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Treatment resistant insomnia—can the ER even help me?
I’d been sleeping fine for years(8+ hours uninterrupted) but on 10/28/25 I suddenly lost that ability. Now I can only sleep 30 minutes to a couple hours. Even with medication. Last night I had to take melatonin, lunesta, doxepin and unisom and I slept only an hour. I’m hallucinating and having seizures(I have MS and epilepsy) but my doctors don’t seem in any rush to fix this. I’m convinced there is a physical illness causing this but I don’t know what. I don’t have the PTO to keep seeing my doctor about this. What do I do? I’m desperate. I don’t think the ER would do anything for me, but I don’t know where else to go. I learned all about sleep hygiene with MS fatigue, so I know it isn’t that. I’m also already in therapy. My MS clinic has stated that insomnia isn’t associated with MS so they can’t help me.
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@oodlesofeep
You would be at the mercy of the doctor you see in the er to determine if they would refer to sleep medicine.
You could try calling your PCPs office. They might give you a referral without seeing you.
You should check out your insurance information. If you belong to a PPO you don’t require a referral. You can make an appointment with anyone in-network that you like.
If none of that helps, I believe an after hours urgent care would be more inclined to refer as they are more likely to be internists, though at times they are er docs. You could ask to see an internist when you made your appointment or if walk in at reception. I would suggest calling in advance, often times there is only one doctor on duty.
I hope this helps.
Maybe mixing all those meds, they have a negative impact on each other? Sometimes unisom keeps me awake.
Some sleep meds don’t work for people like trazodone doesn’t work for me, and Ambien quit working for me. Wish I had some good suggestions, though. I hope you find some answers.
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1 Reaction@berekann try NUMO sleep gummies - they work well for me, expect to fall asleep within 30 to 45 minutes. They don’t always keep me asleep all night, but getting several hours beats being awake all night.
Thank you!! Those look really good - but contain magnesium bisglycinate - magnesium glycinate gave me horrible nightmares, but maybe this is low enough amount to not do so. The rest of the ingredients are excellent!
@berekann Good luck!
Is there a hospital-based sleep clinic anywhere near you? They would obviously know more than an ER doc or even your PCP. Meanwhile -- and I know this sounds facile -- try a weighted blanket. Available on Amazon. And a sleep meditation practice. So many freebies online...it may take a while to find the voices/messages/vibe that resonate with you. Here are two practitioners I like:
https://www.youtube.com/@5mintozen510/videos
https://m.youtube.com/ChibsOkereke/videos
Can't hurt to try...good luck!
I've been a long time patient for apnea/PLMS (Periodic Limb Movement Syndrome) & have tried numerous drugs to help with the PLMS, which is a seizure disorder that makes for involuntary
"flailing" of arms & limbs (related to RLS). I take 3& 1/2 .5 mg of Clonazepam before bed. It is the only thing that allows me to sleep. Melatonin gave me Insomnia! Doxepin had side effects, but I can't remember what. Lunesta gave me nightmares. Haven't tried Unisom.
Doc's are reluctant to do Clonazepam because it is highly addictive & can lead to kidney/liver problems. I guess I've been lucky. I'm 73 & been using C. for 30 years, with none of those complications.
Good luck. Hope this helps