Sleeping through the pain
 

How do you sleep through the RSD pain? Just wondering, as I have been having trouble sleeping because my arms and shoulders hurt so bad... I am trying melatonin, but as of last night it does not seem to be doing much.:Sigh: Any ideas? Just wondering what anyone else does. TIA!

I have found no medicine that really works to fall asleep and stay asleep. The biggest thing for me is to get my mind off of it for like a half hour before bed... like watching some tv or reading. I chat to my boyfriend before we go to bed and relax as much as possible... (not saying that is always easy) but it can sometimes work. I will take something like Excerdin PM just to put me sleep if I can't sleep but no matter what I do wake up multiple times a night due to pain. But most of all of my pain mgt resources or now out of medicinal hands. I go without as much medicine as possible except for really bad days or nights...

Key thing is if you can get your pain down or better get your mind off of your pain you will be able to fall asleep :D same thing goes for the day... keeping as busy or as mentally busy as possible the better for me. Keeping my mind off the pain... Hope it helps!


-Heather

Biggest complaint
 

is no SLEEP!!

I know my doctors are TIRED of hearing me say that :D

I hope someday we get some rest!

the insommniac

Allen

Hi,

I take zopiclone and find it really good; my main problem is getting to sleep, once I'm asleep I'll usually sleep reasonably OK. Zopiclone goes by several names, US Ambien, UK Immovane, there are others, just look up RX brands. But I need very little of it to bring on the sleepies.

I've also discovered I'm very sensitive to sound and if I have a bad night, wearing soft ear plugs makes a big difference in keeping me asleep. It gives me a sense of being cocooned and for some reason that just does the trick,

all the best!

frank is able to fall asleep
 

as soon as his head hits the pillow...i get sooo jealous...........he is out within seconds, and i really do mean that........however, he does not stay asleep...the pain wakes him many many times a night, he gets up, takes a pain pill, or goes to the bathroom, gets a drink of water, and then falls right back to sleep........i guess the activity of doing something helps him take his mind off of the pain for a few minutes, then, wham he is out again...............

he has tried many sleep aids, but they only work for a day or two, then ...nothing......

however, when HE gets up, it wakes me up, and i have a terrible time falling asleep.....i lie there for hours before i am able to fall asleep....and this is every night................see why i get so jealous of him??? lafff

neither one of us gets too much sleep.......seems like a vicious circle...........

oh to sleep the whole night long would be heavenly.................ahhhhhhhhh

meds
 

for sleeping: i take ambien cr and get at least 2-4 hrs of sleep then wake(due to pain) take more vicoden es and sleep for maybe another hour. if not then i have some xanex and skelaxin...and sit up rocking and crying for awhile till it all kicks in and sleep(sort of in a fog) for maybe another hour if i am lucky...

the worst thing is being stuck in the never never world of no sleep. I seriously feel like a zombie most of the times...

to be able to hit the pillow and sleep would be so awesome!!

I have tried meds but they haven't helped - now have a heated waterbed (at home) and always have the radio/ book on tape as it gives me something to focus on.

the worst thing i find is i can't change position on my own... and cannot get comfortable..

ah well... it just makes me a ratty zombie and people have just got used to it. Oh - with arm and shoulder pain if you can rest your arms on something it can sometimes help - like lying with your arms on pillows etc

take care

Rosie xxxx

Wondering if anyone has taken amitriptyline for sleep before? How did it help you?

Took Amytrip

Totally Zombified me.

I will NEVER take it again.

Some people find it helps though.

Rosie xxxxxx

Hi.

I tried amitriptyline and it really didn't do anything for me. I am now on nortriptyline (25mg x 4) at bedtime. It really does help reduce the pain so that I can sleep through the night. That isn't to say that I don't still have bouts of insomnia, but certainly far fewer than prior to taking this med. You start off slowly and increase the number of 25mg pills until you reach the dosage prescribed by your doctor. I was extremely sleepy in the initial few weeks while my body adjusted to the medication.

Take care,
Miss Irie

I take tylenol PM, but I wouldn't suggest you do it unless you ask your doctor. I'm on several medications, including pain meds, and first asked my dr. if it was okay to take the tylenol PM also. He did say it was okay. However, I do take 3 of them, instead of the 2 recommended on the bottle.

I take Tylenol PM sometimes, and it does help! Thanks. :) I try to use it when I need it the most...

My answer to sleep
 

I have had RSD for for 10 years. Up until the last 4 years it was manageable
with medication. However, that was when it spread throughout my entire
body and my sleep problems began.

I have had problems sleeping for the last 4 years. The longest period of
'no sleep' for me was 18 days. Normally I would go 5 or 6 days with no sleep, then just totally pass out for a day then repeat the cycle over and over
again. It got so bad that I would drop off to sleep standing up, and then
fall. My husband began having to watch me all the time to make sure I would
not hurt myself. That is when I decided I had to make my doctors understand
that I had to have something to make me sleep and that I would do or take anything necessary in order to sleep. Everything I read told me that without sleep, nothing works right in your body.

Luckily, my doctor new of a psychiatrist who was doing research on finding
meds, that were prescribed for one thing, but would work for something
else. We tried several things that didn't work. Then he put me on REMERON.
I started on a low dose, which didn't work, but kept increasing it until it did
the charm. I had forgotten what it was like to get in the bed at night and
not wake up until morning. I still have those nights that I wake up from a
deep sleep screaming of pain, but I can live with that.

I know there are meds that work for some and won't work for others. But I
hope that if you haven't tried this, that you will talk to your doctor about it,
to see if it might work for you.

Melissa

Rosie, were you taking it for sleep?
Just wondering, cuz I was thinking- it won't bother me if it does zombify me because I am taking it to sleep. :p But, then again, maybe if it zombifies me so much that I can't even sleep it off, that wouldn't work!

I think it has a double effect- sleep and some pain relief... we'll see if it works!:D

Hope you are well! :hug:

hey

zombie eg wake up next morning and cant function mentally for about 3 hours (even taking it at like 8pm). but others i know take 75mg at night and are okish in the morning.

good luck!!!

rxxxxxxxxx