Trouble Sleeping

[TaliaJ]

Hey guys,
I am having trouble falling asleep due to the constant feeling of needing to go to the bathroom and am also getting up at night a lot to go. Does anyone have any suggestions for better sleep that have been useful to them?
Thanks,
Talia :)

[mare mare]

Hi,
I came upon this by accident a couple nights ago. I took an alka-seltzer. I used just enough water to dissolve it because I try not to drink much before I go to bed. I'm guessing the baking soda in it alkalized my bladder. That feeling of "Having to go all the time," went away for a while and I slept well.
I tried it again last night and it seems to help me! Go figure!

Hope this helps!
(The alka seltzer I have has aspirin in it. I think I've seen it with acetemenophen.)
Hugs,Mare Mare

[catlover2]

I have chronic insomnia so I take Ambien CR and Lunesta to fall asleep every night. I have found that with this combo I only have to get up to go to the bathroom once a night. I used to go to the bathroom three or more times a night. I also do a bladder instill right before I go to bed which seems to help as well. Ambien CR and Lunesta are available by Rx only. I suggest that you try some of the other OTC recommendations before trying Rx sleep aids. Or if you do your bladder instills at home try doing one before you go to bed and see if that helps.

[ICNDonna]

It's important that you get enough to drink throughout the day, but you might try cutting back on fluids in the evening.

Donna

[Kimchi]

I am able to sleep by having a rescue instillation right before bed, then I take my Attarax and a 1/2 of Zanaflex. Usually I can sleep most of the night before waking up. At least 4 hours. Of course, I am in a major flare right now so nothing helps.

[Claredale]

I flip back and forth with Ambien CR and Lunesta. I haven't tried taking them together. For me, Lunesta works the best, but after a few weeks, my system is used to it. My doctor has me on an older sleep aid and it doesn't work at all. I have even taken 2 and still wide awake. I am trying my best to stay in bed and just relax and listen to soft music. I am better than I was a few months ago. I was lucky if I would get an hour of sleep at night between bathroom time and pain.

Tracey

[kadi]

Sleeping on my side with a pillow between my knees helps sometimes. I also keep a collection of inspirational CDs at the bedside & use the timer feature on the TV for distraction.

Rescue instillations help with this, so does Darvocet too.

[Tracey5399]

I use the tv also as a distraction, also reading helps make the eyes tired.
I hate to reccomend meds but sometimes elavil works its an antidepressant but you do not take enough mg's of it for that. I took at the beginning it helped me sleep and also helped a bit with the pain and urgen. I usualy took 25mg's at bedtime but i have heard of others taking more.

I wish you good luck and hope you can find something that helps,
Tracey :)

[kadi]

Oh yeah, I also take Elavil at night & Ditropan then too.

Before I started the Elavil I was only able to sleep 20 minutes at a time. It was horrible & went on for weeks. I finally tried to sleep on the toilet because there was no point leaving it... The very first night I took Elavil, I slept for 4 hours straight & I was so grateful I cried. Within a week, I was getting 7-8 hours of sleep with only 1-2 wakeups to void most nights.

If you don't take Atarax or Elavil, those are good meds to start with as they seem to have the best success rate for oral meds & they do start working fairly quickly (within weeks, as opposed to Elmiron taking months).

Hope you feel better soon!

[kuntrygurl78]

I had been taking Elavil 10mg but it was making me gain weight.

I got with my doc and she suggested taking a Benadryl with melatonin. It has helped me quite a bit. I work nights. Melatonin is what your body naturally produces at night to help you sleep. I dont wake up as often, and when I do, Im not quite as awake as I wouldve been without it. I fall asleep much faster when I wake up, and I sleep sounder.

It does knock me out for at least seven hours. If I know I wont be able to sleep that long, I dont take my meds. This is rare tho.

[Claredale]

Melatonin used to work for me, but that's another one that my body had conquered.