sleep quantity??

[heapsreal]

Getting enough sleep seems to be an issue for me lately. 8-9 hours sleep would be nice. last night i got 3 hours and went to work feeling like crap, i didnt think i would last the day. I had a lunkc break at 1pm and was out cold for a solid 1/2 hour, this helped me get through the day, i really needed it. So i had 3 1/2 hours sleep before tonight, so should be tired. tonight after taking my cocktail i slept from 11pm till 3am, 4 hours not good enough when i have to function later today.

My cocktail, neurontin 600mg, stilnox/ambien 10mg,seroquel 25mg, baclofen 25mg, melatonin s/r 5mg, doxylamine 25mg. sublingual melatonin 5 mg. I thought this would zong me out for a good 6hrs atleast. WTF. I just dont function well on less then 5 hours.

Seroquel general is good for sleep length, maybe it needs to go higher. ALso thinking avansa, it can give good sleep. Lately i have had success with 30mg doxepin, they allgive a hangover effect so have to take them at the right time or use for catch up sleeep.

So that about where i am at, any good tips for increase sleep quantity.

cheers!!!

 

[Seven7]

is your problem staying sleep or falling sleep?

 

[heapsreal]

is your problem staying sleep or falling sleep?

i



it can be either for me, i dont fit one category, usually several, but lately its more staying asleep

 

[Calathea]

Goodness, that's a lot of meds. Have your doctors checked that they are playing well with each other and not fighting?

I rely mainly on darkness therapy myself, it stimulates natural melatonin production. Melatonin tablets didn't do a thing for me, possibly because I was still exposed to blue/white light in the evenings so that was presumably enough to halt the melatonin production. When I came off gabapentin (neurontin) it caused terrible insomnia that went on for months, and while it's more or less gone now, it has taken an insanely long time for my sleep to go back to how it was before. So at the moment I'm on an antihistamine too, though I'm not sure how much difference it's making.

 

[heapsreal]

gabapentin i find just helps with leg pains that wake me up, does little to my sleep. I think stilnox tolerance is occurring and time to take a break from it.

cheers!!!

 

[Calathea]

Do be careful coming off sleep meds, it may be worth donig a very slow taper. I can't taken ambien at all, it makes me hallucinate and then I spend the next week feeling stoned off my head and barely safe to turn on a tap.

 

[Crux]

Hi Heapsreal ;

I'm finding the zinc to be my best sleep aid so far. It performs so many actions that could be involved with my insomnia, such as neurotransmitter function, hormones, minerals, etc.

I still have to moderate the supps. that increase energy, though. I also get the wired/tired condition. It's really hard to balance the two.

 

[SickOfSickness]

I function worse on less than 9 hours, which I usually get, thankfully. I don't get good quality so I have to do with quantity Sometimes I need 10 or more hours and get it. Sometimes I get 9 or 10 hours and it's not enough, I needed more!

 

[L'engle]

I function worse on less than 9 hours, which I usually get, thankfully. I don't get good quality so I have to do with quantity Sometimes I get and need more, or sometimes I get those hours and not enough.

Me too. And if I get less than 9 it's all downhill!

 

[hurtingallthetimet]

hello heapsreal hope you are sleeping better...i have insomnia and it is hard...will not sleep very little to none for days then from exhaustion a good night sleep is 4,5 maybe if im lucky 6 hours straight...often though have bad dreams..maybe from medications? will be groggy and foggy nod off and on all day but never any real good sleep...lay down majority of time during day also...but never feel rested.

i was on neurontin but it didnt really help...and i think it made my blood sugar go up...the generic seroquel i gained like 70 lbs on and weaning off...let me think i am on....temazapam for sleep...alomst off the seroquel and must admitt dreading if i will have side effects...i tried to get off before and had side effects from it and had to go back on....
did you gain any weight from the seroquel if you dont mind my asking? if so what did you do?

youd think with the medications we take...the amount of pain and exhuastion we go through wed at least get a good nights sleep...

take care hope you have a good nights sleep

 

[heapsreal]

I dont use the same things every night for sleep, i alternate between what i use, mostly its a benzo or z-drug with an antihistamine and neurontin. So imovane or stilnox, diphenhydramine and neurontin. My idea is that the benzo.z-drug with there short 1/2 life gets u to sleep and the antihistamine keeps one alseep, thats the plan anyway????

 

[taniaaust1]

4 hours not good enough when i have to function later today.

My cocktail, neurontin 600mg, stilnox/ambien 10mg,seroquel 25mg, baclofen 25mg, melatonin s/r 5mg, doxylamine 25mg. sublingual melatonin 5 mg. I thought this would zong me out for a good 6hrs atleast. WTF. I just dont function well on less then 5 hours.

What a nightmare for you. sending you some **hugz**

Right now Im still being lucky (melatonin only still) and my sleep hasnt gone back into the bad state it was but Im aware that I could go back to those severe sleep issues again at any time. Im still convinced that some kind of change in my brain pattern happened which then helped to instantly almost fix my sleep (maybe treating POTS played a part in things too).

Watch that doxylamine. I was finding I was gaining tollerance to it as fast as I was to the tempazepam, so take care not to take it too often so that dont happen. Im sooo glad thou that I had those sleep drugs as without them, maybe whatever fixed in my brain, wouldnt have had the same chance to fix itself. The doxy and the Tempazepam were like godsends to me. (the doxy also i think did more then just helped my sleep).

Other things which really affected my sleep were.. having the electric blanket on while trying to sleep (bad idea..I didnt realise this was disturbing my sleep till I stopped doing that). The slightest light in my room affects my sleep.. by that I mean way way wee amounts.. eg make sure you dont have a clock radio in your room or a wee display light from DVD player affecting you.

Have you tried all the things on Dr Sarah Myhills pages for sleep?