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