Another insomnia rant

Sympathizing. I cant imagine having to work on so little sleep. Id go completely crazy if I was trying to work on so little sleep.

I got only 3 hrs sleep last night.. if it arent something with my sleep issues going on, its something else going on...
darn being female.. had severe period cramps and ended up after dosing up on two different kinds of pain killers which didnt help and putting electric blanket full bore trying to calm the pain, ended up trying to sleep in a hot bath. Fell asleep with daylight but had to get up for a family do lunch in the city, (seeing cousin first time in 15yrs)

Tomorrow got to be up early for something to so fingers crossed I get better sleep tonight. Best luck to you heapsreal on getting more sleep too.

5150 said:

ok, so "cheers" it's the normal use. i thought it might have some unusual CFS meaning ; like, since we are so physically screwed up most of the time, it was an extra boost toward overcoming that... like a secret handshake, lol , I thought you aussies had come up with. i was making it too complicated.

Click to expand...

LOL

5150 said:

dear heapsreal,
the biggest, and most difficult thing i've heard on your thread is that you are still working at your employment on a 10 hour day. from the early days when i first became sick, it just amazes me that anybody can continue to work. it is very heroic. i can't conceive of successfully doing it.

unbelievable that with the great technology that exists in the world, humans still suffer from insomnia and we have to grind through randomly looking for a solution. Worse is the bs of not solving our disease and the political stink of it all.

wish i could help you. we are all in a really bad spot.

Click to expand...

Hi 5150, i dont really know how i get through work, i feel tired but its different to sleep deprivation pre cfs, because i cant nod off i seem to sort of keep going but my memory and other cognitive stuff is bad, my work partner today mentioned that my memory is bad as i said something to him and he didnt hear me, i couldnt repeat myself as i just could even remember what i was on about, this happens frequently when i had little sleep and especially today. I think my reactions are also slow, my whole body just runs really slow just like when your computer plays up, if that makes sense. I do take alot of sick days and bounce between job sharing and full time, so fulltime at moment as job share partner left, so hopefully soon i will be able to drop some hours. its 630pm now and even though i feel tired and havent slept since 2am, i cant nod off unless i take something. 35 hours is sort of my limit without sleep and i bounce into walls and hullucinate, more tired i get the harder it is to sleep. I cant work it out or really understand it, just the way i am.

cheers!!!

taniaaust1 said:

Sympathizing. I cant imagine having to work on so little sleep. Id go completely crazy if I was trying to work on so little sleep.

I got only 3 hrs sleep last night.. if it arent something with my sleep issues going on, its something else going on...
darn being female.. had severe period cramps and ended up after dosing up on two different kinds of pain killers which didnt help and putting electric blanket full bore trying to calm the pain, ended up trying to sleep in a hot bath. Fell asleep with daylight but had to get up for a family do lunch in the city, (seeing cousin first time in 15yrs)

Tomorrow got to be up early for something to so fingers crossed I get better sleep tonight. Best luck to you heapsreal on getting more sleep too.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
re "cheers!" and the aussies' secret handshake:
LOL

Click to expand...

Hi Tania... he he lol , thank god for some laughter here and there!

hope you are well, as can be.

Slept well last night, the 300mg lyrica with sleep meds seems to work well plus being awake for almost 24 hours. A pity lyrica is expensive but will be using it intermittently like a sleep med. I havent been on cycloferon for awhile and have been on that the last few days so maybe its kicking in, i hope. I have to work an afternoon shift today so i got a sleep in this morning, what a difference a good nights sleep makes. Now on my severity scale i can say i just have that low level crap feeling, at the moment. Im sure it will get to buggered by the end of the night, lol. Now how do i patent my severity scale, i might email it to WPI with a cheers, lol.

cheers!!!

personal message for heapsreal

Hi heapsreal, I tried to pm you but your inbox is full, you have too many messages. Bye, Alex

Insomnia has settled down, just have to try and interrupt the bad cycle somehow which i think the lyrica did. I called in sick my last day of work, just too buggered and took the lyrica with some seroquel and passed out for 11 hours, man i needed that, so now back to sleeping 5 hours, its not enough but that seems to be my usual amount now. If i could get 8 every night i reckon i would feel alot better. I reckon most meds last about 4-5 hours active in our system even though they say the half lifes are longer then that. They may help some sleep longer who have problems initiating sleep but for us that have problems initiating, sustaining and disruptive sleep, meds just wont consistently give us 8 hours sleep. I have tried the slow release ambien/stilnox and it just doesnt pack enough bunch to put me to sleep. My best method is to keep roating between different sleep meds and use lyrica sparingly and use it when the insomnia hits hard.

I have thought about getting another sleep study, but they really only look into breathing problems which was ruled out the last sleep study, all 45 mins of sleep i had. There seems to be no real treatment for insomnia other then what i use now. Sleep apnea from what i have read, they seem to have unrefreshing sleep and doze off all the time, thats not me, i just cant doze and if i can get a good 8 hours sleep i do feel alot better. xyrem wont be approved in australia for along time to come. I have added tryptophan again to my sleep meds which helps and need to order some more phosphatidylserine which helped and suppose to turn down high cortisol levels, theres a few other sleep supps but the money only go's so far.

cheers!!!

I too have major insomnia. There have been 2 meds that really have helped. Remeron which someone else mentioned. That med put me to sleep and fast but I gained 23 pounds on it. So....

The other one was Zyprexa which is similar to Seroquel. I have never been on a medicine like this. It would put me out for 9 hours. I NEVER slept like that. Problem however, was it caused me to have major depression, but not everyone is the same. Seriously, I would wake up and feel like I hadn't slept. It made me so tired. I call it "pharmaceutical anesthesia."

I wish I knew a truly good medicine for sleep. One that didn't have all of the side effects, but I don't.

Weird Things Done on Sleep Meds

5150 said:

i have a friend who's a psychiatrist. in his private practice(i'm not his patient because it could get legally complicated for him), he stays away from prescribing Ambien and Lunesta due to the reported cases of "no memory of events" that rarely happen. he calls them pseudo-benzodiazapenes because they target the GABA receptors but aren't true benzos like valium, ativan, etc

Click to expand...

This is why I cannot take sleep aids because I sleep walk and sleep drive. I have actually gotten up in the middle of the night without knowing it and gotten in my car and drove. The only reason I know this is because I wake up in the morning and notice my car in the wrong parking lot and then it all comes back to me. I also get on internet chat rooms and talk to people and don't remember this until they contact me. (This one is kind of funny. One time I got on what I think was a pagan or devil worshiping site. That was interesting. Another time it was a gay chat room for men--I'm a woman. Apparently, I like to give people my e-mail. I don't even think I would know how to do this without the meds!)

So, when I have insomnia like I do tonight, I just have to deal with it because the alternative is much worse.

I don't know why, but hot chocolate (made with skim milk) and graham crackers seems to work sometimes to put me to sleep. Maybe it is because it is comfort food, who knows. Laying to bed listening to music on my i-pod also helps. And petting the kitties relaxes me, as long as their not crawling all over me.

This disease sucks in so many ways. The mind is on but you can't think and your body feels like it has been going for weeks without any sleep at all.


I forgot one--One time I apparently contacted a Russian Bride service. My husband thought this was hillarious. You think I would have given up on the pills by then, but I was desperate. It was only after I figured out I was driving that I quit.

i think when it comes to the z-drugs its a trial and error thing, i havent had a problem other then eating if i stay up but not a problem if i go straight to bed, but i do remember eating, lol, just feel guilty in the morning, aarrgghh. My wife has also used them and hasnt had any ill effects, but i think if u use them u need someone to keep an eye on u the first few times u use them, otherwise they have been great help for me, other typical benzo's have had little effect on my ability to get to sleep, antihistamines have been stronger then most typical benzo's like temazepam.

What was the website for those russian brides, lol, just wanting to know what they do for cfs over there, he he he.

cheers!!!

heapsreal said:

i think when it comes to the z-drugs its a trial and error thing, i havent had a problem other then eating if i stay up but not a problem if i go straight to bed, but i do remember eating, lol, just feel guilty in the morning, aarrgghh. My wife has also used them and hasnt had any ill effects, but i think if u use them u need someone to keep an eye on u the first few times u use them, otherwise they have been great help for me, other typical benzo's have had little effect on my ability to get to sleep, antihistamines have been stronger then most typical benzo's like temazepam.

What was the website for those russian brides, lol, just wanting to know what they do for cfs over there, he he he.

cheers!!!

Click to expand...

I don't know. All I remember is that I got lots of offers via e-mail the next day. I wonder if I told them I had money. It made for a good laugh the next day I guess. I was pretty embarassed at first. You would think my husband would be more concerned, though.

Mya Symons said:

I don't know. All I remember is that I got lots of offers via e-mail the next day. I wonder if I told them I had money. It made for a good laugh the next day I guess. I was pretty embarassed at first. You would think my husband would be more concerned, though.

Click to expand...

your husband must be a good sleeper then, so cant rely on him to keep an eye on you if u go for a walk in your sleep.

cheers!!!

I can't handle any of the sleep meds, AND I've never had insomnia as badly as you. But I went on a downslide recently where normal was taking 2 hours to get to sleep, and waking every 2 hours, for an average of 5-6 hours of sleep a night.

I put heavy towels over my windows and started taking Jarrow 5HTP at bedtime. I had tried NOW brand in the past, with no effect at all. I'm taking 300mg at bedtime and 100mg at another time during the day (I can't remember why splitting it this way is recommended). This is day 12, and the effect is definitely cumulative. At the moment I'm getting to sleep in about a half hour, and waking once or twice (quick back to sleep).

Sleep disturbance has always been one of my biggest problem. My doctor suggested I try something called an Alpha-Stim and I began using it in April. It has been like a miracle for me and my sleep has improved at least by 85%. It has helped with insomnia and staying asleep and I guess since I'm sleeping and my body is able to repair itself, I have not had the flu-like fatigue that I had so often. Check out their website. I was able to do a lease/purchase to see if it actually worked for me and it's really been a tremendous help.

One of the causes of insomnia and that 'wired but tired' feeling can be excess ammonia production (which I guess can be a result of several different things), but if you want a drug free option, you might consider trying the amino acid ORNITHINE.

It has helped me recently, and lowers ammonia at the same time. A google search will turn up a lot of information.

d.

ok went to sleep about 11pm and woke at 2am. now 3 hours isnt enough to function on at work especially starting at 8am. its 647am and thinking of calling in sick, i dont think i will last the day. did i say thinking of calling in sick? now i can hear my bed calling me, i wish i did that 6 bloomin hours ago!

Now officially sick. Head feels like a busted watermelon. I still dont even know if i can fall asleep today, which could be a good thing or a bad thing as if i do sleep tonight i probably wont want to get up in the morning and feel like crap, theres always a dam sleep debt, just like credit card that never gets payed off, a high interest one.

hi to all-
insomnia sucks!!!!! mine was terrible for years and years. i tried so many things. nowadays i am lucky as it has improved alot- why? who knows? everynight i take ambien, xanax, spray on magnesium oil, and take a supplement with melatonin, theanine and 5htp (called tranquil sleep by natural factors).

i have had plenty of wierd ambien experiences. not as funny as mya's though. wow mya those stories are too funny!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! heck the worst i have done was i started hip hop dancing in my bedroom one night. that was kinda funny when i remembered it the next day.

the sleep meds work best on an empty stomach. and also, when i have to take my asthma inhalers, they increase the effects of ambien. i have no idea why- but it happens every time. maybe some of you could try the asthma inhalers at night (with doctors ok). NOT albuter inhalers or advair- as both can keep you jittery and awake- it would have to be the corticosteroid kind - like asmanex or similar.

bigmama2

mya great stories thanks for the giggles.
I've been on the same sleep meds for about 20 years.Restoril.I've tried others but very few of them helped or I woke up with pill hangover. This certainly won't be for everyone but now I take 1 toke of pot along with 30mgs of Restoril and I sleep for 8 hours.
I can't function without that many hours.
Hope you find what works for you.

A single solution doesn't work for me. So here's what I do. I alternate Lunesta and Restoril two days each. On top of this I take 12mg time release melatonin every night. With this combination I only wake up a few times a night. If I don't combine, I have shattered sleep throughout the night.

Lately I've been having more trouble falling asleep, and I often have to get up for an hour or so to get into a "ready to sleep" state. This is even with the pills. But I found some help for this. If I drink Sleepytime Herbal Tea about a half hour before bed it seems to relax me bit, and this helps with the falling asleep part.

BTW, I also blocked my windows to keep light out at night.