Pills/methods to get DEEPER sleep? re: daytime drowsiness

[penny]

Thanks u&iraok! That's great that your husband found something that works and doesn't have side effects!
I actually have an app on my iphone that I think does something similar. It don't know if it helps much for sleep since I have to wear earphones to use it, but my husband swears by it for naps. Maybe I should see if I could hook it up to speakers...

 

[SaraM]

2 mg Creatine, 2 mg Glutamine, and 10 mg Pregnenolone for morning drowsiness (couple of people mentioned these on the forum).

Calcium, Mag, Progesterone and methylation protocol for sleep.

 

[heapsreal]

2 mg Creatine, 2 mg Glutamine, and 10 mg Pregnenolone for morning drowsiness (couple of people mentioned these on the forum).

Calcium, Mag, Progesterone and methylation protocol for sleep.

I agree with pregnenolone for 'waking' up but have had to stop lately has this sinus infection has put my BP up and i think the pregnenolone has exacerbated this, but will use it again once i get over the sinus issues.
Progesterone i also found improved sleep quality but the effects did wear off after a few weeks. After a short break from it i found it worked again, so now use it intermittently like everything else for sleep.

cheers!!

 

[livingwithcfids]

I've done a little research on this...

3 meds are known in the literature to induce a deep stage 3 sleep. (There are bound to be others) You want to look for meds that enhance "slow wave sleep" (SWS)

1. Xyrem (as an off-label treatment for CFIDS/FM very powerful and expensive, known as the "big gun" in sleep meds)
2. Gabapentin (fairly inexpensive, much less risk/side effect potential as opposed to Xyrem)
3. Gaboxadol (supposedly very hard to find, directly increases deep sleep, no doubt about it)

Well known natural approaches include:
1. Melatonin
2. Valerian Root

Also, I just bought this wake-up light from Philips (scored a great deal on Ebay, they retail for $100). It wakes you up with a light that gets more and more intense as it approaches your set time to wake up, and also plays natural bird tweets that increase in volume as well. I have yet to really use it but if it "gives me more energy and makes me less groggy" as Philips claims then I will be sure to let others know. You can see the reviews on Amazon and there is a 45 day money back guarantee. And fyi, I don't work for Philips.

The issue of sleep is particularly important in Fibromyalgia as noted by this paper in PubMed from Oct 2011
Fibromyalgia is characterized by chronic widespread pain, clinical symptoms that include cognitive and sleep disturbances, and other abnormalities such as increased sensitivity to painful stimuli, increased sensitivity to multiple sensory modalities, and altered pain modulatory mechanisms. Here we relate experimental findings of fibromyalgia symptoms to anatomical and functional brain changes. Neuroimaging studies show augmented sensory processing in pain-related areas, which, together with gray matter decreases and neurochemical abnormalities in areas related to pain modulation, supports the psychophysical evidence of altered pain perception and inhibition. Gray matter decreases in areas related to emotional decision making and working memory suggest that cognitive disturbances could be related to brain alterations. Altered levels of neurotransmitters involved in sleep regulation link disordered sleep to neurochemical abnormalities. Thus, current evidence supports the view that at least some fibromyalgia symptoms are associated with brain dysfunctions or alterations, giving the long-held "it is all in your head" view of the disorder a new meaning.

Links:
http://www.amazon.com/Philips-Hf347...4RIC/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1322968305&sr=8-1
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2824211/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slow-wave_sleep
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12460250
http://www.nutritionreview.org/library/sleeprestoration.php

 

[SaraM]

Heaps, as you said in another thread, saline spray does not work well for sinusitis. Rinsing with neti pot is much more effective. Carbs and dairy free diet also helps a lot if it is not bacterial. Last CT scan showed a cyst, and my septum is deviated,too.

 

[perchance dreamer]

Gaboxadol

Gaboxadol was cancelled before it went to market, so it's not an option.

 

[Calathea]

I ended up writing an entire website about what I use for sleep, which you can see here. Short version: darkness therapy is the main thing, a few general sleep hygiene things, dawn simulation helps get me up in the morning (though I'd advise against the Philips model, it uses fluorescent light and too many people with ME can't tolerate that), very rarely 20mg temazepam for exceptionally bad nights, sometimes the odd bit of valerian, and right now I'm on gabapentin whcih seems to be improving my sleep quality.

 

[CAcfs]

the comment about ecklonia cava interested me, because i searched Pall Protocol today and this old thread of mine came up.....certain things in that protocol have helped me in past, interesting that someone mentioned it with sleep (I think it was on page 1 here?) I posted not too long ago that Minocycline normalized my sleep cycle, and i saw Dr. Pall mentioned it here: http://chronicfatigue.about.com/gi/...t=1&bts=1&zu=http://sprident.com/martin-pall/

I have also heard one person say DMG for better mornings. And that's in Pall's protocol.

The suggestions about GABA were good, recently a doctor told me it fixes the CFS'ers tendency to go in and out of parasympathetic activity at night???? Which i do, shown in a heart monitor test (24 hr), but he said "all with CFS do"

Also, Valerian I've read does help with deeper sleep, just in reviews online, no data i know of to back it up, but haven't looked.

 

[helios]

I would like to try Xyrem, but have not pushed for it, I get the feeling it is not that easy to get. Its also sold at rip off price due to BS monopoly.
For me, things that have helped have been:
Melatonin (6 mgs)
Baclofen (20 mgs)
Lyrica (1/2 cap)
Hypnodorm (1/4 tab) though the sleep was deep it was not really refreshing.
Zolpidem (1/2 tab)
Surmontil (pin head amount)
Remoron or something like that. An anti anxiety drug,..though I fell asleep easy it was not really refreshing.
Valerian
Hops
Vitamin P-5-P
Trytophan - i used to find helped but not so much anymore
Ca + Mg
The non drug supplements will take time to have an effect. I also use eye patch to totally block light and sometimes relaxation/hyno/audio book music. Sometimes I have come home from work totally bone tired and have fallen asleep on the sofa or floor at 7 and not woken up till 7 the next morning. These 'sleep like a baby' sleeps are the best, but it is hard to get consistently. I sleep the best in winter + autumn and the worst in spring + summer. I also find early to bed and early to rise helps, but I have a hard time getting into the groove.