What do you do when you CAN NOT fall asleep?
10-02-2011, 01:31 PM
#41
Super Member
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: British Columbia
Posts: 8,113
Walk, walk, walk.... the fresh air is one of my main "helpers"... also I have recently started yoga at home from an old tape & I'm finding that helps me a little.... trying to keep my breathing the same length on the ins and the outs... best of luck!
10-02-2011, 01:37 PM
#42
Senior Member
Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: West GA
Posts: 460
Originally Posted by Elisabrat
Thank you everyone. It used to be pain that did it, then "mental pause" and now it is trying to tie things up that probably gets me the hardiest. I was diagnosed with less than a year to live by my doc, and three others. I am going to Stanford this week to see if anything can be done to help me stretch that out a bit. I just turned fifty. So much more to do and so little time to do it. I dont even drink decaf as it still has caffeine so purely mint, lemon herb or camomile in the morning. I was so tired yesterday that I almost blacked out at the grocery store when I bent over. I guess what I do to fill the sleep void is come here. The song its such a perfect day sung by Susan Boyle comes to mind. I am glad I spent it with you... its nice to go where people are ALWAYS so kind and helpful. I am blessed to have found this site as it has given me many many creative ideas and smiles.
Seriously, I wish you well and agree that this board is unbelievable in this day and time when so many folks are so "me" oriented. I just found this board a few months ago and have been encouraged greatly to go on and quilt through my ineptness (is that a word?) and hopefully one day will be able to publish my first completed quilt.
Again, I wish you luck and more importantly, God's grace as you face this monster !
Sandy
10-02-2011, 01:38 PM
#43
Super Member
Join Date: Mar 2009
Posts: 1,774
Besides taking the meds already mentioned on here, you might try doing some stretches... If I lie on my back in bed, and lift one leg straight up toward the ceiling it stretches my leg muscles and helps them relax. I hold a stretch to the count of 20, then do the other leg... plus turning the foot a different direction puts a different stretch on the leg...
The stretching seems to release something in my body and really helps me sleep, plus legs feel better the next day, too.
The stretching seems to release something in my body and really helps me sleep, plus legs feel better the next day, too.
10-02-2011, 05:02 PM
#44
Senior Member
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: N California
Posts: 849
Lol!! Great minds think alike! Haha
Oh, Kim, you gave me such a laugh.
That is exactly what I used to do in college when I couldn't sleep because my mind was racing, trying to remember all I needed to know for an exam. I can sing the alphabet just as fast backwards as forwards. I hadn't thought about that in a while. Perhaps I'll try it again to help me sleep.
Thanks for the laugh.
Originally Posted by ranger
Originally Posted by LLWinston44
Im a club member of the can't sleep club as well. What I do when there is hope of sleep, is to say the alphabet backwards. Lol. Trust me, It'll work. I've gotten so good now though, that I can sing it backwards with no trouble so now I have to find something new to do.
That is exactly what I used to do in college when I couldn't sleep because my mind was racing, trying to remember all I needed to know for an exam. I can sing the alphabet just as fast backwards as forwards. I hadn't thought about that in a while. Perhaps I'll try it again to help me sleep.
Thanks for the laugh.
10-02-2011, 09:23 PM
#45
Senior Member
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: USA
Posts: 374
Originally Posted by snicker dee
It is 220 in the morning and I am on QB and watching a dumb movie...this is pretty usual.This is after taking a muscle relaxant, my neuropathy meds, pain meds and benadryl. Have tried a lot of different interventions over the yrs ... have found that a prescription sleeping pill or over-the-counter Melatonin help best. But have to be careful which Rx-med I take bec there can be so many weird side effects. The Melatonin is great but I am groggy the next day for a while. The grogginess does wear off after a couple of weeks tho. BUT sleep deprivation is serious and can lead into some serious health problems.
Bec I worry about getting dependent on this stuff I switch what I am doing to help me sleep every couple of months. By doing this it also keeps me from becoming "used to" the meds and then they are not effective. Right not I am not taking anything extra to give my system a "drug holiday" It is not fun. Wish I could stay up all nite & quilt, but everyone else in my life is not on this nite schedule. :-) I feel your pain, Let us know what solutions you come up with/
Bec I worry about getting dependent on this stuff I switch what I am doing to help me sleep every couple of months. By doing this it also keeps me from becoming "used to" the meds and then they are not effective. Right not I am not taking anything extra to give my system a "drug holiday" It is not fun. Wish I could stay up all nite & quilt, but everyone else in my life is not on this nite schedule. :-) I feel your pain, Let us know what solutions you come up with/
You might try a weaker dosage if you can.
10-02-2011, 11:37 PM
#46
Banned
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: Bikini Bottom
Posts: 5,652
I am glad I am not the Lone Ranger on this one! Everyone here knows that I am really sick and I am having to eat a lot of Predisone to stay alive. That stuff will do some serious messing with your life along with your sleep patterns. It is 2:30am right now and I am not even the least bit tired, and I have been up for 48 hours non stop. My docs gave me Ambien per my request and they do not do the first thing for me. I have to eat 2 to 3 pills to make me groggy and then I will lay there looking at the ceiling. So I spend my time here now that I can function to a certain extent and pray a lot. :D
If someone can find the magic combination please share it with me because the next set of meds I am going to be taking the sleeplessness is one of the more prominent side effects.
[img]http://www.w3downloads.com/animated_cartoons/clock.gif[/img]
Billy
If someone can find the magic combination please share it with me because the next set of meds I am going to be taking the sleeplessness is one of the more prominent side effects.
[img]http://www.w3downloads.com/animated_cartoons/clock.gif[/img]
Billy
10-04-2011, 10:32 AM
#47
Power Poster
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: Western Wisconsin
Posts: 12,930
Billy, not sure if this will help you.
When I *really* have bad sleep problems, I take a very small amount of cyclobenzaprine (brand name Flexeril). This was initially given to me for back pain, for which it also works, but its side effect for me is to work better than any sleeping pill that was ever prescribed for me. Our family doctor for over 20 years gives me a prescription for the smallest dosage about once a year. I split a pill into halves or quarters to use it occasionally for either back pain or sleep. It's a drug that has been around for a long time and, I believe, has no negative long-term side effects if you use it responsibly. You might want to ask about trying it out.
Concerning melatonin, I just wanted to warn that it can cause vivid nightmares in some people. It seems to be related to an overdose of melatonin. For people who really have a melatonin deficit, it can work wonders. For people who have normal melatonin, it seems to produce the nightmares.
When I *really* have bad sleep problems, I take a very small amount of cyclobenzaprine (brand name Flexeril). This was initially given to me for back pain, for which it also works, but its side effect for me is to work better than any sleeping pill that was ever prescribed for me. Our family doctor for over 20 years gives me a prescription for the smallest dosage about once a year. I split a pill into halves or quarters to use it occasionally for either back pain or sleep. It's a drug that has been around for a long time and, I believe, has no negative long-term side effects if you use it responsibly. You might want to ask about trying it out.
Concerning melatonin, I just wanted to warn that it can cause vivid nightmares in some people. It seems to be related to an overdose of melatonin. For people who really have a melatonin deficit, it can work wonders. For people who have normal melatonin, it seems to produce the nightmares.
10-04-2011, 04:33 PM
#49
Banned
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: Bikini Bottom
Posts: 5,652
Prism the Prednisone I am taking gives you some doosies in the dream department!!! I did sleep for 5 hours last nite which was wonderful and I was able to take a nap this afternoon so maybe I am getting used to the steroids and I can start being sorta regular in my sleep patterns. Melatonin works pretty good for me just one 10mg capsule and I never had any wild dreams yet.......but htere is always the first time!!!!
Billy
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