One thing you also need to consider before using pheno as a sleeping aid is your body's typical response to drugs as it relates to the "norm"--be that the experiences of others or what you read in the PDR.

I, too, literally have to be knocked over the head somehow to fall asleep. The 24-hour cycle is not natural to me, and my brain and body fight sleeping pills. Drugs like ambien don't help at all- not only is it perfectly possible to stay awake through the window of sleep-inducing action, they are very weak. I don't feel *any* effects from ambien, even when I take 2.

I have a pretty high tolerance for opiates and benzodiazepenes, I guess somehow I wound up with the same for ambien-type drugs. Phenobarbital, however, is an extremely powerful drug. I have a bunhc of the 60 mg pills from interpharm.

I ordered the 60mg pills last fall a couple of times and found they were very useful for the migraine-type headaches I got with my effexor. I ordered again this pring, and because of a long delay in receipt, Malee reshipped. I wound up with almost 200 of them! That's a little OT and I did give most of them to a friend who is trying to withdraw from opiates, but anyway. . .

Phenobarbitol IS long-acting. It also takes longer to START working. Since I have a sleeping disorder I've been subject to drugs fro a variety of classes in the quest to get me to sleep. The PDR. et al give 1 hour as a set-in time for the effects of phenobarbitol. For me it actually takes several hours, though. Not unlike major anti-psychotics (seroquel, zyprexa) also used to try and make me sleep.

Ultimtely I would warn to wait until you don't need to work or drive anywhere the next day if you intend to use phenobarbitol for sleep. And certainly don't take it for anxiety (this is one of the indications in the PDR) on a day you work or have plans. You simply never know how much it will effect you and when it will hit you. Once you figure that out, then you may be able to set up your schedule of it.

A very serious warning for those who want to start using phenobarbitol: don't take more just because an hour or two has passed and you don't feel anything. It takes a long time for this drug to work.

I'm a little bit of an anomaly, but it takes several hours-- about 4--for pheno to go to work on me. For most meds belonging to the CNS depressant category, it takes 4 times the maximum norm for effects to set in. To avoid hangover, I have to take them ahead of time. So if you are another one of those folks that has to wait 45 or 50 minutes for alprazolam to act, try to apply this when you start using phenobarbitol. If you have to be up at 8 the next morning, take your dose no later than 8 the night before--preferably earlier, because it will make you want to sleep longer than 8 hours.