Can only sleep at 7 am

[Mary]

I've been dealing with horrific insomnia since doing a taper from low-dose but long-term lorazepam, so am trying everything I can get my hands on.

Sympathise deeply re: lorazepam as I went through the same but this policy is a mistake. Need to live through it and let your body sort itself out. I came off valium too ( yep. both at the same time) and it took my body 15 years to shed the damage it had caused. Wearisome I know but we do have deep self healing resources within us. Replacing one substance with another is .. Tempting but....

I'm not taking new drugs, rather various supplements and homeopathic remedies. ME/CFS seems to screw up almost everyone's sleep who has it, and these sleep problems are not self-healing. Our bodies are not healing from ME/CFS (I've been sick for 19 years after a long slow decline) I have to take a lot of supplements to have the level of functioning that I do and if I stopped them, I'd go downhill pretty quickly. So I don't believe my sleep would just eventually get better if I stopped my supplements. It wasn't good before I started the lorazepam (which is why I started it to begin with) but I really wish I had known back then about various things like niacin and inositol which might have made a big difference.

I think it would be helpful if I could exercise, but I can't due to PEM.

I am very curious to see if the glutathione will help, also am trying diatomaceous earth, no stone left unturned! (no pun intended! )

 

[Mary]

@Shoshana - wow, that's rough, 2 hours - I've been there ...

Here's something you might want to try - it involves lying down with your legs elevated to rebalance the autonomic nervous system - it's amazingly relaxing, and is one of the things I'm adding to my repertoire. The first link describes it, and the second link is an article about Stephen Stiteler, a naturopath/OMD who shows how to do it:
https://www.healthrising.org/forums...nce-autonomic-nervous-system-in-14-days.4332/
http://www.lasplash.com/publish/Hawaii_Health_and_Beauty_Review/dr-stephen-stiteler-naturpath.php

A big thanks to @Wayne who first provided me with this info. I actually went to see Dr. Stiteler last week and am trying a couple of homeopathic remedies plus this "exercise" (position really) plus self-administered magnetic acupuncture which is described in the article.

 

[Shoshana]

Thank you @Mary
I will check that out. I love trying things like that. I have tried numerous non-med sleep aides. Sometimes they work partially or for a time, and any improvement or break in this present pattern would be welcome for me.

I remember doing self-reichi techniques and other relaxation practices, which helped somewhat , for some time periods.
Glutathione also seems like a relatively safe and quite promising , at least worth a try, from info I have seen. Let us know how you do with it, please.

 

[Shoshana]

@Mary , and others, I did try glutathione, years ago, without noticeable effect of any kind, but that was, I am certain, a different form altogether, from the type you are trying, and who knows the quality or not, of that one I tried, or if any was bio-available. I knew little at that time, but had read a bit.

 

[Alvin2]

How come the person who started the thread never came back?

 

[sharks]

How come the person who started the thread never came back?

I'm right here. I don't have anything else to add. I don't know what to reply to some of these replies.

 

[Alvin2]

I'm right here.

Good to know

I don't have anything else to ad. I don't know what to reply to some of these replies.

What are your thoughts, do any of the ideas make sense to you, interested in trying any of them, are there any additional details that our replies bring to mind?

 

[Shoshana]

I'm right here. I don't have anything else to ad. I don't know what to reply to some of these replies.

Very good to know and to see you are here, @sharks

Sorry that some of our replies (or all of them) were too confusing and maybe our interactions with each other, went too far off your intended topic. Or just too confusing.

We are thinking of you. Give us another try, if you want to. We do care about you. I am glad you answered, and said you are here. It is ok , tht you didn't know what to add or reply.
Still thinking of you.

 

[sharks]

Very good to know and to see you are here, @sharks

Sorry that some of our replies (or all of them) were too confusing and maybe our interactions with each other, went too far off your intended topic. Or just too confusing.

We are thinking of you. Give us another try, if you want to. We do care about you. I am glad you answered, and said you are here. It is ok , tht you didn't know what to add or reply.
Still thinking of you.

I mean I was just on the side here letting people speak. I just didn't know how I could contribute and that's ok.

 

[sharks]

This can be a very, very difficult problem. I hope the things you are currently trying, will help you, Mary.

Yes, we need to be careful about which things we try, yet sometimes we each, do decide on trying something.

Keep us posted, Mary. And thanks for the sharing.
All the different sleep ideas are helpful for me to hear about and consider. We each make decisions best for our own situations and selves
.
Best wishes to you as well, Marigold. I am glad your decisions work for you. They overlap with some of mine. I am very choosy about trying anything. Glad you have found ways of coping that are best for you, Marigold. Glad you got off of valium.

Dealing with only 2 hours of sleep so far, tonight, myself. Didn't get enough last night either, and was unable to nap today. Very difficult for me. Made my day harder. We each have our challenges, and our differing and overlapping, ways of coping.

Thinking of you, @sharks
Did you find any ideas for you to try for yourself?

Not really. I am upping my calcium intake and a blood test came back low iron... which I thought made you tired. So I am trying that at the moment.

 

[sharks]

Good to know

What are your thoughts, do any of the ideas make sense to you, interested in trying any of them, are there any additional details that our replies bring to mind?

Honestly no. I am going to try acupuncture. But some things people suggested are just not for me. Some one posted they take codine. I am not interested in opioids to sleep. I understand that others and myself are desprate for sleep. But I am uncomfortable just buying whatever off the internet.

 

[A zombie]

It's just a regular ME/CFS symptom. Since I've gotten severe and can't get out of bed I don't fight it any more. None of the supplements and sleep hygiene tricks helped, and I feel like drugging myself with sleeping pills does more harm than good.

The best thing I did for myself was stop being upset by it and letting it make me anxious.

no its not its a sign your body is messed up, mostly cortisol is off plus many other things that Me causes, like infections, or lyme disease, but by no means should you lay done with these symptoms and say its normal or regular. Dig deeper and you will find the answers.

 

[A zombie]

Honestly no. I am going to try acupuncture. But some things people suggested are just not for me. Some one posted they take codine. I am not interested in opioids to sleep. I understand that others and myself are desprate for sleep. But I am uncomfortable just buying whatever off the internet.

test your adrenals before you do anything else, find a naturopath to do it correctly, your cortisol is off.. like many of us with chronic illness

 

[sharks]

test your adrenals before you do anything else, find a naturopath to do it correctly, your cortisol is off.. like many of us with chronic illness

I have been Lyme tested twice. My numbers were very low, but I was treated for it. I have had my cortisol tested and the numbers are good. Also I am not interested in naturopathy.

 

[sharks]

why do you keep testing for lyme? were you bit by a tick, if you were i can almost guarantee you have lyme.. ,most ppl on this board do and dont know....if you're serious about answers ,which you should be, pls test through igenx. this is the one lab you will get your answer from. i dont even know what low numbers mean, this sounds like something an ignorant main stream dr would say ... I'm sick to death this illness , sick to death of all the misdiagnoses , sick to death of the ignorant dr.... having low numbers means nothing...heres the thing the sicker we are the less antibodies we will show... and plus lyme doesn't produce antibsdies cash your bodies are so immune compromised... these A-hole tests are looking for antibodies... so the low number BS sounds like, well BS. please read the article to understand more, it explains more eloquently what i just said...http://truthbetoldx81.blogspot.ca/2017/06/biggest-medical-fraud-in-history-of.html?m=1

I didn't know I had Lyme. I never saw a tick or a tick bite. You've lost me. No doctor that goes through 7 years of medical school is ignorant. They may not be right 100% of the time, but they are not ignorant. I am sorry things have not worked out for you.

 

[A zombie]

I didn't know I had Lyme. I never saw a tick or a tick bite. You've lost me. No doctor that goes through 7 years of medical school is ignorant. They may not be right 100% of the time, but they are not ignorant. I am sorry things have not worked out for you.

oh we will have to agree to disagree. Sorry. Gold luck!

 

[Mel9]

I didn't know I had Lyme. I never saw a tick or a tick bite. You've lost me. No doctor that goes through 7 years of medical school is ignorant. They may not be right 100% of the time, but they are not ignorant. I am sorry things have not worked out for you.

I was found to be positive for Borrelia too. I had been sick for years and, like you, unable to sleep. To get rid of this i have been on antibiotics plus Biofilm Defence for over a year
I now can sleep.

 

[Shoshana]

@Mel9
What type of test from what type of doctor tests for that, if you could tellme?

And which fluid do they test, or what type test?
Thank you.

 

[Mel9]

@Mel9
What type of test from what type of doctor tests for that, if you could tellme?

And which fluid do they test, or what type test?
Thank you.

First, through my GP, a blood test sent to Australian Biologics,Sydney, and later verified at the Ricketsia Reference Laboratory, Geelong.

 

[A zombie]

@Mel9
What type of test from what type of doctor tests for that, if you could tellme?

And which fluid do they test, or what type test?
Thank you.

for lyme, you need to use igenex if you're in the US Quest and lab corp are crap , you certainly can start with these labs but if its negative please understand these testes are bogus and not reliable at all... also you need a dr who understands lyme .ETS i see you're australian, serif igenx is a lab they use there, joint a local lyme group and ask tons of questions on what test to use wt.