Insomnia - can't take it any more!

[sk_pacer]

I dont sleep either. Maybe 5 hours on a good night, and an hour in the afternoon, but frequently much less than that - and I am rapidly heading to the no sleep zone, harvest time. I go until I am too stupid to see or navigate, and then sleep a couple of hours and back at it. Part is pain - been taking ibuprofen and on really bad days, take robax as well (it is otc here). If I remember to take it, Joint MD helps with a good deal of the joint pain but I dont LIKE pills of any kind and have to be hurting bad to even take the advils. My litany of sore spots: back is cooked, has been for a long time and knees are in the same state, other aches are assorted breaks, wrenches and strains but they don't bother all the time. Add to that a couple of potty trips and sleep doesnt happen for long stretches of time. Oddly the cats do NOT bother, but tend to try to cuddle to the sore spots and purr away the pain, about the only time they wake me up is when they decide to chase birds and are thwarted by the window.

One thing that is different with me - I never did sleep much, ever, so I am not horribly sleep deprived even with the broken sleep and short sleep periods. 6 hours in a stretch was enough for me mostly. The track ruined that as I would finish at midnight, back at it at 5AM to noon, then go sleep a while in the afternoon so I could manage 4-midnight again. There are no labour laws for self employed

 

[coolcat]

how are you today Kim?..

.....:for you can rest a bit...

.......

 

[kluchetta]

Originally Posted by CoolCat

how are you today Kim?..

.....:for you can rest a bit...

.......

Last night was a bit better. I went to bed pretty early so I got about 5 hours before Tigger woke me up. Then I took a couple of Melatonin at 3:30 so I could sleep until 6, and so I got about another hour!

Just got back from the Doc...I am going back on Prozac to hopefully eliminate the middle of the night brain surge, and some pain killers just for the nights until I get into the Ortho.

 

[strange_wings]

I'm glad you got something to try to help this. I hope it works.

And please do look into circadian rhythm and lighting. This is what tells your body what to do and when to do it, including how long to stay asleep and healing. It may very well be that you need stronger supplemental lighting during certain parts of the day to get your body on track to producing the right amounts of melatonin for you and at the right times. It will only cost a little of your time and there's no risk of side effects.


Also, I didn't mention it earlier. Supplemental melatonin can be safe for a lot of people, but anyone reading who has low blood pressure or occasional bouts of lightheadedness after standing should stay away from it or only take the smallest possible amount with a doctor following your supplementing.

 

[coolcat]

Tigger...you should to keep on eye over "meowmy" she need to rest as well!...

don´t disturb her and let she take a big rest!..

..

sorry kim I couldn´t resist the joke!..

.....for work the pills and you can rest today well!...

 

[kluchetta]

Originally Posted by strange_wings

I'm glad you got something to try to help this. I hope it works.

And please do look into circadian rhythm and lighting. This is what tells your body what to do and when to do it, including how long to stay asleep and healing. It may very well be that you need stronger supplemental lighting during certain parts of the day to get your body on track to producing the right amounts of melatonin for you and at the right times.

That's really kind of interesting because I seem to be able to fall asleep much easier during the day than at night. ??? weird.

 

[abbycats]

Originally Posted by strange_wings

Skelaxin has never done anything for me. I can take them and still have bad muscle spasms. DH had no luck with them for his back, either. I still have some flexeril, but rarely take them. How can you not be groggy? The drug has an 18 hour half life. If, say, I took one right now at 9pm I'll still feel the side effects of it (that grogginess and effect on blood pressure) till tomorrow afternoon! - A bit of caution to any who consider taking it and don't want to be completely knocked on their butt from it.

But I'm sure it's effect on norepinephrine could be what causes a more exaggerated effect on me now as I used to be able to take it without it hitting me quite so strongly.
No idea about Soma, never tried that one and don't feel like bothering with muscle relaxers anymore (too much trouble for too little benefit).

I have a prescription for flexeril and they don't help my neck problems or make me groggy. The only thing that puts me to sleep when I have insomnia is ambien. You can get dependant on ambien real quick also.

 

[strange_wings]

^I'm sorry they don't help your neck. Nothing helps mine either, it's just to the point that the muscles are constantly tight and nothing can change that.
Everyone is different on how sensitive to meds they are. I'm sensitive to several already, yet things like painkillers only have the effect of making me vomit now - no pain relief, no sleepy or loopy-ness, etc. Overall, though, drowsiness is the most reported side effect of flexeril - DH has taken a few of mine in the past and they put him to sleep roughly 30-40 minutes after taking one.

Originally Posted by kluchetta

That's really kind of interesting because I seem to be able to fall asleep much easier during the day than at night. ??? weird.

Probably a combination of not getting enough sleep to begin with and your circadian rhythm being off.

As I mentioned earlier, mine is delayed. I get sleepy at 1:30am (give or take a few minutes) every night. Even when I was a child I had this problem, but than so does my mother so that never helped.

And yes, I can easily nap during the day,too. But trying to nap after 6pm doesn't work. Though my sleep schedule is messed up, I can get hours of uninterrupted sleep (if allowed) so I don't consider it a problem for me.

If you can't get to sleep and stay asleep, whenever, then yes, that's insomnia and an issue. Again that you can get some decent sleep!