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Insomnia Due To Prednisone

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Posted 10/21/2020 10:38 AM (GMT -8)
Hi everyone!

I'm curious how many of you experience sever insomnia, while on high doses of prednisone? What do you take for sleep, and how do you manage?

I'm currently flaring after being in remission for a little over a year from entyvio. I'm currently taking 40mg of Pred, and hydrocortisone enema's at night. I take Restoril for sleep but it doesn't do much. The Pred makes me crazy and won't let my mind rest. If I do fall asleep, I'm back up in no time.

I'm a 38 year old Male. I have 2 businesses and am extremely busy. I'm married with 3 small children, and my wife doesn't work. Its imperative that I'm able to sleep so I can operate during the day, as my family depends on me.
Posted 10/21/2020 10:47 AM (GMT -8)
I found some relief using an edible with a ratio of 20mg CBD to 2 mg THC. I started using only half of this dose or less. I find I sleep better and if I awake I can fall asleep easier.
Posted 10/21/2020 11:06 AM (GMT -8)
That's interesting. I just filed for my medical marijuana card a week ago, and now I'm waiting to be approved.

I don't like smoking anymore, but I was thinking of trying an edible or liquid dropper...

Thanks!
Posted 10/21/2020 11:52 AM (GMT -8)
I use medical marijuana as an edible or a tincture before bed and I sleep solidly until about 4:30 a.m. and often can fall back to sleep until 6. It works for me.
Posted 10/21/2020 11:59 AM (GMT -8)
I had horrible insomnia from pred. Are you taking it all at once or are you splitting the dose? What time of day are you taking it? I found that if I took any pred after 10 am I could not sleep or if I did fall asleep I would wake after 30 minutes and was wide awake.

What helped me was a combination of timing my pred dose, taking CBD oil and melatonin 45 minutes before "bed time" and then doing a 5 minute meditation with lights out and a white noise machine so I couldn't hear my kids if they were still up. Even then I would only get 4-5 hours of sleep but it was better than 30 minutes. Can you switch to rowasa instead of the hydrocortisone enemas? That extra steroid bump is brutal at bed time, but sometimes they are they only thing that really help.
Posted 10/21/2020 12:10 PM (GMT -8)
Hi!

I take all 40mg around 8am every morning. I made the mistake in the past of trying to take 20mg in the morning and then another 20mg at lunch and it was much worse.

I don't think I can switch from the hydrocortisone enemas yet. Things are just starting to improve. I actually didn't respond in the past to the rowasa enema's. With UC things are never the same though, so who knows.

My Doctor said to drop down to 30mg now, stay there for 7 days, then drop 5mg every 7 days if possible. I'm going to stay at 40mg for a couple more days though, just to be safe. I don't want to yo yo, and have to go back up.

Melatonin seems to actually make sleep worse for me. My Dad has the same issue with Melatonin so it may be hereditary. I've also heard that CBD can react negatively with pred, because they use the same enzyme to break down.

LOL.. I hear you with the kids! I too have to wear earplugs, and have no disturbance or I'm up for the duration!!
Posted 10/22/2020 6:38 AM (GMT -8)
I take Xanax at night if I have trouble sleeping and that’s what I used while on Pred. Xanax is not good to take very often but I am careful to not take very much or very often. It’s just enough to help me relax and stop the merry go round of thoughts.
Posted 10/22/2020 7:20 AM (GMT -8)
management comes in the form of housework and vehicle maintenance smile

nothing says clean like a long stint with prednisone !
Posted 10/22/2020 9:07 AM (GMT -8)
Nothing else worked for me, I ended up taking a rather large dose of Trazodone - 300 mg. Even then, sometimes I'm awake. Start off with smaller dosages, though, many do well on 50-150 mg.
Posted 10/22/2020 11:32 AM (GMT -8)
Yeah, I'm a "project" machine on prednisone! Anything around the house that's been lacking gets taken care of!

Thanks for the suggestions! Like I said in my original post, I take Restoril and its not doing much but the last couple nights I took the Restoril with Benadryl and I slept a little better. I don't like to take Benadryl for long periods though. I'm meeting with my primary care Doctor to discuss something other than the Restoril, something stronger.

I also just got approved for medical marijuana, and I'm going to see if that helps. I'll take with the Restoril.. Let you know how that goes!
Posted 11/22/2020 1:09 PM (GMT -8)
LOLOL, yeah I was getting maybe an hour of sleep on Prednisone until I hit 15mg. CBD helps immensely.
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