OK this not sleeping thing has got to stop

by Lady Lee 58 Replies latest jw friends

• 

  wednesday

  Glad u got some sleep. yes codeine is a miricle I take vicodin and soma as needed, mostly at night when i need to sleep. I have tried everything, including neurontin, and it did not work for me ( i got paralysis form it.). However, my mom had diabetic neuropathy, and she was on a large dose of it and it did help her pain. It has side effects, it can make u drugged out worse than any codeine or vicodin ever would. that is the problem with most anything that relieves pain, there is always some side effects.but if the neurontin works, that is wonderful. No it is not addictive, but if u get on it , do not stop it abruptly. U have to taper off. Really, any heavy duty drug u take, generally u must taper off of it. It is not just narcotics. The anticonvulsants are being used a lot for pain control and for the bipolar person. But they have some nasty side effects and cannot be stopped abruptly.

  I assume u have tried melatonin for sleep? But like i said, until u get the pain under control, the only thing that will help u sleep is probably a hammer.
• 

  patio34

  Hi Lady Lee,

  I use presently Ativan and Benedryl at different times. These are some other things I've found that greatly disturb my sleep:

  • Eating protein at dinner (strictly carbs, such as rice, oatmeal, vegs,etc.). I eat protein breakfast and lunch along with low-carb vegetables for energy. Complex carbs are sleep-inducing.
  • Any caffeine at all any time. I do have decaf coffee in the mornings and early afternoon, but not later (it is only 97% decaf)
  • Chocolate in any amount after early afternoon
  • Taking .5 mg of Ativan usually works. I take it every night.

  But I don't have chronic pain to deal with. So, I don't know if any of the above would help. I found this site last night after chatting with you (insomnia too--20 years off and on).

  http://remedyfind.com/sym.asp?id=19

  Become a part of the Remedyfind community,
  rate the remedies you have tried for Sleep Disorders.
  To rate a remedy or to read its ratings, just click on its name.

  Top 10 Remedies for Sleep Disorders

  Remedy Name Weighted Rating (0 = poorest; 10 = best) Num. of Ratings RATE IT!

  Klonopin etc. (Clonazepam) 7.7 (69)RATE IT! Imovane etc. (Zopiclone) 7.5 (47)RATE IT! Ativan etc. (Lorazepam) 7.5 (25)RATE IT! Ambien (Zolpidem) 7.4 (243)RATE IT! Restoril etc. (Temazepam) 7.2 (44)RATE IT! Benadryl etc. (Diphenhydramine) 7.1 (56)RATE IT! Melatonin 6.9 (56)RATE IT! Desyrel etc. (Trazodone) 6.9 (71)RATE IT! Remeron etc. (Mirtazapine) 6.6 (35)RATE IT! Sonata (Zaleplon) 5.3 (64)

  All Remedies (click to see a list of all the remedies for this Health Condition / Symptom)

  Warning!

  http://vm.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/addskava.html

  My sympathies to you and Blondie. Insomnia is a strange malady that makes you think sleep is something magical only other people get!

  Pat
• 

  patio34

  Golly, I don't know what happened to the formatting of my post. It may straighten out over a few minutes.

  Sorry.
• 

  Lady Lee

  Thanks for the info Pat

  Sometimes when there are columns embedded into the original page it will come out like that. Not to worry I can still get the message.

  Since I am fairly new at this whole pain and sleep problem I am new at finding what works.

  I have never been able to eat and go to sleep without having a lot of dreams (not good ones either) so I try to avoid anything heavy before sleep. Although at this point I eat when I'm awake and sleep when it comes.

  As it is I was awake all night - slept from 4- 5 am then awke with that horrid pain crisis then back to sleep (or knocked out) at 6 and slept til 2 pm. It is 6:30 and I'm tired again.

  If I lie down now I won't sleep tonight but if I stay up I get beyond the point of sleep. grrr this is insanity. My heart goes out to those of you who have been dealing with this on the long term

  Guess I could always take another codeine pill tonight and try to get my body back on some kind of normal schedule
• 

  blacksheep

  So sorry! Not sleeping is horrible! I had postpartum depression with my second child--and ended up with a very bad case of insomnia. That exacerbated everything. One of my doctors prescribed a potent anti-depressant which had the effect of a major sleep inducer. It worked like a charm--although I felt hungover in the mornings. At least I was sleeping.

  I'd go back to the doc and see if you can get something stronger just to help you out for the short term. Not sleeping creates all sorts of other ills...
• 

  blacksheep

  By the way, the drug is called Trazadone. I cannot believe that I used to take 100 mgs on nights I couldn't sleep. Now if I have difficulty (which is rare); I take a quarter of a 50 mlg pill, and it puts me out like a light.
• 

  wednesday

  I'd take the codeine and get some sleep tonight. that at least will put u back into the corect sleeping pattern. then on phone with the doc monday.

  I even have to avoid over stimulating discussins and TV programs and readng int he PM b/c they have the potential to keep u awake.
• 

  Lady Lee

  took the codeine

  got a whopping 2 hours sleep

  called the doctor who can't see me

  on my way to the walk-in clinic

  see ya's
• 

  FlyingHighNow

  Lee, honey, I know just what you are going through with insomnia. I have it, too. I have the book Herbs For Health and Healing: A Drug Free Guide to Prevention and Cure. This is by Kathi Keville. I purchased it years ago.

  I just found an herbal alchemy shop and ordered 15 different herbal tinctures. I mixed up the Cool Out mixture first. This was on Sunday. I was having severe anxiety as was Andy. We both tried it right away. I had been at the breaking point, you know? Thinking I was going to lose my mind. Well, danged if the stuff didn't work better than any tranquilizer, for both of us and no groggy feeling. I also mixed up an insomnia formula. It helped, too. I am going to test it again tonight. I'll keep you posted. I am very impressed with the difference in potency of these herbs compared to the capsule kind you find at the local health food store.

  I have chronic insomnia. I've had it for years and years. I believe mine is mostly anxiety related.

  I am also trying Kathi's allergy formula because allergies, I figured out on my own after many years of seasonal panic attacks, cause me untold emotional and physical grief. All of which cause the insomnia to get worse.

  I'll keep you posted as I am on a quest to overcome this anxiety and insomnia.

  Love, Flyin'
• 

  acsot

  gawd almighty I'm so sorry for what you (and so many others) are going through Lee! Not sleeping is the absolute worst thing, no wonder sleep deprivation is used as a form of torture in some countries.

  Here's another suggestion: melatonin. In Canada we cannot get it over the counter but I have several bottles from a trip to the U.S. a while back. It's in the vitamin supplement sections of health food stores and many grocery stores. If you want to try it, I'll bring some for you when we meet up next month, just PM me or let Scully or Guest know.