Has anyone got any ideas to help with chronic insomnia? My dry eyes and mouth keep me awake for hours. No medicine has helped.
Any ideas or tips would be greatly appreciated.
Hi there, I have to use a CPAP at night so I also suffer from chronic insomnia and have taken 1 mg xanax at night before bed which helps enough to use the full face mask. I have been using it for years now and it really helps me.
Thanks, Maggie. I'll ask my doctor on Monday.
Hi Maureen,
I'm not sure which medicines you've tried, but like my Internist says, you have to take a strong enough dose for it to do any good. My Rheum starts you with the very smallest amount possible, and when I tell my Internist it's not working, he looks at the dose and says, "Well no wonder"!
So not sure that this is the case, but it's something to consider, talk to your Dr and pharmacist, to see if this may be a factor.
Hope you can get this worked out soon, not sleeping only makes us worse. I'm telling you this at 1:23 am! ha!
Thanks SK. I just actually got 4.5 hours of straight sleep! I feel like Super Woman! This latest bout of insomnia and eye pain, I think, was caused by dropping my Fish Oil supplements by 80 percents in order to do a N.I.H. clinical trial.
Glad to hear it Maureen! Superwoman is on the loose!
And I am going through yet another night of meeting the rising sun. Going off the meds, not being able to take the Humira shot yet is really pulling me down! The Humira was just starting to work too!
And we start over yet again!
I decided to take a hot bath, do my hair while I was awake. My mom told me today that I could get a part in the Walking Dead, without any makeup! ha! That's how good I look! Wanna try out for twins?
BTW, my lower back and hip are killing me, so I have the walk down too!
Look out Darryl and Rick! LOL!
Any small changes make a huge difference. I look like death warmed over!
Just not understanding siblings not caring enough to realize I just can't do things on their schedules.
Thanks for your input. May we all feel better soon!
SK you are hilarious. I totally know the feeling. I walked into work the other day and realized I had no make-up on, nothing. Holy cow was that not a good thing. Lucky I didn't have to see any clients.
And how pathetic is it that we get excited over 4 hours sleep? LOL. I don't take anything for it yet but I am thinking of talking to the doc. It goes in waves so I forget to ask. The other issue is when I sleep super hard and wake up exhausted. Its one or the other. What fun.
Maureen I totally understand dealing with people that don't get it. You have to just take care of you. Maybe try sending them The Spoon Theory or something along those lines. It may help them understand at least a little bit but even if they don't, you do what works for you. Its never worth pushing yourself into a flair up.
Maureen,
I have dealt with insomnia for many years. I work, therefore I have to sleep. I take a 10mg ambien, and cut it into thirds. So I'm taking about 3mg a night. It helps me to fall asleep, but not always stay asleep.
Lately the mucus in my throat wakes me up in the middle of the night. I keep water and now sugar free hard candy by my bed. Helps a bit.
Wishing you the best!
LOL EJ! At least you had your ‘drawers’ on!
Maureen, we all have someone in our lives who just don’t get it. Are they caring enough to read a fully detailed description of Sjogren’s as a systemic autoimmune disease, if you send it to them as an email or letter? Including the spoon theory is a good idea. Perhaps sending it separately would be best. If it’s too long, you’ll lose them.
I’m on your side here, you know that, but keep in mind that this is difficult for us to grasp, for medical science to get past this as a syndrome, and classify and fully define Sjogrens as a disease.
I can help you out if you would like some info that will rattle their bones! You know most of the info on Sjogrens seems dismissive to us!
Besides the mucin ex that was wisely suggested, Connie. Prescription strength Claritin D is good too. At least it helps for me.
does the Claritin D dry out your mouth?
SK any info would help! I am going to Cleveland Clinic for Monday appointments and would love to share some info. needs an e-mail address?
Mucinex doesn't do me any good I've tried Klonopin, Cyclobenzaprine, Skelaxin, and Orphenadrine. At my wit's end. No sleep caused by eye pain and dry mouth cause the fibro to go through the roof. I am the hamster on the wheel.
according to my sister-in-law, Sjogren's is a footnote in Nursing and Rheumatology books! Meanwhile, all the manifestations of Sjogren's according to Sjogren's.org, I've had including 10 biliary surgical interventions. It only took 33 years to be diagnosed!
Thanks for all your suggestions!
Have not tried it. All of the allergy meds are like taking speed to me. They make the insomnia worse.
I don’t notice that much of a difference when I take Claratin. Now Benadryl REALLY dries me out!
Have you tried the biogenesis gel? They now use it generously in hospitals.
That’s suppose to be Biotene. I hate the iPhone autocorrect!
Yes, that’s the Suphedrine aka Sudafed. Talk to your Doc, perhaps he can come up with something.
Like everything else, finding the right med at the right dose is a trial and error process.
SK said:
Yes, that’s the Suphedrine aka Sudafed. Talk to your Doc, perhaps he can come up with something.
Ive been on pilocarpine and that has really helped with my dry mouth plus i use act for dry mouth. The Pilocarpine has also helped my eyes they wanted to cauterize my tear ducts but now they are giving it more time to see if this continues to help. Plus I use unisom they had prescribed me Ambien but that stuff gave me hallucinations so now I just use ambien