It has literally been years since I have posted on this forum. I am much better and living a relatively normal life. I am posting for a member of our Support Group. This woman does not sleep.
She is not to the suicidal stage yet, but is close. She has tried all the conventional sleep meds. I am looking for something different that may have worked for someone out there with severe sleep issues.
There used to be a drug years ago that a few LLMD's would prescribe. The patient had to be watched when it was administered until they went to sleep. Does anyone know the name of this drug. It was only used in the most severe of cases.
Here is a list of meds that my friend has taken......none of which worked. Xanax, Trazadone,Lunesta,Valerian, L Tryptophan, Seroquel, Flexeril, Neurontin, Elavil, Ambien, 5 HTP, Magnesium, Remeron, Klonopin. If you have any other suggestions, please share.
Lastly.....do not give up hope. I was housebound for years. You will get better Posted by linky123 (Member # 19974) on :
I've had insomnia for years and nothing seemed to work for me either.
MD recently put me on sonata and it has helped me.
Didn't see it on her list, so might be worth a try.
Posted by Keebler (Member # 12673) on :
Topic: NATURAL SLEEP & ADRENAL SUPPORT -
Posted by TerryK (Member # 8552) on :
Has she had a sleep study? Many have sleep apnea. Very dangerous if not treated.
I used to wake up constantly all night long until I started taking the active form of folic acid. Presumably this helps because of my methylation issues. I don't know technically why it works but it works for both me and my sister.
She should have her cortisol checked. She may have high cortisol at night.
Terry I am not a doctor
Posted by TerryK (Member # 8552) on :
Rene - so glad you are doing well.
Posted by LymeNotLymes (Member # 45544) on :
Yes, Benicar (40x4). It's very controversial, but it's the only thing that helped my sleep issues, and it's better than suicide.
Posted by Rene (Member # 4870) on :
She has had a sleep study and worked with a sleep specialist for many months. No change. Thanks for the responses so far.
Posted by tulips (Member # 44773) on :
Has she tried the homeopathic pellets Coffea Cruda? If you look them up on Amazon and read the customer feedback, you'll see that a lot of people use them for insomnia.
Posted by shoeless joe (Member # 45835) on :
Suffered with severe insomnia for years ,little better now.
Artificial sugars will effect your sleep horribly,no artificial sugars.
Only stevia
Combo of ativan,5htp (now brand,2-400 mg) and L thenine makes sleep somewhat acceptable for me.
I know you mentioned some of those but maybe the no artificial sugars and trying the Ltheanine may help.
I feel for you,its horrible to not sleep.
Posted by Lymetoo (Member # 743) on :
quote:Originally posted by Rene:
There used to be a drug years ago that a few LLMD's would prescribe. The patient had to be watched when it was administered until they went to sleep. Does anyone know the name of this drug. It was only used in the most severe of cases.
- I think it's called Zyrem or something similar. It's basically the date rape drug.
Also .. salicylates can keep people from sleeping. If she is sensitive to them it will affect her sleep. They are found in aspirin and NSAIDs as well as MANY foods.
Posted by tulips (Member # 44773) on :
And while she is trying to solve her insomnia problem, hopefully she is continuing to take either ABX or herbs for Lyme and Co because if she's not actively working on curing Lyme,
the insomnia will only get worse as the Lyme and Co gets stronger. And Lyme is easy to knock back. If she doesn't have the ability to get an LLMD,
herbs are easy to get and very powerful against Lyme. You can tell her to get Stephen Buhner's books on curing Lyme which are availble on Amazon and available in the Library.
Posted by tulips (Member # 44773) on :
I found insomnia listed on a Checklist at personalconsult.com (which seems to be well researched). Insomnia was listed under Lyme Borrelia, Babesia AND Bartonella. I've read that Babesia is hard to test for and, from personal experience, I know the others are.
I'm treating myself with herbs and going by the symptoms - which are blatently obvious. I've already been through abx a couple of times and thought I was cured, but wasn't.
I just wanted to give the name of another sleep remedy that I had success with when I tried it for a month: Suan Zao Ren Tang by Plum Flower.
And I just wanted to say that I'm sure your support group is telling your friend that she has to fix herself. She has to get better, not only for herself but for those people in her life who love her.
They need her to be there in their lives even if they're exasperated with her illness right now. They need to witness her example of digging in and overcoming adversity because it will encourage them in the things that they'll face in their own lives since everyone faces challenges at some point.
I we give up, it discourages those people that we care about. They need to know that they need to never give up. There's always something new to learn and something new to try. And, there's the power of prayer, syncronicity and miracles.
Posted by sammy (Member # 13952) on :
Belsomra is a new medication that treats insomnia in a different way than any other med on the market.
It is supposed to have less potential for side effects too based on its method of action.
It will be expensive and hard to get insurance approval because it was just recently approved.
It will be worth trying to get if your friend is desperate. Sounds like a good med.
Posted by tulips (Member # 44773) on :
I'll stay on the look-out for herbal sleep aids and PM you if I find something that works. Oh, and I forgot to mention Hylands Calms Forte "sleep Aid." I've tried it and it works too but I think Coffea Cruda 30C is more effective.
What I've been able to achieve with these sleep aids is 8-9 hours of sleep at night. I'm only able to go to sleep at 11 pm and sleep till 1 pm. Then I'm up till 4 am. But after 4, I can sleep until 7am or 8am.
For two years, at least - maybe longer, I didn't sleep at all. I "rested" at night. Untreated Lyme depersonalizes you so you so that you just drift along and don't think of getting help or helping yourself. You just can't do it.
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