Groggy; unable to get out of bed!

I can't get out of bed in the morning. I feel very sleepy and groggy. The dogs get a bit upset from not being fed.

I think part of it has to do with poor quality sleep. I could tell during the night last night that I was only in the shallow phases of sleep.

Plus, triggers are making me wake up throughout the night: Sometimes it's my dogs, sweats, whatever.

Then, in the morning or thereabouts, I can't get out of bed. I've slept as late as 2 or 3 p.m., and that's even when I go to bed a bit earlier than usual!

I'm doing Ashwaganda and GABA, but they aren't helping. I'm starting to wonder if they're making things worse, bc I take sleeping pills to sleep.

Unfortunately, I feel groggy sometimes even after a good night's sleep. Maybe during those times, I can force myself to get out of bed. But when the whole night's been bad? I still need to feed the dogs, eat, drink, etc. etc.

Another problem: I don't have any appetite or thirst when I first wake up. All I want to do is sleep.

This has not always been the case during use of sleeping pills. I started the pills long before I started having the problem.

Margaret

Yes, Trav,you're right about the sleep meds.

I know sometimes people need them...sleep is important.
But, my father's cognitive/emotional health decline all started from zopiclone (sleep med) and ativan.
He developed a tolerance to zopiclone after he was on it in the hospital for 5 weeks recovering from a fairly minor surgery.

When he was discharged from the hospital...no one told him that he was even on them (he just took what the nurses gave him) - after two days at home, extreme anxiety and inability to sleep set in. His PCP prescribed zopiclone and ativan (ativan- as needed up to 4 a day) Within a week, he started having nightmares, and kept wanting more ativan...lost control of his bladder...and was falling because the meds made him tipsy, and he was non weight bearing on one leg because of the surgery - so had to hop everywhere (at 75 years old - that's not easy). One morning woke up and had no strength in his legs...we took him to emerg and he was put in the psych ward. Downhill from there. The geriatric psychiatrist took him off his anti-depressant he'd been on for 15 years...in three days...he called that "weaning him off"
He went into psychosis. He was drugged up even more - they ended up putting him on an anti-psychotic med that is used almost as a last resort for schizophrenic patients. It was a nightmare....I won't continue...but the story doesn't end well...
After a few years of fighting with the docs...I started getting my lyme symptoms. :(

All I want you to take from this is that sometimes people do need them, but be careful if you do need to take them. I do think it's worse for the elderly - in fact a psych nurse who visited my dad at his home when he was on the ativan and zopiclone...told me that an elderly person should never be prescribed ativan.


Please be careful Margaret. Re: gaba - that is a calming supplement, and I was given it to help my sleep...so maybe you have too many sleep aids?

You know, I think I'm having a news flash in my own brain. I do believe that the GABA and Ashwaganda aren't helping; they're making things worse.

I should probably take Ashwaganda only, and only in the a.m., paradoxically.

Otherwise, it's a cocktail with too many variables.

I hope I didn't take any of the stuff mid afternoon or for lunch!

Margaret

Margaret - I don't want you to think I'm judging you...I'm not. I totally understand the sleep issue.
I had issues for several months and although I didn't go on sleep meds, I do understand how it feels to be without sleep...especially when your body is not well.
I was lucky, my sleep issues started to get better after I started treating the lyme.
I don't know what I would have done, if the natural remedies didn't work.

When I talked about elderly and my dad...I was not thinking you were in that category!!!

I worked with a lady who had been taking zopiclone for almost 10 years...and it still worked like a charm for her...and she never had to increase it. So, for some people...it seems to work well.

Good luck in sorting it out. What we go through is almost unbelievable, isn't it? I can't even try to describe it to any of my friends...it's beyond words.

I was on 300 mgs of Trazodone for sleep for 5 years, over the course of a year, I weaned myself down to quite a low dose (67 mgs), but couldn't stop them due to hyperactivity that would set in each time I lowered my dose past a certain level. I finally convinced a doc to switch me to another sleep med, Ambien (10 mgs), and I was on that for 6 months and my new doc helped me step that down until I was able to jump off. These meds can actually change the way the brain works, so coming off of them can be tricky - it surely was for me!!

I am in no way criticizing you, or anyone else who needs to use them. I was one of those that needed them or no sleep at all for me! But once you've been on them for a while - and it's different for each person - sometimes they start making it hard to sleep, and keep you feelings sleepy all the time, as if you aren't getting enough sleep. What you aren't getting is good quality sleep though due to the meds. - well, maybe not you, I don't mean that personally, only in general.

Since being diagnosed with Addison's, the doc made me very, very well aware of how important it is for me to have good sleep - as if I didn't learn that from dealing with Lyme.

Like I said, I had to come off of them to realize this, and I know that it's not the case for everyone, but it's possible if you have been using them for several months or more. It may only mean a change in meds is necessary, or it may mean that you need to come off of them.

Hey everyone,

That's the point Trav., without sleep, I can't function at all. I've tried Ambien, and all those things, and they didn't work. I've tried going without pills, trying supplements, trying different pills, titrating, and nothing worked.

I'm on Restoril, which I got from my current LLpsych., and she said that of all sleeping pills, it was the most likely to help me get in the deeper stages of sleep.

My body is so debilitated at this point, that even three days without sleep makes me feel extremely shaky. I just can't do it.

Good news though: I stopped taking any supplements before bed, and it worked last night! I had a good twelve hours of sleep with no interruptions, and even though I slept a long time (and late), I did not wake up with that groggy feeling.

I just can't do what you gals did, bc then I won't sleep at all. I've tried every possible option.

I'm glad I figured out the problem though, and thanks!

Margaret

Yes, thanks!

I agree on all counts. And that's true about the other issues. If I were to stop sleep meds now, I'd be effed!

I figure I can eventually go down on the dose, at the least.

Margaret

I know, isn't that weird! I'm only taking GABA in the morning now, if at all.

Umm, I've tried Benadryl, and I think I've tried everything out there. I can take a small amount of Benadryl for allergies during the day, and it doesn't even make me sleepy.

I need to wait until I'm better.

Margaret

I realized also that when I don't get enough sleep, or when I go to bed feeling extremely tired, I wake up groggy and unwilling to get out of bed.

I have been SO tired every evening. And then having to do the sauna and the bath puts me behind.

Margaret