Insomnia after 9 weeks???

Here I sit at 1:58am, as usual, unable to sleep....

I had sleep issues before my hyst, and they got worse afterward. I was on stuff for RLS, then the doctor said I didn't have it. I've tried about everything - no caffine, no food, a glass of wine, a glass of milk, Benadryl (6 or more sometimes to get an effect), Simply Sleep, Unisom, melatonin....the list goes on. The gyn gave me some Ambien after the surgery, and I slept like I never have before....then when it ran out, I was right back here again. I can't fall asleep, and if I try to go to bed, I toss and turn, jump around, stare at the ceiling, my mind races some nights, others, it's just empty and awake.....I have a sensation like electric shocks going through my body sometimes, I wake up numerous times, and have a hard time getting back to sleep. I can't nap during the day either. I've had it.....it's 2am and I'm wide awake. Help, PLEASE???? I go to my PCP on Friday for a pre-op clearance, and I am mentioning this to him again....he tells me to take OTC stuff or melatonin, but I'm wasting all this money on stuff that doesn't work and that I probably shouldn't be taking so much of, especially since it's so ineffective...I just keep hoping that one night it'll knock me out.

Ambien is a miracle drug. My husband takes it after years of insomnia and his doctor is glad to help him. I'm not telling you what to do, honest. But if I suffered from insomnia, I would have a doctor that could help me. It's serious. With all your kids, etc., you need your sleep, my husband went into depression over his insomnia and I felt so sorry for him.

I have heard some bad things about Ambien. My daughter is on Trazadone to help her sleep. There are a few others besides Ambien that you can try. Don't let your doctor talk you out of giving you a prescription for something. You need your rest to heal properly.

An alternative would be to request a sleep study. They are trained to determine why people are having problems sleeping. My neighbor has some sleep issues and her sleep study determined that it was her RLS keeping her awake. Maybe your doctor was wrong about discontinuing the RLS meds. A sleep study will determine that. I don't believe that RLS goes away on its own but I might be wrong.

I'm 8 weeks and have been taking ambien to sleep. I never feel relaxed. I'm going to the GP to figure out why I'm like this. Before surgery I would take melatonin to sleep. That doesn't work now. I can't shut down at night. I hope you can get something to help you sleep. I truely understand how you feel. I wonder if this is all homone inbalance. I've heard several times that progestrone helps you to feel relaxed and should take it with estrogen. I think that may be my next thing I try. I wish you well and hope you get some relief.

I have the same trouble, can't sleep real well at night, after my surgery, I had 14 Ambians, so I took one each night, slept like a baby. Now I have to take over the counter stuff, tylenol pm, like 3 of them and that usually does it but I still get up at one point or another. I have this bad habit of drinking at night just to help me sleep, usually wine, but thats making me gain weight
Then I have the problem with my husband, who snores, well look out, then I'm tossing and turning, can't stand it! I have to go to bed before him if I want to be able to fall asleep!

I suffered from severe insomnia several years ago. Trazodone (as mentioned by Capegurl55) worked wonders. I experience no side effects and my PCP and a sleep doctor both gave it high recommendations. They were both willing to prescribe it over any of the prescription "sleep-aids" available at the time.
Rose

metllichic

Hi You are not alone and its not in your head. I just made the eight week mark on Monday and up until that day I had not slept for more then an hour in alll that time. My doc gave me lunesta, rozem. ambien and ambien CR and neither of these work for me. I then took Advil PM that allowed me to fall asleep but bot stay asleep I would sleep for an hour or two and that was it. I too started to get depressed, very forgettful and my memory and contration was terrible. My last visit to the doctor she gave me what she termed an older drug called Dalmane and honey I've been sleeping every since then. Doc sent me back to work on MOnday but at only 3 hrs a day which is enough for now when I get home I pooped and sleep so don't let them blow you off you keep puching until they come up with something. My doc said this is all apart of the surgery and adjustment need to be made. She could have put me on HRT but said that takingme off would make it worst I kept my ovaries. Good luck and don't take no as a anwser.

	Quote:
Originally Posted by metallichic1313 I've tried about everything - no caffine, no food, a glass of wine, a glass of milk, Benadryl (6 or more sometimes to get an effect), Simply Sleep, Unisom, melatonin....the list goes on.

That sounds like an awful lot of Benadryl. The recommended dosage for allergies is 1 capsule 4 times a day. More than that could be dangerous.

Perhaps you should stop taking anything for several nights. Get rid of anything that might be in your system. Then try a glass of Ovaltine at bedtime. Believe it or not, that will work for some people.

Turn off the TV in your room, make sure it is very dark, and put in a CD with relaxing music and turn the volume very low. This always works for me.

You could also tell your doctor that the only time you slept well was when you took Ambien. Perhaps s/he will prescribe something for you.

theres nothing wrong with needing a prescription sleep aid. insomnia is horrible. if you need something , take it. you wouldnt think twice about taking something for diabetes or your thyroid. and dont worry too much about addiction...i have had insomnia for many many years and have been prescribed ambien, klonopin, ambiencr and lunesta. i have never gotten addicted to any and right now i am finding that simply sleep by tylenol is helping me. i was due to go to the dr's last month for a lunesta prescription but havent gotten there yet. you need sleep to heal properly...do whatever you need to do to get the sleep you need without feeling guilty.
i would suggest that you dont take 6 benadryls though...that sounds pretty dangerous to me. i'm not sure thats even safe.

There are times I take nothing, and I still don't sleep. It is a lot of benadryl, but since i have to take it so often for other things (allergies, reactions to Remicade), I've even built up a tolerance to that. and actually, simply sleep is just benadryl, and it's like taking 2...still, not good to need all the time.

I'm so depressed, probably from not sleeping and just feeling horrible. I'm already on cymbalta and effexor xr, so i don't know if the doctor will prescribe another antidepressant. I will ask him about that one though. I'm going tomorrow, so hopefully he can help me....I can't take many more sleepless nights, especially with another surgery fast approaching, I lay awake all night worrying about that too. I'm definitely going to tell him all the things I've been taking that haven't worked, and how well ambien did work...hopefully he'll help me somehow.

Thank you all for your input, I appreciate hearing about all of your experiences.