Sleep That Isn't Sleep

[Carrigon]

Something has been triggering my fibromyalgia symptoms lately, pretty badly. I'm not sure what. But I've been getting the vivid dreams again, and now the "twilight sleep" where you feel like you really aren't sleeping and are aware of everything. Waking up with the no sleep feeling, too. I usually get this from aspartame or too much msg. I think a few things I've eaten lately might have had hidden aspartame in them. I feel awful. The muscle spasms came back, too, but the magnesium seems to help with that alittle. Does anything else work on the twilight sleep? Something natural. I hate this feeling. And I keep saying that if I could just get a good night's sleep I'd be so much better.

 

[Dreambirdie]

Sorry that your sleep has been such a chore. I struggle with sleep a lot as well, so I know how you feel.

On those rare nights when I sleep decently (about once/month) I feel SO much better. I wish I could repeat and multiply that experience, but so far I haven't been successful. Sometimes I find a supplement that actually works to help me sleep, at least for a while... (my list includes: magnesium, trace minerals, schizandra, zizyphus, holy basil, pycnogenol, progesterone cream, B vitamins, and many others)... and then the chosen miracle supplement abruptly STOPS working.

At this point I have resorted to creative fantasizing before sleep, to help me turn off my thinking mind in order to stimulate my dreaming mind. Don't know if this makes sense to you, or if it would work for you, but I have had some success with it, especially in getting myself back to sleep when I wake up too early. What I do is create a visual fantasy in my mind, something very pleasant, usually with strong scenic or sensual details, and then focus all my attention on it. Before long I notice a shift in my breathing, which usually signals that I am going into a deeper state of relaxation. If I can stay with that, and keep indulging my fantasy, then I will usually get back to sleep. IT's not a guarantee, but it has done the trick on many occasions.

 

[heapsreal]

hard to tell if its the horse or the cart, that is, is it sleep making your fibro worse or fibro make sleep worse, either way it puts u in a bad cycle. I would suggest to ask your doctor about baclofen, its a muscle relaxer and helps with sleep, so best to take before u go to bed and hopefully fix the horse and the cart at the same time.

cheers!!!

 

[Becky]

I completely know what you are talking about because I have the same experience. You are in a wakeful sleep. Don't know if you have been in for a sleep study. I had one and it revealed alpha/delta or alpha intrusion which is very common to people with FM. Getting a deep sleep is very difficult. I have managed to knock out the pain and do not have the trigger point pain from FM and still do not get a good night's sleep. I take a lot of medication. Nothing over the counter worked for me. Not melatonin, Valerian Root, Tylenol PM, etc., There are times I get into an awake pattern where my brain does not shut down. At times it would last a week or two. I do not let it go that far anymore.

Xyrem was great. The first restful sleep in years, but now that the FDA has denied it for FM, I cannot afford to pay for it (1,600 per month).

My current PCP has me on 50 up to 150 mg Trazadone and 100 mg tramadol at 7:30, then the same plus Lunesta (or Ambien) at 11:00. As I my brain calms, I can drop the trazadone. The first night my husband didn't sleep because he was afraid I wouldnt wake up, but I did at 3:00 then at 5:30. Finally after 3 weeks I can sleep with 5HTP and Lunesta.

It is horrible I feel your pain. The best solution is strong meds and an understanding doctor who knows sleep disorders.

 

[heapsreal]

i have read that baclofen has the same ability to induce slow wave sleep and growth hormone secreation as xyrem. My personal opinion is that on its own it has some general relaxation effects but combined with other sleep meds i have found greatly increases the effectiveness of sleep meds and i wake finding i have had good deep restful sleep. I have also read that baclofen has no tolerence, in my experience tolerence does develop, so i use it irregularly. last night i took 25mg of baclofen with 2 zopiclone and had a good 8-9 hours sleep.

cheers!!!

 

[Carrigon]

I hadn't heard of baclofen. My doc gave me Donnatal. The belladonna does put me to sleep, but after a few hours, I get the racing heart from it, which is no good.

I kind of want to treat it naturally, but I haven't found anything very effective. Herbals just calm me, but they don't put me to sleep.

 

[heapsreal]

if herbals help, go for it. but i havent found anything helpful herbal wise so i gave up and crossed the line and treat it with drugs.

i would like to know if anyone who has used xyrem , has a comparison with baclofen.

i think maybe baclofen is not that common because its an old drug and cheap, not alot of profit involved in it. it is commonly used in people with ms or spinal injuries to stop muscle spasms

 

[Boule de feu]

My dreams were brutal, violent and sometimes very sexual in nature. People chasing me trying to kill me. I had also dreams where I would see rats running under my bed or spiders/scorpions going down the wall. I would sit straight in my bed with my eyes opened and start yelling until my husband would wake me up. It was very scary and I was afraid to fall asleep.

And then, I found L-tryptophan. My GP prescribed 2 x 500 mg right before bed (but I take half of it). I never had a dream after that. It makes me fall asleep, too.
So, if you are looking for something natural, this could be an option. It did work for me.

Good luck!

 

[*GG*]

I completely know what you are talking about because I have the same experience. You are in a wakeful sleep. Don't know if you have been in for a sleep study. I had one and it revealed alpha/delta or alpha intrusion which is very common to people with FM. Getting a deep sleep is very difficult. I have managed to knock out the pain and do not have the trigger point pain from FM and still do not get a good night's sleep. I take a lot of medication. Nothing over the counter worked for me. Not melatonin, Valerian Root, Tylenol PM, etc., There are times I get into an awake pattern where my brain does not shut down. At times it would last a week or two. I do not let it go that far anymore.

Xyrem was great. The first restful sleep in years, but now that the FDA has denied it for FM, I cannot afford to pay for it (1,600 per month).

My current PCP has me on 50 up to 150 mg Trazadone and 100 mg tramadol at 7:30, then the same plus Lunesta (or Ambien) at 11:00. As I my brain calms, I can drop the trazadone. The first night my husband didn't sleep because he was afraid I wouldnt wake up, but I did at 3:00 then at 5:30. Finally after 3 weeks I can sleep with 5HTP and Lunesta.

It is horrible I feel your pain. The best solution is strong meds and an understanding doctor who knows sleep disorders.

I did Trazadone for years, and it quit working, so I tried Doxepin (Did not work for me) but Mitrazapine (Remeron) works for me for about 1 year now, and I only pop 2 little pills. No need for sleep meds, like I did before with the Trazadone. I also use a CPAP now, that is about 1 year also!