I suspected that it would be alot ado about nothing! Did not know that M-Care would cover. Thank you! Amazing that the three things that are told to aging patients is get plenty of exercise, good nutrition and adequate (8-9 hours) of sleep a night. Individually we can control the first 2 but have no means of the last! unless we are willing to put up with poor quality sleep, side effects of the drugs that are available...and in my estimation CBT is a complete waste of time.
Sorry to hear... lack of sleep ...one can't function.
I take Trazadone , Life Extension.. 6 hour time release melatonin, and gabapetin for hotflashes and
night sweats. Alcohol, caffine, chocolate, hot spices may also affect sleep.
I had tried gabapentin and 200 mg (two, 100 mg capsules) helped some to relax and go to sleep but I was still up 2-3 times a night and I felt ucky for most of the morning after so it didn’t really help me. My doctor just prescribed trazadone for me. I cut the lowest dose of 50 mg in half to start at 25 mg. She said that I could go as high as 100 mg, taken about a half hour before bedtime. 25 mg helps but 50 mg really does the trick for me and I am finally getting around 6 hours sleep each night, mostly continuous. I track my sleep on my Apple Watch as well as track it in a smallish spiral bound notebook, noting when took the trazadone and when I go to bed, when I get up and how long I’m up as I still usually have one wake-up for around an hour, often caused by waking up with restless legs so I have to walk around for awhile. The trazadone makes me a little dizzy at the start so I use a small indoor rollator to navigate to bed and during my wake-up time, for safety. I have spinal issues so I occasionally use a rollator in the house and use an all terrain rollator to walk my dog outdoors. They take the pressure off the spine.
Anyway, I’ve been taking the trazadone for about 2 weeks now and am grateful for it for sure. Insomnia is no fun and feeling tired all the time because of lack of sleep is no fun either.
What works for me is to split a 3mg Lunesta. 1.5mg at lights out gives me a good 4 hours. I wake between 2 and 3am for a bathroom break, and take the other 1/2. I then get another 3-4 hours. I’ve tried not taking the early am dose, but my mind gets more active, I get irritated and more awake. My sleep doctor said this works for me, so just keep doing it. As an aside, I tried CBT-I and it was a disaster as I was in and out of bed all night. I do better to stay in bed and meditate. I do well with a cool, dark room.
@blueskies1530
I take Ambien 10 mg at bedtime and clonazepam during the day for my anxiety. I find not eating anything after 6 pm helps. I also listen to a podcast called “Nothing Much Happens” at bedtime to stop my head from racing. If I could just turn my mind off like when I was a child I would be so grateful. People seem to highly recommend temazepam but wonder if it can be taken if on an antidepressant.
I suspected that it would be alot ado about nothing! Did not know that M-Care would cover. Thank you! Amazing that the three things that are told to aging patients is get plenty of exercise, good nutrition and adequate (8-9 hours) of sleep a night. Individually we can control the first 2 but have no means of the last! unless we are willing to put up with poor quality sleep, side effects of the drugs that are available...and in my estimation CBT is a complete waste of time.
What works for me is to split a 3mg Lunesta. 1.5mg at lights out gives me a good 4 hours. I wake between 2 and 3am for a bathroom break, and take the other 1/2. I then get another 3-4 hours. I’ve tried not taking the early am dose, but my mind gets more active, I get irritated and more awake. My sleep doctor said this works for me, so just keep doing it. As an aside, I tried CBT-I and it was a disaster as I was in and out of bed all night. I do better to stay in bed and meditate. I do well with a cool, dark room.
@con123 when I wake up at 2am I take a microdose of CBD + CBG and sleep the rest of the night. Sometimes I need to take a larger dose, depending on how restless I might be. This is also how I’m tapering off lorazepam.
Melatonin can help, too, but shouldn’t be taken too late at night/early morning as that could mess with natural production.
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I suspected that it would be alot ado about nothing! Did not know that M-Care would cover. Thank you! Amazing that the three things that are told to aging patients is get plenty of exercise, good nutrition and adequate (8-9 hours) of sleep a night. Individually we can control the first 2 but have no means of the last! unless we are willing to put up with poor quality sleep, side effects of the drugs that are available...and in my estimation CBT is a complete waste of time.
Sorry to hear... lack of sleep ...one can't function.
I take Trazadone , Life Extension.. 6 hour time release melatonin, and gabapetin for hotflashes and
night sweats. Alcohol, caffine, chocolate, hot spices may also affect sleep.
I had tried gabapentin and 200 mg (two, 100 mg capsules) helped some to relax and go to sleep but I was still up 2-3 times a night and I felt ucky for most of the morning after so it didn’t really help me. My doctor just prescribed trazadone for me. I cut the lowest dose of 50 mg in half to start at 25 mg. She said that I could go as high as 100 mg, taken about a half hour before bedtime. 25 mg helps but 50 mg really does the trick for me and I am finally getting around 6 hours sleep each night, mostly continuous. I track my sleep on my Apple Watch as well as track it in a smallish spiral bound notebook, noting when took the trazadone and when I go to bed, when I get up and how long I’m up as I still usually have one wake-up for around an hour, often caused by waking up with restless legs so I have to walk around for awhile. The trazadone makes me a little dizzy at the start so I use a small indoor rollator to navigate to bed and during my wake-up time, for safety. I have spinal issues so I occasionally use a rollator in the house and use an all terrain rollator to walk my dog outdoors. They take the pressure off the spine.
Anyway, I’ve been taking the trazadone for about 2 weeks now and am grateful for it for sure. Insomnia is no fun and feeling tired all the time because of lack of sleep is no fun either.
What works for me is to split a 3mg Lunesta. 1.5mg at lights out gives me a good 4 hours. I wake between 2 and 3am for a bathroom break, and take the other 1/2. I then get another 3-4 hours. I’ve tried not taking the early am dose, but my mind gets more active, I get irritated and more awake. My sleep doctor said this works for me, so just keep doing it. As an aside, I tried CBT-I and it was a disaster as I was in and out of bed all night. I do better to stay in bed and meditate. I do well with a cool, dark room.
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3 ReactionsTrazodone, Seroquel (for bipolar but it causes drowsiness), Pregabalin (for nerve pain but it causes drowsiness), Klonopin and as needed Ambien 10mg.
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1 Reaction@blueskies1530
I take Ambien 10 mg at bedtime and clonazepam during the day for my anxiety. I find not eating anything after 6 pm helps. I also listen to a podcast called “Nothing Much Happens” at bedtime to stop my head from racing. If I could just turn my mind off like when I was a child I would be so grateful. People seem to highly recommend temazepam but wonder if it can be taken if on an antidepressant.
@kawanhee Mirtazapine worked for sleep but caused weight gain.
@sbcarcht yes, I know it does that. I only gained a couple of pounds, but was worth it for me as I can now sleep!
@kndaustin71
I’m researching vagus nerve stuff because that seems related to sleep. I’m getting desperate for decent sleep!
@con123 when I wake up at 2am I take a microdose of CBD + CBG and sleep the rest of the night. Sometimes I need to take a larger dose, depending on how restless I might be. This is also how I’m tapering off lorazepam.
Melatonin can help, too, but shouldn’t be taken too late at night/early morning as that could mess with natural production.