I was prescribed Lunestra for my anxiety -lately
I can not sleep?!
shoot?

Anyone else ?
Let me know if you have you been give a script for sleeping pills?
please...

http://www.lunesta.com/lunestaOverview/lunestaPPI.html

tenalouise,
I just recently started taking Lunesta because I was having a terrible time sleeping. I either couldn't fall asleep or if I did, I'd wake up and couldn't get back to sleep.
So far, the Lunesta has helped me fall asleep and I'm able to go back to sleep when I wake up during the night. I don't have that hangover feeling when I wake up either.
I'm not a big fan of taking sleeping pills but when you are not able to fall asleep night after night you have to do something. I tried most of the overcounter remedies. They had little or no effect at all.
I feel a lot better and a lot of the balance and gait problems I was having have disappeared with some good sleep.

GregD

Thank you dear Greg!
I just took one - 3mgs -and it has a horrible taste, but it seems to be working...*yawn
I appreciate your experience, it makes me feel abit better, I have never
taken sleeping pills in my entire life - I believe my "never list" is getting smaller?

goodnight...

You might want to look into melatonin. Lots of research behind it and seems to have protective value too.

1: Behav Brain Funct. 2006 May 4;2(1):15.

Melatonin in Alzheimer's disease and other neurodegenerative disorders.

Srinivasan V, Pandi-Perumal S, Cardinali D, Poeggeler B, Hardeland R.

Johann Friedrich Blumenbach Institute of Zoology and Anthropology, University of
Goettingen, Berliner Str, 28, D-37073 Goettingen, Germany. rhardel@gwdg.de.

ABSTRACT : Increased oxidative stress and mitochondrial dysfunction have been
identified as common pathophysiological phenomena associated with
neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer's disease (AD), Parkinson's
disease (PD) and Huntington's disease (HD). As the age-related decline in the
production of melatonin may contribute to increased levels of oxidative stress
in the elderly, the role of this neuroprotective agent is attracting increasing
attention. Melatonin has multiple actions as a regulator of antioxidant and
prooxidant enzymes, radical scavenger and antagonist of mitochondrial radical
formation. The ability of melatonin and its kynuramine metabolites to interact
directly with the electron transport chain by increasing the electron flow and
reducing electron leakage are unique features by which melatonin is able to
increase the survival of neurons under enhanced oxidative stress. Moreover,
antifibrillogenic actions have been demonstrated in vitro, also in the presence
of profibrillogenic apoE4 or apoE3, and in vivo, in a transgenic mouse model.
Amyloid-beta toxicity is antagonized by melatonin and one of its kynuramine
metabolites. Cytoskeletal disorganization and protein hyperphosphorylation, as
induced in several cell-line models, have been attenuated by melatonin, effects
comprising stress kinase downregulation and extending to neurotrophin
expression. Various experimental models of AD, PD and HD indicate the usefulness
of melatonin in antagonizing disease progression and/or mitigating some of the
symptoms. Melatonin secretion has been found to be altered in AD and PD.
Attempts to compensate for age- and disease-dependent melatonin deficiency have
shown that administration of this compound can improve sleep efficiency in AD
and PD and, to some extent, cognitive function in AD patients. Exogenous
melatonin has also been reported to alleviate behavioral symptoms such as
sundowning. Taken together, these findings suggest that melatonin, its analogues
and kynuric metabolites may have potential value in prevention and treatment of
AD and other neurodegenerative disorders.

PMID: 16674804 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

Thanks for the advice everett. I've tried melatonin. I don't know why but it dosen't work for me.
I really wish I had the answers. For now Lunesta is allowing me to get some needed sleep. I'm feeling better everyday. By better I mean stronger than I've been. Not sleepy during the day. I feel more like doing the things I need to do. And, as I stated earlier, my PD symptoms (tremor, gait problems, balance) seem to be getting better.

GregD

Hi,

If you search the Net for melatonine - dopamine (and other NT's) interactions, you will find a lot.

Cell Mol Neurobiol. 2001 Dec;21(6):605-16. Related Articles, Links
Click here to read
Melatonin-dopamine interactions: from basic neurochemistry to a clinical setting.

Zisapel N.

Department of Neurobiochemistry, Tel Aviv University, Israel. navazis@post.tau.ac.il

To review the interaction between melatonin and the dopaminergic system in the hypothalamus and striatum and its potential clinical use in dopamine-related disorders in the central nervous system. Medline-based search on melatonin-dopamine interactions in mammals. Melatonin. the hormone produced by the pineal gland at night. influences circadian and seasonal rhythms, most notably the sleep-wake cycle and seasonal reproduction. The neurochemical basis of these activities is not understood yet. Inhibition of dopamine release by melatonin has been demonstrated in specific areas of the mammalian central nervous system (hypothalamus, hippocampus, medulla-pons, and retina). Antidopaminergic activities of melatonin have been demonstrated in the striatum. Dopaminergic transmission has a pivotal role in circadian entrainment of the fetus, in coordination of body movement and reproduction. Recent findings indicate that melatonin may modulate dopaminergic pathways involved in movement disorders in humans. In Parkinson patients melatonin may, on the one hand, exacerbate symptoms (because of its putative interference with dopamine release) and, on the other, protect against neurodegeneration (by virtue of its antioxidant properties and its effects on mitochondrial activity). Melatonin appears to be effective in the treatment of tardive dyskinesia. a severe movement disorder associated with long-term blockade of the postsynaptic dopamine D2 receptor by antipsychotic drugs in schizophrenic patients. The interaction of melatonin with the dopaminergic system may play a significant role in the nonphotic and photic entrainment of the biological clock as well as in the fine-tuning of motor coordination in the striatum. These interactions and the antioxidant nature of melatonin may be beneficial in the treatment of dopamine-related disorders.

Publication Types:

* Review


PMID: 12043836 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

Some medications again anxiety have the side effect of causing sleep troubles. To help you get to sleep and if you have no trouble maintain it, you might get off well with a short half-life sleeping pill. The short half life avoids you feeling numb the next day. It depends if you have trouble maintaining sleep or not, pains during the night and so on. A routine before sleep is a good way to get in the mood for sleep...

Regards
Karine