Getting the pill isn't always easy....

When a good friend of mine told me about this new drug, I couldn't wait to try it. Something inside of me makes me want to try things, even if it's not really for me. I don't know, call it primitive curiosity?


But getting it is the hard part....


....I knew next to nothing about the new drug, and I didn't know where to start. I got the prescribing information straight from Merck's website. It seemed very straightforward. All the usual sleep drug side effects, including the very scary possibility of sleep paralysis...which I'm sure is the basis for some people's belief in demonic possession. Oh well. If it makes me sleep well, I'd settle for my tongue turning green and maybe even some slight gynecomasta, which are man-boobs. Those aren't some of the effects, but you get the idea.

Pictured above: Sleeping well?

                                                 

When I got to the mechanism of action, I knew this drug was different...


....It works by blocking Orexin, a neurotransmitter that regulates arousal, wakefulness, and appetite. Incidentally, this neurotransmitter is largely absent in narcoleptics, due to a depletion of the cells that produce it. So, if narcoleptics can barely stay awake, and I can barely sleep.....

....2+2=4?

I had to have it. Add to the fact that efficacy only seemed to increase with time, and that no clinically significant rebound insomnia was noted in the studies, this drug seemed to be the bees knees when it comes to getting those mean Zzzz's.

My problem with most sleep medications is the tolerance, and the withdrawal. They are only designed to be used in a pinch really. That doesn't keep MD's from dolling them out like a perpetual stream of rainbow skittles....mostly because that's all we have to choose from when it comes to pills. Sure, other things give great results, but let's face it, unless a drug is life altering or truly clinically significant, odds are it doesn't do much.

So, I had to find a doctor that knew sleep. Most specifically my sleep. And a doctor who Merck has marketed too. Luckily, I knew a doctor that was rumored to be up to date on the latest treatments, that had delt with my sleep issues in the past. I had it made, right?

"Yes, I'll take that please."

                                                             
                                                     
....Boy, was I wrong.....

.... It took some bargaining to get my sleep specialist to prescribe it, but that is another story. Go in with the facts, but don't act like a know it all. Make the doctor think it's their idea to give you the med. Oh and BTW The medication is expensive, and most insurance companies are sure not to cover it...

.... But I'm a resourceful guy. I printed coupons directly from the official Belsomra website, and I sold some personal items as well. I actually ended up ahead. But anyways....