Valium

Phenergan has a 12 hour lifesoan...but even 10mg majes me sluggish for about 18 hours. But it certainly is useful for sleep, bausea and migraines also as well as allergies. 

My oncologist recommended phenergan to sleep. 5-10mg. I don’t have a hangover the next day. I use it perhaps twice a month if I’m struggling to sleep.
x

I have taken temazepam (10mg) occasionally (got a new prescription when I realised my current bottle was 5 years old!) for decades. I am not the world's greatest sleeper but very occasionally I get into a prolonged period of not sleeping. Worrying that you won't be able to get to sleep is a self fulfilling prophecy and then I need something to break the cycle for a couple of days. My doctor is unworried to put it mildly. You just don't want to be using it all the time. 

5mg is a low dose and if, as others have commented, you take one occasionally you should be fine.

 I'm a great fan of benzo and opioid type meds and could probably get addicted if someone would give me sufficient access. Thankfully that is not going to happen while my very sensible GP is at the helm. She keeps me on a very short leash and I'm too lazy to chase illegal sources so I keep my meagre supply for times I really need them. It is nice to be able to sleep when I've been on a three day anxiety binge and I can get pretty wound up when I'm under pressure and really not wanting to have a test or procedure. A valium can help. Its really in everyone's best interests on occasions :)

@DearB, I took valium before every chemo treatment.  5mg mostly covered it but occasionally had to take an extra 5mg especially when nurses having difficult time getting a vein.  That was once every 3 weeks for four months and didn't have a problem not taking any more once treatment completed.  It depends what you are taking it for and if it is to be used on the short term. @AllyJay put it very well.  I also tried all the teas and deep breathing etc but sometimes you need a boost to get you over the worst.  

@DearB Growing up with a parent who used Valium and drank heavily put me off both for life.Here are some alternative  suggestions . Camomile tea has been a favourite with Italians for years to help at stressful times - not my favourite taste but I find it acceptable in a Celestial Seasonings teabag called SleepyTime available in the supermarkets.Also milk is a carminative and especially yummy at this time of the year in a Paul’s eggnog and Coles has heaps.Yogurt is also good and I like the new YoPro but avoid cheese as there is something in it (tyromine ?)that causes insomnia can’t remember what.Lastly the most important thing of all - walking for an hour a day.It releases endorphins which give a natural high , also relaxes so the body is able to sleep.I cannot emphasise how much this non athletic non exercising female now realises how much walking helps with how I feel emotionally - I am calmer and more rational when I walk and tetchy when I don’t. PS Also talk to people who get it here on this blog there is always someone online at most hours - there are other options too eg The Cancer Council Cancer Connect service saved my life when I was at a very low ebb.Make yourself get out and meet/ talk to others in the same boat - to quote my mother a problem shared is a problem solved - look at the back of the My Journey book for support groups locally you are most definitely not alone and many will help you.The YWCA puts on a free hydrotherapy course Encore which is fantastic. Reach out.XO

Well said @AllyJay.  I can remember being stressed as I,d taken  4 in a fortnight from a bottle I'd had for years. Lol. It was a particularly stressfull time and after days and days without sleep it did the trick. I was then able to look at my life and come up with strategies to reduce my stress so I did sleep naturally.

If you find you are not sleeping more and more and requiring additional medication days to cope, well it's time to return to your GP and have a referral to talk through things and possibly a different medication for longer term use. Kath x

Valium is one of those tranquilisers  to  which  you can build up  a  resistance and upon which you can  become dependent. Notice the use  of the word "can" twice. If you use them only if  needed, and not in the  "...hmmm, I'm feeling  a bit twitchy, think I'll take  one", or "...I've got  such and such today, and I don't want to get in a  tizz, so I'll just take the one to  smooth over the edges" Or worse still, taking  one  three  times a day to ensure a permanent warm and fuzzy feeling, you should be fine. I have been prescribed sleeping tablets as I have shocking insomnia, and have had for  as long as I can remember, but only take any maybe once a fortnight, when I am desperate for just a few hours of  consecutive sleep. Just the knowledge  that I have them, and can use them if I really need to, makes it bearable  and I don't end up taking them that night. At  this stage of the game, for me, standing on some sort of principles about taking such medications is  irrelevant. I've been poisoned to within an inch of my  life with chemo and sliced  open from one side to the other, with bits chopped off, and I refuse to make excuses to anyone about taking something very occasionally to give me a bit of respite.