Am I the only one out there who sleeps only 5 or so hours a night and even that is interrupted? There are times I go days without sleeping.My doctor has tried every medicine possible. Even my doctor has given up. Her only last suggestion is to try a sleep study. Meanwhile, I feel like some sort of freak. What I would give to sleep eight hours straight like I used to a couple of years ago and before.

Suzieq

[ February 24, 2006, 04:59 PM: Message edited by: suzieq ]

suzieq, my best friend Linda has tried everything in the book, from natural on up. She still get a few hrs of sleep. Only a few weeks ago, I found myself in this situation. I NEVER had any sleeping difficulty...of any kind. All of a sudden I was going to bed at 7:30 in the morning. The Dr. put me on a sleeping pill for depression! I didn't know this until I read the pamphlet that came with the pills. I am not depressed!!!I am sleeping but I cannot go off the pills without the Doc's approval..something about weaning off them I assume.
Are you menopausal by any chance? Linda thinks that is why she hasn't had a good night's rest in years. I think she's right.
Keep us posted on any progress. I'd like to pass the info on to Linda, if you don't mind.
chick

sezieq... you are not alone in the sleep department. I get right around 5 myself, not counting the times I'm up to go to the bathroom. I'm also thinking it's a menopausal symptom.

Chick...I would be interested in the name of the antidepressant you were given for sleep, especially if it is working. Did you start sleeping right away?
No side effects?

I went through a sleep study program and found out I have sleep apnea. I have to wear a CPAP mask at night to sleep. It provides constant air pressure around my nose so that even if my body stops breathing, air pressure is still flowing.

My sleep problems were that I kept waking up, not being able to fall asleep, feeling tired during the day. All common symptoms of sleep apnea.

I was taking various meds to help me sleep, but nothing worked well, until I got the CPAP machine.

By the way, I'm bipolar too, but we didn't find that out until after I learned about sleep apnea.

I really slept well before June of this year. Not sure if it was the heart dignosis or the menopause symptoms. Regardless, of what it might be, lack of sleep is not a good thing.
No matter how I try...a nap durning the day just isn't possible.
My kingdom for a good night's sleep.

Wow, some different stories for us night owls! I was given a drug called Trazodone on 11/23/05 I did sleep the first 2 nights but nothing to write home about. I was nauseated the first 3 days. The third night I was out a like light but groggy in the morning. Now I am sleeping(I take 1 pill at 9:30) but it takes hours to kick in still. I'm asleep anywhere between 12:00 and 2:00AM and up between 8 and 10AM.
I don't want to be on any pill, but I am going to try going off them when I see the Doc on the 22nd. I'll keep you posted.
I despise any kind of pill, except natural ones.
chick

[ November 30, 2005, 02:52 AM: Message edited by: chickadee ]

They prescribed the Tradazone for me also...like you said nothing to write home about. Tradazone started out as an antidepressant, they found it caused so much sleepiness that it was prescribed as a sleeping pill. Left me feeling like I had been run over by a Mack truck the next morning. Two pills is all she wrote, rest went into the trash.
So many of the natural herbs and such just don't go with my heart medicine's.
Right now, for sleep all I take is 1 tab 25mg, of over the counter sleep aid...just love how it reads wake refreshed and rested. I wish.

I was sleeping really badly for a while. Last summer, I had a sleep study done, but it didn't show anything conclusive. I still have nights when I don't sleep well. And times when I require more sleep than others.

I really think stress level is a major factor for me.

My problem is night time anxiety. I wonder why. (I am being sarcastic. My sleep patterns were disrupted since childhood, and my mind/body has not fully recovered.) For years I suffered from night terrors. (Seems I always have a really dramatic case of something to report!) Seriously, I couldn't even sleep in my own bedroom I had to sleep in the living room, with my eyes open. (Who knew what might be lurking in a bedroom?) I had been prescribed so many heavy medications for sleep, many of which left me with the Mack truck hangover. I also tried OTC meds like Unisom, which also gave me a hangover. I hate the OTC worse than the scripts. Anyway, in the 1980s a doctor prescribed Xanax for anxiety. I couldn't take it during the day because even the lowest dose knocked me out. So I took it (the lowest dose) at night. Lo and behold, it was just what I needed to get me to sleep and keep me asleep for 8 hours without interruption. I've never increased the dose, and no doctor questions my long term use of it. And no hangover. I've also visualized and meditated on awaking with energy and enthusiasm after a refreshing sleep. Something I learned in the hospital is this: if you drink something hot when you take a sleeping pill, it helps the pill to take effect sooner, like hot chocolate or tea. I don't know the dynamics of that; maybe it's psychosomatic or the placebo effect, but it's works for me. My grandmother is 99 and the doc gives her Restoril, which is considered "safe" for geriatric patients because it does not linger in the organs. Serax and Librax is bad for the elderly because it lingers in the system and causes Parkinson type symptoms. Hormone changes and stress levels are obvious sources of sleep disorders. Flexeril is often perscribed 1) for fibromyalgia muscle aches 2) for sleep disorders related to fibromyalgia. I better stop here before I start sounding like a know-it-all hypochondriac! I hope you all get a good nights sleep. Vicki, good thing they caught that sleep apnea.

Ladies, try a hot bath right before jumping under the covers. It works miracles for me. I pray it does the same for you.