Muse-Inc's Ongoing Saga

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loratadine

Hmm, copied in part from the above link. I don't have time to go to all the other places that list side effects so I also don't know what "sleep disturbances" mean. But is is touted as a "non drowsy" allergy med and we all know that to be non drowsy some things act a bit like speed..

Other rarer side-effects

Hypotension, extrapyramidal effects, dizziness, confusion, depression, sleep disturbances, lower back pain, tremor, convulsions, palpitation, arrhythmias, hypersensitivity reactions (including bronchospasm, angioedema, and anaphylaxis, rashes, and photosensitivity reactions), blood disorders, liver dysfunction, erectile dysfunction, and angle-closure glaucoma are less common side effects.

Is is plain Claritin or a combo product, like Claritin-D (generic equivalent)?

Muffy

Muse-Inc wrote: Now I'm wondering if these wakeups are related to the generic Claritin

Hi Muse,
I cannot take Claritin, I bounce off walls with anxiety. The only non sedating allergy med, that works well for me, with no side effects is Clarinex, but it's by prescription only.

With those "non-drowsy" meds I "speed" my attention would flitter all over and even my vision changes - everything gets painfully Bright and intense. When I used a lot of them I had my monitor turned way down, people would complain they couldn't see anything on my screen.

Wow! Thanks all! Guess it was a good decision to stop taking loratidine. Will check this out...thoroughly, esp the sleep disturbances. Maybe that was contributing to my lously sleep architecture in the first part of my PSG.

Muffy I take the COSTCO generic no "D" as my systolic bounces up & down seeming to align with lots of wakeups so I used to guess these reflected desats...I hate not having a data-capable machine . Now, I seldom have the increased pulse, fast & deep breathing, or body flush that I used to have with these wakeups which used to be only once in while. About a month ago, they became a nightly occurrence. Last night, no generic Claritin BUT I had wakeups every 2 hrs.

I wake up tired after 6-8 hrs but almost never sleepy since I switched to the Hybrid mask a wk or so before these wakeups started. Now, I wonder if there is different O2-CO2 ratio with the Hybrid compared to my former OptiLife which can't use anymore 'cause I lose therapy air thru lips because I can't maintain that velol... seal anymore since I lost so much tissue in face and throat.

Will ck out Clarinex if the Astepro (hmmm, better go ck it out too) tho I don't remember reading anything that jumped out in those tiny print on super-thin paper enclosures inside the box.

[quote="Muse-Inc"]Day 1 at 9.4 wakeups continue at 120 min intervals
Day 2 at 9.4 no wakeups (forgot generic Claritin at bedtime)
Day 3 at 9.4 no wakeups (no generic Claritin at bedtime...didn't need it & decided to risk more allergy probs later)
Day 4 at 9.4 wakeups at 120 min intervals (took generic Claritin at bedtime...hmmmmm)


Hmmmmmm...... is right. You might be on to something there Muse. Hope you can get it figured out

I can't remember the last time I slept thru the night. I wake up at least2 x's a night. I'm just thankful I fall back to sleep. I don't even let it bother me anymore. I always have to chuckle when I hear people say they sleep like a baby, they obviously never had one.

Hi Muse,

You've started something - we are all analyzing our sleep. I awaken briefly several times during the night, as I might have said in my earlier reply on this thread. Before I changed my sleep habits, each time I would awaken I would feel irritated and turn on T.V. (DH sleeps like a log) I don't know if I awaken less per night, but I have changed the way I handle it. Last night I slept about 8 hours. I awakened 6 times,enough so I was aware I was awake, and promptly went back to sleep. I couldn't get back to sleep as readily if I checked the time or turned on the light.

I may be waking at the end of a REM cycle, I don't know. Now I'm wondering if these awakenings are destructive to restorative sleep. Sleep is such a mystery, I don't know if I am doing as well as I should

Your awakenings are a puzzle - just waiting to be solved. With your analytical skills, you will get it.

Jan

Muse,

Have you tried Allegra or Zyrtec? I've been taking Allegra for years and have tried Zytec (not as effective for me but really cheap at Costco)?

Mark

mdintx wrote:...Have you tried Allegra or Zyrtec?...

Zyrtec creates immediately and serious depressionm both times I tried it (really weird side effect). Never tried Allegra..will remember that if I need to take a systemic antihistamine, so far Astepro is working well for me.

hey, muse-incs - sounds like you're doing really good. it sure takes a long time to re-train the brain/body to change patterns that have been entrenched for years, doesn't it? but it will come.

maybe you said this earlier in the thread, but dumb question: have you cut out all caffiene?

and this may be a little late, because it sounds like you are narrowing it down to possibly allergy meds, but when i first started having trouble sleeping, like you - i really didn't want to take sleep aids. not knowing about the apnea, i started taking a shot of concentrated cherry juice just before bed. it's natural, no side effects, the melatonin helps relax and it tastes great!

just a thought.

Sometimes making it thru 2 REM cycles (3 hrs no wakeups)...progress! No longer taking the loratadine (generic Claritin) as it might be contributing...no increase in allergy symptoms hurrah! It might take a while to fully wash out 'cause I've been taking it almost nightly for yrs. Increasing pressure to 9.6 tonight to see if I get fewer events guessing when I have one based on symptoms following wakeup (at least 2 last night)...mine's a great tale for why users NEED a full data capable xPAP, no data sucks.

Fishhead: 2 cups of decaff coffee only in the early AM. Dropped it for months wo a change but if these wakeups continue, I'll add it to the list of things to test.

Off to check into hotel for Dragon*Con early tomorrow, so likely won't be around until Wed. Sleeping in the hotel bed, eating differently, the sights & sounds of 45K people/day, loads of people in costumes for horror-scifi-fantasy-anima-comics esp for the Dragon*Con Parade in downtoen Atlanta, Dawn look alike contest, L Nimoy + P Stewart + B Shatner, K Anderson & his wife Rebecca Moestra, more of my favorite authors in these genres, 35 tracks, 24 hrs/day for some tracks, catching up on who's doing what with my dragon*con buddies & telling 'em about my co-authored book up on Kindle -- will luck, these will effect my brain in such a way that it stops these wakeups <fingers crossed>...hey, I can hope

Y'all have a great holiday!

OK, back home and finally getting sleepy. First night at Dragon*con, last Thurs, was a bummer, so much noise and light that I kept waking up very 30-45 mins. About 4 AM, I reduced pressure back to 9 and finally fell asleep until 8:15 AM. Buddy woke me up as I slept thru my and the hotel's alarms.

Very sleepy & tired thru most of Friday; went to bed early & slept well...NO WAKEUPS!

Felt great Sat and had a long exciting day; too wired to fall asleep that night plus it was noisy again (party night and we were on the Peachtree St. side so heard rescue-police sirens along this major roadway thru downtown)...7 hrs with several wakeups due to noise.

Tired but not esp sleepy on Sun another long exciting day; slept 7 hrs with1 pee wakeup in early morning (drank a lotta water late in day).

Mon, today, was a good day with a few periods of being sleepy. The excitement and now it's over letdown have combined to make me tired but wired this evening.

The strangeness of sleeping in the hotel appear to have worked as the wakeups I did experience were related to noise or the need to pee rather than those that seemed to dovetail REM cycles...a few more nights will reveal if this change of sleeping venue really succeeded in eliminating those frustrating wakeups that started mid-July or so. I did drink a lot of iced decaff coffee & had hot cocoa at least 3 nights, easily 4 or 5 times the amt of caffeine that I normally consume in a day...that may have had a 'shakeup' effect too. Will keep ya posted if this seems to have worked, so anyone else with these frustrating and resistent wakeups might get some ideas to try. I sure hope this has worked as I really don't wanna take sleeping pills...I sleepwalked as a kid & tend to talk in my sleep when worried or stressed...side effects of the sleep drugs aren't exactly encouraging.

This is so encouraging! No wakeups last Tuesday or Wednesday nights...maybe those every 90-120 min wakeups are gone. Will post results after a few more nights.

That's great to hear, Muse-Inc. Sometimes things get better!

Don't forget to take full advantage of the good nights with your habits during the day. (Food/exercise/all that lifestyle stuff.) That's what I have to keep reminding myself of, anyway.

It's great your efforts at figuring things out about your sleep and at trying different things are paying off for you. If you have a few bad nights, don't let that get you down. Keep at it.

Thanks for keeping us informed.

jeff

Ok, my wacky sleeping night at Dragon*Con in the hotel seems to have worked to halve or eliminate the every 90-120 min wakeups. Since that night (Thursday 9/3), I sleep at least 3-6 hrs without a wakeup and sometimes without wakeups for 8-9 hrs. The nights with wakeups every 3 hrs still find me tired and sleepy the next day but then that night I sleep more soundly. So overall, I think staying at the hotel with all the other changes in my schedule helped induce these sleep changes. I hope I continue to sleep more soundly, even though I am still not sleeping as well as I did on the APAP (doc and I are engaged in the insurance appeal).

Not sure how one could duplicate that night...strange hotel bed, wokeup every 30-45 mins for at least 6 hrs from loud noises, then solid 2 hrs sleep, no naps the next day. I was tired and really sleepy the next day but I slept 9 hrs that (2nd) night. I sleep 4 nights at the hotel, the last 2 were 7 hrs each, one with 2 noise wakeups (didn't ck times, likely early as it was Saturday party night) and the other with 1 pee wakeup at about 5.5 hrs (drank lots water late in the day).

Those of you with these frequent cyclic wakeups might consider a few nights in a strange hotel with everything in your usual schedule changed too...maybe a vacation . Hope this helps!