What does it feel like to die by sleeping pills?

Question

Do you just slip into a deep sleep, or is it painful? Do your lungs just shut down, and you basically suffocate? How long does it usually take?

Answer 1

I don't know if you're asking this question out of curiousity or if you are considering suicide.

I don't know you personally or much about the situation your in, however if you're considering suicide, your pain must seem overwhelming right now. I'm not a counselor, but just a person who's been there like you are now. I have been there and made two serious attempts to kill myself by an overdose of prescription/non-prescription drugs. It was emotionally and physically painful and both times failed with my ending up in the hospital having my stomach pumped and having to drink activated charcol. But don't despair, you don't have to end your life to end the pain, there are other options. Please take the time to consider the following:

Start by considering this statement:

“Suicide is not chosen; it happens
when pain exceeds
resources for coping with pain.”

That’s all it’s about. You are not a bad person, or crazy, or weak, or flawed, because you feel suicidal. It doesn’t even mean that you really want to die - it only means that you have more pain than you can cope with right now. If I start piling weights on your shoulders, you will eventually collapse if I add enough weights... no matter how much you want to remain standing. Willpower has nothing to do with it. Of course you would cheer yourself up, if you could.

Don’t accept it if someone tells you, “that’s not enough to be suicidal about.” There are many kinds of pain that may lead to suicide. Whether or not the pain is bearable may differ from person to person. What might be bearable to someone else, may not be bearable to you. The point at which the pain becomes unbearable depends on what kinds of coping resources you have. Individuals vary greatly in their capacity to withstand pain.

When pain exceeds pain-coping resources, suicidal feelings are the result. Suicide is neither wrong nor right; it is not a defect of character; it is morally neutral. It is simply an imbalance of pain versus coping resources.

You can survive suicidal feelings if you do either of two things: (1) find a way to reduce your pain, or (2) find a way to increase your coping resources. Both are possible.

Now I want to tell you five things to think about.

1 You need to hear that people do get through this -- even people who feel as badly as you are feeling now. Statistically, there is a very good chance that you are going to live. I hope that this information gives you some sense of hope.

2 Give yourself some distance. Say to yourself, “I will wait 24 hours before I do anything.” Or a week. Remember that feelings and actions are two different things - just because you feel like killing yourself, doesn’t mean that you have to actually do it right this minute. Put some distance between your suicidal feelings and suicidal action. Even if it’s just 24 hours. You have already done it for 5 minutes, just by reading this page. You can do it for another 5 minutes by continuing to read this page. Keep going, and realize that while you still feel suicidal, you are not, at this moment, acting on it. That is very encouraging to me, and I hope it is to you.

3 People often turn to suicide because they are seeking relief from pain. Remember that relief is a feeling. And you have to be alive to feel it. You will not feel the relief you so desperately seek, if you are dead.

4 Some people will react badly to your suicidal feelings, either because they are frightened, or angry; they may actually increase your pain instead of helping you, despite their intentions, by saying or doing thoughtless things. You have to understand that their bad reactions are about their fears, not about you.

But there are people out there who can be with you in this horrible time, and will not judge you, or argue with you, or send you to a hospital, or try to talk you out of how badly you feel. They will simply care for you. Find one of them. Now. Use your 24 hours, or your week, and tell someone what’s going on with you. It is okay to ask for help. Try:

Befrienders Worldwide
http://www.befrienders.org

Find a crisis hotline near you
http://www.befrienders.org/support/helplines.asp

The Samaritans (UK & Ireland)
24-hour, national helpline.
Phone: [phone] (UK)
Phone: [phone] (ROI)
http://www.samaritans.org/
Send an anonymous e-mail to The Samaritans
http://www.samaritans.org/talk/email.sht...

State-by State Suicide Hotlines Directory (United States) National Toll-Free Hotline Number: 1-800-784-2433
24 hours / 7 days a week
http://suicidehotlines.com/

National Suicide Hotline (United States)
1-888-248-2587

National Youth Crisis & Suicide Hotline (United States)
1.800.621.4000

Covenent House Nineline
1-800-999-9999
1-800-999-9915 TTY

AND/OR

-Go to your local ER
-Look in the front of your phone book for a crisis line
-Call a psychotherapist
-Carefully choose a friend or a minister or rabbi, someone who is likely to listen

Answer 2

Don't ever take the sleeping pills route!!

1. They will damage your liver big time and you can get into serious health problems.

2. You will get hooked up on them and you won't be able to have a normal life any more if you don't take your pills everyday.

The sleeping pills industry is damaging our health by capitalizing on our ignorance, and by distracting people from effective and natural ways to deal with this problem. I had been taking prescription sleep medications [Ambien] for over 5 years. It stopped working and I simply took more. Still did not work. Nights were very difficult - medication put me to sleep but I would wake up after 2–3 hours with a strong sympathetic response (fast pulse, pounding heartbeat, wide awake alert). It was a very difficult cycle to break. I was really in bad shape due to lack of sleep.

After years of struggling I was able to cure my insomnia naturally and pretty fast. I followed the Sleep Tracks sleep optimization program, here is their official web -site if you want to take a look: http://www.insomniacure.net

Ohhh..and Good Luck!

Answer 3

PLEASE DON'T TAKE AN OVERDOSE!!!!

Let's just say that I know what I'm talking about when I tell you to throw out those sleeping pills and don't take any ever again. There are other ways to get a good night's sleep.

Talk to your family, a psychiatrist, a therapist, even 911, but DON'T TAKE THOSE PILLS!!

Answer 4

I almost found out. I was so depressed one day that I went and bought 2 bottles of sleeping pills, over the counter. I took them to get checked and I was just praying that someone would figure out what I was doing and help me. She did not, I went home and took about 5 maybe more. I then called my therapist and he asked me to drive over to see him (the wrong advice) instead of calling 911. I then got really sleepy, went to bed, but I am so thankful that I woke up.

Answer 5

A sleeping pill overdose would put you to sleep obviously, then your body would shut down in your sleep.

Answer 6

Probably it just feels like going to sleep. But after you die, do you know what is in store for you? You may learn you made a bad mistake.

What does it feel like to feel perfect peace? It feels better than anything you can imagine and you can feel it while alive. See site below for more on this and more about you and why you are alive.

Answer 7

Even now there is hope. What you're experiencing is a temporary (yes it is) part of your life. Let it be as it is, and you'll be OK. By embracing life as it is, everything works out in the end.

Answer 8

No one can give you an answer to this, because if they had actually died from a sleeping pill overdose, they arent here to tell you how it feels!

Answer 9

You wake up in a hospital room having your stomach pumped.
Don't be a dumb *** looking for a suicide cure all, and face your problems head on like someone with balls.

Answer 10

how would any of us know if we are all alive here? personally, i have never talked to anyone who has died by sleeping pills, for obvious reasons.