This Is MS Multiple Sclerosis Community: Knowledge & Support

Last night like many many many and did i say many nights before i awoke around two oclock like someone had just slammed a door. this happens every night. i go to bed around 9 or 10 and even take lunesta. i am sick of not getting to sleep late. o how i long for the days when i could sleep till 9 am . this sucks. it has been going on for about a year. this morning i woke up turned off the alarm grabbed some fishing gear and ran down to the lake and fished till the sun came up and then drove in to work. i hate this. am i alone with this problem if not how do you cope. how do you make yourself sleep when modern medicine/poison doesn't. i guess im going to start drinking heavily so that i just pass out every night. no secound thought that would not work then i would be up pissing alnight!!!!!!!!!!!!arti
even sex doesn't make me sleep!

I have a couple of realy crap movies that I put on when I can't sleep - Titanic is my ultimate insomnia movie - I can't remember how many times I've seen the beginning but I've seen the end a lot less! Other than that I'm fairly clueless.

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Hi there

This sounds like the worst problem! I used to be a bit like that because I had restless leg syndrome (nutty, I know!) - I take Requip for it now.

I also make sure that all the meds that can make you tired (Neurontin/Lyrica; Amitriptyline; Baclophen; Cipralex etc) - I take them at bed time so that they don't knock me out during the day (although some I have to take 2 or 3 times a day) and also so that they help me sleep at night. I also take the odd sleeping pill if I have to - I presume the med you referred to is a sleeping tab?
Also, try going to bed a bit later - maybe at 11h00 or midnight - this might help you sleep later until 6am or 7 am.
It might be a good idea to learn some relaxation techniques or maybe self hynosis so that you can put yourself back to sleep if you do wake up.

Do you have any idea what wakes you? Do you wake the same time every night, or after the same number of hours of sleep?

MS fatigue is a killer - compounding it with lack of sleep is a real problem in terms of day-time functionality - I am sorry you are suffering like this.

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Al

I've had that almost since the word go. 2am is one of my wake up times also. I pop a 5 mg Valium (very low dose) and usuall can sleep until 4:30 - 5:30. I haven't used that to get to sleep, only when I wake up to go back and stay asleep for a while. Lunesta was a passing phase for me also. I took it for about 3 months, but like you, it just didn't work.

The best thing for about 4-5 uninterrupted hours is a combination of two things. I have to quit drinking fluids by about 8:00 to 8:30 because I have to get up frrequently if I drink late. Then I hit the bowl about 4 times RIGHT before bed. So now I do manage to get what I think is the equivalent of 5 1/2 to 6 hours of sleep and have gotten very used to it. I will tell you, nothing worked until I could learn how to quell my restless mind. I can't really tell you how I did that. I think the biggest factor was switching from being a plant manager to managing the engineering department. My mind used to start thinking about work when I'd wake at 2:00 and sometimes I couldn't get back to sleep. Since I've made the change and removed that stress, I feel it lets me sleep better.

Also, NO CAFFEINE past noon. I love Coke and would usually have one with dinner. I have switched to caffeine free Coke and that has also helped. One cup of joe in the morning and that's about the extent of my caffeine now. This is one of my most frustrating symptoms and I have literally not slept all night since my MS started. Not once. The one time I slept from about 10:00 to about 4:30, I had pissed the bed, so even if I get lucky and manage to stay asleep (it's only happened once) I wake up with wet PJ's. Between the constant dizziness and this, I don't know which one I would chop my arm off for.

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http://myhopefuljourneyintoactualmsreco ... ogspot.com

yes i too have RLS. and i take mirapex along with lunesta (a sleeping pill for those who arn't familiar) i have started drinking alot of iced tea lately aside from that i have no caffine. maybe back to just h2o. thanks for the input. arti

Hi Art-
This was a killer for my husband, he never slept well before MS (busy mind) and this dx sure didn't help....but he's found that if he's really awake during the day (with help from provigil) and he exercises, gets his work done, maybe some sunshine, THEN he can sleep at night (with help from baclofen, tylenol pm, and his ipod on auto shut off mode.) He's getting a full eight hours from 11-7, for the first time in a while.

Loobie is right about cutting off the fluid and caffeine intake early enough in the day. Makes a big difference. I'd also be careful with alcohol, it messes up the sleep cycles even worse. I really feel for folks who can't sleep and suffer from fatigue. Hope you find some answers-
AC

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Husband dx RRMS 3/07
dx dual jugular vein stenosis (CCSVI) 4/09
dual stents placed 5/09
CCSVI in MS

This may sound simple but how about an epsom salt bath? The magnesium really helps to relax muscles as well as the warm water. I have found it to be really helpful at night with twitching legs.
Lori

that's pretty fascinating loriyas because i recommend oral magnesium to everyone that can't sleep (due to legs or otherwise). good that it soaks in through the skin also.

my mom used to wake up at 2am every night for years and recently i suggested 50mg mag morning and night and she has been sleeping through the night for two weeks, with the side benefit of "regularity".

my stepdad is usually up in the night too, and for years i know he's had "back pills" (voltarin?) kicking around. finally i connected the pain with the sleeplessness and bought him some 250mg mag pills to be taken at bed time (he was already taking 50s). he has done 250mg for two nights now, after some very physically active days which he says would normally cause a painful night, but he has slept through the past two nights pain free with only an occasional bathroom trip and back to sleep no problem.

sleeping aside, my brother had some facial twitches and heart palpitations last year, and i suggested a cal-mag-d3 blend to him which did sort him out. he is a financial advisor and it was "that time" of year, plus he had a first baby newly on the scene, so what with stress and his usual caffeine intake, he def needed to replenish those minerals.

cheer's husband was having trouble sleeping due to his painful muscle spasms, and with the addition of magnesium at bedtime, is doing much better now.

my throat-magnesium story is posted elsewhere. i imagine it's also responsible for my forearm spasticity finally backing off. i read the other day how calcium controls muscle contraction and magnesium controls the relaxing function, so that makes tons of sense too. also, my legs are not being "jimmy"! it has even helped with my breathing. i had a chest x-ray last year to figure out what the heck was in there, but i think it was just that i couldn't work my breathing muscles properly without a major magnesium boost. when i started taking it for my throat, my breathing troubles disappeared too. it also gets rid of menstrual cramps - makes sense, muscle relaxant.

arti who started this post has been on 250mg of magnesium morning and night for the last what, arti, week or so? with milk at bedtime for added tryptophan. he's been able to back off the sleep-aid drugs, and made it through a few nights (not every single one though, apparently the thought of fish is more powerful than his current dosage lol!).

i'm not sure if robbie has gone for the magnesium and zinc recommendation - if he has i've yet to find out if it was of any use at all!

you use natural calm at bed time too don't you, loriyas? in addition to epsom salts? do you find the oral mag does not help twitching legs in your case?

i might have missed one of the thisisms magnesium stories if anyone wants to chime in

Arti, I get something similar some nights, only for me it's not a door slamming... I think I hear my doorbell ring, and I go downstairs to check and naturally at 4 am there's no one there!

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Dx RRMS March 5, 2008.

When I have trouble going to sleep because my leg is jumping, I take .5mg of Xanax. It allows me to get to sleep and stay asleep for 8 hours. I used to take a full mg, but that is too potent for me and I feel dopey most of the next day.

gwa

Gwa I have taken xanax a few times but have worried about getting addicted. Does this worry you?

Artifishual, I have not worried about becoming addicted because I only have to take it about once a week. If I cannot get to sleep because my leg is moving, I get up and take half a pill (.5mg).

Otherwise, I will lay awake until the wee hours in the morning and end up dead tired the next day. I have not been addicted to anything yet, so maybe I am just dense on the subject of becoming addicted.

As far as the Xanax, it is not something that I want to take because it really makes me woosey if I don't get enough sleep after I take it. That is not a good position to be in when a person can barely walk with a walker.

Sometimes I have no choice but to take it as I have found that nothing else works for me when I can't get the leg (really my foot) to quit moving.

A pharmacist would know if the med is addictive, so you could talk to one about Xanax.

gwa

arti are u still doing okay off the benedryl?

Thanks GWA, the reason for asking is that here in Tx it seems to be the drug of choice for alot of these teens that are abusing their parents meds and there is alot of talk about how addictive it is. Thanks for the info.

Homeskillet , thank you for asking, I seem to be doing alot better without the benedryl. Last night I slept my ass off. First time in awhile I have slept longer than the alarm, feel really good today. (maybe the new haircut lol) but alot better, thanks