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Sleep Aids, Anyone?

I think I'm going to have to ask for an Rx for a sleep aid. I used to have good luck with Benadryl and Tylenol, but that isn't working any more.
Does any one else deal with insomnia? What do you do?

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Susan LaCroix on March 21, 2009 at 6:54pm

My husband and I are both insomniacs! We've had the luck with valium, xanax and trazadone. Unfortunately, it's a pain in the ass to convince your doctor to prescribe the first two. Trazadone seems to work for me but my husband seems to do better with the valium. It's such a shame that most family doctors don't seem to think that insomnia is serious enough to warrent treatment, unless they're pushing the expensive stuff, like Lunesta or Ambien. have you tried cutting caffeine out of your diet and exercising a bit each day? That's the first thing they tell you to do. Oh yeah, and you're supposed to relax and not worry too much! UGH:(

Permalink Reply by Cheryl on March 27, 2009 at 10:35pm

The link below is to herbal sleep remedies. I have never tried any of these. It might be worth looking into instead of taking a Rx sleeping aid. I know that some anti-depressants like desyrel are prescribed for sleep.
http://ezinearticles.com/?A-Guide-to-Herbal-Sleep-Aids&id=52704

Permalink Reply by Gecko, Seth...brother of Richie! on June 19, 2009 at 1:40am

Benadryl, and Valium. If I take benadryl on a regular basis it stops having the desired effect, so I have to make do with out it. Valium of course requires a prescription esp. for me cause I gotta take the pee pee test.

Permalink Reply by Susan LaCroix on June 19, 2009 at 6:23am

If I had known you were still up at 2:30 in the morning I would've joined you for a chat, since I've been up all night! It's now almost 7:30 and I'm still not sleepy . . . this sucks. I haven't had a decent night's sleep in over a week and it's making me feel awful, sick, achy. If I knew what to tell you right now, I'd be sleeping. Nothing is working. sooner or later I'll crash, it always happens eventually. Hopefully today :-) Good luck, hope you got some sleep!

Permalink Reply by NamelessGenXer on June 19, 2009 at 6:27am

Non-narcotic option... I listen to Books on CD. Something about the constant cadence of the readers - almost a monotone - lulls me to sleep.

Permalink Reply by Kitty on June 21, 2009 at 11:11am

Melatonin is a beautiful aid. Every friend I know of who has used it says it works.

I use meditative music to fall asleep whenever I have trouble. That way, even if I cannot sleep all the way, my body is getting the rest I need and my mind is refreshed.

Permalink Reply by Brad Feaker on June 22, 2009 at 8:30pm

If you do go for an RX, the least addicting seems to be Lunesta. Info here. But all sleep aids carry the risk of rebound insomnia and/or addiction. Just follow your doctor's orders. I feel your pain - I only average about 3-5 hours of sleep a night in a good week.

Permalink Reply by Susan LaCroix on June 23, 2009 at 3:22pm

Thanks everyone, for all of the recommendations. I've recently discovered that using my mp3 player at night helps. At least if I'm not sleeping I'm listening to good music! If it does work, music brings back good memories and I dream about them. I'll probably never be a "good sleeper", but even a little is better than none :-) Besides, who'd recognize me without the dark circles under my eyes!

Permalink Reply by HotMess on June 23, 2009 at 4:53pm

Has anyone tried white noise or sound machines?

Permalink Reply by Paul Tidroski on June 27, 2009 at 9:55pm

There is a free download for the iPod called White Noise and I've had pretty good results with it.

Permalink Reply by It's just Matt on June 23, 2009 at 5:44pm

Excuse me for not meeting the requirements of the group, but I did not see anyone post about sleeping patterns yet.

SCHEDULE! SCHEDULE! SCHEDULE!

That is the most important part about sleeping, scheduling a time to sleep and sticking with it. Whether you sleep for 2 hours or 10 hours a day, it needs to be the same amount of time and preferably the same exact time each day.

I tried Polyphasic(Uberman) sleep patterns but it is very difficult to change to and most of the working world is not accomadating to a 20 minute nap every 3 hours and 40 minutes.

See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polyphasic_sleep and http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2005/10/polyphasic-sleep/

There is also a less strict sleeping pattern (biphasic) where you have a 5 hour core sleep and 2-3,20-30 mintues naps during the day.

My mother,who does have qualifications for this group, recently went back to a doctor as she has had sleeping problems for over 10 years. She has been prescribed Ambien for the past 6 years and that is been her primary means of sleeping. Much to my surprise, she said the physician was familiar with polyphasic sleeping and its benefits. She, of course, confirmed that a set schedule for when you sleep is essential and vitally necessary.

I have read cases where polyphasic sleeping has diminished and even cured insomnia for some people. It is, as previously stated, very strict as you can not miss a nap and employers and children may not be so understanding that you must sleep for 20 minutes or be a zombie for a few days.

Permalink Reply by HotMess on June 23, 2009 at 10:07pm

Welcome to the group, young man!
Interestingly, I seem to make about 5 hr.s before I wake up and can't get back to sleep, then I'm up for 1 - 2 hours, tired the whole time, before I can drift back off to sleep. The second phase seems to be when I dream the most ... then I have to get up and take care of the kids before I'm rested.
It's an interesting approach if you don't have other responsibilities to work around.