Not sure where to put this tread, so this is as good as any???

[andcohen]

JUst a quick question on peoples sleeping problems :mad:
How many of us have to take sleeping pills & how often do you need them.
I have taken them for at least the last 12-14 years & that freaks me out somewhat.
Also what is the adverage time the you do get to sleep ( I never get to sleep anything before mignight & most of the time it's usually between 1am & 2am) although there are the nights like this it's hedding towards 3am & still wide awake. I have even pulled a few all nighters where sleep hasn't come at all until later in the next morning :mad: Tonight I have taken all my meds along with first 1, then 2 then 3 sleeping pills & still here :headbang: :headbang: Then with all the pee stops added into that thats not a whole lot of sleep.
Then the next day I can hardley function & feel like I could sleep for a week. THe mornings take me at least an hour or more before I can wake up enough to get out of bed. I hate this :cussing:
So do many of us have problems with this also.
Thanks
Andrea :loco:

[dancemomof2]

I use Ambien almost daily, usually a half a tablet but once and awhile I have to take the other half. do have nights were I am dog tired and don't need them and fall alseep without one.

[ICNDonna]

I have a friend who has severe sleep problems. She doesn't have IC --- just the sleep problem. Her doctors have her trying to develop a healthy sleep pattern by adjusting her "get up" time in fifteen minute increments. Each day she gets up fifteen minutes earlier than the day before. She thinks it's beginning to help.

I do think you should talk with your doctor about this. It can grow to be a huge problem.

Warm hugs,
Donna

[pomeranianic]

I have been taking Ambein for 6 years. I just went to the sleep clinic for a sleep study. Yesterday I got the results in the mail,
They said : 1. Psychopysiological learn or conditioned insomnia
2. Restless leg syndrome ( I new this)
3. Mild upper airway resistance syndrom ( have no idea what that is. I will have to look it up.)

So now have to go back in to talk about the results and a game plan.

On the ambein it takes me about an hour to fall asleep.
The study found that in 7.58 hours I had 98 arousals.
My husband making fun of me 98 arousals out where you doing there. I thought it was a sleep clinic not a arousal party. HA HA I told him. :biglaugh:

[icsonja]

You are not alone, trust me!! I have terrible insomnia and I take Lunesta with Klonipin at bedtime and still most nights I am lucky to get three hours sleep. It is a hard problem to solve, I dont want to take anything stronger, buut the lack of restful sleep can leave me grumpy and drained . I don't have an answer, just more questions I'm afraid, sorry.
Sonja

[Rosalie]

I have found that I am having difficulty getting to sleep these days and I don't know what has caused it. Not having seen a doctor about it I take two panadeine if I get desperate. Why a pain killer would help sleep, I don't know.

Andrea, if the tablets you take for sleep aren't working, perhaps you should see the dr for a different medication.

I have a girlfriend who gets no more than six hours, usually less and in no more than two hour periods. She won't go to the dr and it starting to effect her seriously.

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I have problems with sleep too, my nights are my days and my days are my nights... It never ends and I can't get it fixed. I am having a terrible time making my health calls and getting anything done. I don't want to add more medications (methadone, valium, progvigil yep had the problem before taking provigil for fatique from the medications.) Ugh! Two nights ago, I tried to break the pattern stayed up all night, then didn't go to sleep until 9:00 p.m. the next night. The next day I was back too the same mess... I better start reading up on this.

Has anyone been to a sleep clinic that deals and understand chronic pain patients.

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[MarthaB]

:) Rosalie, are you talking about panadeine forte??? if so, the reason you go to sleep is because of the codeine in it, it always sends me of to sleep too,
Martha :)

[Rosalie]

Martha, panadeine Forte knocks me out cold. Before having any treatment at all I took it when I had really bad pain. I treated it like gold because I only had left-overs from other medical procedures.But in this case,I was talking about ordinary panadeine which does have a smaller amount of codeine.

[andcohen]

Gee, I wish I could get painadine forte to knock me out cold :bow: My night time meds are OxcyContin 40mgs 2 sleeping tablets, 50mgs Tofranil, 2 Painadine forte, Elmirion, Minirim, & then oxcyNorm for stronger pain, but even all of theses pian meds listed on here still do not get rid of this horrid pain. MY sleepless night are becoming a real biiiiggg problem
This suxs :headbang: :headbang:
Andrea

[tigger_gal]

I take 10 mg of Ambien, but still have a hard time falling asleep. I think my body is use to them... I ran out over 2 weeks ago, and haven't had them filled..
they also come in 5 mgs you might want to try that..
good luck:)

[icsonja]

Andrea, just a quick note, alot of people (me included) have responses to OxyContin, morphine, or any opiate based drug that are the opposite of what one may think of as the "norm", they cause sleeplessness, hyperactivity, anxiousness and the inability to relax,many experience racing thoughts. So some of your night meds may be better off taken way before bedtime. Ask your Dr. of course, and see how he or she feels about you taking opiate based meds earlier, to see if it helps with your ability to fall asleep.
One of the good things about Lunesta is that it eases the racing mind, which can keep you awake even though you are exhuasted.
Also keep and maintain a strict bedtime, and bedtime rituals(bath, reading etc) and dont vary from it.
I do these things and I am now able to get a few hours of sleep (3-4) before I am awake for the rest of the night. But if aI change anything, or take morphine past 7pm forget about sleep!!
Hope this will help some,
Sonja

[SandyRN]

I have been taking 10 mg Ambien for about a year, almost every night. Before that I had extreme insomnia that effected my ability to function, my pain was MUCH worse, my IC was worse, everything was screwed up!! I tried Lunesta for a while and eventually it helped me to fall asleep, but it left this HORRID taste in my mouth.

I also have Chronic Fatigue syndrome, and fibromyalgia which mess up the natural sleep cycles. I feel lucky that the Ambien allows me to sleep.

Sandy

[icsonja]

I went thru the awful , disgusting taste that Lunesta gives you and it is really bad at first, but I have been on it for several months now and it doesn't happen anymore, I think it took about two months before that icky side effect went away, but it did, Thank God!! I sometimes thought maybe I had eaten a rotten goat while asleep...lol
Sonja

[andcohen]

Thanks everyone for your help. One of the sleeping meds I take is Ambein & I have use that for several years in conjunction with another one. ( I think I have tried everything that is on the market here) I do take my meds early 7pm - 8pm but it still dosen't make me tired enough to go to sleep any earlier than midnight, & that's an early night for me. Every now & then I will get really bombed out quickly & even though it dosen't happen all that often it makes me too scared to take them whilst my son is still awake. This sleep thing is really effecting my life :headbang: I just never see the day I am going to be able function normally again & that makes me so scared. I am already worried about when it comes time for Cohen to go to school, how the heck am I going to function in the mornings & get him there on time. Between this flare & sleep problem I am a real mess at the moment. :mad:
Andrea

[quiltz]

Hi Sonja,
You've still got me chuckling with your comment! Are you in the habit of munching on a goat at night while you're asleep? I guess we have to laugh sometimes or we would never make it with this disease eh??

""Thank God!! I sometimes thought maybe I had eaten a rotten goat while asleep...lol""
Liz

[deviation72]

Hi Andrea,

I totally sympathise with what you're going through. Before I was diagnosed I would lie awake until about 2am before dropping off for an hour, then waking to go to the loo about 5-6 times until 5am, then finally drop off from exhaustion... only to have to get up at 8 for work. I was a mess at work, emotionally I was a wreck from lack of sleep, and I was in constant pain.

I still have fairly unsettled sleep even now - usually don't drop off until 2am, and have to get up a bit during the night. But it's not as bad as it used to be, or as bad as you are experiencing! I often resort to Halcion to help me sleep but try to do it only when I'm desperate. Otherwise I just battle on through the broken sleeps, and nap in the afternoons when I can to catch up on sleep.

I know there'a a lot of bad press about sleeping pills, but don't feel guilty if they help you a little bit. That is what they are there for. But I agree with Donna, you probably do need to see your GP to talk about the lack of sleep and anything else you can do.

Thinking of you - really hope this all works out for you. It sounds like you have a lot on your plate at the moment... :grouphug:

[andcohen]

Kirsten, What is Halcion I have never heard of it?
Thanks
Andrea

[quiltz]

Hi,
Halcion is chemical name, triazolam. It's a sedative used for insomnia.

Does this help?? Liz

[deviation72]

Sorry to reply to this so late, Andrea - had no idea there was any more replies to this!

Liz is right, Halcion is triazolam and my GP prescribed it for me when Temazepam did nothing. It takes 1 whole pill to send me to sleep (used to take just half), but I wake up so groggy - so try not to take them so much!!!

Hope you are getting closer to sorting your sleep problems... :grouphug: