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chevygal
Veteran
Reged: 04/28/03
Posts: 504
Loc: Way down south
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Hey friends
Can someone, anyone please share any thing they know about halcion. I have been given ambien, which I take ver rarely maybe 4 to 5 times a month. I asked for something different as it seems impossible for me to get enough hours of sleep and I feel yucky when I wake up after taking ambien. So she gave me this stuff. I have never taken it and know nothing about it at all. It is .125 mg. Anyone??
Thanks guys
chevygal
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potatoboy99
Permanent Fixture
Reged: 02/04/03
Posts: 1200
Loc: Deep North (East)
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I'm no expert. I have taken it several years ago) a couple of times, but I always felt nasty the next day. I use Ambien now, like you maybe 4 or 5 times a month, with minimal if any after effects.
Halcion is famous for causing all sorts of problems in people who take it for extended periods. There was a famous incident involving our first President Bush, when he vomited on the Japanese Prime Minister during a state dinner. He blamed it on over-use of Halcion.
Other side effects from prolonged use that I have heard about include hallucinations. I'm sure somebody else will know more about this than I do. Normally my problem is staying awake, not going to sleep!
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fritos
Stranger
Reged: 11/03/03
Posts: 6
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Hi chevygal, I was given halcion before a major dental surgery. I took it one hour before surgery and boy did it have a great effect! I was very calm and felt relaxed, it was great! I've never had a medication like this and was very impressed how it affected me just as the DR said.I also slept comfortably after that when I got home. Hope this helps a little. fritos
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54321
Stranger
Reged: 11/18/02
Posts: 23
Loc: ATLANTA
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Hi Chevygal,
I have a friend that has been taking it for several months now. He likes it. He too was initially prescrived Ambien, and did not like it for one reason or another. I do know that Halcion is "Triazolam" Generic Name). It's a short acting Benzo and is prescribed primarily for sleep. My friend says that it seems much stronger than Ambien to him and that he is not groggy when he wakes up. I didn't get what his dose is. Thats just his reaction and each person will respond differently of course.
Hope this helps a bit. Good luck, I hope you get some rest.
Lack of sleep can drive you over the edge.
54321
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keystone
Veteran
Reged: 09/05/02
Posts: 586
Loc: Arizona, USA
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I take 1-2, 0.25 halcion's before bed when all else fails. I do feel 'hung over' the next day. My wife says I talk in my sleep and I can't remember a thing.
Arguably, it is the strongest sleep med out there (except rohyp.)
Remember Dahmer.
Use with caution and do not drive!
Half life is about 2 hours (from memory) so don't quote me...but it is very short acting.
An OP that will prescribe this is Y_D. (if anyone is interested.)
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The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was to convince the world he never existed.
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chevygal
Veteran
Reged: 04/28/03
Posts: 504
Loc: Way down south
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Thanks so much you all. I was given this to take at bedtime to fall asleep if I have trouble. Which I do sometimes. for those of you that have taken this, does it usually make you stay asleep also. ANd.... if I wanted to can you break the pills or should I not do that. I have never really taken stuff like this before. Usually a half of an ambien would totally knock me off my feet. I did take klonopin for a short while and that was just every once in a while and it was usually a half. The neuro guy gave it to me and siad it would help with my jumpy legs at night. It did help, but I never did ask for anymore, didn;'t really need it. As far as the insomnia, if that is what ya want to call it, it happens occasinally and after the third or fourth night of not sleeping I get kind of desperate for at least one nights rest. Well, the doc just gave me 5 of them to see if they do okay with me. I will try them one of these nights. Thanks everyone for helping me out.:)
chevygal
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sheenafur
Enthusiast
Reged: 04/25/03
Posts: 225
Loc: California
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Chevygal,
I don't have any advice for you, but I hope you feel better. I also know you have a great sense of humor, and I just had to comment on PotatoBoy's post. I personally think that was one of the greatest moments in presidential history. I go into fits whenever I am reminded of that display, for lack of a better word. I had no idea he blamed it on Halcion. HaHaHaHaHa.
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Go easy, step lightly, stay free--J. Strummer
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rd89
Stranger
Reged: 12/06/02
Posts: 21
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IMHO Halcion is one of, if not, the best sleeping meds available. It has knock out power and it has a short half life insuring you wake up without a hang-over the next morning. It's off patent, so you can get it in a generic quite cheap (although there has been debate on these boards about the certain available generics). All the hype you'll hear about Halcion: people waking up not knowing how they got there, jumping out of windows, making conversations and commitments they don't remember, etc, is probably all true, BUT these people take this powerful drug and then go do something BESIDES go to bed. Take it AS PRESCRIBED and no problems. The only downfall IMO to Halcion is that its a benzo class drug meaning you'll get tolerant after several weeks of use, so try to use it only when needed and it should be clear sailing. Good luck from this fellow insomniac!
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catmom
Board Addict
Reged: 06/20/03
Posts: 320
Loc: Midwest
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I'm sure the elder Mr. Bush did not find barfing on a Japanese high official funny but I have to admit I recall the incident & laugh to myself.  I thought he blamed it on having the flu, or some such thing. Did you know that the Japanese actually coined a new term using his name in their language that translates to something like "barfing at the worst possible time?" Really. The word was something like "busharuku" lmao.
I seem to remember the big deal with Bush Sr taking Halcion was that it can cause paranoia (I know we're ALL paranoid nowadays  but they meant psychotic paranoia). This was not considered a great emotion to risk having in the guy with his "finger on the nuclear button, " as it were.
I'm sure I'll be corrected if I'm misremembering this.
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If it's not immediate, it's not gratification.
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sheenafur
Enthusiast
Reged: 04/25/03
Posts: 225
Loc: California
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Oh, Catmom!
That is TOO much! My daughter speaks Japanese--I can't wait to tell her that. That's the funniest thing I've heard in a month!
Okay--sorry, guys. I know this is a serious issue.
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Go easy, step lightly, stay free--J. Strummer
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toe
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 10/09/02
Posts: 1422
Loc: MidWest USA
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It is the most potent benzo out their IIRC. The legend was that you should not even light a cigarette after taking your halcion. Odd that you would be switched to this if Ambien was fine. Insurance problems? Geneva and purepac suck, Greenstone (sub. of Lilly? makes the only good ones) I wouldn't necessarily break them in half, unless you weigh less than 100 lbs. .125mg is good starter dose for an adult.
I was on it for a few months and the only traumatic and negative experiences cames when a) they refiled my script with Geneva, and b) it ceased wokring after a 3 months.
I was scripted .25s off the bat and one was enough to put me in drool land within 15 or 20 minutes for about a month. Went up to one and a half, some times to full .5 mg. Reaction time was slower. I was careful not to take them daily, but somewhere in the fourth month I realized I could take .75 and go on about my day ( or night) undisturebed and uncomprimised.
Anyway, the only severe trauma and psychoitc-like incidents occured when I realized that halcion was not working anymore. Ambien, atarax, trazadone, neurontin, and seroquel had all either caused dangerous side effects or not wroked at at all. Halcion was the only drug, taken as prescribed, that had ever worked on my insomnia. She offered up remeron next, but it had a side effect that would cause dangerous side effects incongruent with one of the illnesses I'm under care for. It works very well. But the side effects were intolerable.
Now that I'm on MS Contin she refuses to prescribe ant controlled med for my insomnia. Not that she would write me an amytal script anyway.
I still have a small stash of my triazolam from last winter and I'm sure my tolerance has gone down enough to make it work.I just thank Bob that my resistance to pussy sleeping pills has been documented and that I will be out of this particulr mental health center at theend of this year when my student insurance is up. Maybe my next doc will have the kahonas to prescribe real sleeping pill again. I've exhausted the ambien-generation, benzo sedative-hypnotics have no staying power. Will any doc, anywhere, ever get the kahonas to write me my amo- or seco- script?
As for halcion, scream reports aside, Inever had any prblems on it. One night's sleep is the only way to tell what effect it will have on you. I think you should give it a shot.
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"It's the end of the World as We Know it. . ."
-REM "and I'm seeking asylum in Canada"-toe
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scottish
Stranger
Reged: 01/04/04
Posts: 5
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Its funny,
Iwas on zopiclone(imovane) for a few months..tolerence caught up. Next up, my doc tried amyltriptamine(elavil)25mg because of its sedating properties(more like zombifying).
Being the chronic insomniac I am, I made an appt. within a week after getting the Elavil, and he prescribed Halcion(roche).50mg. What I don't understand is that it did NOT work for me, did NOT knock me out or keep me asleep, this baffled my DR also, as we tried 2 different Canadian generics, and Roche. Doc switched me to temazepam 30mg(Restoril), works like a charm. How is this possible, because some nights I was even taking 1.5 mg(3 tabs) and I would feel very stoned, but not sleepy. Anyone else out there who wasn't effected by the well documented, second to rohypnal, potent triazolam(Halcion)???
Just a freak, I guess.
Scottish
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dsmmcm
Board Addict
Reged: 11/08/03
Posts: 364
Loc: southwest US
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Scottish,
May I ask you a rather personal question? Like what your race is? I mean, like human? martian? or from some other stellar system? 1.5 mg of Halcion would knock me into another universe, and I consider myself a world class insomniac.
D
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Reel_X_4U
Enthusiast
Reged: 04/24/03
Posts: 255
Loc: Queens, New York City
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Hi Chevygal,
Halicon, or genericly known as "Trizolam" is specifically a sleep-inducing benzo. It's not "Valium" or "Xanax" which is used for "Anxiety". It's a tried and true sleeping-med from the benzo family, there's also others like it like "Prosom" (1mg) or better known as "Estazolam" from the small family of the "Zolams" a category of benzos, some are used for anxiety like "Xanax" better known as "Alprazolam" or which is primarily an anti-anxiety benzo. Then you got the "Zepams" which also have med for both "anxiety" and/or sleep. For example "Valium" (10mg) or better known as "Diazepam" is primarily used for "Anxiety", then you have "Rohynpnol" (1mg) or better known as "Flunitrazepam" which is a primarily used for sleep. So as you can see within each category there are meds both used either "Anxiety" or "Insomnia". What makes Halcion stand out form the others is that most benzos have a "hangover effect", which pretty much means that some of effects of the med will stay with "U" into the next day until the body fully metabolizes it and then in turn eliminates it from the body. This is partially determined by the innate properties of a particular benzo. One of these properties is something called "Half-Live of a drug", which means that how long will it take the body to fully metabolize half of the dosage of the benzo you took. All benzos have differing "Half-Lives". Halcion in particular has a "Half-Life of 2 hours", it takes the body 2 hours to fully metabolize half of the dosage of a med. In comparison, "Valium" has a "Half-Live" of 8 days. So in terms of "Halcion" there is little "Hangover effect", because due to "2-hour" "Half-Live" property, it's pretty much almost fully metabolized by the time you wake-up. But there is a "dark side" when it comes to "Half-Lives", when taken on a regular basis, the med lowers your threshold to "Anxiety", "Insomnia", and "Seizures". So if you happen to run out of the med and you don't have anymore to take. What ensues when the last dosage of the med is fully "metabolized and eliminated" from the body. You have something called "Re-bound Anxiety" and/or "Re-bound Insomnia". Depending on the benzo in question, these rebound effects can be "REELLY" "DISABLING". "U' can venture into semi-psychotic or a very nervous state (I've been through one "GURL" it's no joke, you will be on your knees begging for forgiveness to rid yourself of them). The shorter the "Half-Live", the worse the "re-bound effects" if you happen to run out. That's why doctors place their patients on the "taper-down" method when it comes to benzos, (Well most do, some don't care, they will cut-"U"-off "Cold-Turkey" and not even bat a eye, it's all about showing whose in charge and teaching you a lesson at the same time). Even when taken as directed, Halcion can cause severe "re-bound" effects, it only has a half-live of "2 hours", besides it's converted into three active metabolites, (thus the generic name "Trizolam", "TRI" meaning three). This also explains it's potency (which is quite high). All you need to get a full night's rest is either .125mg (that's only 1/8 of 1 milligram) or the other dose it comes in (.25mg which is only 1/4 of 1 milligram). It also had a third dosage pill form which was .5mg (which is 1/2 of 1 milligram, but that was discontinued years ago). After people started complaining about feel anxious and edgy the next day and when the scienctists, question all these people who felt in this way, all they had in common was that they used "Halcion" as a sleeping-med). So the .5(S) will discontinuted and the two dosage level were left on the market. The "Zolams" category of benzos are stronger milligram-for-milligram than the "Zepams" category. Halcion is one of the most effective sleeping pills on the market today. It's what those type meds that guarantees "Sleep", no matter how much of an insomaniac you are. If you're going to fill the "Script", a good generic brand is "Greenstone" (at least for me they were) and it's quite cheap, I think I payed $8.36 for "30", less then my insurance co-pay of $10,00). But the way I take "Halcion" is with the .5mg strength by getting a script of .25mg and taking two, which equals .5mg dosage, ( I'm not saying "U" do that, that's the dose I took when they were avaialable in .5mg, make sure you take "Halcion" according to the doc's directions). When you take one and it takes effect you'll first feel an intense "RELAXED" phase then before you know it, you're out cold and probably won't wake-up till the next day. But I'm wise in my ways I don't take it everyday, like I'll take it on a Friday night then for Saturday to Monday, I'll take something else like for example "Soma or Trazodone" for sleeping purposes, then on Tuesday I'll take another ".5mg", and on "Wednesday and "Thursday", I'll take something else "non-benzo" in nature even "Tavist-D" will provide me with the sleep I need. The reasoning behind this you never let the "Active Metabolites" build-up in the bloodstream. This way you avoid two things one is the "Re-bound" effect and the other is there is no "Tolerance" to the med) you don't take it on "continuous basis" for the "Tolerance Mechanism" of the body to kick-in. It is those who take it on a daily basis that get the "Re-bound Anxiety" and "Re-bound Insomnia". Just ask someone whose been through "Xanax" AKA "Alprazolam" (a chemical cousin of Trizolam) withdrawls. For me it only took 5 days of daily usage and had bad re-bound effects, at the time I was new to "sleeping meds" in general and to "Halcion". But I noticed that I was edgy and nervous during the day and only when I took the med at night did the effect go away. It wasn't until I saw a "NEWS Evening Special" did I make the connection. At the time most of interviewees on the show were mostly women. Anyway "Chevygal" just be careful and use it on a "At Need Basis". Remember the "Rebound Effects" can escalate to Seizures (but that only happens to individuals who have taken for a long time) and haven't "tapered-off". Sweet Dreams Chevy, welcome to the world of "Halcion", I'm just the gatekeepper, allI need is a password from "U" so that I can open the gate for you to enter this new realm "UR" about to venture into. The passworld is "MARYJANE", and the gates will open and I then welcome "U" with a smile into my "WORLD". And you'll be surrounded by greenery of all types of botanicals. Make "Urself" comfortable, "U" can stay as long as want, I would "REELLY" enjoy your "Words of Wisdom" as "U" weave through endless mazes which bring an adventure at every turn and I then bring "U" to the gates for now the trip is over, but a new one awaits "U" on the next night. Sorry, there's others behind "U" that are waiting their turn, in all "FAIRNESS" I must "LET THEM IN", they also have the magic code "MARYJANE" and they're my "KEWLEST" "FRIENDS" ("U" know I have so many from all walks of life), see my "PICTURE" off the left under my "SCREEN NAME". "KEWL"!!! isn't it 
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Some men see things as they are and say "WHY"!!
Some men see things as they are and say "WHY"!!
I've dreamt of things that never were, and say "WHY NOT"!!
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scottish
Stranger
Reged: 01/04/04
Posts: 5
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In Canada, Halcion is still availiable in .50 mg tabs. The three brands availaiable are Roche, Apo-Triaz, Novo-Triazum.
I had my "trial" with them in November 2003. And, like I said in my previous post, they DID NOT work for me the way they should. A friend of mine who is also an insomniac tried 1 tab .50mg of the apo-triaz, and was out in 10-15 minutes.. I guess I must be an inter-stellar interloper, because, honestly, I did try 1.5 mg, but it only messed up my head(not in a bad way).. When I tried Restoril(temazepam) 30mg, it clicked, and I've never slept better.
I don't understand, nor did my doc(took a double take when I told him-BigTime).,
I've always been told different meds act differently on different individuals, but that was inconcievable!!
scottish
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