Posted by tina on July 14, 2000, at 9:40:55
In reply to Re: Thoughts re Tina's 7/13 post?, posted by Jennifer on July 14, 2000, at 0:47:49
>Jennifer, I'm going to answer your post through your post ok:
Tina,
>
> My, what a long thread! Seems like you may not be the only sleepless one! Kath suggested I read your 7/13 post, and I have ended up reading the entire darn thread. I don't envy you one bit. I hate sleeplessness! Anyway, here's my 2 cents, which mixes in with a lot of everyone else's thoughts:
>
> Hypoglycemia and "I'm a vegetarian"...hmmm, how balanced is your protien intake?-----Working on that now. Taking protein supplements on doc's orders. Amino acid breakdown or something like that anyway.
>
> Quit smoking...wow, that's awesome! It takes about two weeks for your body to adjust chemically to not having the nicotine, even if you don't have cravings. I have absolutely NO idea, but without the nicotine, could your meds be absorbed differently? Good question for the pdoc, or someone here. Also, if it keeps up, maybe you would do better with the nicotine patch (much more easy to regulate than the gum) that way you could slowly lower your levels over several weeks. No risk of nicotine tox since you're not having any cig's on top of it
---Don't want the patch. It's almost 2 weeks now and I want the nicotine out of my system as soon as possible so putting it back in in however small a dose is not an option I'd consider.>
> Warm bath...great idea, but needs to be one hour before bedtime. You actually get tired from the cooling effect that occurs over the next hour.
----willing to try this one. I'll keep you posted
>
> Antioxidants...another awesome one to help conteract your bodies crud from the nicotine. As far as the homeopathic, watch that it isn't "true" homeopathic. Some just use that term for "natural" meds. Natural is great, but homeopathic is when they put only one part per million or billion of the stuff in purified water. If such a thing were possible, then an alcoholic would be able to drink "homeopathic" alcohol and not have withdrawal. Physiologically impossible! In other words, don't pay good money for a tiny half-oz bottle of clean water.
---thanks for the heads up about the watery remedies. I'll keep my eyes peeled. Thinking of trying some sleep teas before bed. I love herbal teas so it might be a good idea. Valerian, hops, passionflower. I'll give them all a try. Can't hurt anyway.
>
> Xanax and other benzo's...hey, not good for sleep at all. As a matter of fact your sleep gets all screwed up if you use these for sleep instead of anxiety. Your EEG will show all these spindles that are from the benzo use. Too much brain activity while trying to sleep! If your pdoc won't give you sleeping meds (which would be a great idea short term) how about good old Benadryl (dyphenhydramine HCL) 50mg one our before bed? It's the same as Sominex. I'd hate to use it more than two weeks though, once you get over all the nicotine stuff.
-----you are right about the benzos messing up your sleep. I slept a little more last night but had the most awful nightmares, violent and really disheartening. Probably the benzos I took before bed. Maybe I'll try the benedryl too. I remember antihistamines making me drowsy so it's worth a try.
>
> Exercise...great for the body. Affects sleep in 2 ways. Morning exercise causes a decreased need for sleep, basically for every hr of workout, half-hour less sleep needed. Keep within reason though...This only works up to about 2 hr total decrease in sleep time. PM exercise is rotten for sleep. Your metabolism stays up for 4 hrs, and you can't sleep. No afternoon or PM exercise!----I generally exercise in the afternoon. I'll try switching it to the morning and see if it helps.
>
> General sleep hygiene: Same sleep time and wake time within fifteen minutes every day. No naps. Bath one hour prior to bedtime. Milk, calcium, drugs :) one hour prior. Comfortable bed. No extra noise...use a fan or "white noise" machine if needed. Watch your pm diet. If you eat an early dinner with low carbo/protein, you are going hypoglycemic at night. Eat a nice balanced meal, and have a bedtime snack with your milk. Something long lasting. Not anything like graham crackers that spike your blood sugar and then drop it like a fly! Don't read or watch TV in bed. If it's too irresistable, get the TV out of there. Bed for sleeping only! If you can't sleep for over twenty to thirty minutes, get OUT OF BED and OUT of your room. Go downstairs and read. No online stuff, no movies. You may get caught up in it and won't go to bed when your body signals you to do so. Once tired again, try again...and again and again and again. Pacing? Don't. Increases that heart rate and metabolism. Do anything to calm down besides xanax. Do your nails, paint, write, color a darn coloring book, but don't do anything that will make you more "up".
---no tv is bedroom now. Only sleeping is allowed in the bedroom. can't read before bed because I get too caught up in it and then stay up all night. The coloring book idea sounds like fun though. I'll try that one. I love to doodle. Maybe crosswords or something like that too.
>
> Good luck! There are sleep disorder clinics if this keeps up over a month or so. Most likely it's short term. Keep up the great exercise and stuff to offset any stress (even good stress). Let us know how it's going...and we better not see any submissions between 10pm and 8am! Jennifer
----Thanks for all the great ideas Jen. You do seem to be a person of lots of knowledge like Kath says. Thank you Kath for asking Jen to read my post. I love you guys for caring so much about my well-being. I hope we all sleep well tonight.
Hugs
Tina>
> > Hi Jennifer - I wondered if any of these physical symptoms bring anything to mind? I look to you as this lots-of-knowledge person.
> >
> > Kath
> >
> >
> > > Hey everybody: Still no sleep last night, well, maybe an hour. Just wired at bedtime. Took clonazepam and xanax but was still pretty energetic upon going to bed. Pacing and racing thoughts and I was shaky and fidgety. If you knew me, the fidgeting part would really surprise you. I don't fidget, ever. Always got slapped as a kid when I fidgetted so now I never do. Spent the night walking back and forth down the hall and drinking water and feeling like there were bugs crawling all over me and my skin was itchy like crazy. Took more xanax and was able to fall asleep around 5 this morning but I woke up around 6-6:30 feeling groggy but right now I have the energy to run a marathon again. Geez, a little rest and relaxation would be nice. I used to want to sleep all day and now I just want to walk, pace and fidget. Am I losing my mind? Could this be a bi-polar manic episode? Help!
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > > hi tina,
> > > >
> > > > guess #1: med change (sometimes my sleep is whacky for a few weeks after a change)
> > > >
> > > > guess #2: environment change: quit smoking, exercising at different times, taking a medication that you used to take in the morning at night. (If you're like me -poor you - you may not only be emotionally sensitive, but also physically sensitive)
> > > >
> > > > guess #3: stress - but you'd probably know it if this was the case tina. Sounds like you take good care of yourself, which makes me think it's probably guess 1 or 2.
> > > >
> > > > Take care and hugs back. Janice
poster:tina
thread:40118
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20000708/msgs/40418.html