easily as an infant (say 2 - 9 months age) .. you will usually do so in adult life also.
Most important .. in social anxiety forums there are members who take enormous doses ... 8 mg alprazolam twice daily .. do not take your cue from them .. your brain will turn to pulp.