Question:
I'm desperate for sleep. I have severe insomnia.
Most times I can't fall asleep for hours. Often times I wake up and
can't fall asleep again too. I feel very sleep-deprived. It's hurting
my daily functioning.
I have depression and an eating disorder. I take the following
medications at bedtime:
Remeron, 30 mg
Trazodone, 50 mg
Klonopin, 1.5 mg
Risperdal, 0.5 mg
I mix alcohol with medications too. I think I'm becoming addicted. I
feel like an alcoholic because getting drunk puts me fast asleep. Must
I quit drinking? I would like to quit if possible.
What I really need's an adjustment with medications. A couple options
are the following:
less Remeron, 15 mg
more Trazodone, 100 mg
more Klonopin, 2 mg
more Risperdal, 1 mg
On the other hand, I might need something additional. I have taken
consideration of the following items:
GBL
TCA
Serzone
Paxil
Celexa
Ambien
Sonata
Restoril
Dalmane
Ativan
Xanax
melatonin
5-HTP
valerian
Can anyone suggest some kind of cure? What should I be taking? How
much? What amounts? Please write back with good advice because I think
it's important I begin sleeping on a regular schedule. Not sleeping
makes depression feel very much worse. I'll be waiting for many
suggestions.
Answer:
I always feel very sorry for people that can't sleep because it is a vicious
circle, you can't sleep, so you worry about it, therefore, because you are
worried, you can't sleep.
One point you may like to consider is how much sleep do you actually need?
How much of your "sleep deprivation symptoms" are because society tells you
that you need 7 hours a night and thus psychosomatic?
Some people can manage on 5 hours a night, some on even less. It has been
known to manage on 15 minutes.
I say this because I often can't sleep (see a lot of my messages timed at
the early hours of morning). But the fact is I don't WORRY about it. If I
can't sleep, or feel the desire NOT to sleep I never toss and turn and toss
and turn trying to sleep, what I do is get out of bed and Thank God for some
time spent conscious rather than sleeping.
What I do ranges from ironing, listening to music through my headphones,
write e-mails, write messages to websites, read, create music on my
Cakewalk software, take silly photographs of my feet - I do anything I want
(just so long as it is quiet). The night before last I had 3 hours sleep
and then the next night was better but I feel fine.
I honestly and sincerely think the secret is not to WORRY about it.
They do say that you always get as much sleep as you "need".
Well as a fellow insomniac I feel for you. When I was on Remeron I was told
it could keep you from sleeping, and found that to be true. You might try
taking it in the morning instead of night.
The Klonopin, and Risperdal, should help you sleep if you take it an hour
before you want to go to bed. If I miss my meds at midnight, I'm up all
night.
The Trazodone and Remeron you should probably take in the morning, and
avoid at night.
Melatonin, really worked for me, the trick is you have to get in bed when
you start to feel sleepy. The melatonin kicks in in about 20 minutes, but
if you stay up and putter around, the sleepiness it gives you goes away
after about half an hour and doesn't come back that night. So it gives you
a window of time, but you have to be on top of it. I also keep forgetting
to buy it. But it's not addictive, so that's good.
Obviously Xanax is going to make you sleep, but it's as addictive as hell,
and so I only use it when I'm desperate to sleep. But it's great for
occasional use.
You know, don't you, that drinking absolutely makes you wake up again after
just a few hours of sleep. I read something recently about why, but cant
recall it now. I've found it to be totally true. I wake up after drinking
then can't get back to sleep at all for hours. On top of that I feel really
crappy, when I wake in the middle of the night. I think maybe a couple of
glasses of wine is relaxing and won't do this, but if you're getting pretty
blazed, it's surely going to wreck your sleep.
