Are You Up For A Campaign Against Sleeping Pills?

[DrMartinRussell]

I am giving away free online videos to help people avoid getting caught on sleeping pills.

Are you interested in helping people sleep better, AND giving the big drug companies a black eye?

All the details are at...

Self Help Blog › Self Help For Sleeping Pills - The Campaign

[kpreston]

No.

4567890

[DrMartinRussell]

Er. Thanks kpreston for letting me know.

More detail might have been helpful, but I guessed this issue might polarize people.

I expect some people will say the stupid idiots should avoid sleeping pills altogether and use meditation etc etc. That's just sticking your head in the sand when the reality is so many millions of people are taking pills every night to sleep.

Some people will be apathetic and say nothing can be done. And if I get lots of no's then I might have to agree that I haven't found the way to do it either.

But I'm looking for that person that cares about pill use in our society, and is willing to take positive action, however big or small.

[kpreston]

Originally Posted by DrMartinRussell

Er. Thanks kpreston for letting me know.

More detail might have been helpful, but I guessed this issue might polarize people.

I expect some people will say the stupid idiots should avoid sleeping pills altogether and use meditation etc etc. That's just sticking your head in the sand when the reality is so many millions of people are taking pills every night to sleep.

Some people will be apathetic and say nothing can be done. And if I get lots of no's then I might have to agree that I haven't found the way to do it either.

But I'm looking for that person that cares about pill use in our society, and is willing to take positive action, however big or small.

While I think it's irresponsible and upsetting that people may become addicted to sleeping pills, that is not always the case. Sleeping pills helped me in an important part of my life when I was having chronic insomnia. I was able to get on and off them and get my sleep schedule back on track.

I don't think there needs to be a "campain against sleeping pills," people just need to be more responsible with the pills, rather than using them as a crutch to fall asleep any time they need.

Edit: I appologize for being so short with you during my first response. It wasn't intended, but the instant I read the title, I got kind of offended and aggressive.

Edit: After reading your blog, I realize that your stance on sleeping pills isn't what I originally assumed. When I read the title, I thought you were on some personal vendetta to have sleeping pills banned. Now I see that's not the case, and I wish you the best of luck.

[DrMartinRussell]

"There is no failure... only feedback... if you can get enough details to understand what the feedback means."


Thanks kpreston!!!

I am starting a new thread with a more clear title to stop this problem.

As you say, I am NOT against sleeping pills and the title screams that I am.

Also I will include the whole blog post so people can get the full picture of my thinking before they click over.

You have helped immensely.

[Franklin]

Dr Russell, what's your take on taking 3 mg of timed released melatonin before going to bed every night?

It's something I do because it helps me sleep and research has shown it is beneficial to our brains. Moreover, it is a natural hormone that we produce while we sleep anyways. Maybe it can work as an alternative to sleeping pills?

[stkevans]

I have been taking Trazadone for about 5 years now. It started at 50 mgs and has moved up to 100 mgs per night. I was always told there would be no possibility of addiction, but when I forget to take it, I quickly get up to take my dose. I agree with you that our society is definitely falling prey to the incessant ads on TV for sleeping aids.

[Spiritual]

What happened to the warm glass of milk before going to bed?

Sometimes Americans are just weird

[chaostheory]

As someone who has had chronic insomnia since the age of 5, i cannot support you in this. Tests have shown that my body does not produce enough of the chemical to put me to sleep naturally. i was taking subscribed pills from my doctor, but i build up a tolerance to them so quickly ( within a few weeks ) that they no longer work, even when the dosage is upped. The only one this didn't happen with was Restoril, but i chose to stop taking it when i found out it's a class X drug that causes horrific birth defects ( and we're ttc ). i switched to taking 2 benadryl each night instead, and although it usually works, sometimes it doesn't.

Do you know what it's like to not be able to sleep? By the third morning i'm a complete emotional train wreck, and near tears with exhaustion. i agree that addictions to narcotics is not a good thing, but there ARE other alternatives, like benadryl, or tylenol pm. And, there's a difference between someone who is taking them to sleep because of depression, or just to escape waking life, and someone who has to take them out of medical necessity. Natural herbs...they don't work in my case. i've tried them. And i am allergic to most narcotics.

[williamhessian]

i agree that sleeping pill awareness isw very important. i thinhk sleeping pills in some of the examples above are proven to be very helpful and at times essential to regulating an unbalanced sleep cycle for some people.

I for one avoid pills of any kind like the plague. I just dont trust the things.

So your campaign is interesting to me. Although, the three steps you provide seem a little over the top for me. Daunting even. However, in theory i agree. And am glad to see some attention being paid to such an issue

[DrMartinRussell]

Originally Posted by Franklin

Dr Russell, what's your take on taking 3 mg of timed released melatonin before going to bed every night?

It's something I do because it helps me sleep and research has shown it is beneficial to our brains. Moreover, it is a natural hormone that we produce while we sleep anyways. Maybe it can work as an alternative to sleeping pills?

Melatonin has a proposed mechanism of action that is different from other sleeping pills. The system I advocate is for anything that makes you sleepy, ie not for melatonin.

"Natural hormone". Really. So is morphine. So is testosterone.

Just using the word natural means nothing. Except that often someone is trying to pretend it ain't something else that has a bad reputation.

Melatonin isn't natural when it is eaten. It is natural when it is produced in our bodies.

Here's a question... What happens to your own melatonin cycle when you stop taking the pills?

[DrMartinRussell]

Originally Posted by stkevans

I have been taking Trazadone for about 5 years now. It started at 50 mgs and has moved up to 100 mgs per night. I was always told there would be no possibility of addiction, but when I forget to take it, I quickly get up to take my dose. I agree with you that our society is definitely falling prey to the incessant ads on TV for sleeping aids.

"Addiction" can be both physical and psychological.

Race to this page immediately...

Self Help If You Are Taking Sleeping Pills... Here Is The Campaign!

Oh, and go back to the people who "lied" to you, and send them to this page to.

We can't stop the deluge of TV ads etc, but we can divert the flow into more healthy usage.

[DrMartinRussell]

These pages seem to have kept going, so I will too...

Spiritual.

I only quote the US because that's the best figures I can find. Don't be biased. My own country of Australia is very similar. My birth country of UK doesn't seem much different either from what I can gather, and the rest of the world is an easy step for companies who are making money and need to expand their market.

If only the dairy farmers could run a campaign...

Of course then we would get psychologically addicted to milk, which is in fact fine. The long-term solution to sleep problems is to create a psychological addiction, or in other words a habit/routine, that reliably gets us to sleep. Just find ones that leave off paying people for something your body for itself.

Originally Posted by chaostheory

As someone who has had chronic insomnia since the age of 5, i cannot support you in this. Tests have shown that my body does not produce enough of the chemical to put me to sleep naturally. i was taking subscribed pills from my doctor, but i build up a tolerance to them so quickly ( within a few weeks ) that they no longer work, even when the dosage is upped. The only one this didn't happen with was Restoril, but i chose to stop taking it when i found out it's a class X drug that causes horrific birth defects ( and we're ttc ). i switched to taking 2 benadryl each night instead, and although it usually works, sometimes it doesn't.

Do you know what it's like to not be able to sleep? By the third morning i'm a complete emotional train wreck, and near tears with exhaustion. i agree that addictions to narcotics is not a good thing, but there ARE other alternatives, like benadryl, or tylenol pm. And, there's a difference between someone who is taking them to sleep because of depression, or just to escape waking life, and someone who has to take them out of medical necessity. Natural herbs...they don't work in my case. i've tried them. And i am allergic to most narcotics.

I'm sorry once again about the title. "Against" is the wrong word.

Chaostheory, please go to the page Self Help If You Are Taking Sleeping Pills... Here Is The Campaign! Absorb the 3 videos, then come back here and give it to me with both barrels blazing on this forum.

My claim is that I am giving YOU specifically, some of THE best advice you have every heard in your lifetime of insomnia.

I don't know what you mean by this "Tests have shown that my body does not produce enough of the chemical to put me to sleep naturally." but I do claim I have the best possible solution to the rest of what you describe.

Happy for you to call my bluff if I'm wrong. Just make sure you also watch the third video.


williamhessian.

Thanks for those comments.

I particularly like you saying that you have one position on pills, but don't hold others to that for themselves. Live and let live is great.

One question. This confused me...
>the three steps you provide seem a little over the top for me. Daunting even.

Really? Can I ask in what way? I don't need people to be put off by something that really is as simple as...

1. Find a "pill" that works.
2. Stop it.
3. Have it as backup if you have 2 nights of bad sleep.

My fear was that if I just put this down I would be hounded constantly about how many things there are wrong with this. I address all such nuances and questions in the videos. Maybe I've been too worried about this and gone too far the other way. Hmmm.