The continuing battle

[kaylish]

After 6 months of struggling with the sleep issue after coming off cannabis I think I have finally found a solution without having to rely on sleeping pills. I live in hope anyway. After talking with the manufacturers about a price issue on melatonin I was told that it might possibly work better with a supplement of magnesium or a natural sleep remedy called Rem Sleep. I have tried 2-3 mg melatonin with 400 mgs of magnesium for the last few nights and it has most definitely made a difference as I am going to sleep relatively quickly :)

[mcdan]

I sure Hope it works for you... God knows I have been there before. And its not fun...

[kaylish]

Thanks for that and yes you are right its no fun. I dont ever want to revisit those sleepless nights I had for 5 months. It was the absolute worst time of my life. I can't beleive I was having baths at 3.30 am to try and relax, getting 3-4 hours sleep a night but not until 4 -5 am. What has really surprised me is the number of people who suffer insomnia. People much younger than I am and little help available. Natural remedies that relax you but dont actually put you to sleep or a Doctors pill that you end up getting addicted to . Sleep is the one thing I value most in life so I hope I have found ongoing success with this combination :)

[mcdan]

With me-- even taking the sleeping aid doesent really get me a full restful nights sleep.. If I get 4 or 5 hours thats alot... What bothers me the most is I remember being able to sleep 8 hours with no pills or anything else... Insomnia was rare and something I couldent relate to..I hate roaming the house at night knowing everyone else is in dream land..Theres nothing on television but infomercials and reruns of shows I never liked.. I do know what your feeling and if your remedy works for you that would be great... As I said good luck and pleasent dreams...;)

[kaylish]

Last week my combination worked very well but this week is a different story. seems I am back to soley relying on the sleeping pills. Either that or I wont sleep and with no sleep theres no life. Maybe thats a bit harsh..its a depleted life. Six months ago when I started the pills, I had a terrible time and after 6 weeks I had to take two at night which only gave me 3 hours sleep. I can identify with you McDan when you say you only get 4-5 hours sleep because these pills control your sleep. I would get up to go to the loo at 3.am and couldnt get back to sleep. I have been a little more careful with them this time and tried not to take one every night. A half still helps most of the time but tonight I have had 1 1/2. Every night is different and for Gods sake I never know what is going to happen. I think I am starting to get fed up with it once again. Today I never woke until 10 am...well hell half the day is gone. Cognitive behavioural therapy is supposed to be one of the best remedies for insomnia if you can be bothered doing it. A book I recently read said that insomnia is a bad habit that can be corrected and that reminds me of what my Doctor said "its a bad habit Viv you have to retrain yourself " yeah right !!!!:

[houghchrst]

Bad habit. My God what kind of nonsense is that? I am sorry sleep still seems to be eluding you. It takes 2 years for your brain to come to even some semblence of normalcy. I have been taking sleeping pills every night for sleep for about 3 months, alternating Ambien CR with Restoril 30mg plus .5 Xanax (perfect mix for me for a full night sleep). I saw my pdoc last Tuesday and she told me to stop taking the sleep aids and to start taking my Xanax as prescibed, .25mg 2x a day, because I have started taking Lyrica for pain and she was hoping that might help with the sleep issue and the Xanax because I was having a rough time of it. Well when she said to stop I thought I was gonna faint. All I could think about was getting up in the morning to take the kids to school and having to come home and try and go back to bed to get any kind of rest. The first night I tossed and turned a bit. Second night wasn't as bad, Friday night I slept like a rock, last night too. the odd thing is that I am not tired during the day even though I take the Lyrica and the Xanax in the morning too.

maybe a little Xanax for a bit in the evening might be something to ask the doc about. It can help with stress, withdraw and is good for sleep. Careful though because it can be addicting. Pills were never an addiction of mine so I don't have any problem.

Good Luck