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.

[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

[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!!!

[Kalio1]

RLS= restless legs syndrome

[sfbaygirl]

What is RLS? Thanks.

[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!

[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!!