Sleep issues

I can't fall asleep/stay asleep anymore with the aid of either alcohol or medication ( I don't mix!) I don't know who to talk to about this. I have disucssed with with my psych and she has altered the times I take certain meds to assist in this but it doesn't help. I also had issues with excessive dreaming, which was causing restless sleep. This was helped with the med switch up. Who do I talk to about my lack of sleep/inability to fall asleep? I really don't want to be taking sleeping pills to fall asleep forever.

I haven't taking any actual sleeping pills, but I do take Tizanidine (muscle relaxer) and it works wonders. We settled on this early vs. sleeping pills because it doesn't carry the same problems that many sleeping pills do.

Some things I figured out about sleep:

-If I take my muscle relaxer and stay upright - at the computer, watching shows, whatever - then I won't usually get sleepy. I take my iPhone to bed and read a book on it in sleep mode so the screen is dark until I get sleepy, this works well for me. At first it would take me quite a while to fall asleep, but gradually the time shortened.

-I used to wake up every night for hours at a time. At first I would get up and go read or watch a show, computer or whatever. (See first point!). To re-train my sleep brain I would stay in bed, take a muscle relaxer (or half) and lay quietly waiting for sleep, after a period of time I let myself read for a while. As I started having success with this method I then stopped taking the muscle relaxer, still waited a time, then would read a little - then only if I couldn't get to sleep in a reasonable time I would take the muscle relaxer. It took quite a while, but I gradually got to the point where now when I wake up from the pain I shift positions, adjust pillows and fall back to sleep. A lot of the time now I don't even remember waking up to do it, but I know I do.

Of course, in great pain nights sometimes all bets are off and I have to get up and do something for it - heat, patches, gel, stretching, muscle relaxer or whatever.

Hopefully your doctor can help you work out a plan to re-train your sleep. I'm not saying it's easy, but for most people I think it really is achievable.

One other thing that made a real difference for me, is NOT thinking about the sleep I am losing, or counting the hours of sleep I "might" get, or worrying about being tired the next day! Those thoughts can cause me to lie awake at night. :)

Alcohol is one of the worst things you can do for sleep. Google "alcolol and sleep" and start reading. It could be a part of your problem.

I am on a sleep schedule and I usually fall asleep within fifteen minutes. I do have the TV on but it helps me fall asleep! Go figure.

Sherrine

Yes the sleeping pills are not good,i was up every hour even with the sleeping pills i took,so came of them and now on amitripilyne and prozac they realy help me to sleep,but even if i do get 8 hours sleep i still wake up so tired with non stop fatigue,i do hope you get it sorted out,best wishes XX

I rarely use alcohol as a sleep aid. it just happened to be a coincidence. I used over the counter generic unisom. I haven't been taking it lately and have been sleeping poorly. I've tried taking muscle relaxers before bed hoping it would ease morning pains but I feel extra groggy waking up from them. I plan on talking to my dr. soon.

I have no problem with sleeping and here is what i do:
1- i keep a busy schedule so by the end of the day i am really tired
2- i take my muscle relaxant half an hour before i go to bed, that way when i start to drift it will be kicking in and helping me to sleep
3- if i feel wide awake i do not go to bed, i drink a cup of warm milk, pray or meditate for some time and then take a book to bed which helps
4- i keep away from spicy food and fats before bed time

Most probably you have tried all these before but together with the other points everyone added maybe you can find your magic answer :) good luck