Insomnia Support Group

I visited my doctor a few weeks ago and told him I wasn't getting that deep sleep that I feel like I need to wake up feeling refreshed each morning. He suggested I start by taking 1mg melatonin up to 5 each night. I got to the point where I was taking 5mg and still wide awake, so I called him back for another appointment. This time he gave me Lunesta. I took it the first night and about 20-30 minutes after I took it I had this god awful smell in my nose and taste in my mouth. It worked to knock me out, but I kept waking up because of the taste and the smell. I tried it one last night and it did the same thing, so I gave up on it. This week, I called my doctor again and he prescribed me the 12.5 mg Ambien CR (the generic version because it was cheaper). I've been taking it the past few nights and nothing. I took it an hour ago, and I'm still wide awake. As much as I'd love to sleep, when I try to I just toss and turn.

Has anybody had bad luck with Ambien and Lunesta like I have? If so, what are you taking now and how is it working out for you?

I have been on both in the past. Lunesta was good it helped me for awhile. Ambien is a very dangerous drug and I don't recommend it. I was on it for a year and iit makes u do crazy shit and alot of times u wake up out of sleep and do things and don't remember doing it. I was seeing things on this drug it was crazy, my husband hated it and would tell me of all the crazy stuff I would do n wouldn't remember. Trazadone is pretty good I like that and alot of people I know do. U could always give that a try. Hope I was helpful, good luck on finding something that works for u!

Yeh, I agree the Ambien isn't good. Its almost 1 am and even though I'm wide awake, I won't remember what I did tonight whenever I finally wake up in the morning. I'm almost afraid to call my doctor and ask for something different because the Ambien isn't working. He's probably going to think I'm crazy or something. Does the Trazadone get you to sleep fast? Are you able to get a full 8 hours of sleep without waking up a bunch of times? Do you wake up tired from it?

Duhhhjess,

There is a possibility of you having some kind of sleep-disordered breathing (or full-blown sleep apnea). I'm fit and don't snore but after ongoing quality-of-sleep issues I requested a sleep study and they found that I had near severe sleep apnea. I've been on CPAP therapy and the quality of my sleep has improved fairly dramatically.

Also...insomnia (not caused by medical or psychiatric disorder) is almost always brought on by a combination of negative sleep thoughts or behaviors. Before getting a sleep apnea diagnosis, I was wrestling/recovering from a chronic bout of insomnia. I was getting about 2-3 hours/night even with Ambien. I saw a sleep doc and he helped me address the negative thoughts/beliefs about sleep as well giving me behavioral corrections I can make. He told me to stop taking the sleep drugs as they often perpetuate insomnia. He said often "either they don't work or they work too well". He calls them a dead-end street because even if they do work, they will eventually stop working.

Best of luck with this. It's good for you to learn to address this without medication now as many of us will have recurring bouts of insomnia throughout our life.

ive taken ambien the past 4 days. After a couple days the weird side effects pretty much wore off. The stuff makes me feel high as a kite...which is great i guess. Lol. But thats not why im taking it. it doesnt necessarily help me sleep. And when it has i havent slept as long as i need to. You know what gives me energy to tackle the day. Fish oil. Isnt that weird. It doesnt solve the sleeping problem but im not as much of a zombie.

try prayers before sleep and prayer for night attack.

there is no magic pill. we have to grin and live through it. i have insomnia for the last 11 weeks. 11 long weeks of 3 - 4 hrs of sleep. sometimes 2 hrs and sometimes 5 hrs.

when it first started, i thought i was going to die within a few weeks, if it does not improve. well it hasn't improved and i haven't died yet.

now, i give up on the idea of having normal sleep any more - i'm 51 years old and i guess this is what's gonna be.

this all started with stop drinking and others have said eventually it gets better. so i'm waiting. in the meantime, just live through it.

no meds though. it will only eventually make it worse.

the most natural thing to do is sleep.

should be like as easy and automatic as breathing.

i am forcing myself, starting today, to run 1/2 hr on cardio machine at my gym and see if it will help.

just read somewhere that regular cardio exercise helps you with sleeping.

anybody here tried that?

forehand36 make sure you run at least 3 hours before bedtime, otherwise that will cause the opposite effect. Duhhhjess, my advice is to try some of the natural sleep aids out there. I have been on Ambien for some time, but the taste was awful and after a month I couldn't fall asleep without taking my pill. Melatonin is a good choice but in most cases not enough to get the results needed. There are however other sleep aids that have no side effects and provide a nice cocktail of mellow natural ingredients like melatonin, valerian root, chamomile flower, hops powder etc. My experience had shown that such combination is much easier on the body and allows you to relax into falling asleep instead of dropping dead on the stairs.

Good luck,

Polly

trazodone helps