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Q. My wife has a sleeping problem and so do I. She goes to bed and falls asleep about 10 pm, but wakes up around 2 or 3 am and is unable to fall back to sleep after that.
She takes prescription sleeping pills, alternating between Lunesta, Ambien CR, and temazepam. They have not helped her sleep through the night. I too have trouble getting back to sleep.
A. Most prescription drugs for insomnia are better at helping people get to sleep than stay asleep. There is one, however, that is so short acting that it may be taken in the wee hours when your wife awakes. She may want to discuss Sonata with her physician.
We discuss Sonata, Ambien, Lunesta, Rozerem and many non-drug approaches in our new Guide to Getting a Good Night’s Sleep.
If your wife is taking other medicines, they should be reviewed to make sure they are not contributing to her sleep problems. A surprising number of drugs can cause insomnia.
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I had problems sleeping for many years. I went through a sleep study, tried several medications (all of which had unpleasant side effects) and tried all of the suggestions the sleep doctors gave me. All of their suggestions were helpful, but none seemed to do the trick on a consistent basis.
Finally, I began to see that when I spent time outside in the sunshine, I slept much better. I experimented with this, and I began to realize that, over the course of several years, I had spent a great deal of time indoors, working on various projects at the computer. So I began to deliberately spend at least a half hour outside each day, grabbing as much sunshine as I could. Now, I sleep quite well. Six to seven hours is not unusual. When I wake up in the middle of the night, I play some quiet music with the sounds of wind and surf, and I drop right back off again.
I save the Amytryptilin for trips away from home, and because I use it so seldomly, 10 mg. does the trick.
It's the sunshine that makes all the difference. And why not? If you took a little plant, stuck it in a room in front of the computer for months at a whack, it would start to fade, too!
Re: waking up and not being able to go back to sleep.
Here is a hint that has proven effective over and over: do NOT look at a clock when you wake up during the night! NEVER, ever!
I discovered this hint a few years ago, and it is a life saver. Whenever we look at a clock and SEE what time it is, our brains immediately begin to calculate and think about the time and how little sleep we have gotten and then it usually begins to calculate how much time left before we HAVE to get up!
The article stated that the brain's thinking (about what time it is) involves a part of the brain that WILL begin to wake US up; DO not think about the time and you can fall back to sleep almost every single time. (This will take a little practice, but you will learn to go back to sleep.) TRY IT! NO peeking!
Getting enough sleep has been a problem for me, a long time. Some of the things that have helped include taking a calcium and magnesium supplement, relaxing in warm water before bed, keeping very low levels of light an hour or so before bed. I also get results from doing slow stretches, deep breathing and when in bed, checking all around my body for places I am holding tension and letting it go, over and over.
Recently, I've had a lot of success with one acetominophen plus 3 mg of melatonin. One of the main reasons for me not getting back to sleep is small pains that keep tension going, so even aspirin helps.
It sounds like she may be experiencing 'adrenal burnout' probably secondary to diet full of refined flours and sugars, low fiber.... Rest, B vitamins and herbs/organic supplements designed to support the adrenals. Look into 'standard process' products.
I am a chronic insomniac but two things that work well for me are: a small transistor radio with small ear phones and I listen to very low volume BBC radio and the British voices are like a lullaby, and number two is a small LED headlamp for late night reading.
For years I could not sleep, so my husband and I decided to sleep in separate bedrooms. Bingo, sleep. I've learned many of my friends, in our 60s, sleep in separate rooms. It's not the end of the world, we reconnect come morning. I also use soap under the sheet if I get restless, and it helps. I just rub my foot on it and keep it under my foot or leg.
Not being able to stay asleep is the biggest health problem I have, and I have yet to find a solution. I take Lunesta, and it is effective in putting me to sleep, but I awake, maybe three times in the night and fight to get back to sleep.
It's my mind, it won't shut off, and I've tried it all. Meditating (ha), counting backwards, repeating a mantra, soft music, getting up to pee, pouring a glass of milk. Lunesta does seem to shut my brain down--without it I'm like the energizer bunny. I don't want to be dependent, and I'm sure the more often you use it, the less effective it will be... and there's the cost.
I'm pretty sure it's post-menopausal effects that I'm suffering, and unfortunately I can't take hormones because I'm a breast cancer survivor. I'm not overweight, I do snore lightly (sinuses), I thrash the bed to piece (always have), I sleep alone (my husband has his own sleeping problems). I do flash hot and cold off and on all night (almost never during the day), I can't stand to have my legs touch each other, and I often feel itchy. I've always been like the Princess and the Pea. My diet is good, low in sugar, high in vegetables, plenty of calcium, and I've had a vitamin D test and passed with flying colors. I've followed all the sleep rules and none have helped.
Last but not least, I feel wide awake in the morning and full of energy. I'm functioning on 5 to occasionally 6 hours of light sleep 7 days a week. Can this be okay? I'm 62. Help!
I took melatonin June 2007 with much success for getting to sleep and STAYING asleep; then my menopausal symptoms seemed to subside by October so I stopped using it.
In March 2008 I was diagnosed with very aggressive, life threatening Primary Liver Cancer (grapefruit size tumor!) with no known underlying cause (no cirrhosis, or hepatitis of any kind.) I'm still recovering from liver resection surgery (removed one whole lobe) but have recently stopped pain meds, and now the sleep problems have resurfaced.
Since melatonin is a hormone, I'm concerned that might be the cause of this cancer; is there any research to support this theory? I have read both that it might prevent or cause cancer. Would it be "safe" to resume taking this, and if so, for how long? Since I now only have one lobe of my liver, I have to be very careful. None of my doctors seem to be very knowledgable about this, although they have said it would be OK to take.
I used to use melatonin but have been concerned about potential health risks. So I developed a sort of all-natural sleep ritual. I drink chamomile tea, make sure my room is cool and use a sleep mask and earplugs to drown out light and noise. I also love my Bucky Duo pillow. It's made with buckwheat and millet hulls that don't compress over time, so my head stays put through out the night.
My sleeping problems are mainly falling asleep; it can sometimes take me up to four hours to get to sleep. I really don't want to try any kinds of medication. I remember one time on the show they were discussing a passionfruit and vodka sleeping aide? If anyone can remember the details to this recipe and post it, it would be a really big help. Thank you!
A nurse told me Melatonin could be helpful to discourage insomnia issues. I am a breast cancer survivor...Can I take this (due to hormones in it)? Thanks for your reply.