Can't Sleep......any suggestions??

[Angiepkd]

Well, it is 4:30 am and I am still wide awake.  I took 2 OTC sleep aids, but got no relief.  This has been going on since the removal of my kidneys, and I am at wits end.  I searched some old posts, but didn't find any solutions.  Does anyone out there have suggestions?  Is this because I no longer have kidneys?  I am not sure how much longer I can keep this up.  Probably averaged 2 - 3 hours per night since I got home from the hospital.  I am starting to feel like I am going crazy and acting a little "punch drunk".  Thanks for the help!   

[Mr Pink]

I sometimes have a bit of trouble getting myself off to sleep on occasion. Due to my staggered working hours, I usually take Tamazipam on Monday night after dialysis. More often than not, that does the trick. On a good night, it will knock me out for 12 hours. Subsequently, I tend to look forward to Monday nights.

[noahvale]

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[BattleScars]

As my kidney function has declined my insomnia got worse. Some nights are worse than others. I have tried everything over the counter from Tylenol PM to NyQuil sleep aids. Tylenol PM and NyQuil give me a nasty hangover effect the next day that lasts all the way into the afternoon. I hate that feeling. It feels like how you feel when you wake up from surgery. Also, I have heard that these medications prevent the right kind of sleep, I believe deep REM sleep? I took just half the recommended dose and still had the hangover effect;. I sometimes take a Xanax, I believe it's a .5 pill, when my insomnia is really bad. This works the best but I noticed it takes longer to knock me out, but once it does I sleep like a baby. No hangover effect at all but I wonder if the dose stays longer because of my kidney problems. Last night I had to take a Xanax and slept great for 8 hours but got up today and was still sleepy all morning. I finally laid back down and slept for another 2 hours. I could actually go back to sleep right now but trying to stay awake so I sleep tonight. You have to be real careful with anxiety medicine because you can build up a tolerance or become addicted. Also, if you start taking anxiety pills on a regular basis you will need a doctor to ween you off the medicine or you could develop dangerous seizures from withdrawals.   

[Angiepkd]

Thanks everyone.  Looks like there is no simple solution.  Guess I will talk to my neph when I see him in August.  Worst case I will eventually keel over from exhaustion.  Why does everything have to be so difficult?  Just the cards we are dealt with this disease.  Thanks for the help!

[cariad]

Have you tried melatonin? Some swear by it. My mother swears by Xanax, says it puts her right to sleep and she wakes up exactly 8-hours later, fresh as a daisy. Personally, ativan puts me to sleep for days so I don't use the anti-anxietals.

Do you practice 'good sleep hygiene'? (Google it.) It is behavioural changes that help to train your body to go to sleep at certain times, things like always go to bed at the exact same time whether you're tired or not, cut out caffeine after 3pm or altogether, things like that. I think a combination of a tablet or supplement and improving your sleep hygiene is going to be your best hope. Good luck! Sleep deprivation is torturous, I've been through a bad spell of insomnia myself and it was traumatizing!

[PatDowns]

Have you tried melatonin?

"In addition, melatonin supplements can interact with various medications, including:

Blood-thinning medications (anticoagulants)
Medications that suppress the immune system (immunosuppressants)
Diabetes medications
Birth control pills"

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/melatonin-side-effects/AN01717

[Big E]

Angie, I've been taking Trazodone 50mg  for sleep problems for quite a few years now, and most of the time it works great. I believe it was originally marketed as an anti-depressant, but nowadays it's much more commonly used as a sleep aid. I know they often give it to hospital patients who have trouble sleeping.

[cariad]

Have you tried melatonin?

"In addition, melatonin supplements can interact with various medications, including:

Blood-thinning medications (anticoagulants)
Medications that suppress the immune system (immunosuppressants)
Diabetes medications
Birth control pills"

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/melatonin-side-effects/AN01717

I used it quite a bit while on immunosuppressants. No med or supplement is going to be entirely risk-free and I assume Angie would run any suggestions by a qualified medical practitioner first. Having used melatonin and ativan, there is just no choice for me personally - I try to stick with the most natural and least aggressive therapy possible.

[obsidianom]

Low dose trazodone(50mg. ) or low dose amitryptiline (another old antidepressant) about 25 to 50 mg do work for many people with little risk of tolerance developing. There can be side effects , but usually at these low doses they are mild. Talk to your doctor about these. Dont do anything alone without your doc involved.

[seadialysis]

Have you tried one tablet of Lorazepam? It helps put you to sleep quite well.

[Angiepkd]

Thanks everyone!  I am going to talk to my neph and see what he suggests.  I have tried melatonin in the past, but found it didn't help much.  I will try to use some of the suggestions for good sleep that don't involve meds.  I only have one caffeinated drink in the morning.  I try to go to bed at around the same time each night.  In the past, I could just lay there for an hour or so, and eventually would fall asleep.  Since my kidneys were removed, I can lay in bed for two hours or more without ever nodding off.  It is driving me crazy.  Hopefully the doc will give me some help next week.  Thanks again!  I will let you know how it turns out.

[boswife]

Oh Angiepkd.... i tell ya, lack of sleep is horrid and tears ya up!..  I've been blessed with perfect sleep, and energy the next day to boot  until,,......... bo has had a hard time sleeping.  It was training me to have bad sleep as well   He would wake up saying S- - t (boy im revealing his bad words latly..lol) 5-6 times a night and sit up fussing.  Beings he's done that sit up thing before, or said that word just before fallen, it wakes me right up with worry. 

Anyway, i do hope you get some sleep, his answer has been trazadone... The other sleeping aids knocked him out and made him loopy and he'ed try to walk and do weard things.  The trazadone (with a huge dose of 300    ) lets him gently sleep w/o any other weardness to go with it.  It is a lot, but thats the amount it takes or he's awake all night.  He can walk, and talk with this amount and function if need be.  DO NOT try this amt...  most do great with 50, and thats where he started... It was the psyke that slowly uped it to where it works FOR HIM...  I decrease his amt too off and on over this past couple of weeks so as to hopfully keep it to where even more isnt needed.   

[Angiepkd]

Thanks, boswife!  You always inspire me with your love and dedication for your hubby!  I will ask about the trazadone when I see the neph next week.  I have to do something, or risk losing my mind.  Lack of sleep can truly make you crazy.  I think I will feel much better with a good night's rest.  I will let you know what the doc says!

[boswife]

thanks Angiepkd   I am one dedicated fool..hehe  But I tell ya, the dr's were way happier that the traz worked instead of a narcotic!!  They said they would go back to that if need be, but seem to think the traz is a better opt IF it works.  My mom, and my sis both were fans of it..lol  which is why i brought it up to psyke.  (we actually had to go to psyke to get agressive with his non sleep.... other drs were just not getting what it does to ones head when ya dont sleep.. They each are concerned with 'their' speciality, and since sleep gets to the head, well, thats where we had to go... It was that or .............. dont like to say this but death.  He (and me next) was loosing it completly and going into another (not safe) place, and something had to be done.... It is nearly a miracle to see that indeed he is back to his old self,,,,,,,,,,,,,, no sleep is NO GOOD!! Best of luck... TRuly!!   

[hillary]

I've tried xanax and a bunch of the "herbal" stuff. Nothing works. Marijuana - THAT WORKS.

[iketchum]

My neph said too much phos will keep you awake at night.

[Angiepkd]

I've tried xanax and a bunch of the "herbal" stuff. Nothing works. Marijuana - THAT WORKS.

Oh, Hillary, if only it were legal lol!  I am so far removed from the drug scene I wouldn't know where to find it.  Maybe Ohio will legalize medical marijuana and I will give it a try.  Until then, I am stuck with the melatonin combined with unisom.  It is helping, though.  No drug interactions and no morning hangovers.  Thanks for the suggestions!

My neph said too much phos will keep you awake at night.

That might also be my problem.  I am working to get the phosphorus levels under control.  More and more binders, yet I haven't changed my eating habits. Guess my old kidneys were still working a little.

[tattooscott]

I've tried xanax and a bunch of the "herbal" stuff. Nothing works. Marijuana - THAT WORKS.

:thumbup;i like dro no shwag messis with my hearst rate but there aint and imean aint no better thean a fine bowl of some dark hydro bud to give a nice body high restless leg synd. ....gone   muscle sore ....gone headache .....gone and if you have a prob with not being able to eat because of nasua ......that's gone to    yep I like it lol

[Joe]

It's legal here Angiepkd. Both medicinally and relationally, as of today.

[Bambino_Bear]

 

LOL

[kporter85db]

I've tried xanax and a bunch of the "herbal" stuff. Nothing works. Marijuana - THAT WORKS.

:thumbup;i like dro no shwag messis with my hearst rate but there aint and imean aint no better thean a fine bowl of some dark hydro bud to give a nice body high restless leg synd. ....gone   muscle sore ....gone headache .....gone and if you have a prob with not being able to eat because of nasua ......that's gone to    yep I like it lol

tattoscott, based on how you wrote this post, maybe you should rethink the marijuana.

[Angiepkd]

You all are cracking me up!  Thanks for brightening my day!

[tattooscott]

I've tried xanax and a bunch of the "herbal" stuff. Nothing works. Marijuana - THAT WORKS.

:thumbup;i like dro no shwag messis with my hearst rate but there aint and imean aint no better thean a fine bowl of some dark hydro bud to give a nice body high restless leg synd. ....gone   muscle sore ....gone headache .....gone and if you have a prob with not being able to eat because of nasua ......that's gone to    yep I like it lol

tattoscott, based on how you wrote this post, maybe you should rethink the marijuana.

I don't type to much lol