Hmm...pdoc called back and said to get more sleep at night because today I'm sounding pretty good talking on the phone. I did get an extra hour of sleep last night and didn't run this morning because I was too tired and woke up with an upset stomach. Also, it was hectic as it was my daughter's 1st day back to school, and I had to go get donuts because I have always gotten them for her first & last days of school. She is one who hates changes to routine. Now, it's just too hot to run. Pdoc said to add some melatonin to the sleep mix and see how that does for a week or so (to see if I can fall back to sleep after early waking) & to try napping in the daytime while my daughter is in school, so that I have a total of 8-10 hr. of sleep. I'm not really sure about that. He also said I could go back on Trazodone instead of Clonidine for sleep, but I hate the hungover feeling Trazodone leaves me with in the morning. Though he said that is what we'd do next. I still have good left over Trazodone pills from my old pdoc, prescribed maybe in January. She had me on Trazodone & hydroxyzine for sleep.
Possibly I could go back to that. I have hydroxyzine I can use to help calm panic attacks, especially long-lasting ones. I can nap in the day, but usually only if I take 2 mg Klonopin along with 2 of my fibromyalgia muscle relaxer pills (tizandine). I am prescribed up to 4 of the tizandine pills per day. Lately, I haven't had a fibro flare-up, so I could try that too.

I guess I have a lot of options. I not really sure which one to go with. This is why I liked my old pdoc better. She didn't give me options unless I really rejected to a med because I'd had it before, and it didn't work, or it had terrible side effects. I tell all my pdocs flat out that if a med is causing me unexplained weight gain or making me only want to eat (never feel full) and sleep (such as Remeron) because my eating disorder past, they can be 100% sure I will not take it. My most common meds side effects tend to be fatigue & dry mouth. The pdoc said the Clonidine could be the problem though, so I don't know. Maybe I'll go back in my medical records & try the Trazodone/hydroxyzine combo again.

I also only just thought about it, but I keep forgetting to take the Protonix for my stomach. You are supposed to take it on an empty stomach 30 minutes before eating anything, and I always forget about it. I have been taking it very sporadically the past month, and not at all last week (realized this while refilling my meds). Gastro doc said to take it before dinner, but maybe I'll take before breakfast; that's easiest, and it seems a lot of Protonix info sites say to take it first thing in the morning because it works best on an empty stomach. Geez, maybe I should just start by taking the Protonix first thing in the morning. I'll have to call the gastro-doc assistant and find out if he feels that is OK. Then, if it is OK, I'll have to call the pdoc and see what he thinks, considering I've been forgetting Protonix most of the time, maybe taking it 2 days in a week.

My husband did notice the symptoms around 2 weeks ago, so it definitely could be the Protonix affecting things. That is unfortunately a med I'm not getting off before December or maybe never. My next gastro-doc appt. is in December, and he is hard to catch in his practice because of his hospital rounds and doing procedures like upper endoscopies & colonoscopies, and he pretty much told me get back on the Protonix pronto because I stopped taking it after my upper endoscopy showed everything was OK. Apparently,the trauma surgeons had to alter the perforated ulcer repair strategy on me because of my having a high muscle to fat ratio, and he said I was lucky as if it happened again (I guess once you get one ulcer, you are prone to more), I could be looking at a surgery removing half of my stomach. I was running most days at the time, but normal amounts, 3-4 miles. I wasn't wanting to lose weight, or even weighing myself unless I was at a doctor's appt., and they weighed me there. I just wanted to tone up a bit. But I do know Protonix can affect a lot of meds and vitamin & mineral absorptions (especially B12 and magnesium).

Ugh! So many factors!