My Medication for Insomnia
Current Medication & Medical History
Oxazepam (Oxascand) (2022–2026): Used occasionally for sleep.
While Oxascand does not directly worsen Restless Legs Syndrome (RLS), it carries a risk of addiction and actively contributes to the severe sleep-related issues I experience.
Nonetheless, I use it occasionally and only when I have had an extended period of insomnia lasting 36 hours or more. In these cases, I must weigh the consequences of my extreme nerve stimulation against the possible side effects of the medication.
A 15-Year Misdiagnosis: The Impact of Sedatives on RLS.
For years, my insomnia has been misdiagnosed.
The medications prescribed to treat it, including benzodiazepines like Oxascand, antihistamines like Atarax, and sedatives like Propiomazin, have consistently aggravated my condition and triggered dangerous sleep disorders.
In patients with RLS, this suppression unleashes predisposed amnesic behaviors.
Other hypnotics like Zolpidem operate through similar mechanisms of action to produce the same harmful result: they are well-documented to promote Sleep-Related Complex Behaviors (SRCB).
Furthermore, these medications completely fail to relieve my insomnia. The severe physical discomfort of RLS persists and overrides the medication, leaving me feeling heavily drugged yet still unable to achieve restful sleep.
Critical Safety Risks: Sleep-Related Complex Behaviors
These medications trigger severe Sleep-Related Complex Behaviors (SRCB) and Sleep-Related Eating Disorders (SRED)—activities performed while not fully awake, accompanied by anterograde amnesia (a complete lack of memory of the event).
Because I live alone, these drug-induced side effects have placed me in critical, life-threatening situations. I have engaged in highly dangerous unconscious behaviors, including:
- Sleepwalking
- Taking baths while asleep
- Sleep-eating (SRED)
- Cooking while asleep
Engaging in these complex actions while unconscious poses a severe risk of serious injury or death.
That is why I am currently unable to take any sleep aid medication.
Medicines I have tried:
- Propiomazine (Propavan) - (2011-2016) Greatly increases RLS, leading to insomnia, sleepwalking, and sleep-eating behaviors
- Zopiclone (Imovane) - (2011- 2016) Same as above
- Atarax - (2015 – 2020) Increases RLS, leading to insomnia, sleepwalking, and sleep-eating behaviors
- Melatonin -(2020-2024) Increases RLS, leading to insomnia
- Mirtazapine – (2020) greatly increases RLS, leading to insomnia, sleepwalking, and sleep-eating behaviors
- Alimemazine- (2020/ 2025) greatly increases RLS, leading to insomnia, sleepwalking, and sleep-eating behaviors
