Trouble Sleeping?

[GJM]

DH has been having trouble sleeping at night. Sleeps for about 2 hours and will keep waking up.

Does anyone have any suggestions on what he can do to sleep better, or does anyone take any over the counter medicine.

Thanks for the suggestions!

 

[Goofball]

Melatonin supplements - I swear by them, not at them!

 

[hydster]

I started doing that a few years ago so my doctor put me on Ambien. While the sleeping was great getting off of it after awhile was horrid. I would NEVER suggest those pills or if I did it would be in short term..having a prescription for 5-10 at a time is all.

Once off that I started trying all sorts of medicines and I too am a sworn advocate of Melatonin! I take Melatonin, 2 Benadryl or my nose runs and some potassium to help my restless legs with a small glass of wine and I sleep like a baby almost everynight. Another thing we found was the hum of our air purifier in our room and a sound machine with waves help us too.

I hope he can find something to help him sleep. That is the worst thing ever is lying there wishing you could go back to sleep.

 

[Galahad]

Does anyone have any suggestions on what he can do to sleep better,

Exercize and more sex?

 

[experiment626mom]

Melatonin works wonders 3mg time release is what I take. It worked the first night I used it.

This thread has a lot of info regarding melatonin. http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=974460

Good Luck

 

[GJM]

Thanks so much for the information. We are going to the store to buy melatonin!

 

[loisg1]

We will also as DH has sleeping issues.

 

[Beth76]

I think I might try it too. I've been having the same troubles and finally decided to get something OTC. I ended up with Tylenol Simply Sleepy (or something like that). It doesn't have pain reliever, just a sleep aid. I only took it once, but it didn't really work for me.

 

[Shugardrawers]

I use Lunesta and I LOVE it. It's been approved for long term use too. I haven't tried going off it yet so can't comment on any kind of withdrawls.

 

[OhMari]

I've been having trouble too the last 2 weeks. I contributed it to drinking a Diet Pepsi at noon. I gave up soda a long time ago, but I'll drink it with greasy food like Chinese or Pizza. My husband still thinks I drink diet Pepsi, so he picks me up a 12 pack when he gets soda.

I didn't drink any yesterday and I only got up once at 2 and went back to sleep till 7.

 

[bicker]

When I have trouble, I take half of a Benadryl. Folks take this stuff every day of their life, so I feel it is safe enough for me, and it keeps me asleep all night, once I get to sleep.

 

[huckster]

Melatonin,My Dr. advised agaisnt this says test are bein g studied and say that this is a link to alzthimers sorry for spelling jsut a a note maybe ask your dr before using

 

[bicker]

I don't believe that there has been any connection drawn between taking melatonin tablets and Alzheimer's Disease. Rather, most recent news was that melatonin is simply ineffective for Alzheimer's patients.

 

[PrincessKitty1]

Benadryl knocks my socks off and leaves me with a horrible "drugged" feeling, even in children's doses (YMMV)! I have a prescription for Ambien. I divide one 10mg Ambien into 8 pieces and take one piece--works great for me and for DH too. We found out DH's sister and B-I-L also take just a tiny "chip" of Ambien and it works for them too.

 

[bicker]

I found too much Benadryl does the same thing -- it is all a matter of dosage. I rarely take more than a half tablet, and sometimes I break the tablets into 1/3 and 2/3. I should probably get the children's dose tablets, and break them in half.

 

[Marseeya]

I would try non-drug alternatives first.

How about some white noise, like a fan running all night? That can really keep me into a deep sleep.

How's the caffeine intake? I quit drinking caffeine 15 years ago. The first two weeks were difficult, but after that I slept really well.

 

[loisg1]

DH tried ambien and lunesta and neither one helped. We picked up some 3 mg melatonin today although it didn't specify if it was timed release. I'm assuming it's not but in any case it's worth a try. Is this something that your body's blood level needs to build up to in order to be effective? DH is 54 if that matters.

 

[Goofball]

My experience with the melatonin is pretty short term - just a few weeks so far - but it's been great. I've had years of problems that were mostly sleeping 3-4 hours and waking up, unable to go back to sleep. Less often, I couldn't fall asleep until dawn. From day 1 on the melatonin, though, I've fallen asleep at a nice, normal time, and slept 7-8 hours and longer when nothing wakes me up. I don't feel drunk at bedtime or hung over at all in the morning. I think it must have some time release quality because I don't wake up in the middle of the night like I used to very regularly. I hope it works as well for your DH!

 

[experiment626mom]

DH tried ambien and lunesta and neither one helped. We picked up some 3 mg melatonin today although it didn't specify if it was timed release. I'm assuming it's not but in any case it's worth a try. Is this something that your body's blood level needs to build up to in order to be effective? DH is 54 if that matters.

The melatonin worked the first night that I used it. The bottle I have says time release in very small letters. I don't think your dh age will factor into it. Good luck, let us know how it works.

 

[hydster]

Melatonin is what your body secretes along with the circadian rhythm of your body. Now scientists say this hormone could reset the body's aging clock, turning back the ravages of time.

Humans like most animals produce the biggest supply of Melatonin in our early years. But the levels in our blood drop slightly before puberty and decline steadily into old age. Recent studies suggest that supplementing the hormone may bolster our immune systems, keep our cells from disintegrating, slow the growth of tumors and cataracts, and ward off heart disease. All that while helping us sleep better.

Through its actions on other hormones, it helps determine when people sleep and horses breed, when birds migrate, dogs shed their coats and certain frogs change color. But cellular biologists have recently discovered that melatonin has an even more basic function, which is to protect oxygen-based life from the toxic effects of...oxygen.

The process, known as oxidation, weakens our minds and muscles as we age, and contributes to at least 60 degenerative diseases, including cancer, heart disease and Alzheimer's. The body produces several enzymes to inhibit oxidation, and nutrients such as vitamin C, vitamin E and beta carotene can provide extra protection. But most of these so-called antioxidants work only in certain parts of certain cells. Melatonin readily permeates any cell in any part of the body- including the brain.

Melatonin may also help prevent cataracts, the cloudy lesions that appear on our eyes as oxidation damages cells in the lenses.

We also lose our immune function. The thymus gland shrinks over time, sapping our ability to generate infection-fighting T cells, and we produce fewer of the antibody molecules that bind with and neutralize foreign invaders, such as viruses and bacteria. Could all of this follow from a loss of melatonin? Test-tube studies have identified receptors, or specialized portals, for melatonin on the cells and glands of the immune system.
Melatonin could help us prevent, and even treat, the most common afflictions of old age. Autopsy studies suggest that pineal calcification (a condition that harens the gland and reduces melatonin output) is most common in countries with high rates of breast cancer and least common in counries where breast cancer is rare. By the same token, women taking chlorpromazine, an antipsychotic medication that raises melatonin levels, enjoy unusually low rates of the disease.


And Dr. James Jan of Van couver, British Columbia's Children's Hospital, has reported that bedtime doses of 2.5 to 10 milligrams help establish normal sleep patterns in kids with neurological problems such as autism, epilepsy, down syndrome and cerebral palsy. "We had tried everything, " Jan recalls of the first child he treated with melatonin, "but nothing worked." After one dose of the hormone, " the parents called me and said, 'It's a miracle! A miracle!' The child slept through the night."

http://www.mtnhigh.com/newsweek.html

Melatonin is certainly one of the highest growing non prescription drugs in the country. And if the research in this article is true there is many reasons to take it.