Question:
I have had some troubles sleeping (I believe it is insomnia) for more
than 20 years ago. I am a 35 year old man. I have hard time with both
trying to get sleep and waking up in the middle of the night or early
in the morning – not matter when I go to bed. I believe I have
insomnia since I don't any problems breathing or something like.
I first started with Melatonin (15 years ago with 3 mg), but I
couldn't get too much sleep. Then my doctor gave me Elavil 10 mg, no
much help, then I got a higher dosis that I combined with Melatonin
(3mg) to gave me a "good sleep". However, these pills leave me the
hangover in the mornings . Some months ago, I told my primary doctor
again about this side-effect of Elabil, and she gave me Ambien. Ambien
knocked me out right there after I took 10 mg that night, but I woke
up at 4 am (as all people in this website have said). However, I
didn't have the hangover that was caused by Elavil, but with Ambien it
seems to me that I need to sleep more hours.
I have tried to stop taking any sleeping pills also with not success.
Those nights when I haven't taken any sleeping pills, it has been
terrible. I have slept not more than 3 to 4 hours with not pills, and
I have felt really tired in the morning. So, I went back to Elavil and
Melatonin, but I am really tired of taking pills anyway.
I have read several posted articles here in this website about a
book that was written by Greg Jacobs "Say good Night to Insomnia". It
seems to me that this CPT (Cognitive-behavioral therapy) works, but I
feel skeptical about it. Any help or suggestion about this therapy? Or
any help about sleeping pills that really help me to eliminate mi
insomnia? Or at least to feel better in the morning?
Answer:
How do you know you don't have any problems breathing, when you
are trying to sleep. Normally requires a polysomnogram to know this.
You should find yourself an accredited neurologist or
psychiatrist sleep doc. We don't hear of too many successes in
the treatment of sleep disorders by PCPs, GPs, etc.
I'm not familiar with the book you cited above; however, I am
familiar with a book. "Feeling Good" by David D. Burns, M.D.,
which deals with mood therapy. Depends on what is keeping you
awake. (Of course, it could be something that you have no
control over.) You can preview it on Amazon (last I knew), and I
consider the first two chapters very worthwhile reading.
That's a clever idea, it may help with the early-morning awakening
that Ambien doesn't seem to help me with. After taking Ambien at 12,
I'll wake up at 4 or 5 and can't go back to sleep.
I was thinking just now of suggesting to my doc to prescribe 2 doses
of Sonata per night, waking up to an alarm in the middle of the night
to take the second dose. Another option, which many neurologists who
specialize in sleep disorders are using, is Xyrem for insomnia.
Neurontin induced mania a few times in me (and I don't have bipolar at
all) but used it a lot for social anxiety before switching to Klonopin
(which made me feel much less stupid than Neurontin did, I don't
notice any congnitive deficit). It also takes 1 1/2 hrs to kick in,
but combining it with Ambien makes this irrelevant.
