posted
Need to find better med than ambien. Doesn't work too well and has unpleasant side effects. Got any suggestions. (Allergergic to tricyclics) Peter B.
Posts: 5 | From Gulfport, MS | Registered: May 2008
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Just Julie
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 1119
posted
Restoril 15 mg. LLMD prescribed this medication for me when I had stomach muscles that were twitching non-stop and I could not sleep thru them.
This medication is an old one(I remember it from the 80's when I gave it to my patients when I worked as a nurse)so it's track record is well known. My LLMD prescribed it at the 30mg dose, but I knew to go with the smaller dose to start to see how my body tolerated it. If you use too high of a dose, you will have a next day hangover, similar to the type that benedryl can produce. Not too bad, you can certainly drive and function, but you will notice fatigue. That's why I started off by dumping half the capsule down the drain and going with half the 30mg dose.
It comes in both 15 and 30 mg. To save money, you can get it prescribed at 30mg, and open up the capsule, taking only half the powder, putting the capsule back together, and taking the rest of it another night.
I did not want to chance any of the Ambien side effects, and this was some time ago, probably 2002, 2003? My LLMD asked me if I thought I could stand having nightmares as a possbible side effect from Ambien, and I said "no!" so he then prescribed the Restoril. This was before all of those other nasty side effects from Ambien became well known, too.
Ativan (not a sleeping med, but an anti-anxiety med) also works for me as a sleep aide. It does list insomnia as a use for prescribing, it is better for insomnia than say, Valium. If you do a search, and compare these 2 drugs side effects, half lifes, you will see the difference, even though they are both prescribed for similar ailments.
Good luck. No sleeping sucks!
-------------------- Julie Posts: 1027 | From Northern CA | Registered: May 2001
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13 years Lyme & Co.; Small Fiber Neuropathy; Myasthenia Gravis, Adrenal Insufficiency. On chemo for 2 1/2 years as experimental treatment for MG. Posts: 4480 | From Northeastern Connecticut | Registered: Jun 2005
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Cass A
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 11134
posted
Hi!
Well, the non-prescription route includes B Complex and B1 (this last really helps with any thinking-thinking that gets in the way of falling asleep). Best taken with some Vitamin C also.
For relaxation and to counteract pains, calcium/magnesium, either as a prepared liquid or as a powder that you put into hot water. I've tried both of these with good success.
And, they're not addictive, and won't have you shooting up the school or stabbing your mother, which have been known to happen with psychotropic drugs.
The worst is possibly some loose stools if you take too much magnesium or vitamin C
Best,
Cass A
Posts: 1245 | From Thousand Oaks, CA | Registered: Feb 2007
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posted
I take FibroSleep from Prohealth.com. It is a natural supplement which includes melatonin, valerian, 5-HTP, L-theanine, magnesium, GABA,
ZMA, Lemon Balm, etc. It works much better for me than anything I've tried-including prescriptions. It has made a significant impact on my ability to fall asleep, and to get quality sleep.
Posts: 418 | From NJ | Registered: Sep 2007
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groovy2
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 6304
posted
Hi All
I took Seroquel for a couple of months -
I had to quit taking because I was getting Stupider by the day after about a months use -
I take Amitriptyl -- and some times Ambian -
They work OK I get 4 to 5 hrs of sleep - not so dingy not enough tho --
I would pay good money for a good nights sleep --Jay --
Posts: 2999 | From Austin tx USA | Registered: Oct 2004
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Amanda
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 14107
posted
I take Lyrica, 200mg at night. That helps me stay asleep, they found that the Lyrica enduces your body into deep sleep, which is the kind of sleep where your body needs for healing.
Gotta build up to the dose that works for you.
I take Klonopin to fall asleep.
-------------------- "few things are harder to put up with than the annoyance of a good example" - Mark Twain Posts: 1008 | From US | Registered: Dec 2007
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tdtid
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 10276
posted
I did take Ambien for awhile but as with many meds, it does stop working after awhile and you don't want to keep raising your dose. So here I sit, not able to sleep even now, which is why I'm here and this topic caught my attention.
I started going all the herbal routes, you know the sleepy time teas and all the herbal things that are suppose to make you sleep to give my system a break. Nothing is working.
Oddly, someone locally with lyme said that if you are having trouble with pain and that may be what is keeping you awake, which is my case quite often, they said they have actually had luck with Tylenol PM.
It's obviously over the counter, so I did try some last night and I actually slept. I don't want to be taking it all the time but here I am again, insonmia with racing heart and brain fog.
These various things that are being mentioned, does anyone know which ones may not be "addictive" meaning I don't want to take more things like Ambien that if you don't take it, you are stuck staying awake all night.
Cathy
-------------------- "To Dream The Impossible Dream" Man of La Mancha Posts: 2638 | From New Hampshire | Registered: Oct 2006
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I think I will try fibrosleep. I can't take ambien anymore.
FYI For one year during this 4 1/2 year lyme journey I slept perfectly - it was due to acupuncture.
I stopped seeing the particular practioner b/c he was kind of a weirdo and shortly thereafter I got the flu and my ability to sleep went away and hasn't come back!
I had acupuncture later with someone else, but her treatment did not help restore my sleep
-------------------- "We must be willing to get rid of the life we've planned, so as to have the life that is waiting for us" - e.m. forster Posts: 921 | From PA | Registered: Jan 2004
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Just Julie
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 1119
posted
Cathy, I don't have any Tylenol PM in front of me (and I've never taken it) but if I'm not mistaken, the "PM" portion of the tylenol is simply benedryl. So, you're taking and buying a product that you don't necesarily have to take, because benedryl is sold all by itself.
If anyone takes a pain/sleep medication combo, I believe the sleep part of the combo is always benedryl, or it's generic name diphenhydramine.
Just another marketing tool. Benedryl is benedryl. Old time allergy medication. Sleep is it's best known side effect.
Just a fyi. Taking tylenol on a consistent basis, when/if you don't need it (it doesn't take your pain away)is not good for your liver. Most OTC pain medications are known to be hard on the liver.
-------------------- Julie Posts: 1027 | From Northern CA | Registered: May 2001
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posted
Ambien & Lunesta made me vomit. I ended up taking 7.5mg of melatonin to get to sleep, though I still woke up about 20 times a night.
With my new diagnosis of fibromyalgia as well, I am on Flexeril. Though, I am nervous about any med that can cause dependency, there is a definite improvement in my general pain and my ability to sleep through the night. I now wake up a half dozen times instead.
Posts: 168 | From Delaware | Registered: Aug 2005
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Rianna
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 11038
posted
I take Zopiclone 7.5mg it gives me 8 hours perfect sleep and no hang over/lag effects.
posted
I take Fatigued To Fantastic Revitalizing Sleep Formula, by Enzymatic Therapy. It's a beautiful formulation with valerian, passionflower and more.
You have to find the right dose. Try a dose for 4 nights and on the 4th morning if you feel better in the morning, then that's your dose. Not too much, not too little.
posted
I don't mean to sound obtuse, but how can you have Lyme and fibromyalgia? Wouldn't the fibro symptoms just really be the lyme symptoms? Since fibro is really just a name for a collection of symptoms with no definitive test, I don't get how anyone with Lyme could have fibro.
-------------------- Positive 10 bands WB IGG & IGM + Babesia + Bartonolla and NOW RMSF 3/5/09 all at Quest
posted
Depending on the doctor, you have fibromyalgia and Lyme, or fibro because of Lyme. It's important to me to have both diagnoses for disability, though I didn't think about it at the time.
My positive Lyme test is through Igenex 2 years ago, which is getting pretty dated, but the fibro is a recent diagnosis & proves that I continue to be a mess and unable to work. (Not that I didn't know that.)
Posts: 168 | From Delaware | Registered: Aug 2005
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METALLlC BLUE
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 6628
posted
I'm looking for a powerful sleep formula that won't leave me feeling like **** when I wake. I want my symptoms to be "decreased" upon waking not worse.
Ativan does that, or at least did that for 3 years. Now it's worn off and I'm heading upwards to 3 mg. I have to start going down and replace this now. I have problems with weight gain and other neurological and endocrine problems (I'm sure about the Neurological) -- and I think this is impairing my sleep greatly. It's not pain or anxiety that keeps me up. It's just that my body will not, absolutely will not go past the first stage of sleep.
It's like a pin drops and I wake up, and I wake out about 50 times a night. This is not useful.
Any ideas? Melatonin brands, do they differ? Also, I'm looking for further ideas besides medications since I've used almost all of them.
I have not used the Seroquel though it was recommended numerous times by my psychiatrist. I really can't afford a decrease in mental function or weight gain.
I've used Ambien, Sonata, Lunesta, Trazadone, Melatonin, Ativan, Elavil, and a wide variety of Allergy medicines, -- the list is long.
I have "not" used many natural supplements for sleep. I plan on purchasing ALIVE by Source Naturals, which should help, yes?
-------------------- I am not a physician, so do your own research to confirm any ideas given and then speak with a health care provider you trust.
canefan17
Frequent Contributor (5K+ posts)
Member # 22149
posted
Bump
Anybody take sleep meds here?
Posts: 5394 | From Houston, Tx | Registered: Aug 2009
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Keebler
Honored Contributor (25K+ posts)
Member # 12673
posted
- Sadly, so many of the sleep Rx are very hard on the liver. I tried many years ago, even tiny doses were like poison to me, with "hang-over" effect for days.
My liver just can't manage any of them and my brain seems too tender as well. So, I'm glad to know there are other options.
Even one dose of acetaminophen can be very hard on the liver as it blocks the liver's ability to make and move glutathione, an essential element in the body being able to detoxify itself.
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