Help for Insomnia?

[singinlady]

Hi All... I hope everyone had a good week-end! Does anyone have any tips on how to deal with the insomnia caused by the treatment? My husband hasn't had a good night's sleep since he started early this month.

[genedog]

my dr put me on ativan helps me a lot

[singinlady]

Thanks genedog... I'll have him ask his Doctor about it... He definitely needs something.

[snook_man]

Lot of people use Ambien. I get away with a Tylenol Pm, when I need help, or Sleepytime tea. You can also try the natural approach, which would be Melatonin. That is the chemical your brain produces to make you fall alseep. You can get it at any store that sells supplements and vitamins. Works great!!

[singinlady]

Oh... Sleepytime tea... I'll have to get some of that. You know, one night he did take a Tylenol PM and actually slept from about midnight on... then the next day he was like, "Wait a minute - can I take that if it has Tylenol in it?" Hmmmm... there's a GNC down the street from our house, I should check to see if they have Melatonin... Thanks for the tips... We get more help and support here than we do from the Doctor's office. :)

[poolcue]

singinlady
Hello,
Insomnia is tough.  The meds make a person want to rest whenever they can, so at bedtime (my body would only rest 1-2 hrs just like a nap).  Your hubby needs to rest either in the day or night JUST SLEEP.  genedag and Snook_Man pretty much covered it.
I do like the warm milk if I wake-up in the middle of the night with 2 cookies and I go back to bed after 30+ minutes and sleep another couple of hours.
I also get away with the Tylenol PM too.
Good luck
Smiles,
Diana

[singinlady]

Exactly... He sleeps for an hour or two, then tosses and turns the rest of the night. Ahhhh... warm milk and cookies... I may have to join him for that. Lol! Thnx

[poolcue]

singinlady,
One of you will get rest if you join him.
Don't get run down yourself, he will need you.  Get ready for double duty.
Smiles,
Diana

[Tony-z]

There are several Sleeping meds available from your Dr...I found that the use of Trazadnoe an older AD, mixed with a sleeping pill worked good. It helped with the 2-3 hours of sleep then waking up and laying there for 2-4 hours falling in and out of a very light sleep. This is a non-Addicting drug. I also would ask for Ambian or Xanax. Ativan as mentioned also works.

PS. There is a new sleeping pill out that has been approved for long term use. It works in the sort of the same way as Ambian or Sonata, but with less chance of addiction and is better for keeping you asleep all night. I like it alot..It is Called Lunista. It requires a RX and is about 3.50 a pill at the pharmacy.



               Good Luck

                   GOD BLESS

                 TonyZ

[singinlady]

Yeah... that's what he has trouble with... the waking up constantly. You would think that if you are suffering with terrible exhaustion that sleeping wouldn't be one of your problems... but voila! Thanks for the info...

[singinlady]

Oh cool... He might just go for that because what he didn't like was taking the Acetamenophen. Thnx  :)

[singinlady]

Once again... Thanks to all of you for your help and support. This site has become invaluable to us. :)

[MichaelT]

Ambien, Halcyon, Lunesta are some good sleep aids.

Part of the sleep problem may be pain/discomfort. I'm not talking about pain like knife in the side kinda' pain, just - pain. I really haven't been able to describe it, but if you've been through a year or so of treatment, you know what I mean.

Even without treatment, there is this depression/pain/sleep problem that occurs with some people and it can be difficult to deal with. Add combo-therapy and it becomes more problematic to deal with.

I personally I could not take Tylenol and expect sleep - stuff is like caffeine to me. It seems to fine for others.

God bless!   -Michael

[singinlady]

Yeah... He has been saying that his body hurts like he got run over by a truck. Especially his legs. That's probably a big part of the problem as well. Thanks for your support!

[Tony-z]

For a good sleep he may need to include a pain medication to the sleeping meds. Call your Dr and discuss this with them. Lack of sleep is not a good thing, especially when going through TX.
My DR said anything I needed to get me through TX, in the best condition possible, she would write a RX for.


                   Blessings
                   TonyZ

[MichaelT]

Does he have "restless legs"? Uncontrolled and unpredictable jumpy, twitchy episodes while trying sleep? They can drive a person nuts! I never found a way to deal with this - guess I'm just nuts, now!
Seriously, the annoyance is really high if he has this. God bless!  -Michael

[Laika]

I have slept very well during treatment, and I credit the AD I'm on for it:  Lexapro.  I am sensitive to meds, so only take a half-dose.  I initially took it for anxiety/depression associated with treatment, but it has kept me from being an insomniac as well.  (I have had some trouble with sleeping off and on for years.)

I heard on the radio the other day that most of the sleep aids are troublesome in various ways for long term use and that many drs prescribe a low dose of AD instead.  I can only say it works for me.

Laika

[layla]

I took ambian on tx but did not take it to fall asleep since I typrically fell asleep just fine. I took 1/2 of one when I woke in the night. It did not seem to be long lasting so I often took the other 1/2 when I woke if I woke a second time. I am now post tx 1 yr and I am having difficulty sleeping most likely form thyroid. My doc this week just gave me lunesta. I took it last night and slept soundly from 11 to 7 am. I could not tell I took anything in the am but did sleep well. I took tylenol om once or twice but since I did not need the typenol asked my doc for something else.  LL

[Honey15637]

That can be a nuisance waking up at all hours of night. I always woke up on tx and would sometimes get on computer for an hr and would make me sleepy.  I would do like Layla on rough nights and felt wide awake.  Half an ambien and take and then when I woke up at 3 in morning,,,,would take second half.  Sleepytime helps also at night to relax you.  One good thing,,,now off tx,,,I sleep all night,,,no more problems with waking up!  Good Luck to your hubby!

[singinlady]

Thanks guys... We are still waiting to hear back from the Doctors' office about getting something to help him sleep. Yeah, it's the waking up that's such a problem. He goes to bed and falls right asleep, but about an hour into it, he starts the tossing and turning. Hey, good to know there is something he can take that will not hang over into the next day.  :)