Side effects Insomnia and some numbness

[sail10]

Hello all : Praying for ( yall  ) lol Texas Praying  . Couple of questions .
1 . After 4 weeks of Insomnia i had to get something for sleep , Ambien and it works for me , but without it i really cant sleep . So should i take it every evening ? And is that hard on us Hep C people ?
2.  From first week of TX  i have a slight numbness , only on the little finger edges of my hands and arms , anyone else have this ?

       5 weeks of tx and really except for insomnia all is well .
                                                                                         Thanks Sail          

[cb867]

I take ambein it works for me.I take one every night. I am in my 3rd week. All is well except for some headaches.

[sail10]

So what did Doctor say , is it ok to take Ambein every night , the whole time on tx. sail10

[alagirl]

my doctor let me take it the entire time.  I also had xanax if I needed it.

[banarep]

i am on lunesta, i take a break every now and then, but the doc said it was ok.

[annieCinMD]

I have had intermittent numbness throughout my treatment, and yesterday I had the weirdest pins and needles in my hands. I also take Xanax and may have to up the dose. I also have only one more shot so I'm not overly worried about any of it.

[cb867]

Yes, my doc said it is ok to take the ambein every day. It is not supposed to be addicting. but I do think you get dependent on it. You think you are not going to sleep without it so you go ahead and take it every night.  I tried lunesta but couldn't get past the taste. It stayed with me all night. I also take ambein . It helps with irritability.

[newleaf09]

I was allowed to take benedryl (sominex) up to 200 mg per night throughout TX.  Now I am post TX and the insomnia has not yet left, so they prescribed Ambien and Lunesta for me (i grew allergic to something in the benedryl).  They are all harmless to liver but the ambien & lunesta do cause dependence so I alternate them: Ambien for a couple nights, then lunesta (which does not work as well for me) for one night.  The 'dependence' is not a big deal; just means you'll have a several very sleepless nights after you quit them.  Not looking forward to that but remember that your body desperately needs sleep to repair damages done by the chemo.

Numbness, tingling and pain in extremities (always matched, as in both feet, both hands, all fingers, etc.) is peripheral neuropathy.  It's nerve damage done by the interferon.  Since it's drug-induced nerve damage, it usually goes away after the meds are finished and out of your system.  It can come and go throughout TX and even for a little while after TX is finished.   Hope it does not last too long for you.

[sail10]

Thanks all for the posts . Sail