DOSE ANYONE USE A SLEEPING PILL TO CRASH NIGHTLY?

I too take a sleeping pill nightly to get a good sleep.If I don't, the morphine I have to take seems to keep me from getting to the R.E.M. stage of sleep and I wake up as tired as when I went to bed.Todays sleep medications like Ambien, if taken as directed by your Dr. are not as dangerous as the barbituite cocktails of yesteryear but they still deserve serious respect.I don't think I snore anymore than usual and my wife hasn't complained of me talking in my sleep.Maybe it's because I make more sense when sleeping than my daytime conversations,who knows? Take care and God Bless.  

I take a sleep aid, but it's over the counter.  I take 5-HTP and have been for about 2 months now.  I love it.  I don't wake up groggy, no more nightmares and I feel like I've had a good nights sleep as well as rested.  It's a natural product that comes from a plant in Africa.  You can buy it with other things in it like valerien, but I like just the 5-HTP.  i brought this up on the fibro forum, but for some reason no one seemed to think it was a good idea, maybe because of the name.  My pharmacist thought that it was a great alternative to Rx's.  It raises the seritonin level which people with fibro and many other need, since it is a naturally occuring chemical in all of us.

I am new to this but I just wanted you to know that I take klonopin for sleep and trazadone at bedtime for pain. I forgot to take one night and was up and down all night. What works for one does not mean it works for all but you might want to try another sleep aid.
Sunny Dottie.......best wishes

I take Bendryl to help me sleep and I also have allergy/sinus problems. I also take a muscle relaxer called Zanaflex that doctor gave me to help me sleep. I'm out in like 20 minutes or less and sleep good 6 hours. I do have weird sleep problems though sometimes talking in my sleep or getting up and eating and watching tv. Really vivid bad dreams are also a real issue for me.

My doctor's tell me that, generally, sleeping medication is less damaging to one's organs than pain meds. Taking into account that a sound sleep is vital and help's the healing process you should definately try them, under doctor supervision of course, and provided you lower the dose of your pain meds, but those details are best left to doctors (the good kind at least).

Don't let them put you on anti-depressants when you don't need them. My regular neurologist arranged an appointment with a new pain management doctor who started at the clinic. This young guy looked at me, looked at my medical file, and prescribed anti-depressants. I told him I didn't need them as I wasn't depressed and that the whole point of the appointment was to lower my daily dose of pain meds. His response was that someone with that many injuries must be depressed. I repeated I wasn't. He said that was clearly a sign I couldn't think straight any more; clearly a sign of depression and give me the the meds right away (on top of the prescription). At home I threw them in the trashcan and told my neurologist I dind't won't to see that guy ever again.

As Gramps said our new doctors sure like prescribing anti-depressants. What's the next step, putting prosac in baby milk?

I use Restoril, a very old and gentle sleeper, a benzo, member of the Valuim family. I take the smallest dose ( 7.5) but it goes all the way up to 15 & 30, which would send me into next Tuesday....

It is very effecive, doesn't interfere w/ your REM cycles & just lets you drift off, like a natural event. My GP gave me them 2 years ago when this all began & I've been taking one every PM since then. I had never used sleepers b4 that, so she suggested this one b/c it's so gentle and easy on you. I'm a believer! When I had my PLIF, the hosp staff almost laughed at it, it's that "old". "I think we have some here" my nurse said, "but we don't get much call for them." They managed to find me a 15 mg, which was a bit much, but I told them to "keep an eye on me" which they did.

B4 that, I would use benadryl on occasion. Up to 4 depending on need. They are pretty safe, available OTC and also help if you have alergies.

But for me, it's good old Restoril. Give it a try! (and you can combine it w/ pain meds if you watch the dose amount.) Didn't interfere w/ my dilaudid or valuim at all. So you don't have to worry about not waking up.... LOL!

~Lakeside

Hi Underthebus,

I am not sure exactly about the "habit forming" property of the tizanidine as it is a muscle relaxer with the side-effect of putting me to sleep (a common side effect). I only use 1/2 of the lower dose pill a night (1 mg = 1/2 pill). According to my pharmacist that is a very low dose. I have been taking it fairly regularly for almost 6 months and it has not lost its effectiveness - like some of the other pills that I have taken with sleep side-effects producing pills. That makes me think that it may not be habit forming (in the sense that you need more to get the same effect); I also do not notice dificulties falling asleep if I do not take it - again, making me think that it is not habit forming - at least for me (everyone is different, of course).

I am not sure how appropriate it will be to ask your doc for this for the sole purpose of using as a sleep aid. But, if your doctor has mentioned using muscle relaxers as a possible pain reliever then maybe you can direct her / him to tizanidine. Muscle relaxers are a pretty standard adjunct for pain relief so you may not be out of line to bring that up at your next visit if you think tight muscles are part of your pain profile.

I originally got it from my pain doc when we were working on my trigger point muscle spasms as a result of abdominal organ damage (a common self-defense reaction of the abdominal muscles after surgery or internal injury is to tighten the muscles to protect the organs. Sustained muscle contractions causes spasms and can greatly add to the pain picture according to my pain doc. When I first started treatment with her we spent a lot of time trying to get the muscles to relax - we tried trigger point injections, myofascial massage, muscle relaxants along with the pain meds; I am happy to report that now, 5 years later, it seems to have worked!).

In my situation, I think that zanaflex works much, much better than anbien; it puts me to sleep quickly, reliably and i have absolutely no hung-over feeling in the morning or upset stomach when I take it - and most importantly, no eating while I am asleep! It sure may be worth a mention to your doc if you think it is the right thing to do.....

I've been using Ambien nightly for several years. I do periodically take a break from it, so that I can stop the reliance on it, but often stay up most of the night when I do that.

I have tried several of the more common sleeping pills, but Ambien seems to work the best for me. When I'm on high doses of steroid, I sometimes take the Ambien CR to get that second dose in to keep me asleep, but usually I only need the first shot to knock me out.

I have had several episodes of amnesia from using Amien, but every time, it was because I stayed up way too long after taking the pill. Those nights, I also stagger a little too - just like if I had been drunk. The trick is to get myself in bed within 30 minutes of taking the pill. Another problem with staying awake too long is that sometimes, I outlast the hypnotic effect and need to take a second pill in order to get to sleep and I'm on the higher 10mg dose. Sigh.

It seems that I have a very high tolerance for meds and almost nothing makes me sleepy. I could probably eat 3 or 4 Benedryl without getting tired. My migraine med, Fioricet, should make me tired, but I could take it and go out dancing (if my joints would let me).

Since my CP began 25 years ago, I've tried almost every anti-depressant out there and haven't found one that did much in terms of helping me to sleep. The only psychiatric medication that helped with sleep at all was an anti-psychotic called Seroquel (quetiapine), that I was given during an acute pain episode after a procedure. I wasn't on it long term, but at least I got some sleep.

My narcotics are great for helping to keep my pain levels within a tolerable range, but I don't ever expect to be pain free and the 40-60 mgs of Oxycontin doesn't make me sleepy at all, even when I add 10-20 mgs of Lortab. This class of meds is not designed to induce sleep. In fact, if narcotics do induce sleep, you are likely overmedicated.

Valium (diazepam) and Klonopin (Clonazepam) have helped to get me off to sleep when the Ambien alone wasn't enough due to the steroids I take, but I've only used them short term.

I take Zanaflex (tizanidine) on a regular basis for muscle spasms and even at twice my dose, it doesn't make me very sleepy at all. My Neurontin is also purported to help with sleep, but again, for me it's useless in that department. At least it does help me with the nerve pain.

Lunesta worked ok at the highest dose, 3mgs, but it wasn't as effective as Ambien and left the most horrid aftertaste which lasted well into the day. Nothing would get rid of it. I brushed, ate and still could taste it. Since nausea is a common symptom for me, the last thing I need is a med which causes a bad taste.

Rozeram didn't seem to help all that much.

So, these are the experiences I've had with meds to help me sleep. I hope you all find whatever works best for you.

Hi, JDTRIP,
I just wanted to welcome you to HW, since this was your first post. I'm glad something natural like melatonin works for you; I take my usual bedtime "cocktail" which at present is working, but making your suggestion may well help some people.

Thanks for postiing.

PaLady