Ativan question

[Trish77]

I have been having a really hard time getting much sleep the last while.  The doc reluctantly gave me Ativan, three of them and I reluctantly took them from her because I'd rather take nothing but I'm not sleeping much lately.  I tried one last night...was going full tilt for hours last evening cleaning non-stop til nearly 12:30am then took one, crawled into bed and read for another hour or so.  Today .. I'm wasted.  My eyes have dark lines coming down under them and I'm just wasted.  Maybe from wearing myself out .. but my energy has been on hyperdrive a bit.  Today my body is taking a real hit.  Is this the Ativan?  What do people feel like the next day?  I'd rather have insomnia than this.  At least it's the weekend and I can rest but this won't do during the workweek.

Thanks for any info.

Trish

[jdwithhcv]

Some of that may be from wearing yourself out.  Ativan doesn't give me much of a hangover unless I take it late at night.  Try taking it in the evening, or try taking half and see if that helps.  Good luck!

jd

[Andiamo1]

I think it affects everyone differently.  I helped me to go to sleep, but I woke up much too early.  It is also very habit forming and takes a while before you sleep normally once you stop.

Great music and looking at beautiful things works better for me.

Take care,
Eric

[pKinCA]

I really like Ativan for sleep!  How much did you take?  I am a "drug lightweight" so I only take 1/8 of a milligram, the tabs are 1/2 milligram and I divide it into fourths... I would suggest trying 1/4 of the amount you took last night and see if that does the trick...

PS  I think you may have also taken it too late... that could be why you're "hungover" today... Maybe try going to bed earlier or your normal bed time, take the Ativan then read... You'll get drowsy even though you start off hyper...

Hope this helps...

pK

[rita863]

Trish,

the only way i get to sleep, is two advil pm, and one valium...and i still do not sleep through the night.  Before TX i could sleep through anything, now the slightest thing wakes me and sometimes keeps me up.  I also think you need to take it earlier.
I take mine at about 8:30 and i am asleep by 9 or 9:30.  My alarm goes off at 5:30 and I usually get up at least once during the night.

Hope that helps...

peace
rita

[charm27]

Amazing how different we all are. Beginning of tx I couldnt sleep. Was prescibed Ambien..
only able to sleep 3 -4 hours with tthat never felt like I had a hangover in morning.

THe only pill that ever made me feel that way was Tylenol PM.

Now I can sleep thru an eartquake and am on wek 43...I cant get up at all in  morning.

Trish Hope you feel better.
Love
Charm

[Trish77]

jd ... I will take it earlier and will take half.  I spoke to the pharmacist who suggested same thing, it's 1mg.  I think I'll only take it though if I continue to find my mind on the same hyperdrive.  Thanks for that.

Eric .. I have not had this severe kind of insomnia until now.  Listened to music all last evening while I worked and was in a fine mood, pleased to be getting so much done...perhaps I should have not bothered but needed to do a test run with a Sunday as a buffer.  I'm being very cautious with this, not my thing to take AD's and sleep aids. For me to even ask was something.  Thanks for the input.

pK .. it's 1mg.  I agree...I took it too late...was on a roll and wanted to get my work done first and knew next day was Sunday.  No messing around with Monday, although as wasted as I feel today, I may skip it tonight or will at least cut back to half.

Rita .. also suggesting earlier. :)  I think it's unanimous.  Will try that and see how it goes.

Thanks for all the input.  Earlier...less...I'll see how it shakes out.

Trish

[Trish77]

Thanks for your thoughts, Charm...appreciated.

[meki]

Trish - I had the worst insomnia for so long on TX - and still sometimes post TX but not as much - since I've regulated my meds.

Ambien worked for me --- and I only took a half of one.

Ativan was wonderful for me for keeping the anxiety at bay -- but the first time I took it I was totally HUNG OVER the next day --- it also gave me a burst of energy at first --- so it takes about 2-3 hours before I can fall asleep after taking one.

You have to kinda work with meds - doctors do not completely understand individaulity yet on medications. They seem to think one thing works at the same dosage for everyone.

And for folks like me - who have unusual reactions to medications - those reactions can be pretty darn severe.

Ambien really was the only thing that worked --- but I would take a half or a whole --- and I'd be wired for about 2 hours also --- then I'd fall into a sleep for about 5 or 6 hours - and then I'd be a little groggy in the am --- but a cup of coffee or tea would knock out the groggy feeling and clear my head ----- as much as it could be clear on TX or a little bit post TX.

So - ask your doctor to work with you --- if you don't like that particular med ---- try others.

Each person is going to react differently.

I really did like the ativan for calming down the freak out moods --- where I felt like I couldn't breathe or function normally.

Xanax worked also --- if I took Xanax -before noon-- and then took an Ambien later that night --- I could sometimes get a full 8 hours of sleep. But it didn't ALWAYS work....

So you just have to gauge yourself and be very careful --- start off with half the dose if your doctor will allow you to.

Much luck to you babe

Meki

[DragonTamer]

Hi Trish, Just wanted to tell you what my doc and I decided for me for sleep... Marcia  your so right  we sure are all different. Because Re: Ambiem my doc and others I know who have used it,  said I would need at least 8/9 full hours available to sleep on Ambien cause you can't just wake up when you want from it and could wake up with a wicked hang over.  Having to get up at a certain time for work, I could not take the chance of not waking up or feeling like you do today Trish.  
My doc also suggested  Ativan and it is more like Valium/a relaxent BUT can cause weight gain so my ego said a big NO to that. We went with the valium...small dose no weight gain and I only take it before bed not every night, so Iam not going to get hooked on the stuff. I get up in the morning feeling fine from that.  My doc told me he even takes Ativan when he flys, which is not often, that is why he takes it just to relax not to sleep. so I'm surprized it has made you feel so bad.

Perhpas you are just over exhuasted. (gee I wonder why;)after all you have been going through.  Last weekend after work one day I came home at 4:00 and just crashed and slept almost through the night. I just needed to sleep. It could be the sleep deprevation more than the Ativan.

I was told NEVER take Tylenol PM on a reg basis because of the liver issues. Acetaminiphine is a liver killer! I took it for a while when my cat and aunt died on the same day last summer! (just couldn't cry myself to sleep) so someone suggested that. (I didn't know Ihad Hep then or would not have gone near rthe stuff...It is all over the box how bad it is for your liver.  And I agree Marcia, worse hang over feeling I ever had!! And had a heck of a time getting up! All those OTC sleeping drugs can be extremely bad for our livers besides putting you into a coma so you sleep through an earthquake!!!!

So again he decided to give me Valium to help with the sleep....said it was easier on the liver in the small dose...it does relax me...sometimes it helps with sleep, sometimes it is hopeless. I get up and do something that will exhaust me, like you I'll clean, or write, read whatever.... talk to the cat! Call people in other time zones!   Taking it early does sound like good advice.  I take my Vallium about 2 hours before bed and hope it works!
Hope you feel better.

Good luck
D.T

[fretboard]

My wife gets 1mg. tabs and I use them to help me sleep, but I only take half.  Also, on occasion I will take my xanax to go to sleep as well, it doesn't work as good as the Ativan.  When I take the xanax, those are 2mg tabs and I only take a quarter.  When I was feeling motivated and didn't want to take anything at all, I used to work out right before bedtime.  That worked wonders for me, plus I would play motivational or stress relief recordings to listen to, those helped emmensely in addition to the workout.  I don't know how much of a workout you can go thru on tx, as that may be problematic.  
God Bless

[ladybug52]

I am an insomniac with or without tx. I hate ambien, it was always too strong, even whe I cut it into pieces, took to long to work and I had the day after dazed look when I took it.

My brother takes Zanax to help him sleep, he's in the restaurant business and is usually wired by the time he gets home around midnight. It works for him.
I had a dr that prescribed clonazepam (milder than zanax but in that family) and it worked really good. I never had the hung over feeling like I had been drugged, and I could take it in the middle of the night and not have to worry about getting 8 hrs sleep to "sleep it off"
My dr moved though, and my new dr wants me to take ambien so I really am stuck without anything that really works.

Full moons (which occurrs tomorrow) really give me insonmia...I believe that just as the moon pulls the tides in the oceans, it pulls my eyelids open too!
Hope you are able to get some rest and find a mild sleep aid that works for you.
Bug

[geterdone]

Hang in there and just ride the wave you’re in hyper pinball mode at the moment and it will change soon enough as the thyroid maxes out to its limit and it seems you’re just about there then the tide will change. The synthroid takes time to kick in.

jasper

[Trish77]

Meki, DT, fret, bug .. thanks for sharing your experiences and for the encouragement.  I chewed on all of that and I appreciate the support.  That means as much as anything.

Jasper...lmao...I started to laugh out loud when I read "hyper pinball mode" .. that is *exactly* what it has been feeling like .. p-p-p-ping!  Boing!!  ping-ping-ping!  Hyperdrive pinball mode...and yesterday was the pinball falling between the paddles, game over, lights out, down for the count...today it's pinball game on again...sheesh.  

All in all .. I don't do well with mind-altering drugs and it scares the **** out of me to take them (which is ironic considering I'm on tx drugs but that's the price to pay to get a virus killer too).   That's exactly the conclusion I came to, for those suggesting alternate strategies such as walking, restful thinking activities, etc...for me personally, all things considered, I'm better off riding the wave and this too shall pass and I'm just going to have to ride it out.  Here's an interesting thing ... the liver clinic at the hospital I go to has a doctor that has a focus on non-medicinal approaches to insomnia and my treatment doc is sending me there this Wednesday.  So we'll see how that goes.

I've got various compounding factors (don't we all) and I'm trying to get myself  emotionally "quieter" and hopefully that will also help me sleep easier.  Whatever it takes, I'm thinking for me the drugs are going to have to be a last resort, I don't do well with them.

Thanks all.

Trish

[Isobella]

I wish you the best on Wednesday.  Let us know how it goes. :-)

Isobella

[Trish77]

Thanks Izzy.  I don't really feel I can afford to do the trial and error thing with meds and work full-time, you know?  I feel it's less of a risk for me to tough out the insomnia. I've recommended them myself to some people.  Doesn't mean they work for me all that well though.  We'll see how it goes.  This too shall pass.

Take care and hope you're doing okay with your own treatment ride.

Trish

[Deb_c430]

I have ambien, but rarely take it, it helps me to go sleep fast  but but I wake up aroound 230 anyway, then can't go back to sleep.

I tend to have one good night, one bad night,  i think i get so over tired the next night i pass out.  

[Trish77]

So...really ... it's a common thing and it's a matter of "suck it up, buttercup"  :)

[Trish77]

Thanks for that.  I slept about 10 minutes out of every hour last night so half of a half may yet be in order.  What I do know is I'm going to sleep like a rock tonight, I'm wasted...like you mentioned.  One night of lousy, one night of good maybe.   I'm just going to step through it and see what works best for me as it goes.

[ladybug52]

I woke up on the hour every hour for about the first 4, then about every 1/2 for 2 hrs, then started sleeping soundly when it was time to wake up.
It's that full moon, I'm telling you:)
Bug

[portann]

I'm a sound sleeper - aways have been - but last night I didn't sleep a wink until six this morning. I tried doing a reality check, like 'Am I seriously awake or just think I'm awake but actually asleep?"  I'm sure I never dozed off for a minute and am equally sure I didn't eat or drink anything out of the ordinary.

Tonight I went for a walk as a sleep tonic and there, dominating the urban landscape was the fullest, biggest, most golden harvest moon I've ever seen in my life. And I had been thinking the meds were playing havoc with my treasured sleep!  

Whatever the cause or solution, goodnight moon, goodnight all, hope we all sleep well.

[meki]

Yanno Trish - I will tell you --- when I was going through all of that major insomnia points --- I made sure I had things to do...

I kept myself busy. I had books, crossword puzzles, you name it.. I baked --- I had all sorts of things --- color by number ---- Music to listen to.

Whatever I could keep my mind occupied.

It did help...

Hugs --- when you finally get to sleep - it might be hard to wake up... LMAO!

Meki

[portann]

Hope you're sleeping like a rock tonight. I seem to have caught whatever you had, three nights in a row, wide awake. Am following Meki's advice and doing occupational therapy but no baking.

Maybe it's not just the meds doing this but the lack of hard physical activity.

I'm sucking it up, though, and sleep is bound to come sooner or later!

Hope you're in dreamland.

[goldyn]

Ativan, Ativan oh the wonders of ativan, coulndt have made it through tx without it, and have preached about it almost the whole 48 weks i was on tx , it took the nerves from the riba and let my mind slow down and rest and also gave me more sleep than any sleep drug, it got me through the 48 weeks with my own 5 kids as well as teaching in 2 different preschools 30 hours a week it really helped keep me  sort of mellow and that was a Blessing to me and my family!!!!!