At about week 16 I went in to tell them I was quitting tx. My Dr. said he thought my main problem was Sleep Deprivation. He was right. He put me on Ambien to put me to sleep and Elevil to keep me a sleep. It worked immeddiatly and I was able to complete tx. I know several people who tried Ambian CR and had Horror Stories due to the sx.
Yes, you can get dependant on them but, I chose to deal with that later. Completeing tx was my main goal and it worked.
Thanks for all the info. regarding insommnia post tx. Nice to know I'm not alone!
Going to go to RX for a few nights, I just seem to be turned around, get to sleep at 6 am and then sleep till noon. Wasted days and wasted nights!
I usually troll the boards (is that how you say it?) Until the sun comes up, then I crawl into bed and sleep for a few hours.
I'd love to go to bed at say midnight and sleep till 7 or 8 AM.
Nothing I can't handle!!
Sweet dreams to all - Lynne
I agree that the insomnia s. u. c. k. s.. Nothing has worked for me. I've learned to just "go with it." It is getting better at 4-weeks after completing treatment. Before that I'd typically still be looking at the clock at 3 and 4 in the morning, Que Sirah Sirah.
Joey
I needed lunesta to sleep for my last 3 months of tx and tried quitting several times afterwards. I just quit this week, The secret for me was to taper off and get used to waking up a lot in the middle of the night. When I quit, I had 3 nights of really bad sleep and the 4th night I slept 8 hours like a log and have had 4 good nights in a row. My doc said that is what you have to go through to quit so I planned it around a time when i was alone and could afford to be tired all day (no naps or it makes it harder).
I took benedryl (OTC, 50mg gelcaps) throughout TX. I got up to 200 mg (the max allowed by TX guidelines I read). Weirdly, the interferon made me allergic to it (or some additive in it) on last week of EOT and had to quit it, so I went to the pharma sleep aids. Now I'm off them after 2 1/2 mos and back on the benedryl and occasionally testing to see if I can sleep without the benedryl. Think I will be on it for a few more months. Sleep is soooo necessary for people like us.
The only thing that works for me is ambein. Tried lunesta but gave me a bad taste I mean really bad all night
P.S. good luck with benedryl. Is it OTC or an RX?
Sweet dreams - Lynne
If you are on TX, take your last riba dose around 5 in the afternoon. Post-TX, the riba sticks around and screws up your sleep for a little while. I had to use AMbien and Lunesta. I alternated them and was on them for a few months. They say no dependence but that's not exactly true. I have switched to benedryl for the last 3 wks. to help with stopping the sleep meds and will see if I can sleep without the benedryl this weekend.