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'Kenny' wrote:
I have the same problem as the original poster. I don't fall asleep. They only way I fall asleep is by taking massive amounts of OTC sleep aids.
My mind doesn't race at night. My heart does start beating really quickly when I lie down and close my eyes.
Kenny – Please consider having a sleep study done, if you haven’t already. The symptoms you are describing sounds like what could be a heart problem that is being made worse from the OTC meds you are taking.
The only thing that works for me on a consistent basis, is what I have dubbed, “Satanax” (Xanax). It silences the noise and chatter that keeps my mind racing. Ambien gave me nightmares and had me sleepwalking. Lunesta was fine, but, if you missed the peak of it working (I could tell when I had a metallic taste in my mouth), you missed the chance to sleep, and then you were stuck.
Pros with the Xanax: works perfectly, works fast, works consistently
Cons: Once you are on it, you are on it. If you happen to miss a dose or two, or run out of it, the withdrawal symptoms are a B!TCH. I would wish that kind of withdrawal on ANYONE. And it doesn't take much. If you take 0.5 mg every night for a year, and you miss 1 or 2 days, guess what? You are going to go into withdrawal within a DAY.
I've decided rather than play with multiple sleep meds, multiple teas, etc, I'll stick with Satanax. It works.
Yvonne – I know some folks in the states where Medical Marijuana is prescribed and legal and have heard great things about it working for insomnia. There are no withdrawal symptoms like there are with the benzodiazepines (Xanax, Ativan, etc), and no residual “grogginess”.
An update: I've been off the Benadryl and Lunesta since 9/19/12. Being that I am posting this at 2:16 am is not a good thing.
I've been religious about keeping the sleep diary. Was truly amazed on 9/24 I had 6 straight hours of uninterrupted sleep, YET, the wanting to nap later that day was overwhelming.
My best friend, who also happens to be a former marine, called me this morning around 10 am WAKING ME UP from a nap asking me about something. Once he realized I had been napping I got yelled at something terrible – the kind of yelling only a best friend can do. NO NAPPING!!! If only I could break that behavior!!!
So, I know what the specialist recommended is working. It would work even better if I corrected my behavior better….
To add to above: Most of the problem, according to the specialist, is rooted in poor sleep “hygiene” or behavior. Basic stuff, I know, but putting it into practice to achieve the desired result hasn't worked in the past, but I'm open and willing to trying again.
Staying up to 11 pm is extremely difficult for me. When I get home from work (around 4:30 pm or 5 pm), it's already a battle to stay out of bed. I'm used to literally anticipating and waiting until 9 pm to go to bed. He said so much of my sleep disorder is rooted in ANXIETY about sleeping. That's my ultimate undoing and biggest hurdle.
How do you get around the anxiety? The racing thoughts? The brain that won't shut off? That's my question, that's my dilemma.
Other specific instructions I was given: If I am not asleep within a half hour of lying down, I have to get up, GO IN ANOTHER ROOM and do something until I feel sleepy (ha). I am not to return to my bedroom until I am ready for sleep. I can't just lie there. This part of behavior conditioning I understand completely. I hope it works.
I'm off work (thank GOD for FMLA) for the next two weeks while we try this stuff. Hoping for results. I'll post updates with the hope it will help someone else….
First, the meds I was on before: Lunesta 3mg at night – sometimes I'd take another dose if I couldn't sleep AT ALL so I was always left short before the end of the month; Xanax 0.5 mg – then half dose at the customary 1 am mark, another half at 2:30 am; Vicodin 10/500 for the bone crushing headache at midnight; Benadryl 100 mg when it was a total no sleeper night in addition to a repeat of all the above with the HOPE of sleeping more than 2 hours at a time. Wellbutrin 200 mg twice a day.
Ambien trial: FAIL. hallucinating, sleepwalking, no sleep
Halcion: FAIL no results
Amytriptylline: FAIL. Zombie during the day, nodded off at a stop light.
NyQuil: worked for a short time, did not like the idea of an alcohol-based med every night. Voted NO.
Can't remember all the meds tried over the past 28 years. Tried all the herbal things, Valerian Root, Newt of Root, whatever…red tea, lavender tea, etc etc ad nauseum.
Specialist had me wear an Actigraphy watch and keep a sleep diary for a week. Results showed I was averaging 10 hours of sleep with consistently constant interrupted sleep. (?) Sounds like I tried to sleep a LOT but it was always choppy and interrupted. No surprise there.
His initial plan: NO Benadryl. Start weaning down Xanax or eliminate Lunesta first (I've elected to stop the Lunesta first). Can't go to bed until 11 pm and must rise at 6 am, every day including weekends. NO NAPS (having very hard time with this one), continue sleep diary for two weeks.
Eventually the plan is OFF ALL MEDS except Wellbutrin, which he said he will most likely change to something else.
That's it so far….
I was recently diagnosed with Paradoxical Insomnia. Basically, your body cannot tell when/if you sleep or not, and as a result you feel sleep deprived and fatigued constantly. The textbook definition fit me perfectly. Had I been diagnosed earlier, I most likely wouldn't have the depression and anxiety as a result. I also have to use intermittant FMLA at work so I dont lose my job.
I describe it this way: picture standing across the street looking at a house with many rooms with windows. At night, you can see lights in each room turning off, except for one tiny room in the uppermost corner and floor of the house. All the rooms are dark except for this ONE room. If you look closely, there is someone in that room filing papers….just constantly filing papers. There is no reason for the paper filing, and there is no reason why it has to go on without ceasing. So this paper filing dude does not stop! Sometimes, he gets so frantic with the filing you can see papers flying everywhere with no actual filing being done – just frantic shuffling and throwing of the papers for absolutely no reason whatsoever.
That is my head every single night. Constant, never ending, filing for NO apparent reason. 28 years I've had to deal with this filing dude. He won't go away or go to sleep.
