Posted by Barbaracat on November 16, 2004, at 1:53:31
In reply to Re: help- sleeping meds, posted by bark2323 on November 14, 2004, at 13:22:29
Bark,
I'm currently withdrawing from Ambien. It worked very well at first and I've been taking it for around 2 years. But it does cause tolerance and I found myself needing 1.5 and sometimes 2 to fall asleep. It's very expensive and I no longer have prescription coverage so I decided to try without.The first few days I stayed awake until 3am and finally took 1/2 a few nights when I couldn't stand it anymore. After 1 week of not sleeping but a few hours, it's now getting a little easier. I agree that a very good help is to use some kind of sleepy CD or tape. I find something with soft hypnotic words or vocals that partially engage my mind more helpful than just music, but anything that distracts focus from your overactive fretting mind will help.
I also have a paradoxcal reaction to antihistmines if I take too much, and I don't like the feeling the next day (same with Trazodone) but I've depended on benedryl in a pinch when nothing else was available. I also sleep much better when I'm off alcohol. It tends to raise blood sugar and cortisol which is what we don't want at bedtime. Good luck. Insomnia is bad enough when you're in the middle of it, but the next day... yuck.
poster:Barbaracat
thread:414713
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20041113/msgs/416510.html