[QUOTE=darlindeb25;578076]Then, because of other issues, I stopped using dairy, my insomnia went away!

So much for the "glass of warm milk" trick!

Joan, I totally understand where you are coming from. I was at my first appointment with my neuro, for my neuropathy and headaches, and he took one look at me and diagnosed sleep apnea. I just looked at him and said, "You have got to be kidding!" I seriously thought he was nuts...me, sleep apnea!!! Then he examed a little more for the apnea, even told me my mouth was too small...then I was sure he was kidding!! At that point, we went on with the exam for my other issues.

I always try to do what a doctor says, just so they can't say I do not listen to them. I did the sleep study, and was told after the doctor studied the results further, I would be set up with a CPAP machine...I still could not believe it. Two of my sons had already been diagnosed with sleep apnea, and I still was in denial.

I'm glad Ambien CR works for you. As I said, I couldn't even try it, it contains ingredients I am intolerant to...so it will never be something I can try.

After close to one year on CPAP, I still was having terrible issues with sleep...the melatonin helped at times, yet insomnia was always present. Giving up the dairy had nothing to do with my sleep intially...I gave it up because it was causing issues with my stomach. Insomnia going away was a wonderful surprise. Who would of thought????

I have been on CPAP now for 13 months, and finally, I can say I think it does help...although now, I am having more issues with dry mouth, nasal passages, and still have the constant headaches. BUT, at least I am finally getting some sleep after 30 years!

I actually had some people tell me I had to be wrong about dairy, simply because they have always been told that warm milk makes you sleep better. Yet, guess what??? They also say whole grains are good for you, and they were killing me....there goes another myth huh???

I think that it is the calcium in milk that gives it it's sleep inducing properties. A calcium supplement will work as well (for me at least), but snuggling up in bed with a calcium pill is just not as cozy

cheers
raglet

--many people have dairy intolerances (far more, I think, than is usually suspected) that produce gastric symptoms that interfere with sleep and/or an accumulation of mucus that could interfere with the normal breathing of sleep and be mistaken for sleep apnea.

Though the tyrotophan of dairy is good for calming the system in prepartion for sleep, for many it's a double edged sword. I know I sleep better without dairy late in the day (no after dinner ice cream, darn it)--and in a cool, moist room.

If only this were true, I would love to get rid of that CPAP. No one likes being a member of the hosehead society. I have been told the dairy may have been part of the mix, but the apnea is still the main issue.I'm sure I will be having anohter sleep study done in time. My PCP says he likes his patients tested every 1 to 2 years, and it's over 1 year now. I actually do not feel any benefits from using or not using it...I just don't know. Some nights it bothers me so much I throw it aside, like last night.

Sleep is something we all need, it certainly makes a huge difference in how we cope from day to day.

I kind of figured that the person who insisted that I do the sleep study was thinking sleep apnea. But don't you initially have to be, um, actually sleeping and then stop breathing for it to be sleep apena? I just go to bed and lay awake thinking about how much my feet are bothering me and if I'm lucky, finally fall asleep from exhaustion around 4-5 am. That's why I was so annoyed by the idea of a sleep study: I know it isn't one of those sleep disorders, but my feet that are the problem.

I do try to listen to the doctor and and at least try their suggestions, but this particular one was so obviously wrong, and came along with the statement that "Gabapentin does absolutely nothing for PN." At that point I just stopped listening. She was a nurse practioner, to be precise, and actually "shushed" me when I was voicing a concern about something else! I started seeing the neuro after that and needless to say, I'm having all my records transferred to a new PCP's office.

Deb, I heard that Melationin is nature and it is better to use for sleep. Do you have to go to health stores to get it?

That would be great to get off RX and use something nature, but am alittle afraid to switch since the RX is working. A lot of medicine just don't work for me, so sometimes it can make one fearful to switch medicine. If I get enough nerve maybe I will try it.

Thanks, Trish

There are many symptoms to sleep apnea. I didn't know I had been having trouble breathing either. I didn't know i would stop breathing...although I did have many times when I would wake in a panic, and think I was having a bad dream...which they tell me is an episode when the person stops breathing. Or if you gasp for breath, that too. It also has to do with the different stages of sleep, with apnea, some people never get to certain stages. Believe me, I was the first to think the doctor was crazy, yet I also read both of my sleep study reports. I also have a low oxygen level.

Have you read in any insomnia forums?

You can get melatonin any where you can buy vitamins, even the grocery store. I take 6 mgs every night...I use Natrol brand, but I have to be very careful because of my intolerancea, you could maybe try any brand.

No, darlindeb, I don't think you're hearing me...my problem isn't that I wake up, it's that I don't fall asleep in the first place because of the PN/foot pain. You can't be experiencing sleep apnea while you're awake, right? Once I do fall asleep I don't have any trouble. There is nothing at all to suggest that I have any breathing problems at all. (I don't know if this is the same as the oxygen level that you're talking about, but if it's the kind they measure with the finger clippy thing, I often read at 100%.)

But I do realize that you're trying to help, and I thank you for that. And I'm glad that the no-dairy diet and the melatonin help for you.

I'm sorry, I kind of answer more than one person at a time. Oxygen should not be an issue for you, not at 100%, 98% is good. Mine ranges around 92-93%...but, I guess it's not an issue, no one has suggested anything to me about it.

Maybe Sonata would be good for you. Sonata is suppose to put you to sleep quickly, and last for 3-5 hours. Maybe it would help you. You had no luck with melatonin?