Whoa, thank you everyone! So sorry I haven't responded sooner. Lack of sleep has me devastated lately. After all this time of "bad" sleep, suddenly it is exponentially worse every night until I only had 3 tossy turny hours last night. I need help.
SickOfSickness, I honestly have tried every possible intervention that is not a Rx. I have never had trouble falling asleep, just staying asleep. My brain is constantly in an awake state, even if I think I'm sleeping (I wear a Zeo headband, of you know what that is).
Sushi, I have started to wonder if there are good doctors out there.
But, I have seen multiple sleep doctors as well as countless doctors for my ME/CFS. I have sleep apnea, but the mask keeps me UP ALL NIGHT. Without the mask, my throat closing keeps me up all night. One doctor recommended Ambien, another said, No way ~ not for you. Another doctor recommended Cymbalta, another doctor said, Not for sleep and you're not depressed. Another doctor recommended Amitriptyline... I'm just confused, terrified of long-term psychotropic drugs, but have reached a point of sleep deprivation that is making me panic. AND, the more my symptoms get worse, the more depressed I get, so now I think maybe an antidepressant is the way to go. But only if it helps sleep!
Robertpcs, the list pf my supplements is very long. Let me know if you want to hear it.
For sleep specifically, I am taking magnesium, melatonin, phosphorylated serine, plus drinking tart cherry juice. I have also tried valerian.
Wastwater, I do take 4000iu of vitamin D a day (even though my levels are normal). I never knew it helped sleep, good to know.
Lotus97, thank you for the advice. Both trazodone and Amitriptyline scare me, but I think it might be time to try. I have this odd occurrence at night: the room is black, but, when I close my eyes, I see lights, colours, moving lines. Basically, if I open my eyes, it is darker than if I close my eyes and I keep thinking there has to be something off in my brain to cause this...
Ema, Flexeril is interesting. I haven't thought of that for sleep... How low can you go, dose-wise? I am the type that gets drunk on a barman's fart, if you know what I mean. Everything makes me feel weird!
Dreambirdie, I am so sorry you experienced all of that, but thank you for sharing ~ my body is exactly the same way! I feel ridiculous telling people how vicoden gave me migraines and half a norco, even though it's the same drugs, caused such severe respiratory depression that I very nearly went to the ER. 4mg of codeine made me high as a kite and then caused the I-can't-breathe thing again. The thing that has me considering antidepressants now after all this time is the bad sleep, but also the depression that has crept in... I feel like if I could get some space from the grief, I would have some hope for recovery. No hope is a killer.
arx, thank you for the tip ~ very interesting about not being as sensitive when off the supplements. Benzos, eh? Ok... they scare me, too. I refuse to try Ambien and I've been on melatonin all year, so I will let you know which I go for...
Tatt, thanks for taking the time to write all that! Very interesting about reflux. I never considered it. I have a wedge pillow. Maybe I will try sleeping on that for a few nights and see what happens. I will check out those links, too. What is NAC? Oh, I can google it. Helicobacter pylori is nothing I ever considered either! I definitely take a lot of epsom salt baths, at least I have one thing down.
Adreno, thank you for the advice ~ I do take 400mg of mag glycinate a day.
Ok, sorry this is so long, but I really wanted to respond to each of you since you took the time to respond to me. Thank you thank you!!