u/yshcrp

I think my brain has had enough of this. Started with antihistamines, then seroquel for a year and a half (it worked with heavy BJJ training but stopped when I realized it was literally destroying my psyche), then mirtazapine (never really worked), then benzos (rohypnol was the main one), then came back to seroquel (and clozapine) with the idea of rotating it before the psych side effects start (around the 5th day).

But because of a knee injury I had to stop BJJ training and haven’t been able to return yet, and seroquel isn’t working properly anymore, that’s why I added low dose clozapine as a last resort (25mg max because of dangerous side effects). I’m worried about how my brain might be affected from all of this (rebound insomnia, GABA problems).

This last night I was able to sleep with clonidine 100mcg (first time using it) even though I was experiencing heart palpitations from it, but woke up at 3:30am with the insane barking from my neighbor’s dog (I’m about to move) and couldn’t sleep anymore (tried alprazolam and melatonin).

The thing is, nothing works except clozapine, and I’m worried even that will stop working too at one point (25mg used to knock me out, but recently had nights in which it didn’t work). And clozapine’s mental side effects are even worse as it is the strongest antipsychotic.

So I’m gonna listen to my aunt and to a friend of mine who told me about walking until getting very tired and see what happens. I already woke up early and I’m exposing myself to the sunset light. And at midday, if I’m healthy enough (cause I have benign fasciculation syndrome and recently developed paresthesia on hands and feet, a common and well-documented secondary symptom of the syndrome – which gets worse when I don’t sleep properly), I’m gonna train Muay Thai.

I only started meds because of my syndrome, as it started in 2018 after sleep deprivation (one of the known causes), and around November 2018 after not sleeping much I felt really tired around 7:30pm and went to sleep. Woke up around 5am and did this for an entire month (unintentionally) and all my symptoms subsided.

Unfortunately I didn’t make the connection with sleep (thought it was diet because I still didn’t know what I had as I was very scared) and started sleeping late and not enough again and all the symptoms came back. I tried to recreate this early sleeping with no meds but to no avail. But I’m gonna try again.

I also started to have heart palpitations and certainly arrhythmias, and that started certainly when I tried 150mg doxepin (it’s a known side effect, unfortunate cause it worked very well at this dose); because that’s when I first had this arrhythmia/palpitation stuff. It was happening with mirtazapine too, especially when I couldn’t sleep well. I know that if I sleep well and enough this stops just like my other symptoms do.

So I’m gonna “walk for my life”, train and see what happens, cause the more hours awake we are and the more we exercise, the more adenosine we build in our brains (sleep molecule). And that’s what I’m gonna try to do.

I also know that in 2018 in that month when I woke up early, at least in some of those days, I’d get my car and drive and go to a supermarket or something. It was a very nice feeling waking up at 4, 5am when it was still dark and with little to no people in the streets. It’s also important to do that because of getting exposed to the sunset, which signals the brain that the day started.

And to finish, about walking, I remember that in 2024 I went to an outlet and when I was leaving at the afternoon I couldn’t remember where I parked and had to walk a lot with some quite heavy bags, and at night I felt really tired and could’ve certainly slept with no meds, but still took some mirtazapine to make sure I’d sleep. I also hadn’t slept much that day.

I think pharma failed us with all those meds that don’t work and have bad side effects, and then the off-label ones. Not to mention that in extreme cases involving sleep deprivation, access to strong approved meds like oxybates should be available before more people develop what I developed.

Wish me luck. Thanks.

There is a website strictly with compounds for 5ar and the name says so. I don’t know if I can mention it here so you all can just google “allopregnanolone caproate”. They also sell a regular allopregnanolone and also Allopregnanolone Lavender Sleep Balm – 30mL (150mg).

Has anyone tried any type of allopregnanolone? I know there’s a medication called brexanolone (Zulresso), but it’s a Schedule IV controlled substance:

GOOGLE:

“Allopregnanolone (also known as brexanolone or Zulresso) is a regulated substance. [1, 2, 3, 4]

Legal & Medical Status: In the United States, it is a Schedule IV controlled substance. The pure compound and its medical formulations are tightly restricted and require strict medical supervision or a valid, targeted prescription.

Medical Use: It is FDA-approved under the brand name Zulresso for the treatment of postpartum depression. Because of potential side effects like excessive sedation and sudden loss of consciousness, its clinical use is restricted to certified healthcare facilities with a continuous 60-hour intravenous infusion.

Synthetic Options: Oral alternatives, such as zuranolone (Zurzuvae), are also heavily monitored medications used for major and postpartum depression.

Research & Lab Use: If you are looking to acquire allopregnanolone for scientific research, specialized chemical vendors classify it as a restricted compound requiring specific permits and licensure.

Action: It acts on GABA-A receptors in the brain, having a strong anxiolytic and mood-stabilizing effect.”

If anyone has tried can you please share your experience with it?

*This post is for informational purposes
*I’m not promoting anything nor a quick fix

Guys, I’m struggling a lot with my severe insomnia and fasciculation syndrome (which is linked to sleep deprivation and gets worse when I don’t sleep well).

Right now I’m relying on antipsychotics but they destroy me psychologically after a few days of usage and not to mention the long list of side effects they have, which include prolonged QT syndrome, which can cause deadly arrhythmias. And for a year now I started to have heart palpitations so I’m super cautious now with these drugs.

So because it’s impossible for me to get pharma GHB in Xywav, I’m thinking about trying BD again. I’m suffering with this syndrome for 8 years now and I know that to get better I need to sleep at an appropriate time and for enough hours, which unfortunately for me is 9 hours.

I used NaGHB but was only getting 2-3 hours max per 4.5g dose and was having to take 4 doses to get the 9 hours and feel better but it’s way too much sodium and I had high blood pressure, so I had to stop using it. But it was working tremendously for the insomnia and the sleep. It was something that I could rely on knowing that it would work.

Talked with nearly all the vendors on DW and no one has K-GHB nor were willing to try and make it. So what’s left is trying BD again, even if it’s just occasionally.

Does anyone here have experience with BD strictly for sleep or at very moderate doses? Cause I know some people claim no side effects with it and also say side effects might be from impurities and not from BD it self.

There’s also 1,3 BD which is now sold in beverages (Ketohol) and it’s literally the same as 1,4 but it gets converted into BHB in the liver instead of GHB. If you research you’ll see that 1,4 BD is not for human consumption because it turns into GHB. But we know GHB is non-toxic at therapeutic doses.

I’m not here promoting 1,4 BD, I’m just asking questions cause I’m really struggling to get my life back. Benign fasciculation syndrome is no joke, the neuropathic pain and twitching are horrible, not to mention I also developed weakness.

Thanks.

Alcohol (ethanol) is generally much worse for the liver than 1,4-butanediol (1,4-BD), especially with chronic or heavy use. pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Alcohol (Ethanol) and Liver Damage

Ethanol is a well-established hepatotoxin. Chronic heavy consumption leads to:

• Alcoholic fatty liver (steatosis), alcoholic hepatitis, fibrosis, and cirrhosis.
• It causes oxidative stress, inflammation, fat accumulation, and cell death in the liver via metabolism (primarily by alcohol dehydrogenase and aldehyde dehydrogenase, producing acetaldehyde and reactive oxygen species).
• Epidemiology: Alcohol-associated liver disease (ALD) affects millions globally (prevalence around 4-5% in general populations, much higher in heavy drinkers). It accounts for a large share of liver disease deaths, cirrhosis cases, and transplants. Mortality rates have risen significantly in recent years. pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
This is dose- and duration-dependent, with risks escalating over years of regular heavy drinking. Many people develop irreversible damage.

1,4-Butanediol (1,4-BD) and Liver Effects

1,4-BD is an industrial solvent and GHB precursor. It is metabolized in the liver primarily by alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) to gamma-hydroxybutyraldehyde, then to GHB (via aldehyde dehydrogenase). This shares metabolic pathways with ethanol, leading to competitive inhibition when both are present. pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Evidence on hepatotoxicity:

• Animal studies (e.g., rats) show mild-to-moderate liver inflammation or minor changes at high doses (e.g., 500 mg/kg), but not severe or statistically strong organ-specific toxicity in subchronic studies. No strong carcinogenic signal. ntp.niehs.nih.gov
• In human recreational/chronic misuse (often high/frequent doses), reports mention toxic hepatitis as a complication, along with other organ effects (kidneys, heart, etc.). This occurs in the context of heavy polydrug or compulsive use. pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
• Acute overdoses can cause severe effects (respiratory depression, coma, death), sometimes mimicking toxic alcohol poisoning, but liver damage is not the primary acute feature. Co-ingestion with ethanol can worsen outcomes, including increased mortality and tissue damage in animal models (due to competition for ADH, leading to higher levels of the parent compound or altered kinetics). pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

1,4-BD lacks the extensive long-term population data of alcohol; use is less common and often episodic or addictive in specific contexts rather than a daily societal norm.

Key Comparison and Caveats

• Chronic exposure: Ethanol has far stronger, dose-dependent evidence for progressive liver scarring and failure. 1,4-BD can contribute to toxic hepatitis in heavy users but appears less potent per se for long-term fibrotic/cirrhotic disease.
• Acute/high-dose: Both are risky; 1,4-BD has a narrower therapeutic window for CNS/respiratory depression (via GHB), and mixing with alcohol is particularly hazardous. nejm.org
• Individual factors: Genetics (e.g., ADH/ALDH variants), dose, frequency, nutrition, and co-exposures matter for both. Neither is “safe.”
• Neither is recommended: 1,4-BD is not for human consumption and carries risks of addiction, overdose, and multi-organ toxicity.

Bottom line: Alcohol poses a substantially greater overall risk to the liver due to its prevalence, well-documented chronic effects, and public health burden. 1,4-BD is toxic (especially acutely or in combination), but not a comparable driver of widespread liver disease.

I’ve been taking 40mg right before sleep cause that’s the dose that is effective for making me stop waking up during the night.

Problem is I have BFS (fasciculation syndrome) and it’s linked to sleep deprivation and poor sleep. So now I need to sleep at an optimal time (early) and for enough hours.

So baclofen has been amazing in making me not wake up during the night, cause when I sleep really early, that’s when I wake up in the middle of the night with no sleep at all. But with baclofen that’s not happening.

Throughout the years suffering from this terrible disease I noticed that I need to sleep early and for 9 hours or even more to start feeling better.

The problem is that many times I was able to do that with baclofen + sleep medication but still wake up with fasciculations.

So maybe that’s the baclofen messing with my REM? Cause I read that at higher doses it can do that. I tried lower doses like 20mg/30mg but unfortunately I wake up in the middle of the night with no sleep.

What’s your experiences with higher doses for sleep? I maybe wanna try taking a 60 or 80mg dose one night so I can maybe sleep the most possible and sleep like a rock but I’m worried it’s gonna be even worse for my sleep quality (REM).

So I’ve been using Baclofen at 40mg at bed time so I don’t wake up in the middle of the night and lose sleep and it’s been working great at that. Some nights I’m sleeping up to 9 hours straight.

The problem is that I’m worried about my REM sleep cause I read that at higher doses Baclofen might reduce REM duration. And I have BFS (fasciculation syndrome) and it’s linked to sleep deprivation and poor sleep and I need the best sleep possible, which is early and for enough hours to start getting better.

And I’m noticing that even though I’m sleeping very early and for enough hours (9), I’m still waking up with fasciculations. So Baclofen is helping with reducing the sleep fragmentation but probably not helping with the overall quality of sleep.

So I’m thinking about switching to pregabalin or gabapentin. The problem is that I use these drugs for my fasciculations and neuropathic pain (and also for anxiety), so I’m worried that it might stop working for that purpose and it really helps in relieving these symptoms.

But my question is, will pregabalin have some maintained efficacy like Baclofen has for sleep maintenance? Cause I know very well how it loses efficacy if I use it all the time for my symptoms (I focus on using when I really need it, like when I didn’t sleep well).

Does the same apply to sleep, in the sense that it will stop working and I’ll be waking up in the middle of the night? Thanks.