Desperate for sleep

[KarHart]

For about a week now Ken is having trouble sleeping. Can't get to sleep, can't stay asleep. He has started taking his pain pills again to try and knock himself out and that is not working. I have given him ambien and that does not work. Could this be a possible side effect of Alitma or carboplaten? Anyone have this problem? Any suggestions? Wine knocks me out so maybe I'll have him try that tonight. Thanks.

[Kasey]

I had lots of trouble sleeping. Ambien DID work, but not after a while. The doctor had to go to the next step up in the sleep aid category....Restoril, I think. After a while THAT didn't work either. Then on to something higher up, but I couldn't tolerate it. So I just figured I would have trouble, which I did.

However, there is somethng to help now, so I would check with the doctor.

Kasey

[Ann]

Hey there neighbor. So sorry Ken is having sleeping problems. I have no advice or suggestions but I'm sure there has to be something out there that will help. I know this sleeplessness must be wearing both of you down. So sorry!!!

[CharlieD]

I had a lot of trouble sleeping while on Alimta, but it was from the Decadron. Ambien didn't help a bit. Just toughed it out and napped during the day every chance I got. Didn't try the wine thing but it may work. Good luck with it.

CharlieD

[Bill]

For about a week now Ken is having trouble sleeping. Can't get to sleep, can't stay asleep. He has started taking his pain pills again to try and knock himself out and that is not working. I have given him ambien and that does not work. Could this be a possible side effect of Alitma or carboplaten? Anyone have this problem? Any suggestions? Wine knocks me out so maybe I'll have him try that tonight. Thanks.

There are several possible causes for KH's insomnia but your comments about his pain pills caught my attention. If his pain med was an opiate and it was stopped abruptly or even dosage tapered that will cause insomnia. And, minor tranquilizers or mild sleep meds usually won't do much to alleviate insomnia from this cause. If the insomnia is due to opiate withdrawal, resumption of his pain med back to the approximate regular daily dosage will usually alleviate it. This is not being recommended as a remedy just a possible cause. Ask the doc to consider this if other possible causes are ruled out. If opiates are no longer needed they should be stopped by means of a slow taper with a minor tranquilizer ( like Xanax ) for some symptomatic relief. But, insomnia is a big problem for just about everyone coming off of extended opiate usage.

JMO

[Addie]

Armed with Ambien and later, Ativan....I found that Tylenol PM worked pretty good for me. I asked my onc which of the three was better to use...and of course he said the Tylenol as it's not habit forming.

Well, now Tylenol is out with something called Simply Sleep. It has no pain reliever in it like the Tylenol PM does...and most of the time all I wanted to do was sleep....I had no pain.

My problem is that I'm on a low dose of prednisone which has me up 2-3 times a night to use the bathroom and when I come back to bed....I cannot fall back to sleep.

Simply Sleep has solved that problem! It says you can take two pills...but one is all I need. I recommend you try it. If it works for Ken...so much the better if he doesn't have to take anything stronger OR more addictive, eh?

Hope it works for him.....

[jcawork]

Only thing that worked for me was Chardonnay and Fudgesicles. I made a joke of this a while back, but it was actually true. I also didn't feel as hung over as I did from the other sleep med choices.

Got Dr. approval, he could have cared less. As long as my liver counts were fine he said "knock your self out". Now, I am talking about a couple glasses right before bed, not a couple bottles.

Tylenol Pm is tylenol and benydryl,many people have the opposite reaction (says it on the box too) and this can make you hyper. It makes me hyper, but my husband is in coma w/ one pill.

Jen