[wiretwister]

I have no trouble falling asleep,, unaided by any chemical I might add.. what I lack is the ability to stay asleep more than four hours top.. some nights as short as an hour...I can usually go back to sleep for an hour or so but this yoyo effect is killing me ,, I am sleepy all day,, have massive headaches and just feel like crap..it has been so long I do not remember waking feeling refreshed...my pdoc so far has refused to rx anything but ambien but I sleep no longer with it than I do without..I have tried strict schedules,,no caffine,, reduced screen time before bed,,,but falling asleep is not the issue and none of these seem to address staying asleep....help...by the way I have a cpap and it is doing its job..I do have a physical job so I have activity daily but due to medical issues heavy exercise is out..I am sure if I exausted myself daily it would help..but I do feel mentally exausted....

[Crazy Hitch]

Yeah I dont know what to suggest tigger that you aren't already trying really I don't.

Hopefully others can come forward and offer their insight too.

Usually when I'm in the place where you're in I need meds to get me by.

[BlackSheep79]

I think it's BS that your pdoc isn't really taking you seriously since sleep issues can induce mania. I'm being weaned off of Seroquel right now, and my pdoc said if I start to have issues to call right away. I have sleep issues, getting to sleep and staying asleep, and Seroquel has been my savior. I'm scared coming off of it. When I do have bad nights and wake up I have Benadryl on my nightstand so I pop a couple. My pdoc doesn't know this, but my past two pdocs suggested herbals. I've been taking half the dose of a herbal that is a mix of herbs since I started to come off of Seroquel. I knew I wouldn't have a bad reaction because I was on these same Meds before when I took them. I don't know if psych Meds can have a bad reaction with herbals? I know people have mentioned melatonin?

[wiretwister]

Melatonin and benadryl can help me to get to sleep if I am restless but they wear off shortly and I am back where I started

[wiretwister]

Melatonin and benadryl help if I am restless to get to sleep but only last 3 to 4 hours for me. So have no benefit to stay asleep. Ty for the suggestion. Could you elaborate on the herbs you mentioned.

Ambien works for me. Except for a few nights a month. Then I just toss and turn. Tylenol PM?

[raspberrytorte]

Maybe unisom would help?

[wiretwister]

Originally Posted by ValentinaVVV

Ambien works for me. Except for a few nights a month. Then I just toss and turn. Tylenol PM?

have used both , they help to get to sleep but neither keep me asleep more than a few hours,, ty

[wiretwister]

Originally Posted by raspberrytorte

Maybe unisom would help?

have not tried that one,, is it long lasting,, is there such a thing as a extended release sleep aid...eight hours worth...tried xr ambian and made no difference..

I've been on a lot of different meds for sleep. I'm going to be getting a cpap machine soon too. I currently take, vistoral, trazadone and zyprexa for sleep. I'm gonna see about coming off of the zyprexa though. Gaining too much weight on it.

You could ask about: zyprexa, amitriptyline, trazadone, visoril, doxepin, seroquel. I feel for you not sleeping is horrible...

If you can't take any of the sedating antidepressants, like trazodone or mirtazipine, for sleep, it sounds like you're a good candidate for a sleep study.

[BeyondtheRainbow]

Have you tried hydroxyzine (atarax)? It's related to benadryl but is different enough that it worked for me and benadryl makes me manic. I also had some benefit from a lower dose (400 mg) of gabapentin for some time. For a long time mirtazipine helped me with sleep.Seroquel is very good.

Those are the ones that have worked the best/longest for me. With the hydroxyzine I think I got the pills in a low dose and then could take up to a lot of them as needed. The only thing about it is that it that Zyrtec is derived from it and when I took them together I got really foggy until one day I happened to read the zyrtec package and it said something about if you are sensitive to hydroxyzine not to take zyrtec. I showed my psychiatrist who looked it up and they are just a few molecules different so they don't mix well, at least they didn't for me and it's a subtle thing. But other allergy meds are fine with it or (if you even take allergy meds) it may work instead of them since it is an allergy med.