Anyone else here have insomnia?

[raggie33]

last few night ive slept maybe a 1 hour per night .between my nerves and that darn light on them folks porch .serequel usaly works for me it s pysh med i take and the good side efect of it is sleep but ya sleep like rock lol

 

[Coop]

I have trouble sleeping too, always had, but it got worse when I started taking meds for ADD (Ritalin, basically over developed speed) And when I started working irregular hours it got even worse.

I havent found something that works for me yet (other than the industrial strength sleeping pills I get from my doc) but he told me something that works for a lot of his patients: take half a shot glass of coca cola and go for a 15 minute walk outside. While outside take deep breaths.
small amounts of a substance can have the opposite effect of a larger dose.


Melatonin can work pretty good, but over here the good stuff is prescription only. One of my colleagues had some none prescription tablets which contain 0.25 miligrams of melatonin per tablet. My doc gave me a prescription for a mix and match kit as he calls it with 1mg, 3mg and 5mg melatonin per tablet. 1mg & 3mg does jack poop for me, when I take 2 or 3 of the 5mg tablets it works fine.

Valerian works too, but I found that (at least here in the netherlands) most brand name products contain very little valerian. Instead I used to get Valerian capsules (from a store called 'de tuinen' which translates to 'the gardens') which contain more than 20 times more valerian. They worked for me on nights that it isn't that bad, but do take this stuff with a lot of water or you can get a pretty bad hangover kind of headache when you wake up.

Other things that can work pretty well:
- have sex before going to sleep
- smoke pot (although I really don't recommend this)

 

[Sub_Umbra]

...Melatonin can work pretty good, but over here the good stuff is prescription only. One of my colleagues had some none prescription tablets which contain 0.25 miligrams of melatonin per tablet. My doc gave me a prescription for a mix and match kit as he calls it with 1mg, 3mg and 5mg melatonin per tablet. 1mg & 3mg does jack poop for me, when I take 2 or 3 of the 5mg tablets it works fine...

Wow. You're saying that Melatonin is a controlled substance in the Netherlands?

My neurologist cleared me for doses up to 3 mg per night when I was about 50. Recommended dosage goes up with age as the pineal gland shrinks. It definately affects different people differently, though. I have a friend close to my age who takes a very small dose and says it's like someone hit him with a club.

Some doctors will tell you it's worthless.

 

[cyberhobo]

Warm milk, and a turkey sandwich if it's mild insomnia. I once went almost 6 years without true sleep (REM, etc.). On the bright side, everything was getting done 24/7!

 

[justjim]

nope, not me. i'm one of those people who can fall asleep anywhere, anytime. i consider it a gift, but it irritates the heck out of my wife.

-jim

 

[Coop]

Wow. You're saying that Melatonin is a controlled substance in the Netherlands?

yes, but only for tablets that contain more than a certain amount.

My neurologist cleared me for doses up to 3 mg per night when I was about 50. Recommended dosage goes up with age as the pineal gland shrinks.

I'm 27, I need to take 10 to 15 mg a night for it to work for me. cant imagine how much I'd have to take when I'm 50...

It definately affects different people differently, though. I have a friend close to my age who takes a very small dose and says it's like someone hit him with a club.

my dad takes the same meds I do, even in the same dose and we are build pretty much the same way, but he's 56 and I'm 27, I need 10 to 15 mg for it to work, he takes half a 1mg pill and is off the planet for 10 hours straight... walking about affecting different people differently :lolsign:

 

[raggie33]

soory baseball fans but it puts me to sleep soon as i watch it even when the braves was doing good id fall aa sleep in 20 minutes .now football on the other hand will kepp me up for hours after the game

 

[Brighteyez]

You might want to contact your GP and see about getting a referral to a psychiatrist in addition to a psychologist. A psychiatrist (M.D.) can prescribe the medications that you might need, and a psychologist (PhD) can help you work through the psychological issues that are relevant to the depression.

The lack of sleep is more likely the result of the depression and cutting out caffeine probably will have little to no effect. (I get terribly depressed if I don't have my coffee in the AM ). Don't let it get the better of you, some of the most notable people in history have suffered with depression (like Sir Winston Churchill) and they didn't have the medications that are available to patients these days.

And depending upon the medications that are prescribed for you, you might have to give it some time for your body to acclimate to them, so you'll want to be especially careful when operating machinery, like an automobile.

I've already seen my GP. Several times. I do indeed have clinical depression, among several other health issues. She suggested I see a psychologist, it wasn't my idea.

Edit: I also completely cut caffeine out of my life for about three months, made absolutely no difference. Amazing just how much stuff has caffeine in it.

 

[Diesel_Bomber]

Hahaha, thanks everybody. I suppose I'll go down the list again.

Brighteyez- Yep, I got back on my coffee too. Some people get headaches or what not when they give it up, for me it was no big deal. My doctor did suggest I see both a psychiatrist and a psychologist, but I turned down the psychiatrist. If I truly get desperate I'll try antidepressants. Until then, no thank you.

Raggie- You may have something there. The only thing more tedious than playing sports that I can think of would be watching sports. Not a big tv person anyway; neither is my g/f. We have to blow the dust off our tv when we want to watch something, and it's only a little 13" screen.

Justjim- You're like my g/f. She's like a kitten, she sleeps whenever she's comfy. Luck you.

Cyberhobo- Thanks, but this isn't mild. I'm glad you got back to real sleep.

MayCooper- I'll give the small amount of caffeine a try. If I do decide to try melatonin, I'll experiment with the dosage and see what works. Having sex is always good, but smoking pot just flat isn't going to happen. Likewise alcohol.

Verbie- Thanks. I'll get this licked.

Sub_Umbra- I'll ask my doc about the exercise thing.

Again, thanks everybody. NOW I'm getting sleepy. I think I'll go to bed early, as I didn't get a single wink last night.


G'night everybody. :buddies:

 

[geepondy]

I many nights, will fall asleep easily but wake up in the middle of the night and stay away for two or three hours or sometimes until morning. I probably average four to six hours of sleep a night during the week but if allowed, often times will stay in bed 12 hours straight during the weekend, although not sleeping during the entire 12 hours.

Typically too, I'm very tired right after work like I can't stay awake another minute but will slowly come too as the night progresses and end up staying up later then I should. I've thought about trying light therapy to change my patterns of alertness and tiredness.

 

[Trashman]

Carrot juice, eh? Never heard of this remedy... is there a scientific explanation for why it might work?

This and last week I've found myself up very late into the night (it's 0400 here) because of procrastination from doing time-critical work. :shrug: Don't really feel tired, either.

My guess is that the rush of vitamins helps me sleep. Perhaps, by pacifying some imbalance that is keeping me awake. That would also give support to why the Airborne tablet helped me to sleep the other night.

Once, while looking for those oxygen capsules that I had mentioned, the clerk in a local health food store said, that while it did make sense that the oxygen capsule would help me to sleep, the base of my problem was a vitamin deficiency. Could be....

 

[smknman]

Do not try this at home

Unhealthy? yeah. May lead to more problems later? probably. Works every time and kills some time between the late late show and the early show? oh yeah. grab a cold sixer, a book, a chair and a lefty:naughty: . Sit on the porch in the chair (putting the book under the short leg) and drink 'till the thinkin' stops. Put a stanback and a glass of water on the bedside table for the morning. Goodnight sweet prince.

 

[TedTheLed]

Re: Do not try this at home

..well, I ocassionally suffer from tension headaches that prevent sleep and have found the absolute cure; Fiorinal.
I take it only at bedtime, one pill.
I have never taken more than four pills in two days..I average a few (5-6) pills a month..
I understand it can be quite addicting, and for this is banned in Germany. I don't find it quite that insidious, and I have never taken a drug that worked on it's intended symptom so well -- I mean the headache and the pains in the neck disappear and I sleep soundly..
especially if my cat comes to cuddle..

 

[Diesel_Bomber]

Smknman- Welcome to the forum. I'm flattered that you signed up apparently just to offer me advice. I won't express my opinion on alcohol consumption in the forum, but suffice it to say that I won't be using your remedy. However, I'm glad it works for you. What is a "lefty" and a "stanback?"

Ted-

I'll check into Fiorinal, but it sounds like it's got a bit more kick than I'd be willing to take. I get migraine headaches and if at all possible I just go to bed. Strangely enough, the times I have a migraine are the times when I drift right off to sleep. If I have to stay active, I'll take Aleve(naproxen sodium), which so far has been the only thing that'll do a darned thing against a migraine headache. I still go to bed ASAP afterward, though.

Thanks again, everybody.

 

[Sub_Umbra]

When I was a kid (and still a hardcore chronic insomniac), doctors prescribed meds for me at a breakneck pace. In the not so long run, they not only did not help the problem -- but I became hooked on barbiturates. I quit taking all depressants at 21 and began looking for other solutions.

It took a lot of looking but it has really paid off. There are at least 112 bona fide sleep disorders that I am aware of and the idea of any GP just giving out scripts that are addictive and even at best that block REM sleep is absurd. The fact that this type of treatment is well within standard medical guidelines does not make it acceptable to me and it tends to make self medication sound both cost effective and sane.

Anything that blocks REM sleep only makes it look like you are getting what you need.

 

[PhotonWrangler]

Trazedone (prescription med) helps many people sleep. It's actually an antidepressant but in small doses it has an off-label use as a sleeping aid. As far as I know it's not habit forming.

 

[TedTheLed]

Diesel , if you suffer from migraines you should certainly check out the Fiornal, it doesn't really have a "kick" at the one-dose level. The only "kick" is that the pain andd tension is completely removed and then having a clear head at last in the morning can be somewhat exhilarating..

if you take one, or two, only when you need them, there shouldn't be a problem..

otoh if you just joined narc-anon or have a tendancy to abuse downers, then you should maybe think twice..

 

[Alloy Addict]

I've thought about posting to this thread, but haven't. Since it's 4:20 am, I might as well.:lolsign:

I've had some insomnia issues since I was a kid. It was just the occasional night, a few times a year, so it wasn't so bad. Most of the time I slept well. Lately I've been having frequent periods of insomnia. It has gone from not being able to go to sleep, plus the addition of not being able to stay asleep for more than four or five hours. After several days it really takes a toll and makes thinking and decision making slower. I've talked to doctors, had a sleep study, and tried several different home "remedies." There's a few in this thread I haven't tried that I'll look into. I used to go for walks, but walking late at night where I live now, in the suburbs, has the police giving me the slow drive by. Though I'm not doing anything wrong, I still don't like it. (I had a friend get put face down on the sidewalk by two LEOs that had their weapons drawn while he was walking home from a late shift job. There had been a burglary in the area earlier and they decided it might be him, despite not matching the description at all. It scared the crap out of him, and I have no desire to find out what that feels like.)

For some reason it does me some good to know there are so many other people having the same problem, and cruising CPF in the wee hours.

 

[Diesel_Bomber]

Just an update. Sitting here with insomnia again, thought I'd check back.

Progress is being made. I've stopped taking walks at night, it scares my girlfriend for her to wake up and not feel my presence in the house. I've tried melatoninin in varied doses, no change. Tried carrot juice with no effect, but I experimented with others. Plain ole V8 from the store seemed to help a bit, and helped repeatably, so there definitely may be something to Trashman's vitamin theory. I do NOT recomend bell pepper juice. Trust me on this.

TedTheLed, I did some research and talked with my doctor, the result of which was a script for Fiorinal. Awaiting my next migraine to test it out on. Seems like good stuff, thanks for the tip! I hope your ankle is feeling better.

Again, thanks for all the help everyone. Truly appreciated!


Cheers! :buddies:

 

[PhotonWrangler]

One more I forgot: I've been advised by an exercize physiologist to never exercise hard enough to get into 'the aerobic zone' less than four hours before I know I'm going to want to go to sleep.

I follow that advice but like so many other things, I have no idea of it's impact. Just something else to keep in mind.

I can confirm this. I used to go running late in the evening and it usually wound up keeping me awake.