Derek1987 Posted March 8, 2019 Report Share Posted March 8, 2019 I take Xanax to help me sleep(or just general anxiety during the day) but it never gives me a deep good sleep. And that's 2mg. I woke up after 4 hours even though I'm exhausted. I went to 3 different places today and I feel I'll, exhausted, and major hand tingling for some reason. How do you manage to get good sleep? I'm so tired and my body won't calm down enough to sleep. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RecipeForDisaster Posted March 8, 2019 Report Share Posted March 8, 2019 If it wasn't for metoprolol helping to calm down my heart, I wouldn't sleep. I add theanine, or Benadryl if it's a really bad night, or melatonin if I haven't gotten outdoors. I still don't sleep very well but these help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
p8d Posted March 8, 2019 Report Share Posted March 8, 2019 An alpha blocker, gabapentin and mitrazapine are the only things that help me and even then it’s iffy. I do tend to sleep better on days I do aerobic exercise but not always. My meds were trial and error (every sleeping pill/antihistamine etc) and the gaba is for SFN it just happens to help. My neurologist will not let me take benzos or opioids, she says they make dys worse. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
haugr Posted March 8, 2019 Report Share Posted March 8, 2019 Clonidine FTW! That stuff is known to make you sleepy and suppress the release of adrenaline. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RecipeForDisaster Posted March 8, 2019 Report Share Posted March 8, 2019 Oh yes exercise is very helpful. I have several doctors who have said they'd love to try clonidine, but my hypotension precludes it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jklass44 Posted March 8, 2019 Report Share Posted March 8, 2019 4 hours ago, haugr said: Clonidine FTW! That stuff is known to make you sleepy and suppress the release of adrenaline. I was cautioned about this too when I first started on Clonidine but it has the opposite effect on me - I can fall asleep pretty easily after taking it but I’m woken every 2ish hours during the night like clockwork!! I don’t think it’s doing it’s job anymore lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimL Posted March 9, 2019 Report Share Posted March 9, 2019 Do you have sleep apnea at all? I used to take benedryl when I couldn't get to sleep. Now I fall asleep pretty easily. Thing for me is not to try to go to sleep too early unless I am really tired. It's like I can't tell myself to sleep, but if I try to stay up past 10, I go to sleep. It's like reverse psychology. My problem is staying asleep. I tend to wake up at 3am for no reason and then it takes an hour or more to get back to sleep. I use a CPAP too. Before that, I would start to nod off when driving in the afternoon. Not good. CPAP cured that tired feeling during the day, but I haven't gotten 8 hours straight in a long time. Years maybe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RecipeForDisaster Posted March 9, 2019 Report Share Posted March 9, 2019 I've been using CPAP for about 7 years. I was hoping it was the cure for all of my ills. I didn't have a clue what else was wrong with me... it has helped some issues but certainly not all of them. Still, I need it. I sleep ridiculously lightly which drives me nuts. I get a little hot or cold, there's a tiny sound or vibration, and not only am I awake, my heart is pounding and won't let up... so I'm awake for a long time. I'd recommend that anyone with a suspicion of sleep apnea get the simple at home sleep test done, at least. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StayAtHomeMom Posted March 9, 2019 Report Share Posted March 9, 2019 I agree with a previous post about the metoprolol and melatonin. I also listen to audio books to help me sleep. Someone with a soothing voice. My son is currently going through the same thing. Just make sure you are going to bed and getting up about the same time. Your body should eventually get used to it. A fan might help too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek1987 Posted March 9, 2019 Author Report Share Posted March 9, 2019 11 hours ago, JimL said: Do you have sleep apnea at all? I used to take benedryl when I couldn't get to sleep. Now I fall asleep pretty easily. Thing for me is not to try to go to sleep too early unless I am really tired. It's like I can't tell myself to sleep, but if I try to stay up past 10, I go to sleep. It's like reverse psychology. My problem is staying asleep. I tend to wake up at 3am for no reason and then it takes an hour or more to get back to sleep. I use a CPAP too. Before that, I would start to nod off when driving in the afternoon. Not good. CPAP cured that tired feeling during the day, but I haven't gotten 8 hours straight in a long time. Years maybe. I took a sleep apnea test after my last day at work. So probably October 2018 or somewhere. They said I didn't have it. Although I know I can't sleep on my back. I can't breathe on my back. But yeah they said I didn't have it. I've taken benadryl for years to sleep. Even though I I am exhausted, I still need something to make me sleep. I guess now I know why. The adrenaline problems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pistol Posted March 10, 2019 Report Share Posted March 10, 2019 When I was the most unstable I also could not sleep more than 3 hours in a stretch b/c the adrenaline level did not go down to cause REM sleep. Once I found a more balanced way of life through meds, exercise and rest periods I now sleep well most nights. The nights I do not sleep well - mostly due to overdoing things during the day - I use Benadryl or Ativan and this seems to help well. You mentioned in another post that you are mostly bedridden - core exercises before bed ( lying down ) help really well, also leg exercises. They also help with training the larger muscles necessary to help balancing the cardio-vascular system. Bedrest will make EVERYTHING worse, including the ability to find restful sleep. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CallieAndToby Posted March 10, 2019 Report Share Posted March 10, 2019 On 3/8/2019 at 3:47 AM, Derek1987 said: I take Xanax to help me sleep(or just general anxiety during the day) but it never gives me a deep good sleep. And that's 2mg. I woke up after 4 hours even though I'm exhausted. I went to 3 different places today and I feel I'll, exhausted, and major hand tingling for some reason. How do you manage to get good sleep? I'm so tired and my body won't calm down enough to sleep. Well I used to just take xanax and it only gave me like an hour of sleep. Don't let them put you on an anti psychotic that causes weight gain, zyprexa helped me but caused like 100 lbs weight gain most of which I have lost now. I take klonopin, and I take melatonin, and I take a high dose of trazadone. Trazadone doesn't really have many side effects and it's one of the few drugs that gives people stage 4 sleep. Basically I take a bunch of pills but those are the most helpful. Oh and I take bystolic which helped tremendously with my heart rate, it's a beta blocker. In my sleep study I have tachycardia IN MY SLEEP. So this awesome pots doctors put me on bystolic and that fixed the problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lily Posted March 12, 2019 Report Share Posted March 12, 2019 Here are some of the things I do to help me sleep. I do not do all of these every day, but some of them are routine. Slow deep breathing, a shower before bed, avoid or block blue light frequencies about an hour before bed, no internet surfing in bed, relaxing music, pray a rosary, make up a plotline for a novel and work on the details (or some other all-consuming but completely unnecessary thinking task). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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