Posted by TylerJ on April 12, 2006, at 11:33:02
In reply to Managing with very reduced sleep (from Parnate), posted by Don_Bristol on April 11, 2006, at 22:59:25
> Am on 50mg Parnate. It's not a large dose but if I take the Parnate a bit late in the day and that night if I forget to take my sleeping tabs then I will stay up through the night. My other meds do not seem to be causing this.
>
> OK so I am not 101% alert during the night but I am surprisingly untired. I recall there's an inconclusive debate about the relationship between Parnate to amphetamine.
>
> Subjectively I feel untired throughout the whole night, I do not get dressed for bed nor do lie on the bed or on anything else to get some sleep. I just carry on for the whole night.
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> During the following day I may get 2, 3, or 4 hours sleep at some point. It's not much sleep for someone who usually sleeps about 7 to 7.5 hours a night. And I can repeat this for several nights in a row. In fact I can go for a few weeks like this.
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> The QUESTION to you all is ... how long can one go with such reduced sleep without problems? It seems intuitively sensible that after a while the tiredness is going to affect me. Slow my decision making. Affect co-ordination. All that sort of thing. But subjectively I do not feel I am awfully low in functioning in those areas.
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> Having the extra time is very useful and I would like to use those nighttime hours.
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> If I were to get a regular 4 hours sleep a night on this regime then I figure I would be able to continue almost indefinitely. Surely this can't be right? My body seems designed for the 7 to 7.5 hours I used to get until recently and now hours a night seems like a luxury compared to what I do get. One 11 day period saw me get only 21 hours sleep - so that an average of less than 2 hours in 24.
>
> Thought please guys.FIRST AND FOREMOST...THIS IS JUST MY OPINION, WHAT WORKS FOR ME.
You need to get into a routine, right now it's sounds like your "routine" is pretty chaotic. I take 150mgs. of Parnate a day and sleep like a baby. I never take a dose later than 2-2:30 pm. I take 100 at 7:00, 30 at noon, and 20 at 2-2:30, and feel darn good all day long.
For me Trazodone, which is used commonly by pdocs for maoi induced insomnia, works great. But you have to find the right dose and for awhile it may cause some morning drowsiness. I take 150 mgs Trazodone one hour before i go to bed and i fall asleep quickly, stay asleep and awaken around 7:00 am, feeling refreshed-no hangover, no tiredness. But, it does take awhile, it used to make me tired in the morning, but for me that "side-effect" has vanished. A good solid routine is important to a healthy sleep pattern. Also, it sounds odd, but higher dose Parnate (for me) has less side-effects, including reduced insomnia..weird, but true.
Tyler
poster:TylerJ
thread:632009
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20060412/msgs/632154.html