NOT SLEEPING

[Brightsky69]

Hello, 
I am so freaking miserable!!  I did not sleep at all last night. Not one 5 minute break…nothing. This has been going on for at least 2 weeks.  I get on that cycler machine and I can’t sleep.  Once I am off it I can sleep.  But when I have to get up and go to work the next morning and I am on a 9 hour cycle….it’s not fun.  And there is no time for cat naps.
To tell the truth…I am not sure if it’s the cycler machine or if it’s me.  Usually I end up all jumpy and restless and just toss and turn all night. Last night it was more like my mind was racing.
I don’t have a lot of stress.  I don’t have much debt, my relationship is great, I love my job.  So what the heck is going on! I am 40 years old and I keep thinking “could I be premenopausal??”
I can’t take much more of this….there has got to b a pill I can take to knock me out. Sleep use to be my hobby. Normally as soon as I got into bed I was fast asleep in about 5 minutes.  I can’t take this NOT sleeping and then having to get up and work a full day. My eyes are bloodshot and I am seriously cranky.
I see my primary care doctor on Thursday. I am hoping for some relief.

Moved from "off topic" - Rerun, Moderator

[willowtreewren]

 

Lack of sleep is a type of torture. I feel for you.

I hope you get relief after your dr appointment (if not before!)

Aleta

[YLGuy]

I get sleeping pills prescribed (Ambien).  Sometimes they work , sometimes they don't  .

[billybags]

Brightsky69, Join the throng of people here that do not sleep. My husband is a classic. he will go to bed and say "I know I will not sleep" He also has restless leg syndrome, which does not help. When he was on the cycler I was having to unravel him in the morning. Serious thou it is no joke not sleeping, if he do'nt sleep neither do I. He has tried sleeping pills from the doc, they work for about 2 hours, so we have slung them. Blood tests, check your BP, apparently low BP's can cause it , low iron can cause it, low every fu**ing thing else can cause it. Sorry about the swearing. Talk to your neph, it seems like it goes with the territory. We have tried every thing, from sleeping apart, sleeping in the lounge, on the floor. The list is endless. Sorry about being negative I am sooooooooooooooooo tired.

[paul.karen]

Oh i hear what your saying.
I have taken ambien and recently am taking Tylenol nighttime.
Both get me to sleep but dont keep me asleep.
Get some nightime Tylenol and give a few two or three a try tonight.  Eat them about 20/30 minutes before bedtime.
Good luck.

[peleroja]

Yup, I also do the Ambien thing, and sometimes they work and sometimes they don't.  Since I've had insomnia for over 40 years, my body has kind of adjusted to very little sleep.  Sadly, insomnia is a side effect of kidney problems.  I hope you find some relief sooon.

[Hanify]

Get sleeping pills from your doc.  You can't stay well if you don't sleep.  Also, try positive thinking.  Make a mantra and say it as often as you can. "I always sleep well" - it must be positive though - don't make it "I don't wake up".  Keep repeating it.  Billybags your husband needs to stop repeating that he doesn't sleep.  He's doing the opposite and it really works.  It takes a few weeks to work so I'd still get the pills in the meantime.  You might need to warn people that that's what you're doing, cos you have to get out of the habit of telling people you don't sleep.  It's like you have to lie to yourself until your brain changes it's pattern.  Hope this doesn't sound too whacky.  It really works if you put your mind to it.

[*kana*]

I have used anti-anxiety meds to help ease me into sleep when I am worked up.  Your doctor will understand if you need a little help getting some sleep. 

[Jie]

Before I stopped the Super Vitamin B complex, I had several sleepless nights. After stopped it, I was able to sleep again. So, sometimes, something, medicines or supplements, may make a kidney patient be sleepless.

[Rerun]

I just watched "The Doctor's" TV Show and the sleep specialist says to start counting backwards from 300 by 3's.  He said it will focus your mind off your job, family, finances, health, to just counting and it is so boring you will fall asleeeep.   300, 297, 294, 291, .......  (I'd have to get up and get my calculator)

                           

[Brightsky69]

Thanks for all the advice. I am going to try and think positive. It's getting to the point where I don't even want to hook up or get into bed.

I took 2 oct sleeping pills last night and thankfully was able to get some sleep. Of course my machine alarmed at 4:30am. But still I at least felt like I got some sleep.

[Bub]

I went months not sleeping well.  It made my life miserable.  Neph's finally tried sleeping pills.  I slept walked with Ambien.  Lunesta simply did not work.  Finally neph's gave me a Xanax before bed and it did the job.  I only take at night before bed and I feel brand new.  Now I sleep 8 hours uninterrupted and wake up without the groggies. Might help you, might not.  Everyone is different.

[jennyc]

I think insomnia is something that gets us all at somepoint. I have restless legs/periodic limb movement and i'm on clonazepam to stop it. Problem is they are so addictive that i'm careful now only to take them if i get signs that i'm going to be stuck (and now that pth is in line its getting a lot better).

I can lie awake till 4.30am staring at the ceiling listening to the machine pump away. Then up at 8 for the school run then back to bed to finish my 11 hrs on machine and sometimes i'm naughty and sleep till lunch time (work from home).

[Savemeimdtba]

Well, honestly... I just got used to the machine and now sleep fine.  It took me a good two months of not sleeping well, I took ambien one night and it made me crazy (I'm a light weight) so I didn't do that again.  I guess eventually my body got used to it, I'm an extremely light sleeper so it was a big adjustment... but I also didn't have to get up and go to work in the morning.  I could sleep after the machine was finished. 

[sutphendriver]

10mg of Ambien with a Vodka back.........sleep like a  baby!!!

[Brightsky69]

Thanks again everyone!!  I am sleeping pretty good npw. I took the ambien, zolfoft and ativan. Of course not all at once. They helped out a lot. The Ambien made me talk alot on my sleep. I stopped taking it because I was afraid to end up sleep walking. Not good when your on PD.
SO now all I take at night is my usual colodine. I haven't had anymore problems sleeping.

 

[fluffy]

chase a benadryl with a cup of chamomile tea steeped for 15 mins, that should help a bit

[murf]

My insomnia works in cycles. The cycles last about a month each. In my sleeping cycle, I usually get around 5 hours a night. If I am in my non sleeping cycle, I am lucky if I get an hour. No amount of sleeping medication (I use temazapan) will help. I no longer fight it. If I'm awake, I'll go and do something like watch TV, read, study or surf. I know eventually my body will become so exhausted, I will fall into a sleeping cycle. I have read that renal insomnia effects about 70% of patients. I did tell you that I surf the Internet during my no sleeping periods.

[Bub]

Doc took me off Xanax for my insormnia and gave me trazadone.  It works, very gently and mildly.  I take 150 mg two to three hours before bedtime and I drift off to sleep normally.  Doesnt knock me out and leave me with a hang over the next morning.  Sweet relief.  I too would go all night with out sleeping one or two days a week It was miserable.

[Brightsky69]

I was sleeping good there for a short time. Now I can fall asleep but I usually wake up three times in the night. I noticed that when I wake up it's usually during a dwell cycle. On a drain cycle I fall asleep like a baby. I don't know what it is. Once I get off the machine completely....I can sleep like a normal person.
  Even with an Ambien I still wake up about three times a night.
I took a cold medicine last night (I have a cough) and I still woke up around 3:30 this morning. Plus I am always itchy at night and during the day. I am working on getting my Phosphorous back down. it was a 7 last time I had labs. I've been working hard to avoid dairy and all that other bad stuff plus I've been taking my binders like a good little girl. I am still itchy all the time. That doesn't help my sleeping.
So I don't know whats going on.

Merry Christmas!! 

[Brightsky69]

I tried this last night. When I kept waking up (as usual) I took off my night shirt and used a hair brush to scratch my back and my sides and everywhere. After that I seemed to fall back asleep my quickly and easier. I did this each time I woke up. It worked. I fell back asleep fast instead of tossing and turning.

[dwcrawford]

Wish I could related and share but last night after diallysis I went to sleep at 4:30 PM and woke this morning at 10:30 AM.  Am I making up for lost sleep the first 68  years of life?  Or is it caused from all the blooding suck?