suggestions on what has worked for sleep?

[Iquitos]

@Calathea

I try to stay in the dark as much as possible once the sun goes down but if im using light I have blue blocker bulbs and a 100% blue light filter on my computer.

@bluestream

The only herb that has any effect for me is Theanine and even then it's very slight. Lately I have been combining Theanine, Prazosin, NyQuill and doxepin and STILL struggle to get a few good hours of sleep. Its crazy.

@Iquitos

I used medical marijuana for a little while with adrenal fatigue and it helped but after a horrible incident with ativan I can no longer smoke it. Anxiety gets way too high and it makes me paranoid. Plus since the ME I'm so badly dissociated that it only makes me more dissociated

That would be the THC making you paranoid and dissassociated. There are varieties with less THC and more of the other cannabinoids like CBD. I don't smoke mine. I make an herbal tincture using grain alcohol and water, from the varieties I can find with the least THC. They still have more THC than I would like and I will be growing my own from a variety with less THC and more of the other cannabinoids. The THC doesn't make me paranoid or anxious but it does make me dizzy for an hour or two after I take it and I'm already suffering from ataxia so I only do mmj right before bed. I also supplement my tincture with CBD drops, which have no THC, that I get from Amazon. Probably one reason this helps me with sleep is that it helps with pain, which was making sleep impossible for me.

 

[soxfan]

I took Kavinace for a couple years. It helped with sleep and to calm me down. I also am wired at bedtime...not anxiety but my insides feel hyperactive. It isn't my mind either...just physically wired inside. I was on sleeping pills (ambien and then lunesta) for 7 years and even though I slept it gave me a horrible quality sleep. I didn't realize it at the time but after quitting them in 2012 I realize how horribly they affected me all day long.

I unfortunately have to take .025 mg of Klonopin in order to fall asleep. It is enough to calm my insides down long enough for me to fall asleep. I do wake during the night but go back to sleep sometime within 10 min or up to an hour. But I feel so much better during the day since quitting the RX sleep aids.

Try the Kavinace...it is made by neuroscience. I only had to take one and sometimes two but I would take them a couple hours before actually getting into bed.

The Nyquill could definitely make you feel wired as it has the same ingredients as Benadryl. It also doesn't give a quality sleep...as least that is what my sleep specialist told me.

 

[Gingergrrl]

At present, Ativan and Melatonin work for me for sleep but tonight they are not working and I am wondering if it is b/c of a different new medication that I tried today. I know you said you can't take benzos so my response is not very helpful. I take a sublingual melatonin and the combination normally work for me but I have had to change sleep meds many times. Good luck in your search for the right ones.

 

[perchance dreamer]

I find 3000 MG of glycine helpful. I take the Life Extension brand, available at Amazon and iHerb.

 

[Tired of being sick]

I've had various sleep issues for years. One thing that made a difference was the tricyclic antidepressant Elavil (generic name Amitriptyline). It is used for pain and sleep at much lower doses than for depression. The lowest dose tablet is 10mg. I cut it in quarters and took 2.5mg two or three hours prior to my desired bedtime. It worked immediately.

Unfortunately I was on it for migraines and so had to increase the dose for that reason. But I started having trouble with it and had to go off it. If you can keep it very low, just increase by 1/4 tablet every couple weeks, maybe it will help. You may experience some initial symptoms but they will pass as your body adjusts.

Currently I am taking Lyrica to try to stop neurons from sending out so many distress signals. It did not effect my sleep at all at first (I started at 25mg). I have been increasing by 25mg per week. I am now up to 200mg and am noticing that I am sleepy. Not so great during the day, but at night only it might help.

I was on twice the max dose of sedatives such as Restoril and my sleep center(in my brain) laughed at it!

I tried them all to no avail...

But now

I'm on Amitriptyline max dose of 150mg for sleep

I started with 50mg to no avail.......

Then 75mg, sleep a tiny bit better

then 100mg,sleep a little better

now 150mg,sleep is good as its gonna get,unless I had access to anesthesia or Xyrem....

Trust me the higher dose the the better your sleep...

Don't pay attention to that depression BS..

I take it 4 to 5 hours before bedtime then when it hits me like a truck and I better be near my bed,for the fact I turn into a zombie,Lol

but my pains still awaken me 2 to 5 times a night,however I am able to get right back to sleep most of the time..

I also see that you are on Lyrica which is a big no no for me

I refuse to take any medicine that has 4 paragraphs of side effects..

I will only take meds that survived the tests of time...

Have you tried Gabapentin?

This drug helps the same symptoms as Lyrica with a lot less side effects and has the test of time approval..

Now
back to the Amitriptyline
Amitriptyline is a very useful medicine that can be used for all kinds of symptoms such as:



Medical uses

Amitriptyline is used for a number of medical conditions including major depressive disorder (MDD) which is its only FDA-labelled indication.[1] This is also a TGA- and MHRA-labelled indication.[7][8] Some evidence suggests that amitriptyline may have superior efficacy compared to other antidepressants,[9] including the SSRIs,[10] although it is rarely used as a first-line antidepressant nowadays due to its high degree of toxicity in overdose and generally poorer tolerability than the newer antidepressants such as the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) and serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs).[7]

It is TGA-labelled for migraine prophylaxis, as it is also is in cases of neuropathic pain disorders,[7] fibromyalgia[11] and nocturnal enuresis.[7][12] Amitriptyline is a popular off-label treatment for irritable bowel syndrome.[13] Although it is most frequently reserved for severe cases of abdominal pain in patients with IBS due to the fact that it needs to be taken regularly to work and has a generally poor tolerability profile, although a firm evidence base supports its efficacy in this indication.[13] Amitriptyline can also be used as an anticholinergic drug in the treatment of early stage Parkinson disease if depression also needs to be treated.[14]

Investigational uses

• Eating disorders[2] The few randomised controlled trials investigating its efficacy in eating disorders have been discouraging.[15]
• Pseudobulbar affect. A new agent containing a combination of dextromethorphan and quinidine is currently under development for the treatment of pseudobulbar affect.[16]
• Insomnia. Due to the development of tolerance and the potential for adverse effects such as constipation, its use in the elderly for this indication is recommended against.[7]
• Urinary incontinence. An accepted use for amitriptyline in Australia is the treatment of urinary urge incontinence.[7]
• Cyclic vomiting syndrome[17][18]
• Tinnitus[19]
• Chronic cough[20]
• Preventive treatment for patients with recurring biliary dyskinesia (sphincter of Oddi dysfunction)[21]
• Attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (in addition to, or sometimes in place of ADHD stimulant drugs)[22]

 

[cigana]

High dose curcumin works for me (brand Enhansa).

 

[minkeygirl]

I take a combination of things, changing what I take every night.

Trazodone, Doxylamine and Zanaflex, Seroquel, Chlortrimetron and halcion. I mix and match so I don't get tolerance and I'm always looking for something new to add to the mix as another alternate.

I have Lyrica. It did not put me to sleep but I haven't tried it with zanaflex as a sleep sustainer. I also doxepin I'm experimenting with.

Nothing OTC alone will touch my level of insomnia.

No one takes the same combos and what works for one person will not work for another. I've tried pretty much every thing there is and this is what I'm left with that works. It took me years to get here.

@Gingergrrl43 If you take Ativan every night you are going to have problems. Once you get tolerance and want to stop it's very hard, even using water Titration. DO NOT cold turkey off the Ativan if you were thinking about it. I know what of I speak when it comes to benzos.

 

[Gingergrrl]

Gingergrrl43[/USER] If you take Ativan every night you are going to have problems. Once you get tolerance and want to stop it's very hard, even using water Titration. DO NOT cold turkey off the Ativan if you were thinking about it. I know what of I speak when it comes to benzos.

I started taking Ativan when my arm was severely injured by the antibiotic Levaquin but at very small dose 0.5 mg. I then stopped taking it for about two years with no problems. Now I only take it at night for insomnia along with Melatonin. At night I take 1 mg and for whatever reason it is currently working well for me. I have a doctor monitoring it and the only time it doesn't work is when I try a new medication like LDN (only tried it once) and now Florinef that gave me severe insomnia and overrode it. I know we are all different and different things works for different people.

 

[minkeygirl]

You're lucky because I know someone who seizured stopping it. It is easy for body to get dependent whether you are or not.

Hope you are one of the lucky ones.

 

[Gingergrrl]

I am familiar of many cases of seizures and it seems to be in people taking higher doses per day and then stopping cold turkey. I've never taken more than 1 mg in an entire day and often take other meds for insomnia. This is just my current regime.

 

[Aerose91]

You're lucky because I know someone who seizured stopping it. It is easy for body to get dependent whether you are or not.

Hope you are one of the lucky ones.

I took 2 mg/day ativan for 2 weeks and nearly died when I came off. Over 70 symptoms including psychosis and seizures. Now, 2 years later I have recovered about 50% That pill is the reason I have M.E.

 

[minkeygirl]

@Aerose91 sorry to here that. There are lots of stories like yours. Docs just don't know how bad these drugs are.

 

[Gingergrrl]

I am so sorry that happened to you as well. In my own case, the antibiotic, Levaquin, nearly killed me so I totally understand about being passionate about meds that have affected us. All meds w/potentially bad side effects should have FDA black box warnings and doctors should provide informed consent to patients which often does not happen. I've spent four years trying to warn people about Levaquin so I understand where you are coming from (even though it is a different med.)

 

[Tired of being sick]

I took 2 mg/day ativan for 2 weeks and nearly died when I came off. Over 70 symptoms including psychosis and seizures. Now, 2 years later I have recovered about 50% That pill is the reason I have M.E.

This is the very reason I choose not to be a lab rat....

Taking Any medication that has not been around for at least twenty+ years withstanding the test of time is by definition being a lab rat/guinea pig IMO...

I am on androgel and I am very weary...

But My endocrinologist says it is safer than injections for the fact the injection is a 1 month supply injected all at once..

That would be like rubbing a entire bottle of androgel on me in one application.

 

[Aerose91]

Yah I regret taking that more than anything. I was such a noob to pills so I had no idea what benzos were or did.

To each their own though, I have a friend who abused ativan- 7 pills a night for months then tapered only 1 week with zero side effects. I've heard many, many horror stories about the quinolone antibiotics, too.

 

[Gingergrrl]

Yah I regret taking that more than anything. I was such a noob to pills so I had no idea what benzos were or did. I've heard many, many horror stories about the quinolone antibiotics, too.

I totally understand your pain and if I could go back in time to March 2010, I would not have taken Levaquin which was the single worst mistake of my life and wouldn't have wrecked my body for all of the things that I have endured since. I wish there was a time machine to reverse certain decisions that we have made re: meds. Oh well...

 

[Aerose91]

I totally understand your pain and if I could go back in time to March 2010, I would not have taken Levaquin which was the single worst mistake of my life and wouldn't have wrecked my body for all of the things that I have endured since. I wish there was a time machine to reverse certain decisions that we have made re: meds. Oh well...

I agree. Crazy the damage meds can do to us but they prescribe them like candy and make marijuana illegal. (I'm not a smoker btw just using that as an example)

 

[heapsreal]

This is the very reason I choose not to be a lab rat....

Taking Any medication that has not been around for at least twenty+ years withstanding the test of time is by definition being a lab rat/guinea pig IMO...

I am on androgel and I am very weary...

But My endocrinologist says it is safer than injections for the fact the injection is a 1 month supply injected all at once..

That would be like rubbing a entire bottle of androgel on me in one application.

1 injection a month would give u massive swings in hormone levels. The gurus in this area mention injections on a weekly or sometime bi weekly dosing schedule to reduce the hormone level swings and to keep levels more stable. It seems that many who use transdermal testosterone either cant get their levels high enough or they dont absorb it well. I think the cost of the transdermals is alot more then injections.

My experience with transdermal testosterone was that it didnt work very well, i would prefer injections but in australia its hard to find a doc who will??

 

[SwanRonson]

this supplement helps me with sleep and I am one that needs a sledgehammer to put me out

@Sushi are you still taking Deep Sleep? And, is it still helping?

 

[Sushi]

@Sushi are you still taking Deep Sleep? And, is it still helping?

Yes, it helps a lot but I have to take a big dose.

Sushi