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        New Message Board Archives >> 2005 General Board Posts >> A good night :)
        
(Message started by: Lizzie2 on Aug 27^th, 2005, 8:33am)

Title: A good night :)
Post by Lizzie2 on Aug 27^th, 2005, 8:33am

So...the beast has been knocking on my door - a LOT lately. 6 times a night or so...allowing for very little sleep and a hard time even keeping things half-straight at work! My mom and my PT both have said I look absolutely exhausted some nights when I get home - hair all a mess, eyes bloodshot and watery, formula stains all in my clothes, LOL

Yesterday I worked 7-3 (well really left more like 4, but that's okay) - by the end of the day, I was chatting with Lisa and couldn't even remember the word "scattered" for use with "thundershowers." So I just replaced it with..."you know - on and off thunderstorms." Lisa looked at me and just laughed.

I came home and fell asleep on the couch at 5:45- slept straight through dinner and everything - until about 1am. Was up for maybe an hour and a half - and slept straight until my mom phoned me at 9am. No hits since 3 I had during the day yesterday before ever falling asleep! Woohoo!!

I think it was time for a good long sleep! I'm just so glad that I finally had some decent, uninterrupted sleep where the beast didn't show up. Woot.

Just had to share!

Carrie :)

Title: Re: A good night :)
Post by Kim Y. on Aug 27^th, 2005, 8:39am

Lizzie2 [smiley=hug.gif]

Sorry the beast is being such a butt these days. Am glad that you got some much needed sleep though.

Your in my thoughts and prayers....Kim [smiley=hug.gif]

Title: Re: A good night :)
Post by pattik on Aug 27^th, 2005, 8:49am

Lizzie, Congrats on the good night's sleep. I have frequent sleep problems, and there is nothing better for you than finally catching up. It may or may not help fight the beast, but it sure lifts the spirits. ;;D patti

Title: Re: A good night :)
Post by Lizzie2 on Aug 27^th, 2005, 9:18am

Patti-

Always makes me feel like I have maybe 2 extra ounces of energy to fight the beast that I didn't have before, ya know? Good feeling! :)

I hate sleep problems! Have you found anything that helps you? I'm about to switch shifts in a couple of weeks which is going to make sleep interesting yet again!

Carrie :)

Title: Re: A good night :)
Post by pattik on Aug 27^th, 2005, 9:38am

on 08/27/05 at 09:18:51, Lizzie2 wrote:

Have you found anything that helps you? I'm about to switch shifts in a couple of weeks which is going to make sleep interesting yet again!

Carrie :)

Melatonin works about 75% of the time for me. Since its my pattern to awaken in the middle of the night, the time released version is what I use. I also have quite a bit of luck with benedryl. I can count on it to always make me sleepy for 4-5 hours, and it also helps if I'm having nighttime allergy issues. I only pull out the hard stuff (alprazolam) when I've gone several nights in a row with little sleep. Hope this helps a little.
[smiley=hug.gif]

Title: Re: A good night :)
Post by Lizzie2 on Aug 27^th, 2005, 9:46am

Thanks for the tips! Melatonin unfortunately didn't help me, and I'm anaphylactically (sp?) allergic to benedryl! Go figure...benedryl is supposed to fight allergies - if I take it, I have such a quick allergic reaction that it wouldn't take long to die. haha (Good thing both times I had this reaction, I was already in the hospital!)

I take lorazepam nightly for RLS, and that does seem to help. Plus the singulair - had to go off it for the time being because of difficulty getting in to see the ENT, but that stuff knocked me out!

I fall asleep much more easily now that I work long hours, so I guess my biggest problem with sleep these days is the beast!

The other problem is that the singulair makes me too tired and then I have problems waking up at 5 to get ready for work! Will get it figured out one of these days.... ;)

Title: Re: A good night :)
Post by pattik on Aug 27^th, 2005, 9:52am

I know that I can have a hangover from antihistamines, so sometimes its a necessary evil. You might want to give melatonin another chance. Since it's herbal, you might need to take it for a few nights before you see any results. That was the case for me. Otherwise, my only advice would be to refrain from caffein for at least six hours before you need to go to sleep. :-/ good luck. Patti

Title: Re: A good night :)
Post by Mike_F on Aug 27^th, 2005, 6:20pm

I know the feeling. Sometimes I go all day without a single hit only to get slammed the minute my head hits the pillow. Those rare nights of six hours uninterrupted are like precious gems.

Title: Re: A good night :)
Post by Sean_C on Aug 27^th, 2005, 8:33pm

Bigtime vibes coming your way Carrie, hopefully he'll let you get some well deserved sleep.

Hang tough

Sean................................

Title: Re: A good night :)
Post by mcf69 on Aug 28^th, 2005, 9:51pm

There is nothing in the world that feels better than a good night's sleep (well maybe some other things). Have you tried Lunestra yet?, I got some samples and it worked wonders for me, a whole lot better than ambien in my book. Glad you got some good rest.......

Title: Re: A good night :)
Post by Lizzie2 on Aug 29^th, 2005, 3:10am

Thanks for the replies, vibes, etc - although my intention was to share my happiness about a good night's sleep - not to request vibes, but they are always appreciated - especially at times like these!

I'm glad I got that night - otherwise I wouldn't be able to survive all these other crazy nights! Hopefully going to get some sleep now as I've to get up in just over 3 hours to go to a doc appt - have a HUGE list of things to do tomorrow - hopefully I can fit in a nap or two in between if the beast will allow! I work Tuesday to Friday this week, and it's always worse if I go into it feeling not rested and totally exhausted already! I get so much less sleep on days I work because I have to be up at 5am - and often I dont' get to sleep until just before then as it is!

Well - all I can say is that I try to look for what I have, and not worry about what I don't have. So - I'm eternally thankful for that huge chunk of sleep the other night! Now come what may with the rest of it - hopefully another night like that won't be too off in the future! ;)

Thanks again and hugz,
Carrie :)

P.S. mcf - have not tried Lunesta. I asked my psychiatrist about it not that long ago as I had to come off of Klonopin (too much sleepy hangover well into the next day) - but he told me it wouldn't be a whole lot different than taking Ambien and Sonata - Ambien is like taking water for me! Currently taking Ativan which is a moderate benzodiazepine. Seems to work okay for me, when I can catch some shut-eye here and there. I guess it would take a huge knock out sleep drug to be able to sleep through the CH, anyways though!

Title: Re: A good night :)
Post by Frank_W on Aug 29^th, 2005, 8:43am

W00T!! Glad you finally got some sleep.... Hang in there! [smiley=hug.gif]

Title: Re: A good night :)
Post by mcf69 on Aug 29^th, 2005, 11:43pm

Quote:

P.S. mcf - have not tried Lunesta. I asked my psychiatrist about it not that long ago as I had to come off of Klonopin (too much sleepy hangover well into the next day) - but he told me it wouldn't be a whole lot different than taking Ambien and Sonata - Ambien is like taking water for me! Currently taking Ativan which is a moderate benzodiazepine. Seems to work okay for me, when I can catch some shut-eye here and there. I guess it would take a huge knock out sleep drug to be able to sleep through the CH, anyways though!

I've done the ambien thing before, never did me much good, but the lunestra is totally different. I never did get a good nights sleep with the ambien, but the lunestra works like a charm and doesn't make me all hung over the next morning. Give it a try, you never know, it is a different class of drug than ambien.

Title: Re: A good night :)
Post by Lizzie2 on Aug 30^th, 2005, 4:52pm

Glad it helped! I had asked my psychiatrist if he would prescribe it, but he didn't want to go that direction. My neurologist wanted something that worked on the nervous system pretty well as the RLS is a large part of the reason I can't sleep!

Worst comes to worst - I'll ask for it! Do you have any idea if it would work if taken in the daytime because I will be working nights? There's something about melatonin not working if it's light outside, so it's useless for those on night shift who need help sleeping during the day. I read that somewhere, but I don't know how accurate that is!

Seems there are lots of things to get ready for with night shift starting in a couple of weeks - I'm hoping the CH makes a 12 hour time zone change along with my job! It'll be interesting and I won't exactly be much good at all if the CH remains on the schedule it is right now! Have no clue what it will do! LOL

Anyways - thanks for the feedback on the Lunesta. :)

Carrie :)

Title: Re: A good night :)
Post by mcf69 on Aug 31^st, 2005, 10:34pm

Carrie,
I looked more into the lunesta, it doesn't do much for RLS, so thats probably why your doc wants to try something else. I also checked and it does interact with verapamil, so if you use that I'd stay away from it. It interacts directly the with Gaba A receptors in the brain so you can take it pretty much anytime, regardless of whether its day or night and it will work. One more interesting tidbit of info, one of the side effects of lunesta is migraines, something else to take into consideration. Hopefully the change in shifts won't throw your cycles too out of whack. I always found it interesting that while in cycle the CH follows pretty much the same patern when working nights and sleeping days, just does a flip flop along with the time. I hope this helps a little.
Ben
BTW, How did you make out with the O2 situation? Any chance you could borrow a couple from work?, I can't imagine being without it, it's primarilly what I use, saving the trex for the real bad ones....