Ahh it is 3:30 am and I am awake. As usual.

I have been having insomnia every single damn night since February. I talked my doctor. Tests were run. No problems. Talked to my physciatrist (sp?) he gave me Ambien. I sleep through the night if I take it but......

He won't give me much more so I cut back to taking it once per week so I can get sleep just one night a week. The rest of the nights I wake up at 1 am, 3 am, and 5 am. I will be awake for an hour and fall back asleep but my sleep is not real per say. I feel like I am sleeping and half awake. I can hear the birds outside, husband turning over, etc yet I am sleeping. Strange. I go to bed at 9 or 10 so you can see I don't get much sleep. Also the side effects of long term Ambien use suck. I pretty much lost my short term memory until I cut back on it and now my memory is coming back. I would go to my car and forget where I was driving to or call my husband and could not remember why. I forgot my sister's name!

I have covered all clocks in the room and bought black out shades. My room is pitch black, I tried a night light too but that made it worse I think. My husband is a quiet sleeper so that is not the problem. My mattres is only two years old and top of the line so that is not the problem. Temperature? Nope it is perfect. I have practiced mediation and breathing techniques. Neither work. I have tried getting up and doing stuff until I am tired again. All that did is make me go to work after being up since 3 am. I tried hot baths before bed. I tried excersizing, not excersizing, t.v. watching, no t.v. watching, eating, no eating, caffine, no caffine at all (none through the day either), camomille tea, what have I not tried?

Any one else go through this? Did it go away? I did not think about surgery until April so it is not about that.

How old are you? My insomnia started after I went through menopause. I didn't know there were long term effects of Ambien. I take it all the time.

Another thing that works well but this you can't take all the time is Kava Kava. I also will take Valerian with over the counter Unisom. It has to be unisom in the orange box. There is another unisom which has the same ingredient as benadryl or any of the other sleep aids such as sominex. This is a different ingredient. I usually change off with these things because Ambien will not work for me if I take it every night.

Oh and one more thing my dr. prescribed for me for sleep is Neurontin. It's actually for seizures but it's being used for all sorts of things now such as nerve pain and insomnia.

I would not sleep at all if I didn't take something. I am often up until about 3 am on the weekends just because I am wide awake, have things to do, and don't feel drowsy. Eventually, I force myself to settle down and take my medication for sleep.

It's very common in menopausal women, but I don't know your age.

I am 32 so I better not be going through menopause! :crying:

I think I am like a hamster on a wheel sometimes. Letting my mind think about stuff and not just relaxing.

I will talk to my doctor about the other things you mentioned. Thanks!

You could very well be in what is caused perimenopause, although that would be early. It goes on for 10 years before actual menopause. Insomnia can start in perimenopuase.

Sometimes doctors will prescribe anti depressants for people who can't sleep. some of them cause people to feel drowsy but you have to be careful cause the side effect for a lot of them is weight gain. if he offers you any antidepressant, look it up online.

I have suffered from insomnia all my life. Like you, I have tried everything. Ambien didn't work for me. Have you tried Lunesta? It is the only thing that has worked for me. It only takes me a few minutes to fall asleep after I take it. The best thing about it is it doesn't make you feel all sleepy the next day. By the time you wake up, it is out of your system. I don't take it every night, just a few times a week. But I work in a doctor's office and we have patients that take it every night with no problems. I don't think it has the same side effects as Ambien.

yeah, I have tried Lunesta and it does not work for me. I wake up in 2-3 hours with it, or I can't fall asleep at all.

I was really thankful when Ambien went generic.

I seem to be the only one who Ambien doesn't work for, lol! Yea, it is good that it went generic. I wish Lunesta would. I can get it free at work when we have samples, but otherwise it costs me $60 a month, and that is with my insurance.

HI, There are a few over the counter things you could try. Tylenol PM works for some people. I find it very effective. Also, Melatonin is available over the counter; usually it is labelled as some sort of sleep aid . Do check with you pharmacist before you try these as some over the counter meds affect one's regular medication. I've used both successfully.- have to take prednisone with certain meds and can be up for 20 hours straight!!

I have insomnia more recently than in the past. I have restless leg syndrome, which makes it very difficult for me to sleep in the first place, but I do take Requip for it. My legs have really been bothering me for the past few weeks to the point of waking me up after I've been asleep for a couple of hours. I was awake last night until 8 am! I haven't had any lifestyle or medication changes except to increase the dose of 1 of my medications. It is supposed to help me sleep anyway, so I would think the increase would make it better. I'm a nurse, so I know all about all the different meds that are available, I just don't want to take more medicine. I'm going to give it until Monday, and if I'm not sleeping better by then I'm gonna call my PCP and ask her to increase me Requip.

For most people who want to take something over the counter, I wouldn't take Tylenol PM. I would take Benadryl. It's the exact same medication without the Tylenol. Unless you are hurting, you don't need the Tylenol. Otherwise, everyone seems to be on the right track, if only it would work! I would suggest for you guys who haven't talked to your doctor to make an appointment and see if you can figure something out.

Joan

Hi:

I was having big issues with insomnia. It would take me a long time to fall asleep, then I'd wake up after about 2 hours, then take forever to fall asleep again, wake up again after 2 hours. It was getting to a point that I was exhausted! I was going through a very stressful work situation (company was closing - everyone losing jobs stretched over 4 months). I asked my PCP what I could take. I told her that it was like my mind wouldn't let my body rest for very long. She prescribed something called IC Lorazepam. It worked for me. I would sleep 4 to 5 hours before waking up, and I would only wake up once during the night and I was able to fall right back to sleep.

Something to consider. I hope you find something that works for you that has little side effects.

Good luck.

Sue

This is rather funny, because it wasn't until after my surgery that I realized I had a sleeping problem. Whenever I asked the doctor why I was so tired all the time, they would tell me it was because I was heavy. Now that I lost the weight, they can't really tell me that. I had blood tests done to see if my body was absorbing my proteins and vitamins alright. No problem there. Then I just had a sleep test done. I'm waiting for the results. I'm hoping they can put me on a medicine that will make me sleep through the night. I wake up a lot. I thought it was normal, because I never stay awake. I just go back to sleep again almost immediately. But I know it's affecting me. I'm never really have much energy : / Really, I am in the same boat you are in.

I don't know how anyone can take tylenol PM or Benadryl and be able to function the next day.

I tried Benadryl, per my doctor - and couldn't function during the day - :closedeyes:kind of a Jekyll /Hyde can't sleep but too tired to function. The doctor then recommended Tylenol PM- I was already taking Tylenol for other things during the day.

For what its worth, ask your doctor to book you in for a sleep study. I was exhausted for years (of course Doctors said I was busy, had young children, was overweight, etc as reasons) I had a wake-up call (no pun intended) when my father had serious problems and was diagnosed with sleep apnea. Since then, myself, my sis, my brother and my son have all been diagnosed with this. Sleep studies can uncover different problems and the solution is not necessarily drugs. I understand the desperation for a good sleep ( I have used Gravol occasionally cause it makes me sleepy.) Now, as I get older, I find I need a lot less sleep and if I do wake up at night, listen to audiobooks on my ipod and fall back asleep that way. Good luck and let us know what happens.

The one thing I don't see is prayer...I battled it as well but when I started to pray I started to sleep. I hope this helps.

DowninSOCAL,

Listen, we can tell you what we've tried. Over the counter meds are a simple thing to try, if you want. You need to talk to your doctor or have him refer you to a sleep specialist; usually it is a Pulmonologist. They can do a few simple tests to see if you even need an overnight sleep study. Do you fall asleep watching TV? or At work, if your job is sedentary ? DO you snore? Does your partner say your pause between breathes while asleep? all these symptoms can indicate sleep apnea. Been there- this can sneak up on you.. You may not realize there is a problem