Insomnia Support Group
Insomnia is a symptom, rather than a disease, and is characterized by inadequate quantity or quality of sleep. People with insomnia complain of difficulty falling or staying asleep, which results in significant impairment of daytime functioning. Insomnia is categorized as transient (shorter than one week), short-term (one to three weeks) or chronic (longer than three...
Hi Guys,
I wanted to share some tenative good news. My doctor's fourth-line (and last) treatment for me is paying some dividens. The drug is called Amitriptyline and I think I've mentioned it before. It's a "shotgun" drug that raises most beneficial neurotransmitters and has anti-anxiety and anti-depressent qualities. At first it didn't do much, but my doctor told me to stack 10 mg per day until it did something. I'm a big boy at 6'1, 230 lbs so nothing much happened sleep-wise until I hit 60 mg (you can get to 100 mg for insomnia, if needed).
While I didn't feel tired when I went to bed, somehow, someway, I went out like a light.
That first night I got 5.5 hours of RESTFUL sleep. It took away my mental fog and headache. When I dropped to 25 MG the next two nights (I was drinking on the holiday weekend, a lot) I only got 4 hours or so of broken sleep - but didn't feel bad. Yesterday at 70 mg I got a solid 6 hours and woke up when my alarm woke me up...I cannot tell you the last time an alarm woke me up! (Without me already being awake and frustrated).
The drug should be cheap and easily available in Canada and the U.S. It's non-addictive and safe. It's used as a later line treatment as Trazodone has less side effects; however, my body is tolerating the drug extremely well with no noticable side effects. Common side effects are very dry mouth, weight gain, and major constipation. It also has a 16-50 hour half-life which can be killer for those of us who need to drive to work (as it CAN make you drowsy constantly) but for me I've been fine driving and felt non-drowsy whenever I awake.
For me it has been a life-saver so keep it in mind.
My doctor did not approve refills this year and I do not have the money for the copay or time to drive to her office which is out of town and my insomnia came back. I can fall asleep but my body wakes me up 2 hours too early and I can not fall back to sleep. I have a ton of leftover meds i stashed away that i am taking till thats gone.
One other "off label" use for amitriptyline that is helpful for some people in that it can reduce chronic nerve pain. I know that it is very helpful for me in that regard. Two bangs for my money; better sleep and reduced pain at a very small cost.