Need advice on sleeping right through the night

[taniaaust1]

I take Melatonin, Nytol and Seriphos to help me get to sleep at night (suffer from high nightime cortisol) but I am finding that I am waking up around 1am, and then waking at least once an hour from then until 4/5am. When I take my Pregablin tablet I do tend to get a better sleep, but I have been advised to come right off that tablet due to issues I am having with blood pressure etc.

Seeing you wake up, you could try a "slow release" form of Melatonin on top of the Melatonin you already take to get to sleep. (I experimented with the different Melatonin forms but as I had huge issue getting to sleep rather then staying asleep, slow release Melatonin wasn't helpful in my case though normal kind was).
................

You could try the over the counter sleep aid doxylamine succinate .. I used to take a quarter or less (a crumb) of a 25mg tablet of it for sleep. (beware thou that one can build up a tolerance to this within weeks so it can stop working so its bet only to take a couple of times per week).

 

[Snookum96]

Have you tried a mild analgesic (Tylenol, ibuprofen) along with Trazodone? That's what my doctor first suggested -- Tylenol PM plus Trazodone. He said if you have constant low-grade pain, it can wake you if you aren't sleeping deeply. For the first few years, when I still had constant ME aches, I had to take both every night in order to sleep through. Now that I don't have constant ME aches, I don't have to take the analgesic most nights, but if I can't fall asleep, or wake a lot, or wake and can't get back to sleep, I take an analgesic in addition to the Trazodone, which I take every night.

A snack before bed helps, too.

I did try ibuprofen for a while, but as with everything else it stopped working quickly. It's strange because I'm so sensitive to a lot of things, except for these meds. Ugh!

 

[Snookum96]

@taniaaust1 Thank you for the heads up!

The last thing I need is more bladder and bowel problems. What dosage did you start on?

 

[AaroninOregon]

There are at least 3 of us at phoenix rising (all with ME meeting the international criteria) who got permanent damage from Amitriptyline.. two were left with permanent paralysed bladders and in my case it damaged my bowel as it caused my bowel to prolapse as one of its physiological affects is that it slows down bowel peristalisis (it says that on wikipedia) and I already had IBS-C with the ME.

So I warn anyone with ME to take great care with Amitriptyline (I think all of us had these things happen to us quite quickly while on it (within months).. in my case only after 2-3 weeks with a low dose trial of it for sleep.. it left me damaged and didn't even work on my sleep).

Ouch. That's awful. I knew it had bad side effects, just not THAT bad.

 

[perchance dreamer]

@SOC and @minkeygirl, both of you have mentioned the Pliva/TEVA form of Trazodone. Did the problems you had with it include it not working as well for sleep as the forms you had before?

My bottle says TEVA, too. Trazodone seemed to stop working for me in July after having taken it a year. I wonder if my pharmacy switched forms to Pliva/TEVA around then and if that could explain why it suddenly stopped working for me.

 

[minkeygirl]

@perchance dreamer The first time I took Teva was a few years ago and I had a horrible reaction. Those tablets were trapezoid shaped and a yellowish.

This time I got Pliva which I'm 99% sure uses the same "recipe" as Teva. Teva used to use Apotex which I like but when Teva bought Pliva they stopped using it. Apotex also used to be Barr. Or Barr was them.

I have not used one of the new ones I got, which is white and round marked Pliva. From all I've read they just don't work. I read a forum the other day where someone said she went into withdrawal after her pharmacy switched her to Pliva/Teva.

I have taken trazodone for years and never had a problem with tolerance although I don't really know if it was even working anymore. I've taken it for so long it was psychological. I am tapering down and will hold at 25 mgs for a few weeks then drop down. Maybe use it occasionally.

If your bottle says Teva you got crap. What do the pills say? What do they look like?

I called 4 or 5 pharmacies around here and all they had was Pliva. I do know Qualitest makes one. If the pharmacy says Major they are just a distributor and use Pliva.

is that too confusing?

http://www.drugs.com/trazodone-images.html

 

[SOC]

@SOC and @minkeygirl, both of you have mentioned the Pliva/TEVA form of Trazodone. Did the problems you had with it include it not working as well for sleep as the forms you had before?

My bottle says TEVA, too. Trazodone seemed to stop working for me in July after having taken it a year. I wonder if my pharmacy switched forms to Pliva/TEVA around then and if that could explain why it suddenly stopped working for me.

To be honest, I don't recall. The sudden, severe depression that comes with the Pliva/TEVA is so overwhelming, everything else fades from my memory. Thank goodness it only lasts as long as I take the Pliva/TEVA, which is only a day or two now that I know what's happening.

My completely unscientific theory is that the Pliva/TEVA does not have the same chemical product (although it is supposed to) so when I unintentionally switch from another generic to Pliva/TEVA it's like having a sudden withdrawal. I don't trust Pliva/TEVA at all to be giving me the right med. I wouldn't be surprised that it wouldn't work as well for sleep as other generics (or the brand). The brand Trazodone and all other generics I've had don't do this to me, but the Pliva/TEVA does immediately every single time.

 

[SOC]

I called 4 or 5 pharmacies around here and all they had was Pliva.

I had the same problem. I told my local pharmacy that I have a very bad rxn to Pliva/TEVA and can't take it, so they ordered a different generic. They said they do it all the time since people do have different rxns to different generics. It might be worth asking your preferred pharmacy for a different generic. My doc is also willing to put NO Pliva/TEVA on the prescription, which also gives the pharmacy leeway to order another generic even if it's not the one they ordinarily carry.

 

[perchance dreamer]

My Traz is round and says Pliva 434.

I asked my pharmacist about it. He said they could get Qualitest for me the next time I'm due for a refill. Apotex is not available at the moment, but that could change.

He also said he could get Major. Good to know that they use Pliva!

Thank you both so much, @SOC and @minkeygirl.

 

[minkeygirl]

@perchance dreamer majors website says they manufacture but I called them.

Also I contacted Apotex. They have no idea how long they will be out. I couldn't get a reason. A few years ago they were shut down for a few months by the fda.

One thing you could do is have your doc write an RX for a differnt stength. Then you can get it.

Where are you that you could get qualitest? No one here has it.

I asked each pharmacy for differnt generics. Whatever the wholesaler has is what they can order. Even Walmart mail order only bad Pliva.

You can have the doc write no Pliva or teva just make sure they have an option.

 

[perchance dreamer]

I live in Austin, TX, @minkeygirl.

That's a good idea about requesting a different strength of Trazodone so I don't have to wait for weeks. I hadn't thought of that.

I will ask my PA to write no Pliva or TEVA on the next prescription.

 

[minkeygirl]

Or maybe have them right qualitest or Apotex only. Apotex has a 300 mg that was easy to split. Someone might have that in stock. I'd call around and make sure thy have what you want.

Someone might read your request wrong and think it say ONLY Pliva or Teva. Experience.

 

[Tammy]

I have been on methyl/adeno B12 for about 6 weeks and it has improved my sleep. In the beginning I was taking too much.....as it made me sleep a lot during the day.(felt like a good relaxed sleep though)...........but even despite sleeping through the day.........I was still sleepy enough to sleep through the night. Adjusted dose so that I wasn't sleeping all day long. My sleep is not ideal but it is better than before the B12.