Sleeping problems caused by meds?

Can Melatonin, Gabapentin and Tylenol actually be causing the sleep problems I am trying to prevent??

Anything is possible.

Tylenol has a bad effect on me. My liver isn't the greatest, however.

Melatonin has never done me any good except to make me groggy and grouchy (and I don't need any help there).

Gabapentin was like taking M&Ms.

I also take 1 capsule of magnesium before bed -- said to help prevent leg cramps. Bottle says take with food, so i take it with a little butter ball bite. Should I aslso take the second capsule (of the daily dose) earlier in the day to get the full effects, or would that not help through the night?

@grrranny
I take melatonin 6mg pm, Gabapentin 400mg 2x/day, and KSM-66 Ashwagandha 600mg (w/ L-theanine 200mg) pm and Chamomile Tea pm. I fall asleep without any problems. My problem is staying asleep - I make chamomile tea when I wake up again to fall asleep. Neurologist prescribed a at home Sleep study test. I failed - I stop breathing a lot. Next, I was scheduled an in hospital sleep test - they try different setting with sleep machine to find what settings works best. (Their are 2 types of sleep apnea - obstructive 90% of people and central 10% of people.) I have Central sleep apnea (signal from brain to muscle that control breathing gets lost - stop breathing for a couple seconds), so I was prescribed a BiPAP Sleep machine. Six months later I am seeing improvements, but I still wake up 2 - 3x a night (which is better than before).

The warning my neurologist gave me regarding Tylenol, if taken too often, rebound headache will occur and the headaches will be much worse. Only take Tylenol 2x/ week. Also, no caffeine after 12:00pm Noon.

Also, one of many symptoms I have is hand tremors (and internal vibrations). I woke up one morning with both arms shaking - well that's new. Two days later the same thing happen. Contacted Neurologist - She asked "Are your arms tremoring or do they look like larger movements like convulsing? How long do the symptoms last? Any symptoms in your legs? Is one arm worse than the other? Any other neurologic symptoms that occurred with the arm shaking?
Answer - larger movements like convulsing. last 30 - 45 seconds. No symptoms in legs. One arm worse - no. Any other neurologic symptoms - no.
Neurologist prescribed EEG in clinic - 23 monitoring points on head to determine what's going on. The 1st in clinic test did not show any evidence of epileptiform discharges. Now scheduling an Ambulatory EEG test - at home 72 hours. My journaling shows a pattern that most "convulsing" are Friday thru Monday. Hopefully these events will happen while I am connected to test recording machine.

Hopefully a doctor will be able to find your root cause.

Best wishes,
🍀

Hi, I don’t know all the factors involved with your insomnia, but I can share something that actually helped me. I went to Walmart and bought a vibration mat for sleeping. It has three vibration patterns with three levels of intensity and also a heating option. I used it to fall asleep and set it again if I woke up. Sometimes it took twice with the 15 minute timer, but not always.

Neurofeedback has been the ultimate solution. Following the first two sessions of neurofeedback, I sleep 6-8 hours at night. The therapist is able to target the parts of the brain that have been affected by the stroke.

As a side note, I’m not using the vibration mat anymore, but my husband has been known to go to the guest bedroom and use it when he can’t sleep! 😀
It was about $70 ands completely worth it.

@ionashepherd - will you share more about how the vibration mat works (if you're familiar) and how it helps fall asleep? How did you learn about vibration mats to know to go purchase one?

This is the one I bought. (Below) It’s not something that I was told about, but because I was having such a hard time sleeping, I just felt like vibration would be soothing. I didn’t want kneading or any kind of massage. The controller, which looks and feels like a remote control—but it’s connected, has the different options to choose. I usually choose heavy intensity, steady vibration (there are a variety of vibration patterns), and I chose the full length of the mat. You can target four different segments of the body. I add the heat in the winter! Even the sound of the vibration is soothing to my brain. I had trouble falling asleep, staying asleep, and waking too early. Once I got to sleep with it, and then woke up and couldn’t get back to sleep, I’d just turn it on again.
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Comfier-Vibration-Massage-Mat-with-Heat-Pad-Full-Body-Massage-Mat-Back-Massage-Chair-Pad-Gift/963678701

Thanks for sharing your experience. We are supposed to rest to get better. And how can we when so many things are wrong ? Good that you pursued it till you got answers ! Good luck!

Be careful with herbal meds as some interact to change strength and metabolism of your prescribed meds.
Helps to run them all through a drug interaction checker.

What is a drug interaction checket? Is it online ? Can you give website if it is?