Benzgirl there have been posts here on supplements to take for peripheral neuropathy caused by chemo therapy treatments for cancer. i cant remember all of them but i think acetyl L carnitine was one and there were others. do a search of this forum and you should be able to come across useful posts for yourself. sorry i cant remember them my memory has been suffering of late.

hi thanks for the reply, i am currently taking elavil 75mg each night at bedtime... and i have been taking this dosage for a while.. i started on 1 pill a night but after no sleeping the dr raised it to 2.. still no sleep so raised to 3 and still not sleeping and im getting so tired of taking all the meds i take..

Is it possible you're taking something, or there's something in your lifestyle that may account for not sleeping? Some medications that put most people to sleep have been known to keep small numbers of folks awake. Too much caffeine, food additives...

So you might try going through all your meds, and thoroughly check side effects (online) for any kind of sleep disturbances. Also labels/ingredients of foods, especially prepared foods.

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Just saw your other post about the burning pain of PN keeping you up. That's different. R-Lipoic Acid knocked out my burning pain (which was keeping me up and in pain) very quickly. Some people take it in combination with Acetyl L-Carnitine and/or pantothenic acid (B5) for additional efficacy.

There are other sugestions in the PN Tips, Resources, Supplements & Other Treatments forum.

Doc

Poor sleeping is a cardinal sign of low B12 levels.

MethylB12 (the activated form) is the cofactor for making melatonin (our sleep hormone) from serotonin.

If you don't have enough of the methyl B12, you can't sleep.

I'd get a B12 test and bring the results here.

A secondary cause is low serotonin. But testing for this is more difficult as only non-brain serotonin shows up in testing.
People taking SSRI antidepressants end up with low serotonin in the cells, because the antidepressant stops the manufacture of serotonin in the cells because the reuptake feature keeps it in the synapse so the cells make less over time. This low serotonin is responsible for the withdrawal when antidepressants are stopped.

You might find Melatonin more effective at night. If so this points to a low synthesis of this sleep hormone for you.

My SO has been on Celexa for at least 10 years and has had insomnia for the past 3 years. Could the Celexa be contributing to the insomnia?

Yes, most definitely, IMO.

http://bipolarworld.net/Medications/...ht/ssrilt.html

so would b12 help with this? I opened the bipolar link on my ipad but it's very hard to read. When I switch to a laptop I'll read it thoroughly.

Thanks for your help.

For people taking drugs...like SSRIs with insomnia...I'd test it out by taking 3mg of melatonin at night for a month.

It will take a while for the melatonin to move around and work. It is a slow solution, a more natural one. So getting "knocked out" quickly will not happen at first, and duration may be shorter than traditional strong sleep inducing drugs.

But if there is some improvement, I'd consider getting the B12 tested to see if she is low in that.

It is not safe to take serotonin boosting things, when on SSRI's.

Also any light at all, at night will shut off any melatonin you make and prevent getting back to sleep properly. Do not turn on overhead lights, to use the bathroom. Have nightlights in place.
We found little motion activated lights you put along stairways, (we have lots of stairs) to light your way at night. And I have a little night light in the bathroom. So as we age we tend to get up at least once at night to relieve ourselves, and if you put a bright light anywhere along that path, your sleep than night may be gone!

Ours are GE Auto night lights-- with a rotating head. We have them along the hall and stairs plugged into an extension cord set up. Item 50311
http://www.amazon.com/50311-Directio.../dp/B000089DCL
Hubby buys ours at Kroger's.