Sleep Suggestions

Hi Tammy!   I put this in the supplement area and wanted to copy it here for you and others.   One thing that makes me happy is seeing your awareness of serotonin syndrome, I've recently become aware of several people who have suffered from this due to doc's having no clue!  Ugh!

Anyway, I, like so many of us, have a terrible time with sleep.   I have tried chamomile tea, warm bath with lavendar salts, lavendar sheet spray, warm milk, blah blah blah.  If someone's mother once suggested something, I tried it!

My doc tried all the "standard" sleep meds and for some reason (I'm difficult) most would keep me awake..... for days!   Lunesta allowed me to be awake for 84 hours.   Uh huh, that was nice.    And boy was I cranky.     Rozerem made me loony, and Ambien let me wake up in my car in the garage (not to mention my garage is 20 yards from the apartment and it was December and freezing and I was naked), eating pudding.    Yup, that was fun, thank goodness I didn't have the keys with me (no place to put them??).

So after all this, I'm quite hesitant to use sleep meds of any sort.   My mom also has some issues and she's the one who found Melatonin.    So, she convinced me to try it.    The "standard" adult dose is 3 mg, but I have heard up to 10 mg suggested by doctors.    I started with the 3 mg and slept wonderfully the first time I took it.   The problem was I woke up feeling hung over.   Dry mouth, scratchy eyes, felt like I was walking in glue.    I kept with the 3 mg for about 2 weeks and had the same morning reaction.  

Then I saw the 1 mg Melatonin.   I don't know why I hadn't tried cutting the 3 mg in half but I didn't.    The 1 mg is consider the pediatric dose and I know several pediatricians who suggest this for children.    So, I tried the 1 mg dose.   I fell asleep within about 10 minutes.    And I slept!   Well!   I was thrilled.

Now, after several months of the 1 mg dose, sometimes I wake back up within an hour or so.   I have found I can take another 1 mg dose and still wake up not feeling like death.   

So for me, Melatonin was the right choice.   Because it's relatively inexpensive, my opinion is that it's worth a shot for someone struggling with sleep.   Don't mix with any other sleep med and don't try taking it during the day, you'll mess up your body's internal clock more than our's already are!

Hope this helps someone!

My Chinese doctor recommends massaging the feet just before bed. It does help.

I have been using a product called Zija, that comes from the Moringa tree. It has natural tryptophan in it... and the number one thing I hear from people who are using it is that they sleep better right away. I have had such good results with it, and have been able to help so many people by sharing it. I would be more than happy to send anyone a sample who wants to try it. The Moringa tree is nutritionally complete so it means I have replaced all my supplements with it... and I don't have to take any more pills! I shared this with a friend who also has fibro and was tired of the drug route (she was taking 13 different meds.) A month later and she is off all her meds, and is sleeping better than she has in years. AND even as cold is setting in, she has no more muscle pain. Email me mailing info @ codeoflife@bellsouth.net if you'd like for me to send a sample. 

www.all4jesus.myzija.com  if you want to learn more about the company. Watch the Discovery Channel It is what spawned the company. Ken Brailsford came out of retirement when he saw that documentary.

 The past week I have been kind of depressed because I'm ALWAYS so tired. I've been feeling bad because I don't work and I only have 2 classes but I still have to take a nap after lunch and I have fallen behind in my classes. I am trying to tell myself NOT to feel bad for being tired because one of the main symptoms of Fibro besides pain is fatigue so that right there says I'm going to be tired but I don't know what I should do about it. Should I be trying to push through the fatigue and not give in to it? Or is it better to take naps when I am tired? When the fatigue hits it's almost like runners wall, I can't do anything about it. Any advice or ideas?

Jen

PS: On Saturday I tried exercising when I felt it come on because I heard exercise helps wake you up. I did a 30 minute workout with cardio and then took a cool shower. I got out of the shower and sat on the bed to put lotion on and woke up 2 hours later still in my bathrobe! 

Adbarakat...Thank you very much for your suggesstions...here is a little background as to why I am bringing up the Seretonin Syndrome...I take Effexor which is a SSNRI...I also used to take Imitrex for my migraines till I almost overdosed on Seretonin...luckily I was at my docs getting the shot and he came in and stopped it...He had just heard about Seretonin Syndrome and did not want me to go into a coma.  LOL

Ambien works as a hypnotic on your brain, and your sleep cycles are based on melatonin & seretonin levels in your body...I am not sure how they all work, so that is why I started investigating what woudl the best route to take in weaning off of Ambien and possibly replacing it with Melatonin or even Seretonin...My doctor is tryinhg to get the information for me also, but I wanted to try here becasue so many of us may have had the same thing happen to them and it worked so I would like to hear.  But also since I have stopped taking my Lyrica recentely and upped my Effexor & Orphedadrine, I seem to not have as many breakthough insominia's as I have had in the past. 

Don't you all just love how we have to expierement with our own meds?  Isn't that what the researchers are for...sometimes I just want to be the patient and not the doctor too.  Do you know what I mean.

Well...blessings of good health coming your way from me...Thank you all for you advice and input.

Happy Holidays, Happy Chanukkah, Merry Solstice, Merry Christmas & Happy Kwanza to everybody!

Love & soft fibro hugs, Tammy

P.S. I included the drug information for others reading our posts – drug information is per drugs.com.

Hi Angela,

I'll pop in a note about Serotonin Syndrome too.   I know someone who on taking one Cymbalta 30 mg pill, went into full blown Serotonin Syndrome and ended up hospitalized for over a week.    Thankfully she's ok now.     She wasn't on anything else that should have contributed, the docs had no real explanation other than she's apparently VERY sensative to any SNRI!   

I don't think there's a set combination, I think it's a very personalize thing.   However, I'm finding that Serotonin Syndrome is not widely known amongst doctors, so it's another place where we have to know the symptoms and know to get help if they don't know!   

Dealing with migraines is so difficult!   I went through a time period when I was having 2 or 3 a week.   I have no idea what changed, but I only have 1 a month or so now, and I'm so thankful for that!!  

Thanks for all your "grate" info!   It's much appreciated!!

Aimee

I thought I'd stop by and add something too.  Thank, Aimee (And everyone, Always) for contributing to the discussion.  My migraines in my early 30s were more than half the time, and that has gotten much better now that I have done not only bioidentical hormone replacement for a few years (Dr. Scott Rollins who you see on Lumigrate is my personal physician and specializes in all things hormone -- thyroid, adrenal, gonadal), AND the  downward spiral of adrenal fatigue is turned around.  (Basically as I understand it, food allergies/ stress on the body and mind contribute to hormone changes of the pituitary, adrenal, hypothalamus axis, then thyroid, then progesterone drops leading to "estrogen dominance" -- fibroid tumors, on and on.  SO to get that whole cascade turned around is largely why my migranes are better I think Plus I had a lot of PT and chiropractics a couple/few years ago when things were just SO bad ... it's like I threw all this spaghetti at the wall and saw what stuck and it all added up to making big and good changes). 

I was able to GIVE BACK to Scott last year when I gave him a copy of my favorite Adrenal Fatigue book (see blog titled 'Ever Heard of Adrenal Fatigue"), and it was really gratifying to see him cite that along with Dr. Teitelbaum in his July Fibromyalgia seminar.  Extensively.  I saw it at the health food store a year ago and bought a copy and have worked to implement more of those concepts as well. 

In the past couple of months I have started sleeping without the use of a sleep aid as well.  That's what Scott said to me the second time I met with him 3 years back to get my food allergies test back.  "I think I can get you sleeping with just progesterone and the other hormones balanced" and I said 'good luck!'.  Well, I'm glad I wished him luck because he needed it (I'm a horrible insomniac these last many years) AND it worked!  I'm really so pleased to see others who are doing better contributing as well, as what we know really can add up to help people figure it out if they're in that place where so many of us have been of 'chronic downhill spiral'. 

Now Dr. Rollins has come back from a new training and the old thinking that you can rotate in the foods you are allergic to is replaced with 'it'll be causing inflammation after so, um .. no' and now that I know that I'm trying to eat more closely to what I am not allergic to in an IgG way, and hope that it's just another thing that contributes to the betterment process.  Thanks for all YOUR "grate" information to all who are writing... I appreciate it too, Aimee... isn't it Guh-rate! 

~~Mardy

I am taking 1mil of xanax and I get a great nights sleep. I hate relying on something so addictive, but I can't stand going days without sleep. My Doctor said he preferred I take one mil. of xanax and get a good nights sleep versus no sleep.

Debbie Breehl

I have tried doing little things on my good days and usually over do it. Now I'm talking about walking or shopping or cleaning. When I do this the next day I feel like I've been hit by a truck and then I sleep for a day or two or three. Many days I sleep for days at a time, once every week or once every two weeks. Does any one else do this?

When I have severe fatigue which I call sleep mode because I have no choice I have to sleep, and sometime for days

Aimee my fibro and fatigue started as severe migraines for about 2 years. Unfortunately I am allergic to imitrex , maxalt and zomeg, so I had to use pain medicines. Then came the full blown fibro and fatigue and deginerative disc disease and I still have migraines about twice a month It

http://www.4lifesite.com/pb/index.asp?CurrentCatID=C46288437634675339
 
Above is the web site for the natural supplement I take for sleeping~ its called:
"FibroAMJ Night-Time Formula''  it is put out by the company 4Life.
 
If you look at the web site you will see there is a ''Day-Time Formula" as well as the "Night-Time Formula". 

When my doctor first told me about this, i tried both. I found the Day-Time Formula did not improve my being enough to balance the cost. I actually did not see a great improvement by taking it. Though I am sure there are many who would differ with my opinion.

The "Night-Time Formula" on the other hand~ I can not live with out!! If I run out of this, my sleep pattern, and my consistency of sleep becomes all messed up. With it~ I have a full night's sleep~ deep sleep.

Since starting this  "Fibro AMJ Night-Time Formula"  i have changed rhummys over the past 10 yrs a few times~ each time, I take the bottle, so the doctor can read the ingreadients. I have never had a negitive comment thus far.

I will list the ingredients for you:

Vit. B6  (as pyridoxine hydochloride)                      15mg

Melatonin                                                                    2mg

Pregnenolone                                                           10mg

5-Hydroxytryptophan (Friffonia simplicifolla seed)  15mg

Proprietart Blend                                                       596mg

     Creatine monohydrate

     N-Acetyl Cysteine

     Cysteine

     Pau D'arco (4:1 extract  Tabebuia impetiginosa)(inner bark)

     Valerian (.8% valerinic acids)(Valerian officinallis)(root)

     Kava kava (30% extract)(piper methysticum) (root)

     Grape extract (Naturally contains concentrations of polyphenois,    

           anthocyanidins, catechins, proanthocyanidols, and resveratrol

           (vitis vinifera) (seed, skin and stem)

     Alpha Lipoic Acid

*** pardon any misspelling there, the letters on the bottle are tiny, and i had to take my glasses off to read the bottle, and then I can see the computer moniter w/out the glasses...sorry**

One pill at bedtime~ I slowly relax and get sleepy. The only downfall is I have to drink a good amount of water with the pill or I get indigestion.  I wish I could say I wake up perkey, but I very ever do~ but I do get a good nights rest~ and I no longer have restless legs.  Once in a very great while, i get the racing thoughts then even this doesnt work~ its useally when im very stressed out!

I do take Amitriptyline, but that is for my painfull nearve endings in my legs, which I couldnt sleep due to the pain. The Amitriptyline works wonderful for me for this reason.

I was taking my "Fibro AMJ Night-Time Formula'' before I started the amitriptyline, so I know its the NTF that helps me. Also if I run out~ I have a heck of a time going to sleep~ even if i take Tylanol Pm

All in all I take 14 different meds~ isnt that pathetic?!!!  Some for seizuers, stomache, asthma,  fibro, pain....ugh!!!

But they help me. So i am grateful.

Oh cost~ I think we pay 24 or 26 for a 1month supply.  Its well worth the money~ I'd even pay more if i had to.

best wishes to everyone!

Cherie 

Another idea to consider...

If you take vitamins and minerals, I have found that taking vitamins in the morning and minerals in the evening works best for me because vitamins tend to make me more alert which affects my sleep.  I do try to take calcium throughout the day, but I like to reserve some for bedtime as well.  Calcium and magnesium can help aid sleep -- both help muscle contraction and relaxation (very important for sleep!) and nerve function (also important!).  Magnesium in particular promotes relaxation. 

Have a great day!

Angela