Sleepless nights

Hi all....this is probably my first time posting on here. Anyways..for the past month I've had trouble falling, staying asleep and have had two nights...eg last night, where I didn't sleep at all. I don't know if its anxiety acting up again or straight insomnia. I've had anxiety for years and managed to avoid medication unless absolutely necessary. However with the sleeplessness I've had to take pills almost every night. Any suggestions on how to relieve this problem will be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Sometimes I will be up all night also. Sometimes because of pain and sometimes because my brain just will not shut off. I talk to my dr and take what is prescribed to me to help the situation. I sleep better with my drs help so I suggest getting some help. As we age we all need help. It doesn't mean you are weak, it just means you are human.

God bless you all

I've found the Melatonin works, also.

It's sold at health food stores, drug stores, groceries in health section, maybe.

I take 4 of the 1 mg., an hour before bedtime, so it has some time to take effect. Some people take it 2 or more hours before bedtime.

Now I also have medicine for my bipolar (Lithium for mania and Mirtazapine antidepressant) so just taking 4 Melatonin at bedtime wouldn't put me to sleep if I didn't have the other meds.

An hour later, at bedtime, I take a 5th Melatonin. If I go to bed at midnight and I wake up at about 4 or 5 a.m. and it looks like I'm not going back to sleep, I can take a 6th Melatonin.

My psychiatrist says none of the health foods have been tested, like medicine has, and she doesn't like them. But I don't like taking sleeping pills, so a health food pill sounds better to me.

I buy the 1 mg. size so I can alter how many I take.

I find a heating pad can also help me go to sleep.

Lorasplora:

You mentioned your general practitioner suggested taking Paxil and Lexotan.

By typing in Paxil in the search engine, one of the sites said that it is used for depression and anxiety.

When I typed in Lexotan, myvmc.com said that this was a benzodiazepine.

It then noted, "In general, benzodiazepines such as Lexotan should be taken for short periods only (2 to 4 weeks, for example)."

"Continuous long-term use is not recommended unless advised by your doctor."

"This medicine may be addictive."

Well, you know, like you did go to a general practitioner. Is there anyway you can go to a psychiatrist?

For one thing, your difficulty sleeping may not be the main problem.

It may be a sign of a mental illness. In my case, it's not so much that I have trouble sleeping, it's that I have bipolar and I have trouble sleeping. To treat the symptom doesn't treat the main problem, it covers it up.

If you get the wrong diagnosis, such as can't sleep, you get the wrong medicine. First, they have to diagnosis what is the underlying problem. And then give you the right medicine for that.

If you go to a psychiatrist, he or she will first want to try to determine if you have an overall mental condition like anxiety or depression.

Then they can first give you an anti-depressant or anti-anxiety medicine, then maybe give you something for sleep, or like me, you could perhaps even take something like Melatonin from the health food store for a portion of the sleep problem.

You said in your latest post, that Melatonin didn't work for you. I said in my reply that Melatonin wouldn't work for me, either, if I wasn't taking something for my bipolar (Lithium) and for my depression (Mirtazapine).

So this indicates you have something more than just a sleep problem, for the Melatonin by itself didn't help you with sleep.

As the net said, the benzodiazepines are for the short term. You need something for the long term.

Again, can you look up "psychiatrist for your hometown" on your computer, or "mental health or psychiatric clinic for your hometown", which would have a sliding scale all the way down to zero? And set up an appointment?

You think you can do that?




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