henson2
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 463
posted
Hi,
Yes, I have trouble! And I am awake now, too, altho I am going to try really hard to crash now.
Is it a Maryland thing? (I am from Bethesda, altho I go to school in MA).
Two nights ago, I gave up on trying to sleep, and so I lay still on my bed and listened to my Walkman radio... and I heard this interesting/kind-of-creepy interview on a show called "Coast to Coast" (that starts at midnight) -- with a fellow who had been abducted by aliens and has written a book about what he learned from them.
(So you see, if I had been sleeping, I would have missed that!)
OK, trying to funny here.
I seriously mean no slur to anyone on the List who was abducted by aliens.
I am a student too, and I have been working hard to get my hours straightened out so that I can actually do some academic work in the mornings. It has been an *extremely* frustrating problem for me.
Do you have trouble going to sleep or do you sleep and then wake up and remain wakeful?
Have you tried Benadryl, or Ativan?
I find Ativan very effective, but then I sleep until noon the next day, too. And feel very guilty for not studying.
I don't have any miracle solutions yet, except the usual advice I get all the time to go to bed at the same time and get up at the same time every single day.
I mostly wanted you to know you were not alone tonight.
I'd be really interested in others' solutions, too!
Wishing you rest very soon!
[This message has been edited by henson2 (edited 23 August 2004).]
Tincup
Honored Contributor (10K+ posts)
Member # 5829
posted
Hey little "g"...
I have been this way in the past.. but not at the moment.
Me don't like to take drugs.. cause I don't like being "knocked out"... and me don't like to be unable to jump up if there were to be a fire or other emergency.
Plus I get sooooo drugged I can't function the next day.
I have used Melatonin and it helped me quite a bit in the past.. and others have found it helpful too.
I buy ONLY the brand "Source Naturals"... and ONLY the timed released stuff. And I get the 3 mg. dose and take 1/2 of a tablet about 8 pm. You can take up to 5 mg. at night... but it doesn't take me that much.
Since you are awake.. and I am ready to drop...
You can do a search here on melatonin.. and put my name in the line underneath in the search box thingy.. and see what all has been written before about melatonin. It is a natural substance and can be bought at the Railway Mkt... and is quite cheap. I found it cost me about $4.00 a month or something like that.. when I took half a pill at a time.
I had to order it from them.. they had other brands and kinds.. but after years of expermenting... that was the best... by far!!!
I hope this helps some.
Let me know... tomorrow! Good night!
I wish YOU could sleep.. but maybe after reading this long post... you will!
minoucat
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 5175
posted
Yerp, and when I do get to sleep, I can't STAY asleep for more than 3 hours, it seems like, unless I take temazepam.
I was doing somewhat OK until I started the Mepron. Up to that point I could get to sleep pretty well with natural aids. For me, combinations of valerian, hops, and passionflower, along with niacinamide and magnesium (I love my magnesium), worked pretty well.
[This message has been edited by minoucat (edited 23 August 2004).]
rosesisland2000
Frequent Contributor (5K+ posts)
Member # 2001
posted
TRAZODONE...works and works well for me!!!
I don't have anymore trouble falling to asleep, ANYMORE.
I take anywhere from 450mg to 550mg of Trazodone each and every night.
I do NOT wake up feeling drousy...and, when those occasions arise that I have to go to the "little room" during the middle of the night, I have no problem getting there and back and right to sleep.
Trazodone works and plenty of posters here are taking this wonderful drug to get the sleep that they deserve.
JillF
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 5553
posted
Hahahahahaha.
Coast to coast. I used to listen to that show alot.
I have a problem falling asleep and then about 1-2 hrs after finally falling asleep, I will wake up wide awake and alert. It's like my mind thinks my body has gotten 8 hrs of sleep and then I have an even harder problem falling back to sleep.
I take amitriptyline. It seems to work well for me. BUT, it doesn't make me drowsy. I was taking flexeril to make me drowsy and Amitriptyline to keep me asleep, which worked pretty well. But I can't get my doctor to prescribe Flexeril anymore.
I was taking Ambien but I didn't really like it too much. It definitely made me drowsy but the amnesia side effect got to me on a few occasions and it didn't help me stay asleep. And it made me feel like crap in the mornings.
I tried valerian and 5 htp (or whatever it's called). Neither seemed to help, even together. And they are more expensive than my co-pay for the prescription drugs.
I used to take Tylenol PM but hated the way I felt trying to wake up.
My sister also has the same problems sleeping as I do and did not like Ambien or Tylenol PM. She she finally found some help taking Flexeril and Amitriptyline also. She says that she's noticed lately that the Amitriptyline doesn't seem to work as well as it used to - so I wonder if your body can get used to it.
Lymelighter
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 5310
posted
This is a tough one. There's supposed to be a new sleep drug coming out that doesn't have rebound like Ambien, addictive like Valium & Benzos, & doesn't make you feel like a Zombie like Trazadone. Tylenol PM & Benadryl are anticholenergic and they make the fog too thick.
I struck out with 5-HTP & Melatonin but know others w/out Lyme who swear by it. I take Ambien & if I wake up in the am, I take Ativan as it's shorter acting and I can take it at 4am and be marginal by 8.
[This message has been edited by Lymelighter (edited 23 August 2004).]
The other day i was obsessing about our new neighbors who began telling us we had to put a new entry in they were gonna fence there. UM the entry is ours and so is some of there land to there house. So i obsessed and stayed away till six. Slept till nine thirty.
Last night two oclock and ding woke up at five and couldnt shut down again.
posted
Hi everyone, i too have weird sleep schedule compared to my pre-lyme days. It's exactly like everyone else's; I can't sleep till 1 or 2 in am then want to sleep until past 10 am. Especially since starting doxy 5 weeks ago. I have been on Ambien. it works except it is really addictive and I would like to get off it. maybe i'll ask my LLMD for Trazadone. I also tried Elavil and Clonapin. Clonapin is a good alternative to Ativan. It does not stay in the system as long so you don't wake up feeling as groggy.
I loved the part about "coast to coast." It is a running joke in my house about Art bell how my turning on Art Bell's show coincided with the onset of my lyme disease symptoms, insomnia being a major one. That show is so goofy and always good for a laugh especially when Art is hosting. Its funny how calmly he talks to the freaky people who call! They were going to have some "expert" on talking about how we are all going to get wiped out from bacteria and viruses....the end of the world. Its so totally corn-ball but for us battling Lyme, it doesn't seem too far fetched....There may be just a tiny grain of truth in some of that stuff! pippy
Posts: 446 | From California | Registered: Jul 2004
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JillF
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 5553
posted
We'll probably all succumb when the ice age hits us in the next 10 yrs, per one expert on the show.
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