Insomnia! Ugh!

[ItDontMeanAThing]

Here's a link that references a recent study.

Over-the-counter sleep aids linked to dementia - Medical News Today

Ha

Ouch. Chlorpheniramine, the only antihistamine that works for me but doesn't make me drowsy, is on the list. I'm allergic to many things, so for the last 25 years I've taken one most mornings and sometimes 4 a day. The study found 1 pill a day for 3 years increased the risk of dementia. So it goes.

 

[W2R]

I have taken no sleep medications at all, ever, prescription or OTC, during my first 67.5 years of life. Instead, I put some serious effort into doing everything else I can do to sleep better. Also I have begun to accept that maybe at my age I don't need 8 hours every single night any more. I doubt I will ever resort to sleep medications though, since I wonder if they do more harm than good.

(edited to add: OK, OK, years ago when I used to drink alcohol I would sometimes use a glass of wine to put me to sleep but that's as far as I have ever gone or ever will go. And once or twice tried "Sleepytime" herbal tea but that does almost nothing as far as I could tell.)

I suspect (but do not know) that the manufacturers of these sleep medications do sleep better themselves after counting all the huge stacks of money they made from them. Wouldn't you? (see below, image for illustrative purposes only)

 

[Car-Guy]

(edited to add: OK, OK, years ago when I used to drink alcohol I would sometimes use

Now that gives me a new sleep aid idea.

(see below, image for illustrative purposes only)

Look closely (zoom in) on that picture... Either a good Photoshop job or counterfeits... Looks like most (maybe all) of the serial numbers that can be seen are the same.

 

[W2R]

Now that gives me a new sleep aid idea.



Look closely (zoom in) on that picture... Either a good Photoshop job or counterfeits... Looks like most (maybe all) of the serial numbers that can be seen are the same.

Oops! It's just a random photograph from a Google images search on "piles of money" or something like that. I should have looked at it more closely. But, you get the idea...

 

[Car-Guy]

Oops! It's just a random photograph from a Google images search on "piles of money" or something like that. I should have looked at it more closely. But, you get the idea...

At first, I thought that was a picture of your petty cash.

 

[W2R]

At first, I thought that was a picture of your petty cash.

I could wish!

 

[cyber888]

Exercise vigorously in the late afternoon till you are exhausted and dead tired.
Don't drink caffeine. Take melatonin big dose. You have to be exhausted by 7 pm thru exercise. You'll sleep soundly after being dead dead tired from exercise.

 

[Moscyn]

As someone who has experienced varying degrees of insomnia for over 30 years, I just reassure myself each time an attack comes that I am not alone. Many people have the same problem and I don't have to panic. Sleep will eventually come. In the meantime I just do everything from yoga, exercise, counting sheep, valerian........ to Xanax to give nature a helping hand.


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[davismills]

I have my bouts of sleeplessness during the full moon phase.

 

[Turn_the_Page]

DW and I both suffer from moderate insomnia. For her (she's post-menopausal), she takes Ambien daily and Sonata as needed. She's a night owl and does not go to bed with me anymore. She stays up until she's sleepy and many nights sleeps for quite awhile in her chair before she moves to bed. This is often after 1 am.

For me, I can go to bed at 9:30 and sleep like the dickens until 3 or 3:30. Then it's a toss-up re - further sleep. As I'm still working, this really doesn't do. I'll be seriously dragging after 2-3 days of being up at 3 am. I take half a doxylamine succinate daily. I might take a full one once a month. I also take the Sonata as needed. It's great, puts you to sleep for maybe two hours. It is Rx. I try not to take more than 1 -2 a week.

Cutting back on the liquor helps. Staying active/exercise helps also. Getting out of bed and doing something instead of laying there does help, but I find it nearly impossible to do.

 

[iac1003]

Here I am up at 1:30 a.m., not unusual. At least I don't need to get up early for w*rk any more. Nothing really works for me for long.

Many years ago when I was in psychoanalytic training (which btw I did not finish) and the required psychoanalysis, I realized the treatment would not cure my insomnia but it did cure my fear of having insomnia. It wasn't going to kill me so I've learned to live with it.


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[David1961]

A question for the folks who take Ambient every day. How long have you been doing this? Do you find that you have to increase the dosage for it to work? I have heard it can be very addicting.

 

[Helen]

Ambien worked very well for me the first few times I used it, then it just quit working.

I have had insomnia since starting into menopause - probably about a decade. The only thing that worked for me was Xanax, but it is highly addictive.

Recently Oregon legalized pot for recreational use so I went to a dispensary and asked for a strain that might help me sleep. Wow, I've been sleeping like a baby for several months now.

 

[travelover]

Series of articles on insomnia in the new Consumer Reports. Discusses everything from drugs to pillows. No magic bullets.

 

[Earl E Retyre]

A question for the folks who take Ambient every day. How long have you been doing this? Do you find that you have to increase the dosage for it to work? I have heard it can be very addicting.

Been taking Ambien for over 15 years ... and have not had to increase dosage for it to work. I actually cut the 10 mg pill in half. Many nights I sleep only 5 hours but it is better than nothing. Some nights I will take both halves. On occasion no halves.

 

[MRG]

A question for the folks who take Ambient every day. How long have you been doing this? Do you find that you have to increase the dosage for it to work? I have heard it can be very addicting.

I was on 10mg daily for 7 years. I never had to increase, till it stopped working. Then it was hell, didn't sleep for a couple months, really bad time. I'll never take that med again.

My doc didn't really know that I had managed to get off the stuff, or how miserable I had been. He innocently asked if I needed a new script. I mentioned not sleeping for a couple of months, no thanks.

 

[bmcgonig]

Ambien worked very well for me the first few times I used it, then it just quit working.

I have had insomnia since starting into menopause - probably about a decade. The only thing that worked for me was Xanax, but it is highly addictive.

Recently Oregon legalized pot for recreational use so I went to a dispensary and asked for a strain that might help me sleep. Wow, I've been sleeping like a baby for several months now.

What's the strain?


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[audreyh1]

A bad head cold will make your night sleepless. And then DH gets it and keeps me up all night with his coughing!

 

[irishgal]

I tried 3mg of melatonin last night and had horrible violent nightmares that were so unsettling I had to turn on lights for an hour.

Read today that some people have this side effect, which is pretty fascinating.

Won't try that again!


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[Earl E Retyre]

I tried 3mg of melatonin last night and had horrible violent nightmares that were so unsettling I had to turn on lights for an hour.

Read today that some people have this side effect, which is pretty fascinating.

Won't try that again!


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I have tried Melatonin before and it did absolutely nothing for me ... I guess everyone is different.

 

[Bamaman]

We give melatonin to the grand kids, and they sleep like babies. It works well. Some people do well with Tylenol PM.

Xanex and Ambien are products of the devil.

My father had just taken an Ambien when someone rang his doorbell and he jumped out of bed to answer the door. He fell and had a broken hip--never to come out of the hospital. It's a very habit forming drug.

I just try to work hard around the house, and I don't have any problems sleeping well on my CPAP.

 

[34rlsa]

What's the strain?


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I would like to know the strain as well.

Do you smoke it, vape or is it an edible?

 

[redduck]

I tried 3mg of melatonin last night and had horrible violent nightmares that were so unsettling I had to turn on lights for an hour. ...

...IMO the inland areas are an armpit, and I've known a few people who moved to Riverside or San Bernardino counties thinking they would be better than the east coast cold- only to bail out a couple of years later back to their previous location.
But- some people still love living there and swear they will never leave despite the traffic, crowding, taxes etc.

Were you dreaming that you were living in Riverside?

 

[Helen]

I would like to know the strain as well.

Do you smoke it, vape or is it an edible?

I have a variety of strains, I stocked up before the state added the 25% tax. I just had the bud tenders recommend strains that would help me sleep. My favorite so far is raspberry kush.

I infused pot in coconut oil then add it to my tea. I used shake for that. To smoke it I use bud.

 

[eytonxav]

I just try to work hard around the house, and I don't have any problems sleeping well on my CPAP.

+1 I don't have a problem sleeping, but DW does. Seems to me that exercise and staying away from electronic devices for a few hours before bedtime would be better than taking a pill.