Tuesday, March 30, 2010

The Big Sleep Debate...

I have been experimenting with my sleep regimen for the last few weeks. I am trying to wean myself off all the medications I have been taking...(acne meds, sleeping meds, anxiety meds, acid reflux meds, etc). So far I have successfully gotten myself off the acne meds (using Project Glow), have stopped my acid reflux meds, and I am currently working on getting off my sleeping meds.

Here is my reasoning for the sleeping meds:

I have always been a good sleeper, just ask my mom :) My husband has a different idea though. I have what is called Restless Leg Syndrome. Chad says it is like I am playing soccer in my sleep. I have always recognized that I move A LOT in my sleep, but until I moved in with Chad, it didn't bother anyone. Chad is a very LIGHT sleeper, so he wakes up to any movement I make. This has caused many problems!! I also woke up 8-10 times per night, which made me wake up tired, and feel unrested. The other MAJOR problem for me with sleeping is that I had HORRIBLE dreams. I cannot even tell you how many traumatizing, terrorizing dreams I have had.

Basically, I was waking up after 8-9 hours of "sleep" feeling completely unrested.

I have tried many things for my sleeping. I went to bed earlier, read a book, practiced deep breathing, etc. After talking with my doctor, we decided to try a sleeping medication-Amitriptyline. This is a medication prescribed for depression, but is also used for sleep problems.

This medication has worked wonders for me.

I sleep through the night. I get 8 hours of sleep and wake up feeling rested. My nightmares have stopped, and my restless leg syndrome has calmed down, a little bit :) I have also experimented with cutting down on this medication. When I don't take it, the nightmares return immediately and I am not able to stay asleep all night.

What should I do?? This is a medication I CANNOT be on when I get pregnant...so I have to figure something out...

My recent attempt at getting off this medication has been pretty successful. I haven't taken it in 2 weeks and have been trying something different- TEA!!!

I have NEVER liked tea. Ick!! But I saw Sleepytime tea a few weeks ago and decided to give it a try. I make a mug of tea about an hour before I am going to go to bed...I have been pretty impressed with it's effectiveness. I have been sleeping through the night, for the most part.

However, it has been taking me HOURS to fall asleep. All the tossing and turning is driving Chad crazy!! When I don't sleep well, he doesn't sleep well.

I am going to continue the tea every night and hope to get this under control...

WHAT IS YOUR SLEEPING ROUTINE?

HAVE YOU STRUGGLED WITH SLEEPLESSNESS??






3 comments:

Andi Hays said...

I have certain ways I sleep better than others. I have told my hubby to make sure I don't go to sleep on my back because (as weird as this sounds) I sleep too deeply. I don't like the way it makes me feel. I have a hard time telling reality from my dream and that really freaks me out.

I have heard or people who have gone off the pill and that made their restless leg syndrome go away.

Maybe Chad can just get some sleeping pills so he can sleep through the night and then you won't have to be one meds! :) Just a thought.

I have tried many types of teas and haven't found any I can stand. Good job toughing it out!

I tried the Project Glow and my face broke out worse! I had to go back to my regular routine and things are just now starting to clear up again.

Good luck!

Joanie Raiche said...

I am sorry about Project Glow. I know it has worked for some and not others. I had a week of breakouts but continued. My skin is extremely soft and smooth now. My mom urged me NOT to do the St. Ive's scrub because it is so rough, but I have enjoyed it so far.

Kelly Anne said...

Try putting warm milk (obviously) into your tea at night. Warm milk helps with being sleepy and helps you sleep better. Something my mom always taught me...even though I forget to do it a lot. It also aids digestion and prevents constipation. The qualities of milk can be enhanced by adding half a teaspoonful of cardamom powder to the milk. Also, you should google home remedies for sleeplessness or something to that effect to see what other options you might have, or to change it up when you get bored with tea and milk. There are so many teas out there too, so keep looking for one you really like. I found putting a bit of Splenda in my tea makes it that much better that I keep wanting more. :)

On another similar note, I have my followup appointment with my neurologist today to find out what my sleep study showed. I'm nervous, but at the same time I'm really hoping I can get some answers to my sleeping problems. I know after the overnight, that I don't have sleep apnea, but they tested for narcolepsy the next day! I NEVER thought I could have that, but I found out there are different kinds of narcolepsy and it's possible that I have it. Here's hoping for an answer and a solution. :)