Insomnia... Xanax? Might try TRT again.....here we go again

[BigBamBoo]

Welllll....here I am again.

To start with I suffer with insomnia. A byproduct of my time in the sandbox. I have tried “everything” from over the counter products to prescription meds. Nothing seems to work. Or more accurately, those make me feel very hung over and drag ass the next day and do. To provide me with quality sleep.

Buuutttttt....I had access to Xanax and tried .5 mg. Woohoo! I slept 7 hours straight. Tried that for a few days.
Then I tried 1 mg and slept 8+ hours but felt a bit slow the following day.

So....my worry is I do not like to take any kind of drugs. I do not smoke, use drugs, drink alcohol, drink sodas, etc.
And I am worried about dependency or side effects from long term Xanax use.

Anyone here have any experience with Xanax for insomnia treatment Or input on Xanax use?

Next...going to try another go at TRT. Yeah...I hear ya out there. And yes...I am a glutton for punishment.

I recently pulled labs and my TT is 670+ but my SHBG is 70 and my FT is only 7.

So my discussion with the doc will be about test prop, test with cream, or test cyp and test prop.
We shall see.

I will pest some updates when the time comes.

Hope everyone is having a better year so far.

 

[sammmy]

Try prescription Ambien. It is safer than benzos. If Ambien works, there's no need to go straight for benzos.

 

[BigBamBoo]

Hello.
I do not do well on Ambien at all.

 

[madman]

Welllll....here I am again.

To start with I suffer with insomnia. A byproduct of my time in the sandbox. I have tried “everything” from over the counter products to prescription meds. Nothing seems to work. Or more accurately, those make me feel very hung over and drag ass the next day and do. To provide me with quality sleep.

Buuutttttt....I had access to Xanax and tried .5 mg. Woohoo! I slept 7 hours straight. Tried that for a few days.
Then I tried 1 mg and slept 8+ hours but felt a bit slow the following day.

So....my worry is I do not like to take any kind of drugs. I do not smoke, use drugs, drink alcohol, drink sodas, etc.
And I am worried about dependency or side effects from long term Xanax use.

Anyone here have any experience with Xanax for insomnia treatment Or input on Xanax use?

Next...going to try another go at TRT. Yeah...I hear ya out there. And yes...I am a glutton for punishment.

I recently pulled labs and my TT is 670+ but my SHBG is 70 and my FT is only 7.

So my discussion with the doc will be about test prop, test with cream, or test cyp and test prop.
We shall see.

I will pest some updates when the time comes.

Hope everyone is having a better year so far.

Still, relying upon/using the piss poor inaccurate direct immunoassay for FT?

In every set of labs you have ever posted on here you keep getting your FT tested using an inaccurate assay yet TT and estradiol using (LC/MS-MS).....go figure.

As I have stated numerous times on here that although TT is important to know FT is what truly matters as it is the active unbound fraction of testosterone responsible for the positive effects.

Depending on where your TT sits even with high/highish SHBG your FT may not be as low as you think.

The only way to know where it truly sits is to have it tested using an accurate assay such as the gold standard Equilibrium Dialysis or Ultrafiltration.

This should be a given and even more so in cases of altered SHBG!

Regardless when looking over labs from some of your previous trt protocols 160 mg/week T (80 mg every 3.5 days), you were hitting a trough TT 1000s and high FT (using the piss poor direct immunoassay) and that was with high SHBG 61.3 nmol/L let alone your e2 (LC/MS-MS) was through the roof 75.3.

Even then with a trough TT 1000s even with a high SHBG 61.3 nmol/L, I would put money on it that if your FT was tested using an accurate assay (ED or UF) it would be much higher than you think.

No point in trying to manage a protocol when you have absolutely no idea where your FT level truly sits on such.

FT 5-10 ng/dL would be considered low.

FT 16-31 ng/dL would be considered healthy.

Most men will do well with FT 20-30 ng/dL.

Did you see the FT level (almost 50 ng/dL) @Vince is hitting with a TT 1300 and highish SHBG (almost 50 ng/dL)?

My Most Recent Labs.

My protocol, 16 mg of testosterone cypionate daily, 500 iu of hcg twice weekly and no AI. Pregnenolone 10 mg and 25 mg of DHEA. My last injection before labs, about 28 hr.s. Labs are from LabCorp. Testosterone, Serum 1319 ng/dL range 264-916 Free Testosterone 47.9 ng/dL range...

www.excelmale.com

Many on here let alone lurking on the other forums would have you think that men with high/highish SHBG need to be running those you know absurdly high trough TT 1500-2000 ng/dL to achieve a healthy FT level.....LMFAO!

 

[madman]

These are the most accurate assays for free testosterone and the ones you should be using/relying upon!

Especially in cases of altered SHBG.


Quest Diagnostics
1. Testosterone, Total and Free (NO Upper Limit) plus Hematocrit

2. Testosterone, Total, LC/MS and Free (Equilibrium Ultrafiltration)


Labcorp
1. 500726: Testosterone, Free, Mass Spectrometry/Equilibrium Dialysis (Endocrine Sciences) | Labcorp

2. 070038: Testosterone, Free, Equilibrium Ultrafiltration With Total Testosterone, LC/MS-MS | Labcorp

 

[madman]

This sums it up nicely:

Total testosterone, which can be measured with high accuracy using LC-MS/MS assays in CDC-certified laboratories, and free testosterone are highly correlated, and it is only in individuals with altered binding-protein concentrations that the associations begin to diverge. For the time being, we, therefore, suggest continuing to follow the Endocrine Society’s guidelines to measure total testosterone level and, in circumstances of suspected alterations in SHBG and albumin concentrations and/or binding, checking free testosterone level by equilibrium dialysis. Efforts are underway to standardize the procedures for free testosterone measurement and to generate harmonized reference ranges. Until that time, clinicians should be aware that inaccuracies in free testosterone measurements and calculations and poorly defined reference ranges can increase the risk of misclassification in the diagnosis of androgen disorders.




Nuff said!

 

[Tommy Wall]

Hello.
I do not do well on Ambien at all.

Xanax is an S.O.S medication which only some people really need. Do yourself a favor and stay away as much as possible from that medication. It won´t take long before you hardly feel anything of 0,5mg so you need to up your dosage in order to get the same effect and there you go. And when you want to quit taking it you will spend really long time feeling horrible even when tappering it off and your sleep will be close to zero.

 

[Loki]

Xanax is an S.O.S medication which only some people really need. Do yourself a favor and stay away as much as possible from that medication. It won´t take long before you hardly feel anything of 0,5mg so you need to up your dosage in order to get the same effect and there you go. And when you want to quit taking it you will spend really long time feeling horrible even when tappering it off and your sleep will be close to zero.

Agreed. Xanax is a terrible option for sleep. It might help you in the short term but it won't be long and you will start having withdrawal symptoms the following day because the half-life is so short. When it is prescribed for anxiety it's typically 3 times per day.

 

[DixieWrecked]

As a veteran myself, I have to echo everyone else's input. The plan to use benzos as a daily medication is a guaranteed disaster. It is unsustainable and promises you will be in more pain in the future than you are now, and significantly so. Through the VA I was prescribed Mirtazapine and I recently have been giving it another chance. I gave up on it years ago because I was too proud to accept the help. I have been sleeping so well, I have finally let go and accepted that the Mirtazapine is a viable option. It's only been 3 weeks but I have to say, it's the best I have felt in years, most likely because I have been able to string together 3 weeks of good sleep. That's a vast difference from the days of hoping and praying for just 1 night of sleep every two weeks or so.

 

[sammmy]

Actually, Xanax for insomnia has nothing to do with the doses and problems when it is used for anxiety or is being abused for getting high.

If you are not "trying to get high" and use it at prescribed low dose for insomnia, Xanax has a very high rating for insomnia by people that actually use the drug: Xanax reviews A few reviews with high rating say they are "dependent on it to sleep" but they would not have slept without it anyways, that's why they got on it, so such claims are pure nonsense.

 

[SkyWarn]

I was on Klonopin for about 3 years for sleep. .5mg just before bed. Worked really well. Klonopin is like Xanax but longer acting. For the first few weeks there is a hangover effect. Felt very drowsy and sedated the entire next day. But after a couple weeks the went away. I finally decided to stop it so I weened off it slowly as to not have withdrawal. I had no issues at all.
Now I take Xanax to sleep on an as needed basis. .25mg before bed. It seems to relax me and help me get to sleep and stay asleep. I try not to do it every night so I don't become dependent on it.

 

[lukas_az]

most people will go through hell coming of benzos. w/d even after being off can last YEARS. some won't, but you're playing with fire. long term s/x, tolerance build-up etc also await you