Not a suspicious question, I promise.

[jadesfire]

Oh wise and wonderful flist...

I need a sleeping tablet for a fic. My character's overwrought and in desperate need of sleep (Rodney McKay, up for coming up on thirty-six hours straight, working his socks off), so I need to give him something that will absolutely knock him out for a while. I'm also assuming that once he's taken said tablet, nothing much can be done to wake him (safely) for the requisite number of hours. Is that right?

When I was writing Housefic regularly, I probably could have worked this out, but it's been a while and I'm short on time, so I was hoping you guys would take pity and help me out. When I search, I pretty much just end up on sales websites, and I'm not sure I trust them.

A link to useful sites or just the name of a drug would be of enormous help. I have little to offer except undying gratitude, although I'm happy to name a character after you if you want :)

Thank you!

Comments

[donutsweeper.livejournal.com]

I have no idea, but have you thought of asking at little_details? Or checking to see if it's been asked before there?

[jadesfire2808.livejournal.com]

Ooh, good plan. Thanks!

[miss-zedem.livejournal.com]

You could have a look at this list of sedatives (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sedative) on Wiki... There look to be some quite interesting links at the bottom.

eta Also this (http://www.patient.co.uk/showdoc/23068692/) might be useful :)

Yet another edit - it occurs to me that Rodney will have been staying awake through the use of speed or similar (of course, medical grade stuff, not what your average club bunny uses). So that ought to be taken into consideration - a normal sleeping tablet probably wouldn't be the best thing to give him, cos it would have contradictory effects on the heart muscle, and might very well cause a bad case of dead. Your House friends will probably know more...

[jadesfire2808.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the links!

Hmmm...this isn't a crisis situation like at the end of S1, so I don't really want him hopped up on anything. Bad case of dead is bad ;) Maybe I'll dial back the time frame a little - 30 hours on just catnaps and caffeine shouldn't be beyond the realms of plausability, should it? Really don't want to kill him. I need him for the plot! :D

[azure-chaos.livejournal.com]

a friend of mine did 36 hours straight when in panic mode for college stuffs. she was a little loopy but not in an especially bad way...in an amusing way...so 30 hours should be fine for some one like rodney (i bet he's done it before ;) )

[jadesfire2808.livejournal.com]

Heh. Rodney's absolutely done it before. I'll push it to 36 again, I think, and yup, he's pretty loopy as I've already written him, so that's okay :)

Ta muchly!

[miss-zedem.livejournal.com]

Oh I've gone 30-odd hours without sleep before, and I should imagine Rodney has - PhD deadlines and all that ;) As azure_chaos says, it's fruit-loops time, rather than falling over (remind me to tell you sometime about my trip to Italy ;)). He'll be sounding like he's tripped out on something, but probably won't have actually required much in the way of stimulants beyond caffeine. In which case, a doctor would be cautious about administering a sedative, but not excessively so. They'd probably be happier if he wasn't going to sleep alone - make him sack out in the infirnary or something.

[jadesfire2808.livejournal.com]

He's fairly snappy, I think, and I can make him more so. I've had Ronon put him to bed, and maybe just stay to make he's okay for a while. So he just needs something to get him over the loopy stage and into the sleepy one. But it does need to knock him out for a while. I'll check out the links and see what I can see.

And I'm making a mental note about Italy... ;D

[azure-chaos.livejournal.com]

The GP tried me on Tamazepam a while back when i couldn't sleep but it didn't do what it said on the packet lol. it took a couple of hours for me to get to sleep and when i did, i kept waking up with palpitations and sweating like crazy (like a panic attack). so keep in mind that individuals can have different affects (and rodney seems, to me, to be very much the kind of guy that drugs would have a wonky effect on). also what might be common in the UK might not be so much in the US.

nate

[jadesfire2808.livejournal.com]

I've heard of Tamazepam. That definitely doesn't sound like the right kind of result!

Really good point. At this point, I'm considering just shooting him with a tranq gun and having done with it ;) This is going to take more research than I thought...

Much appreciated :D

[azure-chaos.livejournal.com]

heh...tranq gun sounds like a great idea. of course it has the added bonus of grumpy rodney on an emotional blackmail kick depending on just *who* it was that shot him ;)

nate

[aeron-lanart.livejournal.com]

Temezepam gives me night terrors and palpitations too, so I actually sleep worse after that than I do otherwise. Any of the other benzodiazapines might be similar; I know valium has sod all effect on me though I have known people fall asleep halfway through a sentence after taking it.

We use zopiclone and zolpidem in work, they work OK but you're still perfectly rousable. Mind you, us nurses can be quite enthusiastic when waking people up.

Then there's Chloral hydrate and Phenobarbital, either of which I would say packs more of a sleepy punch than any benzodiazepine.

As for how long you can function for with little sleep, I've done 48 hours on about 3 hours sleep - I then fell asleep on the bus on my way home and missed the stop completely. On a run of 4 nights (an 11.5 hour shift) I will generally get less than 12 hours sleep over all 4 days/nights; there is a reason I refuse to do more than 5 in a row! Lack of sleep is very cumulative and I'm unsafe if I work more than 5 in a row as I'm far too likely to make a mistake.

[jadesfire2808.livejournal.com]

Oh fantastic, thank you! I love that I can ask a question like this and get an expert answer *small happy dance*

I checked, and zolpidem is the 'proper' name for Ambien, which someone else recommended. I've heard of Phenobarbital, so will check that one out as well. He doesn't have to be unrousable, just that it's not a very good idea if they don't have to. I can work round it :)

Oh good grief. That sounds very sensible. And horrendous :S

[nightdog-barks.livejournal.com]

I'm pretty sure that someone recommended Lunesta for my Eurydice WIP.

Let me go back and take a quick look ...

ETA: Okay, here's what I had -- I originally had Xanax, but it wasn't working for Wilson and he was thinking he needed something stronger. topaz_eyes recommended two drugs -- zopiclone (Imovane) and eszopiclone (Lunesta). She did say that these would leave the person in pretty much of a fog for the first few days on them.

I haven't gotten to the point where I was researching them myself, but they're from a reliable source. *g*

[jadesfire2808.livejournal.com]

Heh, yup, I'll take that as a reliable source :)

Hmmm...these don't sound like quite what I need. I think I'm going to have to go for something more like a tranq gun at this rate.

More research required, methinks! Reality's a pain in the neck. Why is it always the little things that take forever to get right? *holds head*

[becky-h.livejournal.com]

Xanax. It's fast acting, will calm his ass down and then knock his ass out. It'll also make it 'safe' to wake him when he's ready to wake, though. Anything in that drug class (Benzos) will probably work.

[jadesfire2808.livejournal.com]

Cool, that sounds like just what I need. Thank you! I can *handwave* the plot around the waking up bit. Although I shall have to be careful with his ass - in the SGA fandom, it's practically achieved godhood...

*giggle* Seriously, woman. Your Firefox icon chooser has a hell of a sense of humour. *more sniggering*

[becky-h.livejournal.com]

SOMEDAY I will pay attention to what it's choosing. Someday. Probably.

[jadesfire2808.livejournal.com]

And spoil all my fun? Awww, what a shame... ;D

[becky-h.livejournal.com]

Pbbbbbbt.

[pwcorgigirl.livejournal.com]

Ambien (http://www.ambiencr.com/default.aspx?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_term=ambien&utm_content=AMC311&utm_campaign=baseline1&SourceCode=AMC311) works fairly quickly, in 20 minutes or less in my experience. There have been some instances of sleepwalking, sleepdriving and other things (amnesia) with it when used by people who tried to knock themselves out for a quick few hours of shut-eye. It's designed for taking a full night to sleep.

[jadesfire2808.livejournal.com]

Ooh, that sounds perfect thanks. You really don't want Rodney sleepwalking his way through city repairs...

See, I knew you guys would know! Much appreciated :)

[hellenebright.livejournal.com]

As far as I'm concerned, any kind of antihistamine - and yes, that includes the non-drowsy ones. I was persuaded to try Zirtek a couple of weeks ago, and spent six hours flaked out on the couch with the rest of the household circulating around me watching tv, playing computer games, sorting laundry and arguing loudly about it, preparing and eating several snack meals etc. All the cats tried sitting on me - I think one of the kids may have as well. Nothing woke me up!

[jadesfire2808.livejournal.com]

Hee. That doesn't sound like quite the desired effect! Piriton has the same effect on my mother, although they don't seem to affect me at all.

Night Nurse. That's a whole other story...

[donutsweeper.livejournal.com]

I have no idea, but have you thought of asking at little_details? Or checking to see if it's been asked before there?

[jadesfire2808.livejournal.com]

Ooh, good plan. Thanks!

[miss-zedem.livejournal.com]

You could have a look at this list of sedatives (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sedative) on Wiki... There look to be some quite interesting links at the bottom.

eta Also this (http://www.patient.co.uk/showdoc/23068692/) might be useful :)

Yet another edit - it occurs to me that Rodney will have been staying awake through the use of speed or similar (of course, medical grade stuff, not what your average club bunny uses). So that ought to be taken into consideration - a normal sleeping tablet probably wouldn't be the best thing to give him, cos it would have contradictory effects on the heart muscle, and might very well cause a bad case of dead. Your House friends will probably know more...

[jadesfire2808.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the links!

Hmmm...this isn't a crisis situation like at the end of S1, so I don't really want him hopped up on anything. Bad case of dead is bad ;) Maybe I'll dial back the time frame a little - 30 hours on just catnaps and caffeine shouldn't be beyond the realms of plausability, should it? Really don't want to kill him. I need him for the plot! :D

[azure-chaos.livejournal.com]

a friend of mine did 36 hours straight when in panic mode for college stuffs. she was a little loopy but not in an especially bad way...in an amusing way...so 30 hours should be fine for some one like rodney (i bet he's done it before ;) )

[jadesfire2808.livejournal.com]

Heh. Rodney's absolutely done it before. I'll push it to 36 again, I think, and yup, he's pretty loopy as I've already written him, so that's okay :)

Ta muchly!

[miss-zedem.livejournal.com]

Oh I've gone 30-odd hours without sleep before, and I should imagine Rodney has - PhD deadlines and all that ;) As azure_chaos says, it's fruit-loops time, rather than falling over (remind me to tell you sometime about my trip to Italy ;)). He'll be sounding like he's tripped out on something, but probably won't have actually required much in the way of stimulants beyond caffeine. In which case, a doctor would be cautious about administering a sedative, but not excessively so. They'd probably be happier if he wasn't going to sleep alone - make him sack out in the infirnary or something.

[jadesfire2808.livejournal.com]

He's fairly snappy, I think, and I can make him more so. I've had Ronon put him to bed, and maybe just stay to make he's okay for a while. So he just needs something to get him over the loopy stage and into the sleepy one. But it does need to knock him out for a while. I'll check out the links and see what I can see.

And I'm making a mental note about Italy... ;D

[azure-chaos.livejournal.com]

The GP tried me on Tamazepam a while back when i couldn't sleep but it didn't do what it said on the packet lol. it took a couple of hours for me to get to sleep and when i did, i kept waking up with palpitations and sweating like crazy (like a panic attack). so keep in mind that individuals can have different affects (and rodney seems, to me, to be very much the kind of guy that drugs would have a wonky effect on). also what might be common in the UK might not be so much in the US.

nate

[jadesfire2808.livejournal.com]

I've heard of Tamazepam. That definitely doesn't sound like the right kind of result!

Really good point. At this point, I'm considering just shooting him with a tranq gun and having done with it ;) This is going to take more research than I thought...

Much appreciated :D

[azure-chaos.livejournal.com]

heh...tranq gun sounds like a great idea. of course it has the added bonus of grumpy rodney on an emotional blackmail kick depending on just *who* it was that shot him ;)

nate

[aeron-lanart.livejournal.com]

Temezepam gives me night terrors and palpitations too, so I actually sleep worse after that than I do otherwise. Any of the other benzodiazapines might be similar; I know valium has sod all effect on me though I have known people fall asleep halfway through a sentence after taking it.

We use zopiclone and zolpidem in work, they work OK but you're still perfectly rousable. Mind you, us nurses can be quite enthusiastic when waking people up.

Then there's Chloral hydrate and Phenobarbital, either of which I would say packs more of a sleepy punch than any benzodiazepine.

As for how long you can function for with little sleep, I've done 48 hours on about 3 hours sleep - I then fell asleep on the bus on my way home and missed the stop completely. On a run of 4 nights (an 11.5 hour shift) I will generally get less than 12 hours sleep over all 4 days/nights; there is a reason I refuse to do more than 5 in a row! Lack of sleep is very cumulative and I'm unsafe if I work more than 5 in a row as I'm far too likely to make a mistake.

[jadesfire2808.livejournal.com]

Oh fantastic, thank you! I love that I can ask a question like this and get an expert answer *small happy dance*

I checked, and zolpidem is the 'proper' name for Ambien, which someone else recommended. I've heard of Phenobarbital, so will check that one out as well. He doesn't have to be unrousable, just that it's not a very good idea if they don't have to. I can work round it :)

Oh good grief. That sounds very sensible. And horrendous :S

[nightdog-barks.livejournal.com]

I'm pretty sure that someone recommended Lunesta for my Eurydice WIP.

Let me go back and take a quick look ...

ETA: Okay, here's what I had -- I originally had Xanax, but it wasn't working for Wilson and he was thinking he needed something stronger. topaz_eyes recommended two drugs -- zopiclone (Imovane) and eszopiclone (Lunesta). She did say that these would leave the person in pretty much of a fog for the first few days on them.

I haven't gotten to the point where I was researching them myself, but they're from a reliable source. *g*

[jadesfire2808.livejournal.com]

Heh, yup, I'll take that as a reliable source :)

Hmmm...these don't sound like quite what I need. I think I'm going to have to go for something more like a tranq gun at this rate.

More research required, methinks! Reality's a pain in the neck. Why is it always the little things that take forever to get right? *holds head*

[becky-h.livejournal.com]

Xanax. It's fast acting, will calm his ass down and then knock his ass out. It'll also make it 'safe' to wake him when he's ready to wake, though. Anything in that drug class (Benzos) will probably work.

[jadesfire2808.livejournal.com]

Cool, that sounds like just what I need. Thank you! I can *handwave* the plot around the waking up bit. Although I shall have to be careful with his ass - in the SGA fandom, it's practically achieved godhood...

*giggle* Seriously, woman. Your Firefox icon chooser has a hell of a sense of humour. *more sniggering*

[becky-h.livejournal.com]

SOMEDAY I will pay attention to what it's choosing. Someday. Probably.

[jadesfire2808.livejournal.com]

And spoil all my fun? Awww, what a shame... ;D

[becky-h.livejournal.com]

Pbbbbbbt.

[pwcorgigirl.livejournal.com]

Ambien (http://www.ambiencr.com/default.aspx?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_term=ambien&utm_content=AMC311&utm_campaign=baseline1&SourceCode=AMC311) works fairly quickly, in 20 minutes or less in my experience. There have been some instances of sleepwalking, sleepdriving and other things (amnesia) with it when used by people who tried to knock themselves out for a quick few hours of shut-eye. It's designed for taking a full night to sleep.

[jadesfire2808.livejournal.com]

Ooh, that sounds perfect thanks. You really don't want Rodney sleepwalking his way through city repairs...

See, I knew you guys would know! Much appreciated :)

[hellenebright.livejournal.com]

As far as I'm concerned, any kind of antihistamine - and yes, that includes the non-drowsy ones. I was persuaded to try Zirtek a couple of weeks ago, and spent six hours flaked out on the couch with the rest of the household circulating around me watching tv, playing computer games, sorting laundry and arguing loudly about it, preparing and eating several snack meals etc. All the cats tried sitting on me - I think one of the kids may have as well. Nothing woke me up!

[jadesfire2808.livejournal.com]

Hee. That doesn't sound like quite the desired effect! Piriton has the same effect on my mother, although they don't seem to affect me at all.

Night Nurse. That's a whole other story...