Need help with sleep

[msa1633]

I have been on the clinical trial of NM283 and pegasys for 28 weeks before rising VL forced me off the trial and on to Riba. (never missed a shot of IFN) So now at week 4 with the Riba (and procrit) I can't get enough sleep. The riba seems to have me wired up a bit and I can't shut off my brain to sleep. I am a person that needs 7 to 8 hours of sleep while not on tx and now I am only getting 5 or 6 on tx. I work in a very mentally demanding job with a lot of stress.  Each day I get more stressed and this causes more problems with going to sleep. I can't do anything on weekends except re-charge by napping when I can. I maintained a very positive attitude the 28 weeks of tx in the trial, now I am starting to feel depressed and getting the riba rage. I am just before loosing it. I have to get some sleep.
I have moved my evening Riba to 4PM with a snack. Eat dinner at 6PM. On an empty stomach at 8PM take 1 to 1.5 mg zanax and one 12.5 ambian CR. Lights out at 9. Background noise of simulated rain sounds going. I usually can't go to sleep until midnight or later. I usually wake up at 5:30 even though alarm doesn't go off until 6:30. I just can't go back to sleep.
I don't want to go on anti-dep. My wife thinks I should take zanax during the day to stop from getting so keyed up. I want something to knock me out at bedtime so I can get the sleep I need. At the Hep C support group last night someone recommended amitriptyline which I think is generic for Elavil. Would this be good or are there any other suggestions? I can handle being a little groggy in the AM for good sleep.

[msa1633]

Already on the ambian CR 12.5 mg. Maybe have just gotten use to them and the zanax.
thanks

[msa1633]

I may try taking the staggering the zanax through the day to keep from being so wound up by the end of the day. Or, may try the valium. I understand it stays in your system slightly longer than zanax.

[Morgaina]

Hi, I've had sleep problems for a lot of years but have never actively sought out med help. I was put on amitrip afew years ago to help prevent migraines and it was great for sleep, a little groggy in the AM but didn't last long once you were up.(It ended up giving me RLS) During teatment, my doc got me trying seroquil (used for insomnia as well as other things) but it also gave me RLS so we changed to remeron (only 15 ml.) and it works very well. I'm done treatment and when insomnia hits, it's much worse than before. Only use the remeron when I have to but it still works! Hope some of this helps! No sleep is a misery!!

[cao]

I took trazadone during tx for this reason (and terrible RLS) and it worked wonders.  I slept well as soon as I started taking it and I didn't have any issues with grogginess.  When I stopped tx & started feeling better, I stopped taking it b/c I did notice that I was feeling groggy in the mornings...Prior to taking it on tx, I would lie awake for hours staring at the ceiling..with jumpy legs.  It was horrible!

[sfbaygirl]

What is RLS? Thanks.

[Kalio1]

RLS= restless legs syndrome

[Forseegood]

Hi, I'm not currently on treatment, but I do know what insomnia is like, having had it for as long as I can remember now...maybe the hep and menopause kicking me in my sleep functions at the same time...so I've run the gamut...of course you've gotten some good advice as to the meds you might take...I myself have been known to take a little bit of an ativan if I'm going days without a decent night's sleep, course it's prob different on that "wirey" riba and you prob need more...many of my friends took that "trazadone" or whatever and liked that too...

You did mention some alternative things you do, I like to listen to self-hypnosis tapes geared for sleep, my clock radio is rigged for me to listen to them on my ipod or I can listen to a cd on it, I have plenty and there are plenty out there, if you need a reference, hypnosisdownloads.com has some great mpg files and they are pretty cheap....

Also, I ususally have a fan going on to wipe out ambient noise, long as it's not winter that works great...

As trite as this sounds, have you ever tried aroma therapy? I use this balm called "Badger Sleep balm", I rub it on my chest and my wrists, and then I put my wrist right by my nose while I'm falling asleep...hope you also have a good mattress, I know they are pricey, but it means a lot for good sleep...

I also am a big fan of soft ear plugs...and if I have been having sleepless nights, I try to take a warm shower a few hours before retiring...hope something I do helps you...

Goof: you don't want racy pics of me on the Aussie site, I'm an old broad, haven't you heard? My cheesecake days are a tad past it... I used to dread getting old, after this diagnosis....I'm going to be real dang happy getting old, ha ha!

Going to Newport Beach this weekend and Califia is meeting me there, I'm very excited to shake the hand of the magnificent Califia, then I'll throw her into the pool! ha ha! just kidding...I will go up north one of these days very soon, so if you get a knock on the door one Sunday morn, don't use the sprinklers, it'll be me, not the Jahova's!!!

[SJL]

After trying several prescription sleeping pills, I have found that Remeron works the best for me. It at least lets me get a sound sleep. I usually try to take it approx. 1 hr. before going to bed. I was absolutely miserable through 2 rounds of therapy because of insomnia. I have also found that I have most of my energy at night. Has anyone else experienced this?

Sandy

[goldyn]

I found that ativan calms your nerves for a longer period of time were as xanax may hit you quicker ativan lowers your nerves for a longer time, and they are not a anti dep so you can take em when you want,ativan has been around for years so docs arent shy to to give it to you i take 1mg at 12:00 noon then 1mg, at 9:00 at night  about 1 hour before bed and that usually helps me sleep alot , of course you wake up to pee but i seem to go back to sleep ok only had to use ambien a few times ......

[msa1633]

Just a final comment. I have taken zanax for years off and on as needed and .5 to 1mg have always been sufficient to calm me enough to get a good nights sleep. Now, I can't feel any effect from 1.5 mg. Maybe I should up the dose. Just don't know if that is the right thing to take to fight the riba. Need your suggestion of what to try so I can the list to my doctor next week.

[bnowik]

what i did is tell my dr. i also went to ambiencr.com and signed up to receive a weeks worth of free ambiam cr.  sign up, print out, have dr. sign it and the pharmacy will give you 7 free.  






oh by the way y'all in the forum hello!!!

[mycoldfeet]

I take valium three times a day to take the edge off the riba and it helps me sleep, not to mention cheap (like me) but it lets me sleep and I dont wake up groggy, of course there is a lot of sleep aids out there, ambien,  lunesta and a bunch I forgot, your Dr. has a bunch of samples he can give ya, try em out before you get a script for a month.

[OnAPrettyPoison]

I had lots of sleep troubles while on treatment.  The riba wired me out.  I could go to sleep but couldn't stay asleep.  I rotated sleep stuff around so no one thing got where it didn't work.  I started with the benadryl, OTC sleep aids, prescription antihistimines, and graduated to Ambien.  I rotated it all around saving the Ambien for the few days after shots.  Being that you are already on some pretty effective stuff, you may want to request something like Lunesta and kind of rotate your sleep stuff around.  That finally let me go to sleep and feel like a human being when I woke up.  Lack of sleep can make you feel extra bad on top of the treatment drugs....Hope you feel better soon.

[goldyn]

I found that ativan calms your nerves for a longer period of time were as xanax may hit you quicker ativan lowers your nerves for a longer time, and they are not a anti dep so you can take em when you want,ativan has been around for years so docs arent shy to to give it to you i take 1mg at 12:00 noon then 1mg, at 9:00 at night  about 1 hour before bed and that usually helps me sleep alot , of course you wake up to pee but i seem to go back to sleep ok only had to use ambien a few times ......

[BayAreaWomen]

Shouldn't you be careful about taking Valuim; I think they are habit forming. Someone posted here a while back, can't remember who it was, but they had a hell of a time getting off them. You can't just stop taking them all at once; especially if you been on the for years. Just concerned! BAW

[Mister beagle bailey]

That's what I think, you got to use to the meds your on to help you sleep.  I used Lunesta and it helped.  Maybe tell your Dr what your going through and see what he has to say.  Your wife might be right, maybe you should be taking it durning the day so your not so wired at night.  Let us know what you decide.

Beagle

[Forseegood]

that's interesting about the ativan, and I read that it's the most liver friendly of the tranqs, if you can even use that term...at least that's what it says on their lit...

[sfbaygirl]

Sleep seems to be a Riba problem, although I have had sleep issues for a long time. Tx made things worse. I have taken zanax and it does nothing to me. Ativan on the other hand knocks me out. When I am anxious or haven't slept, I have taken one to help out. It does!  A script lasted me over a year. I now am taking ambien, not the ambien CR and I wake up after 4 hours. Sometimes I take another, for four more hours of sleep. Does the CR really last longer?

[mycoldfeet]

Been a parmedic for 20 yrs, valium is not addictive, but some people become dependent on them as with anything,
ad's have to be weaned off, can cause a laundry list of sx including thoughts of offing yourself, nah I'll stick with plain old valium, get the same effect everytime, no surprises and it works, seen some of these wonder drugs the reps pass out to Dr,s to give out as samples, I'll stay with the tried and true.

[sunspot]

Zanaz, Valium, Ativan and Klonopin are all in the same class of drugs. I listed them in order of fastest effects and duration.
Be very careful with them as they are addictive and you will need to be weaned off of them because suddenly stopping can cause a very bad reaction.

[mycoldfeet]

all the drugs you listed are schedule 4 drugs having very limited physical addiction and some phycoligical dependancy, the only bad reactions I've seen is when these drugs are used to control seizures and are stopped suddenly, I took 10 mg valium for 48 wks my first round of tx and stopped the day after tx,

[goldyn]

Yeah that ativan is the best chill pill I know of . sometimes you just need to clear your mind and feel calm, and when its hard to get there on your own it really helps...

[Alady1620]

I take restoril and Tylenol PM.  Does our doc have you on the same thing already?

[bnowik]

on does ambiem cr work?  i only took one due to me having my newest grandbaby for a week of visit and my 4 yr old granddaughter, but the one night i did take it i did fall right to sleep, but woke up,(thank goodness i might of wet myself) but, went right back to sleep.  it's free to try for a week, i try to make them last, due to how expensive they are, i probabally won't get more.  maybe it's a coinsidence but my dr. gave a script for naproxen and when i take it i feel pretty groggy? anybody else?  I'm not complaining.

[msa1633]

No, haven't tried the restoril. Does it work? I asked him for the 10mg ambian and then the 12.5mg ambian CR.  They worked until I started the Riba. I am going to hit him up for horse tranquilzers next week.

[Alady1620]

The Tylenol PM puts me to sleep and the Restoril helps me stay asleep.  You might need a larger dose than me.  Mine are 15mg.

I don't know about the other drugs people are mentioning.