Me, too! Lately it's been 3 hours at the most for me.

I sleep when I sleep. Whether it's during the day or at night. The more I think about it and fret about it the less I'll sleep. I don't take anything. If I get tired enough I fall asleep. I do sleep the best, though, early in the morning....say from 6 AM - 9 or 10 AM.

My evil twin did it again.. That's me exactly...and now Polar is a Sista member

This kind of thing sucks for those still on a work schedule though!!

When I approached my neuro about it she ordered a sleep study and found out I have sleep apnea. I use a CPAP and feel much better.

I'm glad the CPAP works for you, Doydie! I know sleep apnea isn't my problem. It's pain that wakes me up. I take 600 mgs of ibuprofin just before I go to bed, and I'm good for the first 3 or so hours. After that, it's every 2 hours or so. My legs hurt all day, too, so my daytime naps are about the same length.

Ain't it fun!?! I have Provigil and Adderal for daytime use, but I don't take either every day. Days I don't take 'em, I'm more zombie than human. Nice to know I have Sista nappers, though!

Well, if we could sing we'd have a group!! Gotta great name!

Sally's right....if I still worked this "napping" schedule I have now would definitely not work.

Now.......what can I do to remember to turn the ringer on the phone back ON when I get up??

I use a CPAP and it helps me by not allowing me to awaken from the snoring. I use earplugs to block DH's snoring. But sometimes when I lie down I wake up...I sometimes use the gratitude list. I go over the day and tell myself 5 things that I am grateful for...it puts me in a more positive frame of mind. Doing a body scan to loosen all the muscle groups helps me as well.
But sometimes I just can't sleep. And DH loves me so much he hates me to leave the bed (ain't that sweet?)...so I lie there and just breathe...

Narcotics don't help me. And almost every night I am awakened by spasticity. My neuro told me to set the alarm for an hour before I am usually awakened by spasms and take a zanaflex, but I don't want to wake myself up if I'm sleeping well. So I just go with the flow. If pain wakes me up I take my med and wait for it to work.

Try taking benadryl instead of the narcotics. It sometimes helps me...good luck

Sleep deprivation must be a common problem with us MSers. All my docs ask the same question first: how am I sleeping.

I agree, meditation (or prayer, etc.) can really help me fall asleep, but the drugs are the only thing that seems able to keep me asleep.

I didn't want to add more drugs either. My mind is already so addled there are days I wonder what I did at work. I work much more slowly than I used to, and I don't cope well with the rapid changes throughout the day.

I finally went on amyltriptaline, just a low dose, and it helped a lot. I felt fairly well rested, and felt I was doing better at work. Six months later, and I'm already waking up throughout the night.

I'm getting really down about all this. That and turning 50 ---- Argh!

It ain't easy, this getting older. (John Mellencamp)

Anyone wakened by spasm or jerking of muscles might benefit from more magnesium. I need about 800-1000 mg per 24 hour period. This was suggested by a neuro 30 years ago when Zanaflex was impossible for me to take. I really believe many are magnesium deficient. If you try it, remember that magnesium is can encourage diarrhea. The neuro told me to find the one which caused the least diarrhea. A good side effect of taking magnesium is that I rarely have constipation now, whereas it was a constant companion in the old days before magnesium. I take an equal amount of calcium but not at the same time as the mag (I take the cal between meals). And D3 of course. If I forget any part of this routine I will find myself jerking from the hip, clear down the leg,
in bed. This does interfere with sleep. I usually sleep well. Only lately has it been a problem because I am having neuropathy in my feet from taking Interferon. Oh that I'd stayed with just my first two diseases, and not the third one I'm taking INF for.