Help cannot sleep on Prednisone

Yes, I know all about this. There isn't a whole lot you can do unfortunately. When you get below 20mg, it does get easier to sleep. Just make sure you take the pred first thing in the morning. And avoid sugary/caffeine drinks in the evenings.

I'm sorry to say that I can't add anything except my sympathy. Pred affects most of us this way. And since it also tends to make us irritable, it becomes a vicious cycle as the sleep deprivation makes us even more cranky. Try to lie down and rest even if you can't sleep. And if you can't lie down, then just get up and do something you find relaxing. Worrying about not sleeping only makes it harder to sleep.

I'm in the same boat right now too. I'm on 40 mgs prednisone and doing a 5mg taper every 2 weeks. I am also usually wide awake around 3 am. I've tried Ambien too, but it doesn't help me sleep through the night. My GI recommended half a pill of Benadryl to sleep, but I haven't tried that yet. What I generally do right now, is just get up at 3 rather then stay in bed WIDE awake and get frustrated that I'm not sleeping. I get up and get on the computer, read, or watch a little TV. Usually doing something like this takes my mind off the fact that I'm awake and I relax and in an hour or two get sleepy and go back to sleep. The problem is then I have to get up a few hours later and go to work. You would think I would be exhausted, but then I take my morning dose of prednisone and it revs my system back up for the morning. I do start dragging late afternoon. By the time I get home from work, I eat a little dinner and lay down early. I usually fall asleep by 8 - 9 pm. It's a horrible cycle right now. Sleep 8/9 pm to 3 am. Back to sleep 5 am - 6:30 am. Work. Etc... but, rather than fighting the cycle I figure I will sleep in little chunks here and there and wait it out until I get on a lower dose of prednisone. And if you are tired and can rest in the middle of the day, then by all means do. Hang in there, it will get better.

Sleep issues are one the few side effects I get when on pred, I agree with the poster who said to take it first thing in the morning. I avoid caffenine anyway because it bothers me.

Try booze.

When I was on Pred I had no problem falling asleep at night . . . the problem was that every morning I was up at 3:30 am like clockwork - it was HORRIBLE. Like others said, I do feel your pain! Ride with it for now and know that it is something you simply cannot control.

For me, after I was off the stuff, I couldn't STOP sleeping for about five months (I had been on the pd for about 5 months with taper and all)! Even after 10+ hours a night I'd still need a nap during the day. Don't worry, your body will catch up, so use this wakefulness now to catch up on some cleaning and loose ends that you've always been too exhausted to deal with!! After the taper, you'll be too tired if you're anything like I was.

A few suggestions:

1) Yoga. Helped me alot when I had horrible insomnia and steroid jitters.
2) See if your doc will prescribe Trazodone. It helped me sleep 5-6 hour stints while on high doses of Pred. (without it I could barely sleep 3 hours)
3) Someone already mentioned this, but take your pill in the morning right when you get up.

I can't recommend accupuncture strongly enough for pred issues--including sleep, crying (over everything) and being a total jitterbug. I'm on 40 mg right now and still managing about 6-7 hours a night of sleep, which is amazing for me. I go three times a week and the night after the day I go is always the best. I also don't do anything with caf. after 3 pm. I also try not to go to bed until i'm tired and to not set an alarm as much as possible--so that if i do manage to sleep nothing interferes with it. I explained this to one of my bosses, making it clear that when i come in late I will stay late and they were really understanding. This also helped the work anxiety that would keep me up at night.

thanks again for the ideas. i really need to not make lists in my head, but rather just get up and do them! also the going to work late plan is great -- my work will be fine with that. only problem is that I have three school aged kids who start early.

Are you guys taking the Ambien CR? Controlled release is supposed to help you sleep through the night- 12.5mg Ambien CR works for me w/ 40 mg Prednisone.

My doc told me to take Benadryl to help me sleep while on prednisone.