Can't stay awake during the day

I'm having a terrible time staying awake in the mornings and up til about noon. I'm getting enough sleep, but I still doze off during the morning. It is very hard to teach like this. My pdoc has actually given me permission to take caffeine pills in the morning, and to ask my gp for something that is not an amphetamine, but will keep me awake.

I'm taking a pretty hefty load of meds and she is trying to wean me off of some of them. I personally think it's the lamictal, but since my depression finally seems to be going away, she doesn't want to mess with that one.

I'm currently on Lamictal, abilify, Trileptal, Effexor, Klonipan, Ambien at night, Flexeril, and oxycontin for pain. Plus a bunch for my rheumatoid Arthritis. All totaled, 18 different drugs, and on more than one occasion I've been tempted to throw my med box away and start from scratch!

Other than stopping the meds, does anyone have any ideas how I can stay awake without caff. tabs? Any help would be appreciated!

I'm having the same problem with the Lamictal, even though I started at a very small dose and am ramping up every 2 weeks. But I'll put up with the sleepiness if the med continues to do its magic in stabilizing my moods.....I just went through my first mixed episode and do not want to EVER experience anything like it again.

It helps me to just get up and do something different when the daytime drowsies hit me. I have a desk job, so it's good to do that anyway; now I have no choice but to take a little walk, as falling asleep in front of one's computer is bad form.

O.o I would MURDER my doc if he tried to give me 18 pills! And I thought two pills were bad!

I don't think there is much you can do without messing up your pills, but it's good that you are weaning off of them. You may need to go to sleep a couple hours earlier, and that may mean sleeping pills which is probably not a good idea. Have you tried exercising for an hour in the morning before class?

Best of luck!

If you can, stand. I heard that from a guy in the military who blah, blah, blah, blah. It actually does work if you can somehow fit it into your routine without attracting attention to yourself.

For some reason, the act of having to balance yourself and not fall over keeps you awake.

Try skipping the ambien if you can. I've found that if I take ambien it doesn't seem to help me go to sleep at night but the next day I am groggy. Flexiril will make you sleepy too. But if you're in pain you won't want to go without that one. Right now I'd give anything to sleep, day or night. My broken neck hurts and the pain meds make me hyper so I've been getting naps here and there but I can't sleep. I wish you luck.

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Thanks. I spend a lot of time on ebaumsworld.

Thanks! I am trying to skip the ambien, in case that's the problem. It only helps me get to sleep, not stay there, anyway,

My pdoc isn't responsible for all 18, a bunch of them are for other chronic illnesses.

Provigil? It's a stimulant but not an amphetamine.

Anyway, I would think the klonipin, ambien, and oxycontin is probably sedating you more than the lamictal?

I have a milder problem from Depakote and am going to try morning exercise for it (Dr Skipper, have you actually tried it or is it a generally good advice?). I will let you know how it goes.

Thanks, Hamster, I'd appreciate it. I'm at that all or nothing spot so many of us hit. I know too much to dump the med box, and am in no location to risk hospitalization, as a state facility is all that have around here, and after a visit to cook county (chicago) back in the 80's, I make it a rule to stay OUT of state facilities. So I'm stuck with inch by inch changes that leave me frustrated as hell.

Of course, if this isn't enough, the property my dad left in trust for me is close to selling, and we just got the inspection report with a major problem in it. So now I'm teaching, running around like a chicken with my head cut off trying to fix the condo from 300 miles away, and still falling asleep during the day. FML Oh, yeah, and that condo was the only home I've known for the last 30 years. So there's more than a little grief going on there, too.

Hi Buggs, I have taken or have taken a lot of the meds u take. Maybe take your pm meds earlier than usual. I used to give medications to developmentally disabled adults as part of my job. One resident really had a terrible time waking up in the am. She took several sedating drugs. I started giving them to her at around 7 pm instead of 9 and she got up much more easily in the am. I do this with mine now and although I still need caffeine in the am I feel more awake than when i took them later.

Good suggestion Meta. I will give this a try tomorrow night. Thanks!

One thing I forgot to say. My then t-doc recommended that I go out and walk in the sun without sunglasses. I did for a couple of days and then - by lucky coincidence - had my yearly eye exam. I have an eye condition and the eye doctor said that going without sunglasses is a no-no under any circumstances. I did not ask whether this would be the case for a patient with healthy eyes. Worth asking, as otherwise it probably is an effective approach - sunlight is supposed to be "activating".

I did take a walk this AM to see if the sun would wake me up, but I still fell asleep teaching Math. (So did my student!) Of course, I had been up since 3:30 am, so I had a right to be tired, LOL. I'm going to try Meta's suggestion about earlier meds and your suggestion about sunlight in the mornings and see if that makes any difference.

Thanks, gang. I'll let you know how it goes.