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Lunesta


Sunfish

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hello all -

time for the lunesta report. i was going to wait for tomorrow since i wanted to actually take the lunesta & get to sleep but realized that i forgot to take my antibiotic tonight so have to wait out the food/ no food med combos for a bit longer. ggggrrrrrrrrrr.

i'm not quite sure what to think about my lunesta trials as of yet. nothing horrible. and nothing great either. i've taken it for 3 nights and so far each has been different. here's the rundown:

in general, so far i've fallen asleep more quickly after taking the lunesta. good but not completely definitive b/c i don't always have problems falling asleep. it's generally about half of the time; i'm thinking that since i've been wiped out fighting infection though this could be helping with the quicker to sleep thing too. so...i don't know whether to give the new med credit or not. i'll give it the benefit of the doubt as this seems to be the only area of consistency.

as for the specifics...

wed night: bed/asleep 11:45pm-12am (doc didn't leave the house until 11:30!) slept straight until 7:15am (thought i'd found a miracle drug!). took morning meds but instead of "normal" 30-60min sleep waiting for them to kick in i slept until almost 10.

thursday: tired but not more than i had been. not any more "refreshed" though as one would think after getting "better" sleep than i had in months. okay though & chalking it up to my body fighting off the kidney infection mess...

thurs night: bed/asleep 11:15-11:30pm. woke up around 2:30am but not for long, then again around 7:30am, took AM meds, again out like a log until almost 10. i'm starting to think that i need a lower dose of the med??

friday: still more drowsy during the day...of course not knowing why b/c there are too many variables at play...but really wondering about that lower dose...

fri night: bed at 9:30-9:45pm (told you i was drowsy!) thinking that if i go to sleep earlier i'll wake up earlier & need ot do so big-time with orientation starting on tuesday. woke up around 10:45pm & 3 or 4 other times, twice it taking me over an hour to fall back asleep (although all the while feeling super sleepy/relaxed). in the end got up for the day around 9:30am....so while i wasn't sleeping the entire time, i was in bed a good 12 hours. ggggggrrrrrrrrrrr.

sat night: remains to be seen...i'll be pill-popping momentarily...

okay....any thoughts? before last night i was going to ask for a smaller dose. but then last night i woke up every few hours yet again. and my doc explained to me that the larger doses are what makes it last throughout the night.....but i may still be on the drowsy side today too. again, not knowing how much that's the lunesta and how much is my body recouping.

i've read the previous posts on lunesta but there isn't much...mostly that folks were going to try it....i think only one person who actually had when earlier discussions were had....

also, this is my first sleep med other than a few nights trying melatonin (which my doc wasn't too keen on my keeping playing with just b/c it's so unregulated). so...any wisdom is welcomed.

i'll email my doc this coming week to get her thoughts...i think she'll be disappointed as it's worked wonders for others she's given it to and thought it would for me....even brough it over to my house for me...i almost feel badly, like i didn't react right. totally silly i know...i just wish i could give her a stunning report!

i haven't thrown in the towel with it yet...will probably give it until school starts at least....

let night number 4 begin...

:-)melissa

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night number four (saturday night) report: it took about 30min to fall asleep, slept from 12:30am to about 9:20am with wake-ups at 2-something, 5-something, 7-something. not able to get up until around 10:30. still feeling really run over/ weak physically. i think that may have been the last night of the trial....gggggrrrrrrr.

Edited by Sunfish
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Hey Melissa!

Sorry I've been MIA for a few days. Just wanted to say I'm sorry you're having trouble sleeping. I'm glad you got your infection diagnosed, though.

It's so hard trying to determine if a new medication is working or not. I had similar problems recently with sleeping. Had terrible insomnia for 2 weeks. Dr. decided to increase my beta blocker to help. I've definitely been sleeping more since she did that, but not sure if it's the medicine or because of pure exhaustion! So, here's to hoping you find the right combo. I think no matter what, you'll feel better once you get rid of that infection! Glad you have a good doc!

Hope we get to talk soon!

Kristen

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I'm MIA too...with my not sleeping...but wanted to reply about the Luesta.

I started taking it on Thursday...so have taken it three times. I am taking the 1 mg tablets. What dose are you taking? I didn't know the thing about the larger doses lasting longer/better through the night. I may have to look into that.

The first couple of nights I had dizziness at night from it and trouble getting up to pee big time (more than usual) and was hung over and dopey and woozy. But, that does seem to be better today.

Melissa, I sooooo know you are not going to like what I am going to say, but after many months of not sleeping and also fighting an infection I wouldn't expect that after that first night of restful sleep that you would wake up feeling 'refreshed'...I know that isn't what you want to hear. Sorry.

I know for me that if my body finally succumbs to sleep (which is rare) sometimes I will just sleep and sleep. Before POTS, when I had any sort of bug or infection, I simply slept it off for several days. This infection is wreaking havoc with your body, and you need extra rest to heal as well as deal with the antibiotics. For me, 12 hours a night is par for the course withOUT an added infection. Sooo, please be gentle on yourself.

I don't know if the Lunesta is making you more tired or not...you will have to judge that. But, I do know your body may need this much rest, and the Lunesta may just be letting your body relax enough to get this rest and heal. It's a shot.

And, if I sound grumpy...I am...and I am sorry...hopefully I haven't put my foot in my mouth too badly!

Honestly, I am not getting nearly the mileage you are out of the Lunesta....I am still awake quite a bit on it and have yet to sleep more than 2 hours or maybe 3 in a stretch. I have to admit I envied your long nights of rest even with the frequent wakings you had.

For me though, at least with the Lunesta I am fairly restful during the night. So, it's an improvement I will take until I can get in touch with my POTS doc. I honestly was soooo desperate for any improvment. After 3 weeks off of the Ambien, I was sitll literally lying awake all night long in pain all over (felt like my nerves were on fire and didn't want anything touching me, and trigger points all over me, especially in the hips and buttocks) I thought I would lose my emotionally sanity if I did not take the Lunesta.

Well, I haven't regained my sanity quite yet...which is why I've been away so much. I see why they use no sleep as a form of torture. But, really guys, I have NO SECRETS THE CIA NEEDS TO HEAR! So, let me sleep already!

I guess ultimately you have to decide if the side effects of waiting it out are bearable or not. If the extra rest is a good thing. If a lower dose might be worth a shot. If this is better/worse than how you were feeling/sleeping before you started the Lunesta.

Okay, off for dinner....

Hope you get an answer from your doc too....I will let you know what I do also and we can navigate this sleep thing together! UGH!

Please give your body the time it needs to heal before orientation and classes....

Later Alligator,

Emily

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Melissa, If you are going to stop the Lunesta, you might want to give it a try again at another time when your infection is cleared and you are off the antibiotics. The infection can really change your sleep patterns and you might not be getting an unbiased result from your trial at this time. The antibiotics can knock the socks off you too, so it would be more difficult to tell if the run over/weak feeling is from that or from the Lunesta. Must be hard, as I'm sure you'd like to be back at your "normal" baseline for the start of school. Try not to stress TOO much about everything... you'll get through it and you'll be feeling much better soon. Usually after about 4 days on antibiotics you'll start to feel alot better too, so hang in there! If you've decided to continue the trial, you might do well to lower the dose for a bit to see if that helps any. Take good care! Laura

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melissa,

hey girl! thanks for saying it wasn't 'caving in' to get the meds. i just saw that in your other thread...i had missed it earlier. yeah, i'm worried about me too! my mom doesn't like the gray shade i am. i mean, i'm always pale, but you know...

i'm worried about me too b/c i am such a grumpola and that is not like me. so forgive me in advance for grumping. that is sort of why i haven't been posting too...b/c i'm so grumpy! but also b/c i can't function!

i emailed my POTS doc tonight, so we will see what i hear...i hope to figure out something for sleep soon...as this is ridiculous!

hope you sleep too and heal up girl! :P i do hope that this isn't the first of a series of infections. it is a minor miracle that you haven't had an infection before now, as i had one after my stay at l'hopital after the GB surgery and the incompetent nurses cathing me there...

oh, our bodies, sometimes....

okay, later alligator!

trying for sleep now...

em

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Emily,

I hope you and Melissa are asleep right now. But if not: what on earth are you doing with your foot in your mouth???????? Guess it's an idiom????????

Wishing you girls a good nights sleep! I'm up already (8.40am) because my housekeeper is coming in 20 minutes! Isn't it strange that you're sleeping (I hope) while my house is getting cleaned??? :P

Corina

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corina,

it's cleaning day here for us too...although...i should be asleep right now...but am not so lucky!

instead, i got to see your bright spirit on potsplace! yeah! can't wait to hear your updates....and...

yes, 'putting your foot in your mouth' or 'i put my foot in my mouth' is an idiom! can you figure it out???? :P

melissa,

what's your report on sleep????? :D

mine's not so good. aaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrrrgggggggggggggghhhhhhhhhh!

emily

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it surely is hard to figure out if a med is working or not....that's one thing - as intense as it was - that was beneficial about the drug trials for me at vanderbilt. obviously there could have been internal differences going on with me, but at least the externals were a bit more controlled....

i need to be able to make myself into a controlled test tube experiment when i try a new med to figure out what's what!

that said, sorry for my delayed getting back to the responses/questions...i have several reasons but no good excuse :)

i stopped the lunesta after night 4. i just couldn't risk being completely drugged or unable to drive or even get out of bed for the start of school activities. of course not sleeping isn't too grand, but it's not like i was awakening more refreshed with the med....

em, while i know i was probably expecting a bit too much in being refreshed after so long without good sleep, i guess i didn't think i'd feel more drowsy/ less refreshed, ya know?

the last 2 nights without my little blue pill though made me realize the benefits of it. such as not laying in bed staring at the ceiling, counting sheep, twiddling my thumbs, etc. for hours on end. with the lunesta the falling asleep was SO much better & when i did wake up i was too drugged to care much. :P so, yep, em...i've had the same experience of a more "restful" - if not sleepful - night. it sounds like our experiences with it have actually been somewhat similar...since i'm on a larger dose it makes sense that mine was lasting longer/stronger, but in terms of the restful vs. actual sleep it sounds like our bodies reacted in the same general ballpark...

i emailed my doc (i LOVE docs who email!!) & she said i can try to split the pill. oh yeah...i never said, but i was taking 3mg. pretty unusual for me to start on a higher/"normal" dose of something, but it was the sample she had, i didn't question it (as i normally would have more), and like i said before she had explained to me that the higher dose might be more likely to help throughout the night. no harm done though. and i really do trust/like this doc (in case i haven't said that enough already ;) ) i emailed her yesterday & she replied saying i can try half a pill. i think i'd misunderstood that the lunesta was extended release (b/c of it's longer effect) so didn't think i could split it...but yippee i was wrong:-) so tonight - as risky as it may be with having orientation tomorrow morning - i'm going to try the half pill. she said we could try ambien otherwise but said it might not do me much good with the frequent awakenings. said we might have to bring out the big hitters for that (benzos), which i'm really not game for at the moment. so...hopefully the 1.5mg will be magic for me. i can hope, no?

and nope, i'm still not writing off the fact that my body may have been or still be a bit out of it b/c of the infection. but of course i'm also thinking that some good sleep wouldn't hurt in getting the last of it out of me! so, laura, like you suggested, while i'm still going to play around a bit now, i may do the more unbiased trial a bit later...i'm just impatient after putting off the sleep meds for so long...like i finally said ok so now want autonomatic success! unrealistic, i know, but i think that's where some of my mindset is coming from. you're right though that day #4 was the "magic day" in terms of feeling better infection-wise, which is exactly what my doc had told me too. i'm not 100%, but TONS better, so i'm able to wheel to orientation at least rather than crawl!

and yep, em, i can't even think about the possibility of this being the start of more to come...so i'm not even going there. this is my first kidney issue but i too had infections after hospital stays when i had foleys in, so i haven't totally escaped the UTI fun. just haven't had them when i've actually been self-cathing. go me:-) i'm a bit weary though b/c i'll have to be more creative/ aware of cleanliness issues with school & the like, aka there's no way i'll be able to cath at home as much as i have been the last number of months which is always a less-risky environment infection-wise. ok...i'm totally off-topic now so may post about this separately later on, but i'm also wondering if my swimming could have invited infection at all? i changed immediately afterward but still....it was a change in my routine right before i caught the bug.

thanks so much for all of your support & advice gals...

and em...i think you are very much NOT grumpy considering all the sleep issues. mine are driving me nuts & they're probably about a tenth of what you're dealing with.

figured out the foot in mouth phrase yet corina??? hope you're enjoying your clean house! think your housekeeper might want to stop over at my apartment??

that's all for now folks...

i'm going to try for sleep - with my half pill - early tonight as i have to be at school at 8:30...eeks!

B) melissa

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