# Why my doctor frustrated me...



## M&M (Jan 20, 2002)

Lately I've been singing the praises of my new treating doctor. Well, recently he frustrated me. He had me first try Sonata for the insomnia, when that didn't "do the trick" he switched me to Ambien. (Which I find out is habit forming and not to be used for over 30 days or you can have withdrawal...) Well, I also take Benadryl and Melatonin for sleep. About the 3rd or 4th week of Ambien usage it stopped working. I don't go back to see him till the 19th, so I called and said all this and on top of it my Rx for Ambien ran out anyway. So, please help me doc, I need some sleep. He said to up my dosage of Melatonin, and since it's been 6 months since my last blood work, maybe we'll do more on the 19th. Well, some of you may know I don't have health insurance right now, and the blood work from 6 months ago totalled more than $1,400 and I still don't have it paid off. Suffice it to say I don't want to do more blood work!!!







I don't know why he can't give me a nice normal medicine for sleep like Trazadone, or a muscle relaxer, or something other than a habit forming sedative. Boy that was frustrating! I feel better now though


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## weener (Aug 15, 2000)

MrsM, I'm not sure what Melatonin is, but can you get by on that until your next visit? If not I'd call the doctor up and ask if he could prescribe something to help you sleep which is not habit forming. I would be honest with him in regards to your financial situation and tell him that you can't afford another $l400.00 for bloodwork. That's a lot of money. Let's hope that this nice doctor will stay nice or otherwise we'll have to give him the old


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## moldie (Sep 25, 1999)

MrsM, were you taking the Ambien along with the Benadryl and the Melatonin? Was the doctor aware of that if you were? I don't know how those mix together. If he can't give you a reassuring answer, then ask your pharmacist if you should be taking these together. They often are more informed and perhaps might be more objective than a doctor is (depending on the doctor or pharmacist). Best to get a second opinion or read about on the web and decide for yourself.I know someone who takes Ambien and it is just great for her (I believe it is the only thing she is taking for sleep though). Others who have taken it have reported problems with it. Everybody is different. I was told when I was in nursing that it is addictive too. Another thing is that it causes confusion and hallucinations in certain people. There is the philosphy that if you have a chronic condition, that it is okay to take addictive medications in order to function the rest of your life, since there is no cure for the condition. I don't agree with that particular reasoning, and try to save any addictive medications for when things turn terminal (which so-far is not in the picture for the diagnostic out-come of this particular "condition" alone). That is just my own opinion because generally I think these drugs are not safe for long-term use as they may cause further complications with side-effects that are sometimes more difficult to live with than the original condition.I hope you find something that will work reasonably well for you. If I can get 6-8 hrs. of sleep a night, I think I am doing well. With benadryl, I seem to get at least 6hrs. of sleep a night instead of the 4hrs I used to get without it. If I wake up after the 4hrs. and I can go back to sleep for another 3hrs, then I think that is good too. I don't usually nap at all during the day either.What is everybody's feelings about the amount of sleep they get and feel is adequate?I know that part of the problem is, even though we may sleep for 6-8hrs, we still do not feel refreshed when we wake up. That is the nature of this condition because we do not get the length of the "sound" stage of sleep that is "normally" required to feel refreshed. Sometimes I think this particular feeling is due to a matter of our bodies getting a lack of circulation/oxygenation during the night when we are at rest too. Once we get up and move around, our alertness improves. It still might not be up to par, but it does improve. It takes my muscles and brain about 15min - 1/2hr to wake up in bed by stretching and moving around. Sometimes if I wait longer than that, I just get stiffer and feel more fatigued.


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## Paige (Apr 4, 2002)

I couldn't make it without my Trazodone! My psychiatrist prescribes it. She also will give me Sonata or other sleeping pills when I am having a particularly difficult time sleeping.For me it is not so much sleeping but staying asleep when the pain breaks through. I seem to have the worst pain in the middle of the night. With the pain comes vivid dreams such as me as a mountain climber (big, big joke). In the dream I fell and was hanging by one of those hooks and the momentum of the fall had me banging into the side of the mountain. The pain finally woke me. I seem to have a lot of nerve type pain that is absolutely excrutiating. It is amazing what our minds will do with pain.


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## M&M (Jan 20, 2002)

I don't want to take anything addictive either. I think that's a good personal creed UnM.And I agree, pharmacists know a lot more about meds and interactions than any doctor. I've actually done pretty well the past couple of nights with just Benadryl and Melatonin. (Melatonin is a "supplement" that is supposed to help your body's sleep cycle by boosting the amount of Melatonin in your body - which is a chemical your body should produce at night time, that regulates, along with other chemicals, your sleep cycle and makes you sleep well - It isn't approved or endorsed by the FDA)I am continuously telling this doc that I can't do tests, he wants to run a lot from that Great Smokies Lab, which I think is quackery...But at the same time I don't want to switch docs right now since I'm trying for disability. I need a "history", so starting over with a new doc would not be good. And, this doc is really nice, believes me, and I get the feeling that he actually does want to help me. Though, I think at some point, I will switch docs in the future.


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## squrts (Aug 14, 2000)

after all these years im just now getting the idea that my doctor works for ME.and so im asking for things i think i need,have you ask for trazadone mrs m.?i think you will like it.unMoulded,i used to need 9-10hrs sleep or i would fall apart.always asleep by 9pm.lately im not asleep till 10:30-11.i know you need less sleep as you age and i was thinking that was it,but now i wonder if im needing less sleep because of the trazadone giving me more restful sleep.i was always angry that good tv shows started at 9 or 10pm,now,thanks to the mirical of modern science i can watch more tv than ever!!!lol,from one tv addict in need of a program!


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## M&M (Jan 20, 2002)

Good point Denny! I do plan on asking him for it next time I go. Why are some of us such "wall flowers" when it comes to our own doctors?? LOL


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## squrts (Aug 14, 2000)

OH!i was so terrible.hes the doc right,so shut up and let him work,nope!that aint how it works at all,and i hope that is changeing.i want the docs to work on the whole problem and not just put a bandaid on the symptom.i want docs to really listen to the patient,and the patient to stop thinking of the doc as some kind of god and take an active role in recovery.i wanti want i wantwant in one hand and spit in the other,see which one gets full faster.i gotta make it happen.


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## M&M (Jan 20, 2002)

LOL Cute, very cute Denny....ROFL


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