[sheena]

I have not slept 1 full night in months and now I'm mad. I need sleep. I have ambien - it does not touch me, I've tried all the OTC meds and massive does of benadril (sp)... . The only thing the Dr will give is ambien cr. If reg ambien does not work, I doubt this will.Any thoughts on sleep meds. Thanks

[soxmom]

Ask your doc about Trazadone. Its a pretty benign(as far as drugs go)
drug. Its an old time antidepressant that is often used as a sleep aid.

I used to use it. It was great. My son was 6 months old and I hadnt
sleep since he was born. I took it and was able to wake up at
night with him and fall right back asleep. And I didnt have that
drunk feeling you get from benydryl. Ask your doc, I dont know what
other meds you take that might not mix but it is worth a shot.

Good luck,

Sox

[Twinkletoes]

Sorry about your lack of sleep. It can really get to you after awhile, esp. 8 months!

I am up very early today and am reminded why I had a mental note to only take antihistamines in the morning -- they keep me awake at night!

Hope you catch some good ZZzzzzzzssss very soon.

[msarkie]

What dose of Ambien are you trying? The lower doses didn't work for me either, but the Ambien CR is a higher dose and sustained release, so it works OK. Just curious, have you tried melatonin?

[sheena]

No not cr or melatonin, but I have had Trazadone and it does not touch me. I think I'll call about melatonin. Thanks so much for the advise. Take Care

[Erin524]

Originally Posted by sheena

I have not slept 1 full night in months and now I'm mad. I need sleep. I have ambien - it does not touch me, I've tried all the OTC meds and massive does of benadril (sp)... . The only thing the Dr will give is ambien cr. If reg ambien does not work, I doubt this will.Any thoughts on sleep meds. Thanks

How big of a "massive" dose of Benadryl did you try?

If you've been taking Benadryl to sleep for a long time, you can eventually "get used to it", and it wont make you sleepy...and if you take larger than prescribed doses, it will end up keeping you awake rather than helping you sleep. (I know all this from experience)

Just about all over-the-counter sleep meds have Benadryl (Diphenhydramine) in them, so trying other brands probably will not work, and you'll be wasting your money.

Ask your doctor to give you something that doesnt have Diphenhydramine in it. There are several anti-depressant medications that can be used as sleep aides (Trazodone, Amitriptyline...)

I didnt care much for Ambien. I'm one of the people that Ambien gives weird, scary hallucinations. When I used it back in 1997, I could never take it full strength. My doctor wouldnt give me any Ambien CR after I told him about the weird hallucination that the earlier form of Ambien gave me.

[beautytransforming]

Sheena, ae you having racing thoughts? What keeps you awake? Have you always had insomnia? Have you tried relaxation techniques before bed and exercise during the day? What about valarien root? Are you eating well? Getting enough water? Stressed?

One of my fav things that helped was melatonin, but I just read that it can cause your immune system to go into effect, which isn't good for us... so I have to do more research on that.

BTW, I answered your PM... just wanted to make sure you got it!!!

[beautytransforming]

Originally Posted by msarkie

What dose of Ambien are you trying? The lower doses didn't work for me either, but the Ambien CR is a higher dose and sustained release, so it works OK. Just curious, have you tried melatonin?

I just read that melatonin isn't the best for MSers or anyone with auto immune disorders because, like some herbs and vitamins, it makes your immunse system turn on, which can be bad for us. I am going to do some more research on that, cause I used it quite a bit, but also took gobs of vit c and eccanacia, which isn't good for us either...

[msarkie]

Then there's always good ole chamomile tea!

[NurseNancy]

i know how important sleep is to feeling good and wellbeing, and working/functioning.

it also helps to decrease pain.
i used to be on regular ambien and found that the CR really was much better.
i'd give it a try. you've got nothing to lose.

i'm also on trazodone and it works well. i still don't sleep more than 4-5 hrs but once i go to the BR i can fall back to sleep.