trying yet another medication for sleep

[magpie]

Well. I have been on Cpap since July and though the apnea is pretty much under control I'm still not sleeping. I tried two different doses of Trasadone, then a month of Roserum and now have been switched to Lunesta. I took it for the first time last night and it did seem to help a bit BUT I took my mask off sometime during the night so I am still not feeling that great this morning. I want to sleep so badly that I'm concidering duct taping the mask on so I cannot tak it off while sleeping (kidding but the thought did cross my mind) I wonder why after using this mask for three months I am have problems tolerating it lately. I changed the cushion and it isn't leaking but I'm still taking it off. sI tried using my Opti life nasal pillow again but it hurts my nose brecause I move around too much. I lseep on my side alot so the full face mask is not a good option since it leaks in that position. I am concidering springing for yet another mask but don't know what to try. Suggestions are welcome

I am ever hopeful that the right combo of mask and meds will get me the rest I need so desperately.

_________________

CPAPopedia Keywords Contained In This Post (Click For Definition): CPAP

_________________

CPAPopedia Keywords Contained In This Post (Click For Definition): CPAP

[Snoredog]

that prescription crap doesn't work, one day you will figure that out, after about 20 days your body gets used to the medication and it will stop working.


Get and try Melatonin, you need to adjust the dose for your particular need but I suggest 1 to 3mg per night.

Supplemental melatonin is different than prescription drugs, since your body already naturally produces melatonin you are only adding to existing levels. As we grow older our natural levels of melatonin fade, when you take a supplement you are only adding back to those levels.

If you get drowsy in the afternoon after taking melatonin, try cutting back on the dose, between 1 and 3 PM is when our natural levels of melatonin begin to kick in and build up until it gets dark and is time to go to bed.

[magpie]

Snoredog. Thanks for the feedback. Actually I have tried Melatonin at 1.5 and 3units and it doesn't work for me. The sleep meds are only going to be for a short term as I do not like taking things such as this but need to relearn how to sleep. The hope is that the meds will help me stay asleep. I will only be using them a week to a month.

I also use a sleep CD that patterns tbrainwaves to aid sleep. I use self hypnosis to suggest a good nights sleep and imprint the fact that I do not have to wake up to breathe anymore that the machine will take care of me. I take Magnesium, zinc, and B6 suplements to help with the production of sleep hormones. I dring herbal teas that promote sleep at bedtime. I use lavendar linen spray, meditate, and keep my room pitch black and on the cool side. I dont turn on the light to go to the loo at night I pick my way carefully in the dark. i have the clock turned to the wall so I cannot seet he display or worry over the time. I go out ever day to get real sunlight and help my bio rythums. I do not watch the news at night so it doesn't affect me subconsiously. I watch TV in a dark room and sit 15 feet away from it in the evening. I am considering purchasing a light for light therapy to get my circadian rythms back in sync.

So please do not think I am relying on pills alone. At this point I am so sleep deprived that I finally agreed to try perscription medications after exhausting my arsenal of homopathic and behavioral modifications. Pills are not my first choice nor will they be a long term remedy. It is my hope that they will act as another tool to get my body back into the habit of sleeping. Once that is done I hope that I can then get off them and sustain sleep without the drugs.

[OutaSync]

Snoredog,

What is the best time of day to take the Melatonin? I go to bed at 10:00 and need to be awake by 6:30 but I struggle to wake up after a night of many awakenings. On weekends when I don't have to use my three alarm clocks, I end up sleeping for 10 to 12 hours.

Bev

[ozij]

[quote="magpie"]Well. I have been on Cpap since July and though the apnea is pretty much under control I'm still not sleeping. I tried two different doses of Trasadone, then a month of Roserum and now have been switched to Lunesta. I took it for the first time last night and it did seem to help a bit BUT I took my mask off sometime during the night so I am still not feeling that great this morning. I want to sleep so badly that I'm concidering duct taping the mask on so I cannot tak it off while sleeping (kidding but the thought did cross my mind) I wonder why after using this mask for three months I am have problems tolerating it lately. I changed the cushion and it isn't leaking but I'm still taking it off. sI tried using my Opti life nasal pillow again but it hurts my nose brecause I move around too much. I lseep on my side alot so the full face mask is not a good option since it leaks in that position. I am concidering springing for yet another mask but don't know what to try. Suggestions are welcome

I am ever hopeful that the right combo of mask and meds will get me the rest I need so desperately.

[magpie]

Ozij, I have both a straight Cpap and my auto pap. I use my cpap when I travel and my auto at home. There is no difference in my wake ups between the two machines. That said I have been considering going straight Cpap now that I have a good bit of data. I figure I will just switch to Apap when something changes so I can moniter things for a while.

Who makes the Headrest?

[WearyOne]

magpie, are you having trouble going to sleep, staying asleep, or both?

If you're having trouble staying asleep, did you try regular melatonin or prolonged release? It's supposed to release throughout the night rather than all at once. Also, my sleep doctor and a nutritionist both said it was okay to go up to 6 milligrams of melatonin.

My son had a circadian rhythm problem and melatonin did the trick for him. Also, if you up the dosage and it works, then make sure you either get out in sunlight each morning or get a light box and use it early in the morning.

Pam

[Art mom]

Wow, it sounds like you are doing everything right!

I hope you find something that works, I can throw out some ideas you didn't mention, maybe one of them will be an "a-ha."

Acupununcture
Working out in the AM
If the magnesium isn't working try adding calcium too
Fish oil - I never read a single thing saying it helps sleep, but it is supposed to help the brain... it's a stretch, but hey, it's supposed to be good for the heart too.
Co-Q 10 in the mornings - coQ10 increases energy, but maybe you need to use some energy up to get tired?

I hesitate to add, and talk to a doctor or naturopath first, and make sure you aren't taking meds that would be a problem but you might read up on 5HTP. I take 100 mg a day and it has helped moods, sleep, and headaches.

Oh, or try niacin too. But also, only with the help of someone who knows their stuff. Niacin will make you flush like crazy, but I just took mine at bedtime and slept through the flush. I kind of like the flush since I am cold all the time, the niacin kind of warms me up. Your body converts some tryptophan into niacin, it's in that tryptophan/seratonin path way somehow.

[ozij]

The headrest is apparently still made by Aeiomed - though the selling of it has changed hands back and forth, as have the names. It used to be called "Aura" was handled for a short time by Invacare,

cpap.com sells it.

http://www.aeiomed.com/locations.asp

To order the Headrest® with nasal seals

Please call AEIOMed® customer support at (800) 722-2507

By the way, you can set up your 420E to supply the same pressure for the top and the bottom of the range, and then you'll have "auto mode" data, with cpap mode treatment.

O.

[Guest]

Weary one, I have no problem going to sleep when I first go to bed but cannot stay asleep. As the night progresses my sleep latency increases so for each wake up it takes me longer to get back to sleeep sometimes up to three or four hours. This is documented in my sleep study also. I had heard about the time release Melatonin but cannot find it around here. I will see about buying it online. The lunesta is working but I am still tired all morning and I do not want to take it for a long period of time.

Artmom I already take fish oil ( heart problems) and calcium and vitimin D (osteoporosis)
I will look into the 5HTP I remember using it for something a few years back but it didn't do what I had hoped so I stopped.

Ozij, Thanks I will do that instead of switching to Cpap mode

[JZ]

Magpie,

First -- congratulations on all you are doing to address your sleep issues. I know it must be frustrating that you have not found a solution, but you certainly have the commitment to keep looking until you do.

I am not a health care professional, so I'm not in a position to recommend any medications. However, I wanted to tell you about a medication my sleep doc (he is a neurologist who specializes in sleep disorders) prescribed for me. It is called Lyrica. You can check out what Pfizer, the pharmaceutical manufacturer, says about it at http://www.lyrica.com.

It is approved for use in reducing pain related to fibromyalgia, peripheral neuropathy and shingles. However, some doctors are using it off-label to assist with achieving deeper sleep. My doctor started me at 75 mg. a night and increased up to 150 mg. At that point, I was experiencing some morning brain fog and dropped back down to 125 mg per night.

I was not sure how much it was helping me sleep, but I found out a few weeks ago when I went off the medication. I did that not because of any medication side effects, but because I am trying some cognitive behavioral therapy to address my insomnia and did not want any progress I made to be masked by a medication. Once off the Lyrica, I reverted to my former sleep problem of waking up multiple times each night. That convinced that the Lyrica was indeed helping me sleep.

So you might consider talking with your physician about Lyrica. Good luck to you.

Janna

[Guest]

Thanks Janna I will check it out. I do not know if I am going to be able to stay on this medicine. So far I'm doing OK. Only got up twice last night but I did take off my mask again which isn't good. I noted the Lyrica and if I need to switch I will mention it to my Doc.

[SleepyNoMore]

MagPie, I am sorry you are having so much trouble sleeping Have you tried the Ambien yet? I don't need anything for sleeping but I did have a heck of a time for the first few months I was on cpap! Goodluck

[geoDoug]

I like to think of insomnia as an awake problem. Not a sleep problem. You obviously have done a lot to improve your sleep hygiene. Congratulations! Keep up the good work!

I learned these from an insomnia support group that my sleep clinic held. I used to have the opposite problem of yours--getting to sleep at night in the first place. So these tips have helped me a lot. I try to stick to all of them.

First, always, always, ALWAYS go to sleep at the same time each night and set your alarm for the same time in the morning--yes even on weekends when you don't HAVE to be up. Changing your sleep pattern is not an option.

Second, get vertical first thing in the AM. Go for a 15 minute walk or something right after you get up in the morning. (Rise and shine!)

Third, create a sleep diary. Here's how I've done it. I liked it because being accountable to a sheet of paper helps me stay asleep at night. Do what works for you. Create a chart with columns for each date and rows for the following (many are best guesses, but that doesn't matter):

• time that you went to bed
  time you woke up
  minutes in bed (difference between them)
  minutes it took you to go to sleep
  minutes awake in the night
  minutes asleep (subtracts the total time in bed by the next two lines)
  sleep efficiency (divides the minutes asleep by minutes in bed and multiplies by 100.) The idea is to get your sleep efficiency up to at least 90%.
  A row for notes where you can enter stuff like "caffeine, nap, medications taken, bedtime snack, alcohol" etc. A pattern may jump out at you.

When you start to see a patter of how much time you're awake, set your alarm back in the morning by that amount of time. For example, if you start to see a pattern of being up for about an hour in the middle of the night, set your alarm clock an hour earlier in the morning. Once your sleep efficiency is over 90% for a week, increase the amount of time you're in bed by 15 minutes every two days as far as you can go. Yeah, you'll be tired for a week or however long it takes to get back to normal, but you already are tired and as I see it a little short-term tiredness is worth it in the long-run.

Fourth, you talked about light therapy. The converse of a light box in the morning is dimming the lights in the evening. A couple of hours (or however long it takes you) before going to bed, start "winding down." Make a ritual of turning down the lights, reading, doing something relaxing, etc.

Fifth, and I don't think this one is negotiable, you want your brain to think that the bedroom is only for sleeping (well, and that other activity). Don't go to bed until you're tired. (Especially important if you have trouble falling asleep in the first place.) If you're in bed awake for more than fifteen minutes, get out of bed and leave the room. Go do something boring like reading a snoozer of a book. Also, take the TV out of the bedroom if it's in there. No reading in bed.

Question: When you're up in the middle of the night, is it because your brain is "racing?" My problem was that I would think about what I had to do the next day. So I made part of my bedtime routine writing down a list of everything that had to happen the next day. That made a huge difference, because it was much easier to clear my mind.

Doug.

[geoDoug]

I know there are different schools of thought on this, but I think it's OK to take a nap in the afternoon when your body is on the "downswing." If you do take a nap, set your alarm and limit it to 15 minutes--half an hour at the most. After that, you start getting a sleep momentum and you wake up groggy no matter how long you were napping.

Doug.