I used to have really nasty migraines and if I took too much codiene (what I've always taken), I wouldn't be able to fall asleep. If I woke up in the morning and took some codiene I could fall back to sleep easily. The answer for me was to make sure not to take too much codiene close to bedtime. I had to experiment to find out what this was, but it was to definitely take less close to bedtime.

Pain medication can cause loss of sleep. My wife takes Percocet, but cannot take it late in the afternoon without losing sleep that night. Some folks have the opposite effect. You will may need to switch off of codeine-based products; it doesn't have anything do with acetaminophen IMO. Besides, you are already at a low dose of acetaminophen relatively speaking.

"AnnNY" may have a good suggestion, try different levels until you find the magic dose. You are lucky in that Percocet can be split, even though in our experience the pills may, or may not, be scored.

I do not take Percocet, but about a year ago I did a 6 month sleep study (long story how I did that, but I learned a lot) and found out that certain levels of Exlago (extended release hydromorphone) caused me to gradually lose REM sleep over a 60 day period. By the end of 60 days I was a zombie. Without REM (or deep) sleep, you will feel like you never had any sleep at all, even if you are in light sleep all night. Something to keep in mind. If you do not dream, then no REM sleep = dead tired all day.

It can cause insomnia for me too sometimes but others I can sleep pretty well. Its usually too much pain that keeps me up instead of the meds.

I did want to add that percocet is oxycodone and vicodin is hydrocodone. Oxycodone is about 1 1/2x (1.66 actually) stronger than hydrocodone. So switching to vicodin/lortab/norco would actually be a step down. The FDA doesn't allow any acetaminophen/apap higher than 325mg now regardless of narcotic. That started in December with the final roll out by this summer I think, maybe the end of 2014. There are oxycodone options without acetaminophen available if the APAP concerns you.

Good luck finding what works for you. I'm on my 4th ked adjustment since January. I'm hoping we can tweak it one more time tmw & get it right. Sometimes it can take a while to find the magic cocktail.

A little concerbed by what you mean a "higher dose" of meds, are you not following the prescription?

About 50% of patients on narcotics have sleeplessness as a side effect. People just assume that since it's a narcotic and it has that nice little orange tag on the side that it will make you sleepy, not the case. There's not a narcotic out there that makes me sleepy.

As for changing meds....Vicodin is stepping down from Percocet. It is Hydrocodone and not as strong as Oxycodone which is the Narcotic side of Percocet. You can get Oxycodone in it's pure form with no APAP (Tylenol) that's what many of us who have kidney problems use. Can't guarantee that your Dr. will prescribe it, but you can try.

Just a note though....taking more Oxycodone than prescribed is a fast-track to addiction and is a lot easier to overdose on than people realize, so please be careful if you do switch.

Kat

thanks everyone.

i am following my perscription. my dosage is 1 to 2 tablets (5/325) every 4-6 hours as needed for pain. i meant that usually i take 1 pill for pain, but noticed that when i take 2 pills when the pain is real bad i have some trouble sleeping. my bad for any confusion.

i didn't realize that vicodin is actually a step down from what i'm taking now. the only reason why i was wondering about the acetimetiphine in it is because of the whole its bad for your liver thing.

i've been on the same dosage of medicine for awhile now and pain has changed, etc. its exactly what one of ya'll said "finding the magic dose". one pill used to control my pain perfectly, now generally one doesn't even touch the pain.

can i go bash my head into a wall now from frustration? haha i kid.
here's to everyone fiinding the "magic" correct dosage of medicine!

I take hydrocodone and never take more than 2 (5/325) at one time but I notice the opposite for me...they knock me the heck out, lol. Now, I don't HAVE to sleep after I take them (I can fight the tiredness) but I do notice I sleep more soundly now that I take them. My last dose for the day is between 8pm-9pm (my morning wake-up is different when I have the kids and when I don't) and, while I still sometimes need to take some melatonin, I have definitely noticed my sleep is a little heavier...and I get weird dreams too...sometimes nightmares that wake me up and I then have difficulty falling back to sleep. Not sure if that's medication-related tho.

Back a year ago when I was taking tramadol, I definitely noticed I couldn't sleep if I took it too close to bedtime.

Okay, I'm not exactly sure anything I said was in any way useful to you but...there you have it, lol.

~Michelle

Haha thats okay redheaddiva. I get horrinle nightmares if i take my meds in the evening. I know that whole knock out thing too. Guess it depends on the day! Its just nice to know others are in the same boat

Unfortunately for the kind of severe pain you have and the fact that its a long-lasting disease with only a "reproduction ending surgical cure" that can honestly not even work, Endo can come back on other Organs....for this type of pain a Dr. would normally switch to a Long Lasting Medication to get better pain coverage and get out of this "ups/downs" pain control. The unfortunate thing is with your age and the fact that there is a surgical option, I doubt you'll find many Dr.'s willing to go to that next step....many people who've passed through this Board with the same Endo problems have had trouble getting a Dr. to RX Long Lasting Pain meds.

Kat