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Insomnia...

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Lilith

New member
...is it CF-related, just another one of those lovely side effects? For the past four days I haven't slept well at night, and I've been getting maybe an hour nap in the day tops. Its driving me nuts. I've either woken up in a sweat, can't get comfortable, or just cannot shut my eyes for more than five seconds.

Anyone else have this problem regularly? I mean, I know we all have our off nights, but so many consecutively? I go to see the doc on Friday for a regular appointment, so maybe I'll ask him about it and see if he wants to give me a sleep aid, because I know rest is so very important.

Have any of you ever dealt with this? If so, what did you do for it?

Thanks a ton for any replies.
 
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Allie

New member
I have severe insomnia, and so far things have only worked short term, except for alcohol, but drinking myself to sleep is hard on the body. Tell me if anything works.
 
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Lilith

New member
Really? Maybe I'll ask him about that. Thanks, Emily!

And Allie, I totally agree with you. Actually, I've tried drinking a Smirnoff wine cooler each night before bed (low alcohol tolerance runs in my family) and that used to knock me out, but I think I've gotten used to it. It doesn't do the job anymore <img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-sad.gif" border="0">
 
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anonymous

New member
I don't have cf but my doc just put me on trazodone to help me sleep ,
I take it only at bed time and within 20 minutes i'm asleep.
 
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thelizardqueen

New member
I drink a cup of camomille tea with a wedge of lemon every night before bed. It seems to relax me enough to fall asleep. If that doesn't work, I either read a book in bed, or listen to some jazz before I fall asleep.
 
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Ricky

New member
Lilith,
I sleep about 6 to 7 hours a night. I suffered from insomnia for years before I told my Shrink about it She started me on a fairly new drug called Lunesta. It works pretty good and it doesn't leave you grogy in the morning and you can take it every night. Not like some sleep aids like Ambien that can become addictive. Good luck.
 
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anonymous

New member
I agree with Amy here. She's got the good info. I have taken ambien now for maybe almost a year. It is not addictive... My doctors prefered ambien to me because it does have low side effects, and does not counter act any medications. Now I'm not sure about the breathing thing Amy was talking about...but I have noticed on days my asthma symptoms are acting up when I take ambien it seems to give me a coughing attack when it starts to work, but it goes away within a few minutes. Now I dont know what happens in my sleep...sometimes my husband says I coughed all night long but I cant go and say its because of ambien because I do that anyway and have for years. I do not have to take ambien everyday. Its really not meant for that its meant to help you get back to a sleep pattern. But I am on so many medications that keep me restless, I can lay in bed for hours so tired and never get to sleep for more than 30 min at a time. Also my husbands work schedule is never normal so I never go to bed at the same time. Again I can go for several days with out taking an ambien if everything is going good...like no restless meds, gtting to bed at a regular time, feeling well, low stress. I have so many problems that contribute to my sleeplessness and I am so glad I have ambien. I went for years and years with bad sleep to no sleep and it was just getting worse and worse....and my health was getting worse and worse. Since I have been on ambien I am getting the rest my body needs to recover and my health has slightly improved (for many reasons rest being a good factor). Now I'm not saying ambien has made my health better...it has just helped me get the good rest I needed, especially when I am sick...For some reason when Im sick and I am more tired I can not sleep at all...and thats when you need rest the most. So there is ambien, just another medication to help me along my way.
Ok thats the end of my story.
 
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JennifersHope

New member
I take Trazadone to go to sleep. I love it. I am alseep in about 30 minutes and I sleep well for the night. I am usually a bit groggy when I wake up in the morning, but it goes away within a few minutes.

I have also take ambien, it worked really well but when I tried to cut it down it was terrible for me. I woke up in the middle of the night.

Different things work for different people I guess.

Hope you get some good sleep soon.

Jennifer
 
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anonymous

New member
Post transplant I was on very high doses of prednisone. It really affected me and I had serious insomnia. I remember roaming the house one night until six in the morning. I just walked between the living room and my bedroom all night until I finally broke down and just started crying cause I was so tired. My doc gave me ambien and it worked wonders. I stopped taking it about 9 months post transplant when my dose of pred was a whole lot lower. It was not hard to get off at all, I just stopped taking it. And it worked very well for me. I had a good night's sleep every night on that stuff!

Margaret
Double Lung Tx 11.11.04
 
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Scarlett81

New member
I was actually thinking prednisone too. I don't know if you're on that, but when I take prednisone it makes me bonkers. Anxiety, hot sweats at night, bad dreams, restlessness, shakes, insomnia. It unfortunately helps open my airways better than many other things. But it is a last resort med for me.
 
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Lilith

New member
Wow, I guess I'm not the only one after all... Still having the problem, so I'm definitly going to ask my doc about what I should do, be it a sleep aid or whathaveyou. And to answer the question, no, I'm not on prednisone. I have noticed an increased cough, though, so my allergies could be acting up and contributing to the problem. The only reason I haven't asked for a sleep aid before is because I don't want to become dependant on it to get sleep. But from what I'm hearing from you guys, it doesn't seem to be a big issue...

Either way, I see my doc on Friday. I'll let you know what he says.

Thanks so much to everyone, and Amy, thanks for all the info!
 
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Ricky

New member
Amy,
I never said Ambien was addictive and Lunesta was't. I said there are fewer side effects with Lunesta as appossed to Ambien.
 
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