Another insomnia rant

[heapsreal]

I hate insomnia!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The last few days i have had alot of headaches etc, yesterday i got through work ok with the help of some tramadol. It 5am now, i went to sleep about 10pm and woke at 230am so 4 and a half hours sleep. I start work at 7am and finish at 5pm. My heads slightly pounding now, its going to be a long day, if i make it. I have just gotten through a headache stage last few days and now the insomnia is kicking in harder, my body just doesnt want to lose that headache feeling.

I want 8 hours deep sleep every night. Meds give me 4 hours. I have tried everything and then go through the motions again repeating old prescriptions. Most things work the first night and then dwindle away after that aaarrrgghhh
insomnia just makes cfs that much worse. i need to yell some nasty words, 'bugger bugger bum'!!!:Retro mad: lol

 

[LaurelW]

I have to split my Ambien in half and use 5 mg. at bedtime and 5 more in the middle of the night. That stuff doesn't last anywhere near as long as they claim, esp. after long-term use. If you take all 10 mg. at bedtime, it doesn't last any longer than a smaller dose. Even my non-CFS sister says this.

 

[sleepy237]

Sorry heaps I know its a pain. I had to stop lyrica and revert back to half a seroquel pill. That or Mirtazipine only two things I found useful but mirtazipine gave me next day symptoms. Hope you get some good sleep time soon. Best wishes ~Sleepy

 

[heapsreal]

if i use ambien/stilnox i need 20mg and i get 4 hours. zopiclone about 5-6 hours maybe. So i normally use something like that to initiate sleep and use an antihistamine or something similar to keep me asleep. but it aint working at the moment. I just have to ride the storm again. I just wish they would invent a pill that puts u to sleep for 8 hours and no tolerence occurs, but im dreamin there, lol.

 

[LaurelW]

I hear you! I often have to take more than what my insurance company allots me, so I have to go to Costco and claim I don't have insurance to get their $4.00 generic price. I also have to take 100 mg. Trazodone every night because the Ambien alone doesn't cut it. Exasperating, isn't it?

 

[heapsreal]

Sorry heaps I know its a pain. I had to stop lyrica and revert back to half a seroquel pill. That or Mirtazipine only two things I found useful but mirtazipine gave me next day symptoms. Hope you get some good sleep time soon. Best wishes ~Sleepy

Hi sleepy, last night i actually took 300mg lyrica and 50mg seroquel, that would normally do the trick, but?
Thanks for the wishes

 

[heapsreal]

I hear you! I often have to take more than what my insurance company allots me, so I have to go to Costco and claim I don't have insurance to get their $4.00 generic price. I also have to take 100 mg. Trazodone every night because the Ambien alone doesn't cut it. Exasperating, isn't it?

Thanks for hearing me Laurel.

 

[soxfan]

I have been on Lunesta for 6 years and 95 percent of the time it works! I might wake up a couple times but fall back to sleep pretty quickly. As good as Lunesta works for me I still ALWAYS wake up unrefreshed..so even if I sleep 6-7 hours it nevers feels like I did...

 

[5150]

hi heapsreal,

just want you to know that i am in the exact same boat as you. 4 hours is just enough to stave off going insane, but not enough to get the rest we really need to function right. i seriously don't know how you can have a job every day on that kind of sleep.

i tried the same routine as you. it's back to ambien, 10mg/night is all the VA docs will prescribe. trazadone, can't wake up the next day. doxepin, weight gain, plus hangover; remeron, major weight gain + hangover. And at least 10 more meds, i have tried them all; all that exist in the V A system.

haven't tried xyrem... no access to it. i also get it about Michael Jackson turning to propofanol (sp?), but money talks and we know what walks(no money

can you explain to me about "cheers"? i want to get aboard, but i feel less than genuine about it right now. maybe i can learn.

 

[heapsreal]

I have been on Lunesta for 6 years and 95 percent of the time it works! I might wake up a couple times but fall back to sleep pretty quickly. As good as Lunesta works for me I still ALWAYS wake up unrefreshed..so even if I sleep 6-7 hours it nevers feels like I did...

lunesta is similar to imovane/zopiclone, it has been my most consistent med. Yes always wake feeling unrefreshed but its just alot worse with insomnia. It would be nice if they approved xyrem in australia but then again theres a few people that say its not as great as they make out.

cheers!!!

 

[heapsreal]

hi heapsreal,

just want you to know that i am in the exact same boat as you. 4 hours is just enough to stave off going insane, but not enough to get the rest we really need to function right. i seriously don't know how you can have a job every day on that kind of sleep.

i tried the same routine as you. it's back to ambien, 10mg/night is all the VA docs will prescribe. trazadone, can't wake up the next day. doxepin, weight gain, plus hangover; remeron, major weight gain + hangover. And at least 10 more meds, i have tried them all; all that exist in the V A system.

haven't tried xyrem... no access to it. i also get it about Michael Jackson turning to propofanol (sp?), but money talks and we know what walks(no money

can you explain to me about "cheers"? i want to get aboard, but i feel less than genuine about it right now. maybe i can learn.

cheers, how do i explain it?? can mean thanks i suppose or a toasting chesture when having drinks or another word for good bye, aussies have alot of words with many meanings and we also make our own words up.

I have a cupboard full of the medication u mention and have used them in different ways over the years, now there hit and miss. I open the cupboard and normally look for something i havent used for awhile in the hopes it will work, which normally it does if i havent used it for awhile. doxepin was great when i first used it but your right about the weight gain especially if u use it every night but no problems if u use it once a week.

cheers!!!

 

[Nielk]

Ambien comes in the CR form which is extended released. I find that Ambien Cr 12.5 with two Tylenol PM does the trick for me. I also used to have terrible insomnia problems. It can drive one crazy.
Probably the fact that you had headaches didn't help the situation.
I wish you a lot of ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ tonight,
Nielk

 

[soxfan]

I have tried them all too..most of them caused me terrible hangovers which would last the entire next day. Even at minimal doses I had problems. I agree that having insomnia is the worse especially when you take the sleep meds and they don't work. The next day is even worse for me when that happens. It is definately better to sleep and wake up unrefreshed than lie awake all night...

 

[5150]

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.

i wonder how long we can go without sleep before it's fatal? probably different for everybody, depending on how bad the heart is, the kidneys, seizures? etc. but it feels like it could become a fatal condition. the V A pharmacy people can't seem to understand why i'm upset if my Ambien is 3 days late. they act like i'm whining when trying to explain how serious it is, when they so strictly limit 10mg/day. they treat it like it's morphine or heroin, jeez.

talk with you later. cheers!

 

[soxfan]

My insurance will only give me 15 days of Lunesta and I have to pay cash for the other 15 days...I have no choice as there would be no sleep without it.

 

[5150]

My insurance will only give me 15 days of Lunesta and I have to pay cash for the other 15 days...I have no choice as there would be no sleep without it.

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 The other popular one is Rozerem, which mimics melatonin & affects circadian rhythm. personally, melatonin has zero effect on me... i guess you are supposed to wait two weeks while the Rozerem builds up to effectiveness. meanwhile, what do you do in that two weeks? even the melatonin supplements didn't help. i finally just dropped it.

He recommended seroquel, i tried it . even in tiny doses it kicked my butt into major hangover. i guess it's used to keep the big headcases down, wow it was way too big for me. i found lunesta to be very similar to Ambien, but ambien seems to get the job done just a bit easier / stronger. so like you, i choose sleep. No Sleep is not an option for anyone as it is soon followed by craziness.

 

[5150]

I have to split my Ambien in half and use 5 mg. at bedtime and 5 more in the middle of the night. That stuff doesn't last anywhere near as long as they claim, esp. after long-term use. If you take all 10 mg. at bedtime, it doesn't last any longer than a smaller dose. Even my non-CFS sister says this.

thanks for the tip. will give that a go. that's the protocol for xyrem too; wish i had it. Ambien is feeling inadequate, even with holidays.

bugger bugger bum!

 

[soxfan]

Melatonin has no effect on me at all. I also tried rozerem and also again zero effect. The only thing that has ever worked is Lunesta..I have taken ativan occasionally but it won't knock me out. I still have to take a lunesta along with it. Sometimes I take both if the lunesta isn't working that night.

 

[5150]

I hate insomnia!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The last few days i have had alot of headaches etc, yesterday i got through work ok with the help of some tramadol. It 5am now, i went to sleep about 10pm and woke at 230am so 4 and a half hours sleep. I start work at 7am and finish at 5pm. My heads slightly pounding now, its going to be a long day, if i make it. I have just gotten through a headache stage last few days and now the insomnia is kicking in harder, my body just doesnt want to lose that headache feeling.

I want 8 hours deep sleep every night. Meds give me 4 hours. I have tried everything and then go through the motions again repeating old prescriptions. Most things work the first night and then dwindle away after that aaarrrgghhh
insomnia just makes cfs that much worse. i need to yell some nasty words, 'bugger bugger bum'!!!:Retro mad: lol

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.

 

[alex3619]

i wonder how long we can go without sleep before it's fatal? probably different for everybody, depending on how bad the heart is, the kidneys, seizures? etc. but it feels like it could become a fatal condition.

Hi 5150, sleep deprivation has been worked out for rats. After several weeks (17 days?) the immune system fails, they die of toxic shock when bacterial overgrowth in their blood gets too high. Not nice. However, even a little sleep from time to time can put zing back into the immune system ... you feel like a burnt dinner but your immune system can still tick over, kind of.

I used to have insomnia ... then it got worse. Paradoxically, worse is better. Since I do not have to fit into the world, being mostly housebound, and having insomnia move to non-24 circadian problems, I now do much better just trying to sleep when my body says sleep, not just when I am tired. You cant do that if you are working or studying, and I think it would be hard if you had a family, but I am alone and its my best option for getting enough sleep.

Bye
Alex