After 20+ Years of Insomnia, I Finally Tried Sleep Pills

I think sleeping pills work kinda like other meds that make me sleepy, like ibuprofen. I get a heavy feeling in my eyes and head when I take ibuprofen or other meds, but sleep pills hit me differently.

Sleeping pills are kinda like hitting pause on all the noise in my brain. Suddenly, everything fell silent. All anxiety feelings vanished on their own.

I was feeling pretty chill and relaxed, and before I knew it, I was out like a light.

Even when everything is fine, I still find it difficult to sleep at night. So stress is not the main reason. But those late-night worries at 3 a.m. can make it tougher to fall asleep too.

When I was a little girl, I couldn’t sleep before my dad was home. Often he comes late but I still wait for him.

We used to watch the late-night news together. His presence made me feel safe. Sometimes I would fall asleep next to him and wake up in my bed the next morning.

This nightly habit started when I was just 4 years old. Also, when I was in early elementary school, classes didn’t start too early. They began around 10 o’clock. So my tendency to stay up late can carry on for the next few years.

My parents divorced when I was 9. At the same time, my school schedule changed to start earlier, at 7 a.m. This is a big transition that I need to adapt to. I no longer had my father to wait for every night. At that time, he lived separately with his new wife. I used to stay up late without him, just playing with my toys alone.

I’m not entirely sure anymore if it’s because of bad habits, my body’s natural rhythm, or the pain from my dad leaving unexpectedly for another woman.

As I got older, my routine changed more and more. Most of my duties forced me to wake up early, but my body naturally still wanted to stay up late. So, I often struggle to get enough sleep.

When I hit college, sleep feels like an even bigger luxury. I’m only getting about 3 hours of sleep, sometimes none at all.

My friends often comment on my obvious eye bags. In fact, they stay up late too. But I’ve probably pulled more all-nighters than anyone, and it’s taking a toll on my eyes' appearance.

When I hit 25, I started feeling the downsides of not getting enough sleep. My blood pressure dropped, and I seemed to catch every bug going around. Plus, my period started to hurt more with each passing month.

Even today, I’m still grappling with sleep, a luxury that some people may take for granted.

Alprazolam is the sleeping pill I took around 3 months ago. My mom got them from her neurologist doctor because she’s GERD.

My mom had no problem with sleep but her doctor said when GERD sticks around for more than 3 months, it’s usually because of stress and anxiety, not just a bad diet.

I have GERD too. I’ve felt this uncomfortable sensation almost every week for the past year. At the same time, I have trouble with sleep too so I think this pill suits me well.

Of course, I resorted to this after trying out dozens of other alternatives to improve my sleep schedule. I tried exercise, maintaining a consistent bedtime, using aromatherapy scents, taking hot showers, limiting blue light exposure, reading, and various other methods, but they only provided temporary relief.

Over the last 8 years, I’ve tried using thousands of ASMR videos to boost my sleepiness, but all they did was lead to binge-watching.

One day, I couldn’t sleep after 3 hours of lying in bed with my eyes closed. Despite my closed eyes, I was still alive and present in the real world. I have a busy task to complete by tomorrow, and I know I won’t perform well if I lack sleep.

That’s when the idea popped into my head. Maybe it’s time for me to think about switching things up and checking out some other meds. I split a pill in half and drank it.

My eyes weren’t drooping yet, but all of a sudden, the extra noise in my head just disappeared. “Wow, this is so cool,” I thought to myself.

No wonder people are out there purposely turning to super-risky drugs when they’re under a ton of stress. This pill works so quickly and effectively.

I closed my eyes feeling way more relaxed and calm, and I nodded off not long after.

Since I took the pill after midnight, I still didn’t manage to get enough sleep. I got around 5 hours of sleep, which would have been okay for me normally. However, the sleeping pill’s effects left my eyes feeling heavy both in the morning and even as night fell. This made it hard for me to concentrate on my assignments the next day.

As per one medical article, a dose of Xanax can stick around in your system for anywhere from 31 hours to 134.5 hours (about 5.6 days), depending on the person. However, the chill and calming effects of Xanax typically wear off within roughly 8–12 hours.

Lots of things play into how long alprazolam sticks around in your body, like your age, weight, metabolism, habits, and even your ethnicity. The author claims that alprazolam tends to linger longer in the systems of Asian people.

I’ve taken aprazolam 3 times. I don’t consume it back-to-back days. I make sure to give it a break for at least 3 weeks to a month.

On two occasions, I experienced chest pain the following day. The first time I had chest pain, I thought it was a coincidence, but the second time, I was sure it was caused by the sleeping pills. Plus, I started feeling tired much quicker just a few days later.

On top of that, the third time was the last straw for me with sleeping pills.

I had popped one shortly after drinking coffee, and it felt like the pill was waiting for the coffee to wear off before it did anything. I still couldn’t sleep all night, and the drowsiness hit me hard later on.

Shortcuts are never good solutions. That’s what I learned after consuming sleep pills.

In the past, just a sip of coffee could keep me wide awake for hours afterward. Nowadays, even two cups a day don’t seem to be enough to keep me focused throughout the day.

Naturally, our bodies become more resistant to a particular drug as we consume it more frequently. Unfortunately, the bad effects will just keep on going for the long term.

Just like the last time I took those sleep pills, I felt dizzy and had chest pain, but still couldn’t sleep properly.

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