Insonia as much the enemy

[fredboy]

Im thinking the amount of sleep (as well as the quality) is an issue for me and of course how I feel.

For those with the same issues, what was your solution?
What did your docs reccomend?

Is lunesta generic?

I take ambien and its lost its punch

My problem is falling asleep AND staying asleep

thanks

[chunkyfrog]

Probably not much help here, but I just go to bed earlier.
It's not easy, either; I'm a big fan of Craig Ferguson.

[kteague]

I think the cause of the insomnia will determine what might help. Robysue has lots of info on here about dealing with insomnia.

I can only suggest that you rule out possible contributors that you could address. Is it a side effect of meds? Pain? Uncomfortable bed? Caffeine? Household noises? Pets?

For me it was limb movements, and even after taming them, it took a very long time for my brain to relearn how to sleep. I applied most of the principles of good sleep hygiene, and kept telling myself that if I provided the best environment for sleep, it would happen. Didn't happen in a night, but it happened. My heart goes out to those with persistent insomnia with no known factors left to work on. That would have to be the hardest.

[Mary Z]

Sorry for both of us lunesta is not generic, yet.

[Sir NoddinOff]

I would caution anyone about routinely and casually relying on 'sedative hypnotic' chemicals to fall asleep. Lunestra and Ambien are cousins in this family. From the Wiki: "Eszopiclone (Lunesta) along with other "Z Drugs" including zolpidem (Ambien), zaleplon (Sonata) are the most commonly prescribed sedative hypnotics in the USA." While they definitely have their uses for the short term, during the long term usage one must contend with upping the dosage to maintain the desired effect, not to mention, potential psychological addiction. There are a slew of other unwanted side effects from anxiety attacks, sexual dysfunction and daytime hallucinations.

When I decided to get Xanax and Ambien (prescribed) out of my system it was a long tough slog involving some difficult days and nights. Tapering off seems to be the most effective method and it took me about a month, please note that I am fairly strong and healthy, so that helped. Almost all my sleep problems immediately went away when these chemicals were eliminated from my body (OSD excluded).

It's your decision whether you will continue to use these crutches or not, but for a moment take the long view and consider what you're doing to your body and any potential negative results you may encounter down the road. GOOD LUCK AND I HOPE YOU GET YOUR PROBLEMS SORTED OUT, HOPEFULLY WITHOUT CHEMICAL AIDS!

[robysue]

As kteague pointed out, I had a long, nasty bout with insomnia triggered by starting CPAP back in late September 2010. I learned more than I ever wanted to know during my active War on the Insomnia Monster.

My insomnia is now decently controled---most of the time. What worked for me was a cognitive behavior approach that included a sleep restricted schedule for several months.

I wrote about most of what I learned about insomnia on my blog entry Taming the CPAP-Induced Insomnia Monster.

You can read a detailed synopsis of just what my own CBT for Insomnia consisted of and what was most useful and what had unintended consequences in this post of mine in response to question from another user.