# Sleeping Pills & Fibro;



## 15561 (Jun 3, 2005)

Hi,I was wondering if anyone on this board has taken a sleeping pill--to perhaps overcome intense mental hyperactivity during sleep--and found they had the best sleep of their life, woke up refreshed and with lots of motivation!Cheers.


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## 17482 (Jul 31, 2005)

Heyho DJM, what an interesting post! Ive never taken a sleeping pill but take Diazepam for muscle tremors/stiffness, only a low dose though. I shall have a word with my GP, and see if i can give it a go, blimey waking up refreshed and motivated? the shock would probably kill me.


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## 15561 (Jun 3, 2005)

Hi Wendy,I wasn't suggesting that sleeping pills had worked for me, rather I was asking if it did for anyone ? You're right, ... waking up refreshed would freak me out so much I'd probably walk 100km!Cheers.


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## 13750 (Jun 9, 2006)

hello,im new to the site but wanted to reply. i was put on ambien to help with the tiredness. it worked wonderfully but had alittle trouble with memory loss.but waking up rested was so wonderful. i was ready to climb the walls. i was referred to a r. dr. an he doesnt use sleeping pills only flexeril before bed. i must say i miss the restful sleep but im giving it a try without. ill let you know if its worth coming off of them.


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## 19536 (Nov 4, 2005)

Hi everyone







Man, I've tried so many different kinds of sleeping pills - for a while I'd be lucky to sleep for an hour, wake up again, etc.I think my 'favorite' if you want to call it that, would be Ambien, mostly because it helps me FALL asleep. Even the Ambien CR that is supposed to help you stay asleep doesn't really work for me.But get this - I'm doing a 'test' of sorts, and have been for the past couple of weeks. I'm not taking ANY sleeping meds at all. I'm trying to keep a log of my sleep patterns....But now (strangely enough), even without taking anything, for about the last month or so, I've had a HECK of a time in the mornings! If I don't get up and stay stading, I WILL FALL BACK ASLEEP. It doesn't matter how long I slept that night, or whether it was broken sleep or good sleep, etc. This is really strange, not to mention ANNOYING!I'll post another update in a couple weeks.Take care,-Torpy


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## Rowe2 (Sep 26, 2002)

Ambien is my choice because I can get up without a hangover and it works fast. I took mine 30 mins ago and am already seeing twoooo


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## goldy (Nov 22, 2000)

Unfortunately, I am one of those insomniacs that sleep aids work on a hit and miss basis. I started Amebien 5 and was bumped to 10's when the first ones proved unsatisfactory. It was only a short time before that didn't help either. I currently have Lunesta, but some days it knocks me out and others I stay up for days. I think FM pain and the sensitivity to repositioning during sleep is my culprit. I have been adding a muscle relaxant and Requip for restless leg syndrome but still having sleep problems. I am scheduled for another sleep study from a different physician who specializes in the neuro side of insomnia. I hope that this can bring some relief. I will say that I never had hangover symptoms when taking any othe sleep aids and when they did work, I was at least able to sleep for a short time without waking myself up.


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## Guest (Oct 30, 2006)

My insomnia/sleeping pill story is WAY too long to post...let's just say I've tried them all and when I was hyperthyroid, the only thing that worked was Seroquel. They give that to schizophrenics. Seriously. I was on bipolar meds just to SLEEP. (It worked, but I think the dreams I had scarred me for life!) Now I take an Ambien/Xanax cocktail but I think my new doctor is going to change my meds after my CFS diagnosis. I'm looking forward to it.Since I'm on sleeping pills every night I don't get that effect DJM was asking about but my fiancÃ© definitely does when he occasionally takes Ambien. Also, goldy, I'm curious whether you get a yucky taste in your mouth with Lunesta. I tried it once and had the most horrible disgusting taste for a whole day. (They even mention this as a possible side effect in the TV ads.) I called them up to see if it would wear off eventually but they said no, if I get the effect, it would happen every time I take it. Are you able to tolerate it well?


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## goldy (Nov 22, 2000)

Hi Magritte, Yes that seems to be common with Lunesta, I keep a drink and mints by my bed at night and have both just before my lights go out. I have found that I have dry mouth anyway from other meds so I don't think I will give up on it.


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## 14448 (Jun 14, 2006)

I take 10mg Oxazepam as a sleeping pill now and then, that usually knocks me out. It makes me sleep so deeply I don't wake up for anything in the night (usually I wake up to pee/drink water several times, even on a good night).Zopiclone is very effective as well- I used to work in a nursing home and a lot of the residents were prescribed it. We had to make sure they were in bed before they took it or they'd fall asleep wherever they were. I don't understand why people are so wary of taking sleeping pills? If you can't sleep properly it affects everything and you have a very poor quality of life. I know because I had insomnia for months during the summer, and my GP was reluctant to prescribe anything. Every night I'd go to bed aching, and my muscles would hurt so much I couldn't fall asleep. I'd sleep half an hour then wake up, often I'd get less than two hours a night and had to get up at 7am to do a full day at work (I lost my job after 2 months cos I could barely keep my eyes open!) I don't need sleeping pills all the time but they are invaluable when you're going through a bad patch. My insomnia goes in phases- at the moment I'm sleeping 10 hours a night and still waking up feeling tired!


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## 15200 (Mar 24, 2007)

The majority of CFS sufferers have a problem with sleep, its something we all have to live with.Medication doesnt always give us the kind of sleep that we need, and we will never wake up feeling refreshed.Its a good idea to have a Sleep Study to make sure that you dont have some kind of Sleep Disorder. Many of us have sleep apnoea and we dont realise it.Even with treatment for sleep disordered breathing, we will wake unrefreshed, but at least we know that we have treated the problem and the body has reverted back to normal sleep staging and we are getting reasonably normal periods of deep sleep and rem sleep.Over theyears I have noticed that my levels of alertness in the morning wax and wane no matter what I do.I have sleep apnoea nad use CPAP, some mornings I wake feeling OK (not great), others I wake feeling like I want to lie down and go back to sleep. I accept that as part of the disease, not a lot I can do to fix it.Medications for sleep will reduce the muscle tone in the chest wall and can have a negative effect not a positive effect, if there is any sleep apnoea present it will make it worse, reducing the bodies ability to oxygenate the blood while we sleep.It is important to have a sleep study, I really recommend that all sufferers of CFS, FM have one.I have been fighting this thing now for 17 yrs, having a sleep study did make a HUGE difference for me, I do use medication on the very odd occassion, when I am getting really stressed about not being able to go to sleep. I only use Temazepam, and only 5mgs, just enough to help me go off to sleep.


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