I just wanted to find out what others do for sleep meds and what helps with least side affects. I am very sensitive to meds and am allergic to so many, and when it comes to sleep I dont have anything other than my pain meds. My doctor doesnt really want me on anything as I am only 21 and doesnt want me to become dependant on sleeping meds. I do take ativan to help me relax and then I have a natural sleep med I get at the store its called mid-nite PM which is for sleep and pain, it helps some but not much.

What do others do for sleeping? Does age matter when it comes to taking sleep meds? Because I have so many allergies to drugs my doctors have to be very careful and trying anything new is like getting ready for open heart surgery with me as anything from seizures to heart problems happen with reactions like when I got morphine I ended up in the cardiac unit for a week or dilaudid I was already in the hospital but I reacted so bad I had a whole ER trauma team in my room for the whole day, lyrica ended with seizures and very scary 911 call, so we have to be very careful. Is there something out there that isnt habit forming and doesnt have really bad side affects or reactions?

Thank you, hope your all having a good pain free day!
Hugs!

Niki

Hello Niki,
I'm certainly NOT a doctor, but maybe you could check with yours about this..

I was hospitalized @ one point or another I can't remember which time it was, but the sleeping aid of choice there, seemed to be Benadryl.
Plain old over the counter Allergy medication.

I just got attacked by a spider in my sleep last week, and before my doc put me on steroids, I used the Benadryl. It knocked me Out!

I wouldn't want to advise anything with your allergic reactions, but it's a thought.
You'll get other advice too.
Have you had a sleep test?

With your complications, check with your doctor before you try anything!

Pleasant Dreams!

Pete

Thanks Pete for your suggestion, I actually forgot to mention that but benadryl is something I already take for sleep. I am not allergic to it and it helps a bit but not as well as I would like, every night I take 3 pills of benadryl, 150mg of demerol, 40mg of baclofen, 3 pills of the mid-nite PM, and 2mg of ativan. The benadryl I started taking when my ortho. suggested it, in the beging it helped a good deal but I think my body is just getting use to it so it doesnt do the same as it did.

I havent had a sleep test, what does that consist of? My pain is just so bad at night, I can only lay on a side for about 10min before having to move to another side and then I get really horrible spasms in my legs. I know sleep is something we all get less of, some nights I get only an hour of sleep even sometimes going as long as 36 hours without sleep.

Thanks so much for your help!
Niki

Niki--
Is the pain causing you not to sleep or is it insomnia from another cause ?

If you are unsure, keep a diary or journal with your activities, pain levels etc-- especially at night.

If the pain is causing you not to sleep, my thought is you need to get better pain control. All the OTC and even some of the meds that make you drowsy aren't going to help if it is the pain that is keeping you awake.

My other concern, is the amount and different types of meds that you are using to try to help you sleep, all at once.

Ativan, as you probably know, is in a class of medications known as Benzodiazapines (sp ?)--- they slow down the brain and nervous system, hence why the help with seizures, anxiety, etc; BUT, it won't necessarily put you to sleep. I take ativan when I have cluster seizures-- it stops the seizures and is very sedating and I sleep for several hours (depending on the dose), but normally I dont sleep for more than several hours. In otherwords, it is NOT a med normally used soley for sleep.

Benedryl is an antihistamine-- it can make you sleepy, but it doesn't "cause" sleep.

I don't know what is in your PM med, but most of them usually contains the active ingredient in Benedryl or Melatonin. I've tried Melatonin -- a natural med and it does nothing for me.

My point is, all of those put together could cause a dangerous interaction and some weird reactions/side effects.

I know you are frustrated--- I get very frustrated from lack of sleep too. If I am having an RSD flare, my sleep is effected; if I am having an Interstitial Cystitis flare--- where I have to get up 5 times a night to go to the bathroom, my sleep is effected; when my seizures are clustering I may "sleep" by its a very interupted, non restful sleep. I am lucky if I get 5 hours a night.

My best advice is to speak to your doctor and explain to him/her HOW the lack of sleep is effecting your every day life. (For instance, when I get less than 5 hours of sleep, I start having an increase in seizures which can set off other problems.... ) Talk to the doctor who seems to be most receptive and whom deals with the issue that is causing the lack of sleep. I have found that when they see how the insomnia/sleep/pain is effecting your life, they tend to be more receptive and open to finding a soloution.

Hang in there !

L2L

hey

im only a few years older and have the same issues with meds. i cant sleep from pain and insomnia. over the years i have done about everything for. it. done benedrly nothing. right now i am taking nortriptlyne and on and off again lunesta. have tried all the natural meds and nothing. but with your reactions i would be very careful. and talk with your doc again .. have you tried any of the ellivil or anything like that?

just a thought. i know how hard it is not to be able to sleep i go through periods like most on here that are up for almost 24 hrs or longer with no sleep insight.

how long have you had rsd i forget

carrie

it is my pain that keeps me from sleeping, my RSD is full body and internal so it doesnt matter how a lay every part of me hurts so I have to move every few min. to another side.
As for better pain control there really isnt anymore options or help I can get. Being highly allergic to so many pain meds all I have is demerol, then every week I have ketamine infusions which those help greatly. Before the ketamine I was in the hospitals every 2-3 days because of flairs, now though its only like every 2 weeks which for me thats really good. I have tried every other treatment, the last chance would be the coma. My doctor is doing everything he can to get my pain down but mine is never below a 9-10 pain. My doctor has been doing as much research as he can to look for new meds for me to try but so far ketamine, and demerol are my best pain control.

I do take alot of meds all at once to sleep but also for everything else pain, spasms, allergies, ect. I have been taking all those meds for about a year and havent ever had a problem with them reacting to each other. I am very careful on what I do take together, and my doctor as well monitors my meds on what should be taken together and what not.

I am doing the best I can to keep it together, but as I loose more and more sleep things just keep getting worse. I just hate not having energy and being so tired but unable to sleep, sometimes I just want to scream.

Thank you for your help!

Niki

Niki,
It's late, and I'm tired. Yet, I still feel I must write something.

It seems (to me) that you are on the verge of being over medicated.
All of us here have RSD. I've had it since '83, then again another massive injury in '98.
I don't think it'd be fair for anyone here to say something like "I hurt worse than you".
That'd get us nowhere.

However,
If you have these Allergies to meds, and intense pain from your RSD, I'd absolutely advise, that you speak to your doctor,
and, ask about a Sleep Study!
With so much pain, I'd be one afraid Ins. company to decline payment for that!
This will give you a "Baseline", for your sleep.
So, then as a "Sleep Doctor" works with you, you can have a "reference point"!

A year, six months from now... You can look back and see what kind of advance you've made!
Is it Oxygen?
Or, CO2?
Apnea?
Obstructive Apnea?
What's causing your sleep problems?

We now have the absolute technology, to find out what is the cause, and what is the outcome, of your sleep disturbance!
Don't take "NO" for an answer!
And, (as I was talking to a close friend today, with a similar issue), there is NO REASON, to stop, if the doctor says, "I don't know what else to do for you". What's clear? Time to find out a new Doctor! At least the doc is being honest! I'd thank the doc, and move on!

That's what you need to do, imho.
Find a sleep doctor, at a good university hospital.
And, hold their "stethoscope" to the fire!
Yes. That's what you deserve, rather than "Playing games with the meds"!
I recommended Benadryl, after you speak to your doctor.
Because, I'm NOT a doctor.
However, I want to see you get some relief! (Sleepless nites are the worst!)

So, I hope you check with your doctor, to find a sleep doctor, and carry on through with that!

And Also,
I wish you the BEST!

Pete
asb

Hey --

It sounds like you are pretty advanced in your pharmacological knowledge, so that I would think any suggestions aren't going to necessarily be new to you.

For me, I can never remember sleeping straight through for eight hours, before or after I had to deal with pain issues. What does work presently is taking one 4mg zanaflex, two 1mg lorazepam, along with two acetaminophen PM capsules. That does the trick for me, even more so now that I take a bit of methadone earlier in the night.

It was a certain constant that, forgetting any pain issues, not getting sleep was always a contributor to any feelings of falling apart. Sleep becomes that much more necessary with the addditional mental stress from pain.

-- Dennis

Trazadone helps me sleep.

Thank you all so much for all your advice and suggestions.

Pete I never ever ment to compare anyones pain, never in my life have i ever thought anyones pain is worse than another doesnt matter what it is or what its from. I would never say my pain is worse than anyone elses and never have I ever felt that way, and I know everyone else here has RSD that is why I asked this question is because I know others here are going through what I am, so others might have ideas that could help that maybe I havent tried yet. I never ment say anything to hurt or compare anything and am so sorry if I wrote something that offended anyone, please forgive me.

What consists of a sleep study? I will speak to my doctor about everything and see what he says. Thank you all again for your help, I greatly appreciate everyones info and advice!

Niki