Can't sleep... up since 4AM...

[ShawnD1]

Lots of things on my mind.. that job interview, proposing to GF, settling down, etc.

How are you?

Dr Shawn is in the house to fix you.
Lots of different neurotransmitters can be played with to shut you down.

GABA agonists or reuptake inhibitors:
-alcohol
-GHB (illegal)
-benzodiazepines (prescription seizure and anxiety medications, "roofies", most drugs ending with "lam" or "pam" such as "lorazepam")
-barbiturates (medications ending with "al" such as "barbital"

Opioid agonists or reuptake inhibitors:
-heroin
-morphine
-prescription pain killers that actually work

Anticholinergics:
-diphenhydramine (benadryl, unisom, nausea medications, OTC sleep aids)
-gravol (like benadryl but weaker and longer lasting)
-scopolamine (drugs for motion sickness)

Dopamine antagonists
-antipsychotic medications (seroquel)
-cyclic antidepressants (remeron?)

Adrenergic antagonists:
-panic and anxiety medications
-alpha blockers (prazosin)
-beta blockers


The GABA ones are the most effective and they give good quality sleep, but they are arguably the most addictive. If you tell your doctor you can't sleep, he will give you a GABA medication. The most accessible are anticholinergics; every store has its own brand of generic benadryl (diphenhydramine). Anticholinergics work but they negatively affect sleep quality. 12 hours of benadryl sleep is maybe equal to 8 hours of normal sleep. Dopamine antagonists will leave you with a bad hangover. Waking up with GABA drugs in you will make you tired, but waking up with antipsychotics in you will make you depressed. Adrenergic antagonists are the opposite of ephedrine – they suck. If my doctor says I need to take beta blockers to stay alive, I think I would rather die.