My Experience with Sleeping Medications

I am an insomniac. To say I am an insomniac is to put it mildly. I cannot fall asleep on my own and when I do fall asleep, I wake up a minimum of five times during the night while on medications that work. There is no explanation for why I cannot sleep. My geneticist believes the part of Multiple Hamaratoma Syndromethat slows cognitive processes may be responsible. The area in my brain that controls sleep may be slowed rather than the area that controls cognitive thought.

During my last visit to the physician, she said insomnia can be a family trait by itself so perhaps that is the cause. My mom has problems with sleep but her work schedule is the culprit. For whatever reason, I must take medication to be able to sleep. My doctor and I have experimented with several different types of medication so this is my experience.

One of the first medications we used is called amityrptaline, or Elavil. Elavil is an antidepressant that has grogginess as one of its side effects. Unfortunately for me, Elavil also has the unpleasant side effect of causing intense hunger-especially for sweet foods. The hunger caused me to eat and the eating caused me to gain weight. I ceased taking this medication fairly quickly after gaining twenty pounds. Elavil was only slightly effective for me. It worked initially but even with increasing the dose it ceased working after about a year.

Another medication we used to treat my insomnia is Trazadone. Trazadone's initial use was as an antidepressant but because it made the users too groggy to function, it became used as a sleep aid. Trazadone is a good choice because it is non-narcotic or habit forming. The problem with Trazadone is in the initial stages it will leave the person feeling very tired even after eight hours of sleep. Trazadone is also notorious for headaches the morning after it is used. Trazadone worked for me about two years before it ceased to help.

My doctor has tried Lunesta to help me sleep. Lunesta did help me sleep for about a week. Lunesta left a horrible taste in my mouth for hours-even after waking up from sleep. Ultimately, it ceased working.

Ambien and Ambien CRare two medications the doctor tries intermittently with me. One course that works is for me to take an Ambien, grab a book, and when it looks as though the letters on the page are wiggling, lie down for sleep. Ambien will work for me as long as three weeks in a row but due to tolerance and it not working we alternate with another medication called Restoril or Temazepam.

Temazepam at a 30 mg dose (highest available) helps me to sleep but as with Ambien, I have to take 1 mg of Xanax with it to activate it. Currently we alternate Temazepam with Ambien so neither builds up a tolerance with me. Xanax sometimes acts as though it is building up a tolerance and when that happens I switch from Ambien or Temazapem back to the one I am not on at the time.

Due to using all these medications for many years, sedation is nearly impossible for me. Two years ago, I underwent a colonoscopy and endoscopy where I was awake for the entire procedure. The medications used were Versed and Demerol. The doctor used the maximum amount of medication allowed on me and all I felt was as though I was spinning around in circles. I remember the experience very well-especially having to swallow the tube for the endoscopy and when the doctor found a lipomain my colon. I was as alert as normal but simply felt dizzy.

If you do not need to take sleeping medications, do not take them. Ultimately these pills will change the way your brain functions and it takes more effort and more medication for you to go to sleep. Sleeping medications are certainly helpful but I understand why for most people they are not prescribed for longer than 1-2 weeks.

Try everything you can to avoid having to take sleep medications. Exercise, melatoninfor some, psychotherapy, a routine of a bath the night before, milk before sleep, and many other options are available to try before resorting to medication. I would do anything for a normal night's sleep without medications that leave me groggy the next day.

Different sleeping medications have different side effects and work differently for different people. Plenty of options exist that need to be tried before resorting to medication. A sleep study may reveal the culprit to why someone is unable to sleep well. I have never been financially blessed enough to have a sleep study done so my problem has never been adequately explained. We have tried other medications throughout the years to induce sleep but these are the medications I was on long enough to review.