Posted by Q (198.64.206.92) on January 13, 2000 at 01:38:41:
In Reply to: staying awake posted by Dan on January 13, 2000 at 00:46:15:
I found that there is little I can do to prevent the sleep-attacks. I used to sleep so soundly that they would be full-blown before I woke. Once the attack is fulminated, there is little I could do.
Today, I must wind-down before I go to sleep. If I work and immediately go to bed, I am virtually guarenteed to have an attack. If I allow about two hours wind-down before going to bed, then chances are an attack, if any, will be milder. I like to read a novel, watch TV, something other than intense concentration. Something to slow the mind down before going to sleep. Drinking myself to sleep was a futile path.
Today I find that I sleep lighter. If I wake with even the slightest inkling that an attack is brewing, I get up and take my Imitrex NS. The key I find is to abort the attack in the earliest stage possible. I am usually back asleep within 30 minutes. Trust the medicine to do its job. Don't fight the pain, let it flow on through. The energy spent fighting the pain only makes us weaker.
Finally, I find that I need about 6 hours sleep after an attack. Otherwise, less sleep tends to build up stress, fatigue, depression, etc. and seems to lead to increasingly more severe attacks.