Insomnia

What do you do to fall asleep? I hurt so badly and I can’t get to sleep. I have tried exercise and tea. I don’t know what to do. I haven’t been able to get a good nights rest in three months, and it is taking its toll on me. With senior year fast approaching, I feel hopeless.

I have the very same problem, so I know how you feel. I'm sorry to say that I don't know how to fix it.

I really hope things improve for you soon. Sorry I don't have any solutions for you. ]:

But if you find out anything, could you let me know? I'd appreciate it.

Thanks,

Gabby

Ambien is what they have given me and it works great. Just make sure you dedicate a full 8 hours of sleep to it. The thing I like about it is I don't have that "sleeping pill hangover"

Scott

If no one ever told you this, listen. When you have fibro most of the time you have sleep apnea with it. but I sometimes still cannot sleep so with my xanax I can.

I hear you. I have had a rough time with sleep. I have had to change my whole life around. I found a big part of my problem is that I am unable to sleep and wake at normal times. After trial and error I have to go to bed at midnight and get up at 9:30 am. I try to stick close to that. Moving my sleeping time around messes me up for days. Going to school that will be hard.

But it helps to have a regular schedule or set pattern before you go to sleep. I turn off tvs and computers an hour before I plan to sleep. I look outside at the stars for a little every night before i go to bed. The more regular signals I give myself the more it helps. I also play a boring game on my blackberry or read a book before I sleep.

For the pain in my hips I also build a wall in my bed with blankets and wrap my leg around it. or put a pillow in my crutch.

Lavender scent is also awesome and meditation.
My bed is no longer a place to worry when I start to do that I just remind my self that worrying in bed is like trying to play water polo on a baseball field. I have never in my life made a good decision after midnight.

Meditate on the sentence --This pain is a gift from God. Don’t think to much about it, I usually don’t even belive it but some how just repeating that relaxes me.

I also have a back massager that I use at times all over my body. Man it feels good. DR. Schools, you can buy the plug in ones at any drug store. The one with two nubs helps me better on med or low.

Hello,

In addition to the rest of my meds I take a low dose of ativan and Advil pm when i cannot sleep

I haven't slept in a year! Ok, well I have slept, but not good sleep. For the past month I have been on Trazodone, which is supposed to help me sleep, and it doesn't. The doc up'd the dosage and still nothing. I take xanax and Flexeril at night too, you would think with the combination I would be able to zonk out without any problems. I think a lot of why I can't sleep is I always get hot when I lay down to sleep. The Flexeril helps with the muscle spasms/twitches, the Gabapentin helps (somewhat) with pain, the xanax relaxes me, but it is feeling so hot that keeps me tossing and turning. I sweat too, so the fan will blow and its almost like I am cold and hot at the same time! I have tried everything. I am using breathable fabrics, but nothing helps. I feel delirious all the time because I am just so tired.

My two cents worth.... I have had insomnia for....well.... hell I don't even know how long. At LEAST a decade. More, I'm sure. I've been taking melatonin almost every night and it does the trick for me. Most of the time, anyway. It's not fool proof. It's not a "sleeping pill," as they will tell you, but it does help me relax until I do fall asleep. It doesn't do a thing for pain though, but if I am tired enough, it doesn't matter. I tried the Valerian and it didn't help me much, but everyone is different, as we all know, I'm sure! I have a hard time falling asleep, AND staying asleep both. I do still wake up frequently. Good luck and sweet dreams.

Hello Erika

Many of us suffer with the same problem. When I am in pain I cannot sleep and I cannot stay in bed. I get up and sit in my recliner where I have heating pads and one with a massager. I just have to stay there until the pain has worn off enough to let me go to bed and sleep. I rarely sleep before 4 am. My best sleep is from then til noon! I can do this because I am retired, live alone. So that the noises of traffic and people working does not interrupt my sleep, I use earplugs.

My neurologist told me to take melatonin, that it is naturally in your body to help you sleep.Sometimes it works, sometimes not.I FP told me to take 2 benadryl for sleep & it does the same thing, works some times & sometimes not.I am going to ask my neurologist for a sleeping pill script when I see him this month.I am sick of not having a good nights sleep.

It's nice to hear of a doctor talking about Melatonin. I was surprised when one doctor fairly well scoffed at the idea. Thanks for adding that. I would caution again Lunesta, I think it is, (the one with the butterfly in the ad) - my aunt, who also may have Fibro, had horrendous side effects with that one.

I also take Melatonin 10 mg and it helps me ,too. I tried Ambien and it did nothing for me at all.It took the Melatonin took awhile about a week or so ,but it does help.I still wake up often ( from pain) but i can go back to sleep.Ambien is not a drug i wanted to take anyway ,but tried it.My np didn't understand how i could take 10 mg Ambien and not go to sleep........... me either. With all herbs they need to be pure and from good company. The cheaper ones just do not do as much for you,too much filler and little of what we need . Hope something helps you soon.



Jenji said:

My two cents worth.... I have had insomnia for....well.... hell I don't even know how long. At LEAST a decade. More, I'm sure. I've been taking melatonin almost every night and it does the trick for me. Most of the time, anyway. It's not fool proof. It's not a "sleeping pill," as they will tell you, but it does help me relax until I do fall asleep. It doesn't do a thing for pain though, but if I am tired enough, it doesn't matter. I tried the Valerian and it didn't help me much, but everyone is different, as we all know, I'm sure! I have a hard time falling asleep, AND staying asleep both. I do still wake up frequently. Good luck and sweet dreams.

Thanks for the tips everyone! I recently bought a special foam pad for my bed and it feels like I am sleepin on a cloud when I get to sleep. Changing my schedule wouldn’t be practical because of school but I do it on holidays and it feels heavenly.