MovieChat Forums > The Nightmare (2015) Discussion > Try opiates if you suffer from this

Try opiates if you suffer from this


If you suffer from night terrors/nightmares like this, I highly suggest using opiates to counteract the brain chemical imbalance. Start with something mild like codeine, I've found methadone completely cures it - just be an adult and use it responsibly for self-medication.

Comfort the disturbed and disturb the comfortable

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Hi, I'm Chris from the film.

One of the reasons I chose to participate was in order to help people who also suffer from the disorder.

After 1-20 episodes a night for 17 years I can honestly say that using opiates if you are a frequent sleep paralysis "victim" is a terrible idea.

Depending on why you have the episodes, making yourself more relaxed could induce multiple episodes in a row.

Like most sleep paralysis "fixes" they don't take into account that each person is very different and will react worse/better to almost anything, being that the disorder is far more mental than physical.

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I found this interesting article about it http://aeon.co/magazine/psychology/the-terror-and-the-bliss-of-sleep-paralysis/

You can utilize this state to your advantage.

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Having had both severe sleep paralysis and severe opiate addictions (resulting from other conditions I have that cause me chronic pain), I can quite honestly and strenuously say that self medicating with opiates for ANY CONDITION AT ALL is a colossally dumb idea. I actually couldn't tell you which was worse for me ? sleep paralysis nightmares for 3 years or detoxing from opiates 3 times. BOTH were Hell (with a capital H) on earth.

I haven't seen the film but I am starting to see that it is bringing other sufferers like me together, that it is trying to show that anyone who suffers from the torment is not alone.

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Judging by the Dr. House avatar and the advice of using opiates to deal with physical and emotional stress, I can only guess that you're joking/trolling.

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Using opiates has absolutely no bearing on whether or not you will experience an episode of sleep paralysis.

I've had intermittent episodes throughout most of my life, and years of experience with addiction to various substances (my DOC being heroin). Taking an opiate and going to sleep high or with the opiates in my system has never guaranteed a peaceful, undisturbed sleep free from sleep paralysis. I've also been on MMT for 4 years now and still have an episode or two every month on average, even with methadone in my system 24/7.

From personal experience I've actually found a lot of drugs seem to increase the likelihood of having an episode of sleep paralysis, the most common one for me being alcohol. Many chemicals will knock you out and induce an artificial sleep, but they rob you of your deeper REM sleep cycles (which is why you can sleep 8+ hours after falling asleep drunk/high, yet still wake up feeling unrefreshed, unrested, and generally exhausted like you hardly slept).

I'm not sure of the exact scientific explanation for this, but my personal theory is that subjecting yourself to these lighter sleep cycles by ingesting narcotics will actually increase the likelihood of a person reaching that "in between" mode, where your bodily movements are paralyzed but your mind is fully conscious and aware. I believe this is mainly due to the fact these drugs make it difficult to fully enter those deeper sleep cycles and actually remain there when you do reach deep sleep, increasing the chances of you waking up during a dream or remaining awake as your body slips off into one.

tl;dr - Opiates are not the magical solution for this problem. As somebody with lots of experience in that regard, I would not advise using them for this purpose. Not only do you risk making your sleep paralysis worse or more intense, but there's an equal risk of becoming both physically and mentally dependent on the substance. Opiates are not to be *beep* around with. Every junky I know started off "using responsibly for self medication" but eventually everybody ends up using rigs to shoot dope, and selling their soul and all their earthly possessions for this drug. It's just not worth it.

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I don't think that would be a good idea, each person's body and chemistry is completely different, so maybe it could work for some people, but make it worse for others.

I remember I saw in the extras of the ALIEN DVD, that H.R.Giger used to smoke opium because that's the only thing that made the night terrors stop, so, as I said, maybe it works for some people, but it's a bad idea to give this away as a general advice.

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Yes, I agree, I suggest responsibly trying opiates for those who have already tried all other options. Very interesting that it worked with H.R Giger, I'm a fan of his nightmares (just re-watched the Alien movies) and am now watching an in-depth autobiographical documentary called 'Dark Star: H.R. Giger's World (2014)'.

Comfort the disturbed and disturb the comfortable

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yes because one can use opiates responsibly hahahhahaha.
i have had enough experience to know what a stupid statement that is

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That's just stupid. It sounds like you're trying to justify your abuse of prescription drugs.


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Why bother being the nth person repeating the same opinion? You're stupid for wasting your time when I'll obviously never care what you think about it.

Comfort the disturbed and disturb the comfortable

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You obviously cared enough to reply.



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It may work for you, but I was using methadone pretty heavily when I started experiencing this.
I would be too high to experience the fear, and I would actually have it so often I stopped being upset and all and I'd actually be able to fall back asleep while still paralyzed most of the time.
And, on the subject of prescribing opiates daily for a problem... With my methadone, I ended up going through a nasty withdrawal from using it every day. Don't throw the baby out with the bathwater.
On a side note, the drug phenibut in very high doses would give me sleep paralysis, especially if I slept on my side.

--
http://www.imdb.com/user/ur14004473/ratings

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I would be too high to experience the fear

Without morally judging, it sounds like you were abusing methadone rather than using it as prescribed, which I was careful to mention before:

Do you get high on methadone?
No. Methadone does not cause euphoria or intoxication itself when used as prescribed. And if you are getting high on methadone, you are at risk of overdose and death. Plus, you are breaking the law. More on the differences between use and abuse below.

Normal Doses Of Methadone
Methadone is safe when used appropriately. Normal methadone dosing is somewhere between 60-120 mg a day (gradually reached). At this level, methadone actually blocks the high that you would get if you took other drugs but it does not get you high. Plus, there is no change in tolerance over time at this dose, meaning that you do not need more methadone in order to benefit from its effects. And a normal, stable dose of methadone will keep you even and balanced.

Can You Get High On Methadone?
In theory, yes. You can get high on methadone by taking methadone without a prescription or other than prescribed. But if you take methadone in higher doses, more frequently than prescribed, or take it in ways that are not prescribed (unstable dosing, injection, snorting, etc.) you are in danger of overdosing. This is because methadone does not produce the euphoric rush associated other opiate or opiate drugs. Instead, methadone is released into the body over time (it is a long-acting drug). So large quantities of methadone are a vain attempt to attain the desired euphoric effect and methadone can build up in your tissues, leading to overdose.

http://drug.addictionblog.org/do-you-get-high-on-methadone/

Comfort the disturbed and disturb the comfortable

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