posted
Is there ANYONE out there who has managed to get ample sleep without meds??
I have tried everything under the sun, even hypnosis, with no luck. I have to take Seroquel and Temazapam to sleep, and even then I wake up from the pain.
When they took away the pills in the hospital I went for at least 9 nights without sleep....they finally gave in. My LLMD says that I must take the pills because sleep is so essential for healing and that makes sense. I just hate the way I feel when I wake up and it takes hours for me to get over it.
I wonder if going on to the IV's will help.
-------------------- DOCTOR: "I don't think you are sick." PATIENT: "We are all entitled to our opinions. I don't think you are a doctor." Posts: 697 | From Northern California | Registered: Jul 2009
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posted
No. I was just thinking about this last night. I don't think I'll ever sleep another night in my life without a pill. I honestly can't picture sleep without one. It's already terrible with the a pill.
Posts: 105 | From east | Registered: Nov 2008
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posted
i'm the same. Ambien for the last few years. I just try to keep the dose as low as I can so one day when I'm better it will be easier to go off.
Your priority is sleep....so i don't worry about it now
Posts: 844 | From CA | Registered: Apr 2010
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posted
Once I got better from Lyme, I weaned off the sleep meds. I still take 5HTP, but that's an all natural supplement and doesn't work the same as a sleeping pill. I can sleep fine without it for a night, but after a couple nights, I start waking up more.
I wouldn't worry about needing sleep meds while sick. Sleep is important. It's work, but you can wean off them later.
-------------------- sixgoofykids.blogspot.com Posts: 13449 | From Ohio | Registered: Feb 2007
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Catgirl
Frequent Contributor (5K+ posts)
Member # 31149
posted
I had crazy insomnia. I couldn't fall asleep or stay asleep when I did. I couldn't function at all. My doc took me off abx.
Now I take Gaba around 5:00 p.m. Then I take melatonin and a good probiotic before bed. It didn't take long before I could hit that deep sleep.
It used to be that when I woke up to go to the bathroom (every 1 to 2 hrs), I would wake up and then couldn't go back to sleep. Thankfully now, when I do hit the bathroom, I go right back to sleep.
I always took my probiotic before bed, so it must be the gaba and the melatonin and off abx that's doing it for me. I must have been B deficient too. My gaba has b-6 and inositol (sp) in it.
-------------------- --Keep an open mind about everything. Also, remember to visit ACTIVISM (we can change things together). Posts: 5418 | From earth | Registered: Mar 2011
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posted
Thanks everyone. I hate to tell you what happened when I went off Ambien...a week in hell! I threw up, shook uncontrollably, had horrible headaches and did not sleep at all. I will never take it again!! Anyone who says it is not addictive is a drug company employee or a naive doctor.
the tip about probiotics is great. I did not know to take it at bedtime.
Anyone know what the best one is? We take Florastor....very expensive.
You are right....have to take the meds while so sick. Sigh....
-------------------- DOCTOR: "I don't think you are sick." PATIENT: "We are all entitled to our opinions. I don't think you are a doctor." Posts: 697 | From Northern California | Registered: Jul 2009
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lymeinhell
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 4622
posted
Have you tried sleeping on an air mattress rather than a spring one to relieve your night time pain? A coil mattress creates pressure points on our already inflamed muscles.
I got a Sleep Number bed 8 years ago and never looked back. I still had insomnia, but was no longer in agony in the morning.
I stopped Ambien cold turkey (after using nightly for 6 mos and did not experience any side effects like you did). This was because a homeopath turned me on to essential oils, and from the very first night with them, I slept through the night. The oils broke the bad cycle I had gotten into, and trained my brain to associate the oils with sleep. I guess I was lucky - not everything works for everyone.
-------------------- Julie _ _ ___ _ _ lymeinhell
Blessed are those who expect nothing, for they shall not be disappointed. Posts: 2258 | From a better place than I was 11 yrs ago | Registered: Sep 2003
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Keebler
Honored Contributor (25K+ posts)
Member # 12673
quote:Originally posted by lymeinhell: I got a Sleep Number bed 8 years ago and never looked back. I still had insomnia, but was no longer in agony in the morning.
Not to be a party-pooper, but be sure to check your Sleep Number for mold. You have to unzip it, then look UNDER the foam around the bladder. Mine was FULL of MOLD!! Later they added chemicals to make up for the lack of air circulation around the mattress to prevent mold growth, but the older ones were never recalled.
-------------------- sixgoofykids.blogspot.com Posts: 13449 | From Ohio | Registered: Feb 2007
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lymeinhell
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 4622
posted
Thanks 6. We regularly check it because I was aware of that issue and haven't had any problems at all. It's still the best $ I ever spent.
-------------------- Julie _ _ ___ _ _ lymeinhell
Blessed are those who expect nothing, for they shall not be disappointed. Posts: 2258 | From a better place than I was 11 yrs ago | Registered: Sep 2003
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blinkie
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 14470
posted
I have also been noticing that when I take a lot of probiotics before bed, I also sleep better! Weird.
Posts: 1104 | From N.California | Registered: Jan 2008
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posted
Try melatonin. I was taking xanax to sleep for many years and it was very hard weaning myself from the xanax.
I was concerned about the memory loss and brain fog I was experiencing. I felt like the xanax was making it worse.
Getting off the sleep meds seemed impossible at first, I didn't know if I was ever going to be able to sleep. But eventually it happened. I tried valerian, kava kava, tryptophan; I took all of these natural supplements at the same time (increased the dosages A LOT) along with melatonin. The melatonin is the key, I think.
It's tough at first, I lay in bed a lot longer, reading, before I sleep. It was very uncomfortable at first but it's getting better.
Good luck.
Posts: 87 | From NorCal | Registered: Feb 2008
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nefferdun
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 20157
posted
I have trouble sleeping too especially on antibiotics. I will try adding probiotics at night.
What has helped is jujube seeds. I fall asleep but I almost always wake up around 4AM and can't go back to sleep. I got a sleep patch to help stimulate acupuncture points. I still wake up at 4AM. If I take a break from the abx, I sleep much better
Someone suggested I look at the Chinese "clock" for different organs and I saw 4am is related to the liver. Perhaps this is when it is on overload trying to detox the abx out of me and that is why I keep waking up.
Another thing that really helped was taking methylfolate before bedtime. I was sleeping normally when not on the abx.
The infections can cause insomnia but so can the medications used to treat them. If I don't take the drugs, then i wake up with pain so I just won't be sleeping normally.
-------------------- old joke: idiopathic means the patient is pathological and the the doctor is an idiot Posts: 4676 | From western Montana | Registered: Apr 2009
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Cass A
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 11134
posted
Dear Friends,
Some things that help with sleep are B Complec Vitamins, especially B1, which particularly helps the constant think-think-think that won't turn off. This takes about 300 mg of B 1 to work well, especially if you are under stress.
If you can take Calcium and Magnesium, these work to relax the body and calm things down. Some diseases supposedly eat up the magnesium, according to posters here at LymeNet. So, you'd have to make up your own mind about that.
I personally use A to B Calm, which puts both into a liquid solution which the body can absorb--not like the pills that go through your entire system as limestone rocks!! LOL!!
Also, CALM is a good magnesium supplement that is put in boiling water, so it is also in a liquid form.
Hope this helps!
Best,
Cass A
Posts: 1245 | From Thousand Oaks, CA | Registered: Feb 2007
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Kudzuslipper
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 31915
posted
Never heard of the probiotics before bed. Will have to try that. Is two hours far enough away from ABX?
No drug makes me feel more like an addict than Ambien. I LOVE IT! I Need it! I can't live without it! I get really panicky when I am down to my last few pills.
I don't know how I went all those years watching every hour go by on the clock, literally. I would go 4, 5, 6 nights without any sleep. And then I would out of sheer exhaustion sleep one night and it would all start again.
So, I too hear you farraday. But I think sleep has changed my life more than the drug is harming me. I will share my method for feeling less like an addict. I refuse to go up on my dose. If it stops working, I stop taking it for a few days (and don't sleep) and then it starts working again.
Posts: 1728 | From USA | Registered: May 2011
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linky123
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 19974
posted
We gave our son an herbal remedy called Bio Nite which contains valerian, melatonin and one other thing - I can't remember.
I take melatonin and it helps as well.
-------------------- 'Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.' Matthew 11:28 Posts: 2607 | From Hooterville | Registered: Apr 2009
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I honestly can't picture sleep without one. It's already terrible with the a pill.
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