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Difficulty falling asleep and staying asleep
I have struggled with getting quality uninterrupted sleep since I was a child. I am now 40 years old. It’s getting harder to maintain life with little sleep. I keep trying different habits, general sleep hygiene tips, I know I can exercise more regularly but even when I was dancing 5 times a week I still had the same sleep difficulties. It’s difficult to fall asleep before midnight and I often wake up around 3 or 4am, then don’t sleep till about 6am. I need to get up around 7:30am for work. I have been trying 300 mg of gabapentin with melatonin for 6 months, it helped initially but now I feel it has stopped working. Can someone advise if:
- does Long term use of gabapentin has negative side effects?
- I am not ecstatic to be taking an anti seizure medication for sleep - you thoughts?
- any idea what causes this waking up between 3-4am?
- do we get easily addicted to gabapentin to where I would need to increase the dose?
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I took a small dose of Klonopin for a short time and it helped me greatly. I also got talk therapy and addressed some health concerns. I no longer take that med though. I try to avoid any med that isn’t necessary. My sleep hygiene greatly improved. I am now having early a.m awakenings, but can return to sleep and sleep quite well. I also fall asleep with no trouble. And, feel rested and refreshed the next day. I believe my issue now is some worries on my mind. After that’s resolved, I think I’ll be fine.
I have great doctors. I’m mostly in the Duke and UNC system.
@kristajsorensen Since it can only be refilled every 30 days, I take half a dose of the 2mg pill. For me it calms my axiety, but does not help w/maintaing longer sleep periods (falling asleep is not an issue).
@celia16
Cortisol spikes. I take Integrative cortisol manager-
No big pharma meds
@rosalind308 , ?
I think for those of us with sleep problems there are no answers. I’ve been on numerous meds and nothing changes. I’m currently on 150 mg trazadone ( the 6th med tried) but it doesn’t do much. I was told the normal sleep cycle is 90 min and some people wake up each cycle. Last good sleep I had was years ago when they gave me too much anesthesia and I slept 10 hours.
@roxiesmom13 My GP added 1/3rd capsule each night of Trazadone to the Zolpidem I've been taking for over a decade and it hasn't helped.
@daisy17 Since this post back in 2024, my insomnia has been helped tremendously by taking LDN low-dose naltrexone. I started taking it for my fibromyalgia but it 'cured' my insomnia. I have since read articles that it can help with insomnia.
https://neurolaunch.com/naltrexone-and-sleep/
I’ve decided insomnia (for me) will never go away completely. I’m 79 and have had it since I was a teenager. They have tried different things over the years with limited results. The last was Trazadone. I started having balance issues and blurred vision so threw it away. I’m now trying vagus nerve stimulation (not implanted) I still don’t stay asleep but have noticed I fall back asleep faster. Usually I go to bed at 10:30 and wake up every 90 min like clockwork. So by 4:30 i just go ahead and get up. Also wearing blue light blocking glasses when I’m on my tablet or kindle. I’m keeping a sleep log so I can look at the data at the end of a month. I would just caution those of you who are older to be very cautious as sleep meds make you at higher risk of falls.
How is trying vagus nerve stimulation done ?
Who does it ?
Ty.
Kathleen