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Chronic Insomnia help needed

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Posted 8/21/2008 7:21 AM (GMT 0)
I was diagnosed in 1989 and after many trials I ended up on Elavil, which caused so many problems...most of which were unrecognized until 6 years ago. It took months to get off of it. Truthfully, my Fibro pain is mostly controlled by chiropractor, massage and exercise..as I've gotten older, I've gotten better with the exception of insomnia.

It's 3:00 a.m. and I'm wide awake; most insomnia drugs cause massive headaches, or they don't work at all. I don't know what to try now, I'm using the original form of Unisom, which worked very well for a couple of months (but obviously not anymore). I think I've tried every combination of stuff out there and I'm out of ideas! I've finally lost all of the weight (55 pounds!!) that I've gained from the different drugs, and the issue of weight gain with meds must be addressed before I would start something new.

Does anyone have any ideas??
Posted 8/21/2008 7:38 AM (GMT 0)
The only non prescription that I can think of off the top of my head would be something along the lines of benadryl or something like that. I know that you can buy just Diphenhydramine which is the thing in benadryl that makes most people sleepy. It's usually sold OTC as sleep tabs.

There's also the classic warm milk routine if you don't have an dietary issues with lactose. Umm... melatonin. A good turkey sandwich earlier in the evening for the tryptophan? confused

Those are the only ones that I can think of right off the top of my head, hopefully those help or someone else here will have some more suggestions for you soon. I've been lucky enough that when I have those nights that I am able to use ambien without any major side effects so I'm not that well versed in what to recommend.
Posted 8/21/2008 10:17 AM (GMT 0)
Thanks, I've already run through the benadryl/dipenhydramine options, but they are no longer effective either. I've read about tryptophan in a pill form, I wonder if that may be effective. I'm recovering from esophageal surgery so a turkey sandwich isn't an option :(
Posted 8/21/2008 11:32 AM (GMT 0)
Good morning ldyJane,

Have you had a sleep study done?

Breath

Posted 8/21/2008 12:31 PM (GMT 0)
Well first off, is there anything in particular keeping you up? With me, I often have trouble sleeping due to environmental sensitivities. I wear a sleeping mask to keep out the light and ear plugs to help keep sound out. Those helped a lot for awhile but then as the weather got warmer I kept waking up in the middle of the night cause I was too hot. So now every night I have to turn the thermostat down to 72 degrees and it helps most nights but there are still some nights that I wake up all hot and sweating.

If it's just my own mind that's keeping me awake, then I'll do deep breathing and meditation exercises to help me sleep.
Posted 8/21/2008 12:36 PM (GMT 0)
I'm sorry your not sleeping LdyJane. What side affects did you have from the elevil???

 

Xanax works for me but I am back to waking up at 4:00 am for a while for whatever reason.

 

luv and hugs

Marlee

Posted 8/21/2008 3:12 PM (GMT 0)
Hi everyone, thanks!
I had a sleep study done, it shows alpha intrusion into delta; it also shows migraine headaches starting when I reach REM sleep...the Dr. didn't know what to make of any of that! and I haven't gone back since.

Our room is dark and very quiet, except when my Husband starts snoring!, If I wake up and he's not snoring I can sometimes go back to sleep; if he is snoring I can't. Last night I went to another room and still couldn't sleep, it's a situation I find myself in periodically, I'll average 3 hours of sleep for many nights until I can find some sort of rescue to help me sleep. For a while it was halcion...wonderful stuff!! until the side effects kick in..high anxiety, rapid heartbeat (120 + per minute), so I had to stop.

The elavil caused weight gain, irritable bowel, skin issues, and, for lack of a better word...crankiness!!

I see my migraine specialist today, so I'm going to ask him..again. The problem is that I have gone through all of the new meds...Ambien, Restoril, Sonata, Lunesta; they work and caused severe migraines or they don't work at all...not much good for me. We tried Desyrel, but it didn't help the sleep issue at all. I guess we'll see what he says!
Janice
Posted 8/21/2008 5:18 PM (GMT 0)
Hi, LdyJane!  Some people take melatonin to help them sleep.  I have never tried it though.  Just a suggestion...

 

Sherrine

Posted 8/21/2008 5:58 PM (GMT 0)
Hi, I went through almost every king of sleeping med. What has done me the most good is Lyrica. I know it's supposed to help pain, but I immediately started sleeping better and it has lasted for 11 months. Hope this helps. Diane
Posted 8/21/2008 7:27 PM (GMT 0)
Unless you're taking Lyrica, try valerian root. You can take it in pill form, which works quite well (just don't smell it)!! You can also try Celestial Seasonings Sleepy Time Extra Tea. It has valerian and several other sleep herbs. Very good & soothing. Melatonin. Chamomille tea. Bendryl (dyphenhydramine), but not if you have RLS.
Posted 8/21/2008 10:29 PM (GMT 0)
I, too, have had serious sleep problems due, I think from chronic illnesses and tired most OTCs and the only one that worked is the same as you take, the original Unisom which is hard to find. Some of the OTCs and Ambien caused hangovers.


Trazadone didn't work very well, nor did the addition of flexeril at night. For the past 10 days I've been on Lunesta & I'm sleeping better and without a hangover! I'm worried that it may cause weight gain. I gained over 40 pounds on Prednisone and can not take it off.
Posted 8/21/2008 10:51 PM (GMT 0)
You all are just wonderful and I appreciate your suggestions! Because I've tried the melatonin and other meds, I'm especially interested in the valerian root; if that doesn't work I may look at Lyrica again, especially if weight gain is not an issue.

Thank you so much!!!

Big, Big (but gentle!) Hugs!
Janice
Posted 8/22/2008 2:19 PM (GMT 0)
Hey Ldyjane,
Hope you dont mind another question. Have you had any endocrine studies done? Especially thyroid AND adrenal glands?I found out that other than having Graves disease, and getting the radiation tx for that, that even though i went hypothyroid as was expected, I still could not sleep! Finally my wonderful GP sent me to another specialist who found out that my adrenal glands put out too much adrenaline. Its is like that 'fight or flight' response our bodies go thru when we are scared or mad. This has taken many years to get to this point of knowing what is going on with me, but it has helped and due to my 2nd sleep study and getting the mask and a little oxygen just at night I can actually sleep! I dont sleep alot, but 3-4 hours of good deep, dreaming sleep is better than that severe sleep deprivation which is a nightmare. It is a horrible, horrible experience and I feel for you and your situation.. I dont sleep well every night but I will take what I can get! I wish you lots of luck with this. My heart goes out to you. Take care,
Breath
Posted 8/22/2008 2:23 PM (GMT 0)
Btw...Congratulations on your fantastic weight loss!....
Posted 8/22/2008 6:20 PM (GMT 0)
Your welcome Ldyjane! BTW, your meds aren't mentioned, so, if you take Tramadol that will cause insomnia too!
Posted 8/23/2008 2:29 AM (GMT 0)
I too, have a sleep problem most nights and take a 10 mg. Elavil.  I have just taken it for a month, but didn't know that it caused weight gain too. 

 

Since I already have a weight problem that scares me to death that I'll start gaining more.  I also take 50 mg. of Lyrica at night.  I was supposed to up it every week but it helped so much at first that I didn't increase my dosage, but I'm having sleep problems again. 

 

It seems like a no win solution.  I don't know which way to turn.

 

God Bless!

Shannon

 

 

Posted 8/23/2008 5:52 AM (GMT 0)
HI,

I would like to suggest exercises. An aquatic stretch and flex or aerobics class works wonders for sleep. If you can swim, that would be a bonus.

donnaeil
Posted 8/25/2008 7:24 PM (GMT 0)
You are all great!!
I'm on a mission to decrease my drug load. A little about me, I have 5 types of migraines (yeah, no fun!), severe reflux (which I just had major surgery for) plus the other assorted stuff. The meds that are my mainstay are motrin, fioricet and neurontin...these are all abortives for the migraines. Migraines have ruled my world because of the severity and the damage they have caused, so I've had to push the fibro to the background. Of course, pain cancels out pain and a pain med for a migraine will generally help the fibro (clear as mud right!!!)

I started working with a trainer last January donnaeil, and have upped my exercise tremendously...that is, until the reflux surgery in July. I am feeling much more fibro pain than I was before and I'm sure it's because I can't exercise. I was sleeping better, you're right.

Breath, I do have a thyroid problem that we're getting under control, but I have not been to an endocrinologist...good suggestion, I'll talk to my Dr. next month.

Shannon, 10 mgs of elavil did not cause side effects for me, I think you're okay there. My problem with elavil was that I constantly needed to increase the dose; I think my highest was 300 mg....way too much!!

I had two nights of good sleep since Thursday, so that has helped me a bunch..last night was a 2:30 in the morning wake up!

We'll all just keep trying.
Janice
Posted 8/26/2008 5:13 AM (GMT 0)
Just a warning, Valerian smells really, really, really bad. The pill form is the way to go, and as Stephanie said - don't smell it.
Posted 8/26/2008 6:55 PM (GMT 0)
I just bought some tea that has it in there....I'll still give it a try and let you know!
Posted 5/30/2015 12:55 PM (GMT 0)
Ldy Jsne,
How did the Valerian root work for you?
Posted 5/30/2015 1:35 PM (GMT 0)
Grammie

Please realize the superregional friend was from 2008. I just thought I would mention that my daughter takes Valarian Root and melatonin. The melatonin helps you get to sleep in the Valerian root hel you stay asleep. It has helped her, although I am sad to say she went from a heavy sleeper to a insomniac like me.

I call it Princess and the Pea sindrome. I can be disturbed by the littlest thing. It turned out that there a re notes around the web about this. Finding the right mattress, sleep conditiond etc. i had a good thing going wih Lyrica and Ambien and then I developed shoulder issues that hurt enough that they wake me up despite that. There are other things too. I am thinking of getting m daughter to a sleep study. She is showing sll the same signs.
Posted 5/31/2015 3:23 AM (GMT 0)
I've got a flipped sleep schedule. I've tried several times to go to sleep earlier and then tried to go later. Neither helped or stayed longer than 3 days.

My body insists that my bedtime is 3am and I'm to sleep 10 hours.

I can't take melentonin because it's bad for people with autoimmune diseases. I try not to be dependent on benadryl. My doctors will not give me a sleep aid. They won't say why, they just won't.
Posted 6/1/2015 10:57 PM (GMT 0)
Anyone here try taking CBD?
I take it an hour before bedtime and sleep deeply for four - five hrs.
No mast cell issues.
Please, I am not a doctor. Research talk to your drs and find a knowledgeable clinic.
I haven't had eight hours sleep in 15 years. I can't take sleep meds, Valerian or Melatonian.
I miss normal sleep cycles :(
Posted 6/1/2015 11:59 PM (GMT 0)
I <3 this stuff. I have had chronic insomnia since the teen years. This stuff knocks me on my behind!

/www.yogiproducts.com/teas/kava-stress-relief/

(sidenote: Kava has hallucenogenic properties so don't go crazy on it. One should be enough, maybe two.)

It's like chamomille on steroids. I also take flexeril early evening to get things to slow down, and if I need to, I'll have ONE or half benedryl. Anymore and I am totally hungover in the morning.
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