Does anyone suffer from Insomnia?

chalex

Hi Ladies,

I started this thread b/c I can't find any support groups similar to this one on the net. I wanted to know if anyone else suffers from this yucky diagnosis too.

I have had trouble sleeping for prob. 17 years. It prob. started when I had kids and I was a light sleeper incase the kids woke up.... I just got used to getting up at night to go to the washroom, check on kids ect.... Later, I worked shift work and no rhythm with my sleep patterns again. Then, teen drama and insomnia gets worse. BC diagnosis and I am a wreck and not sleeping and I was given ativan. Ah yes, ativan, great drug, however, addictive! Helped me sleep but I had to wean off it a year later. And BTW, not fun!

OK, so I have been referred to the sleep clinic that specailizes in "classic insomnia" and yes I have it. No, really I am up 4-5 times at night and it takes an hour to sleep. Well, I was told be the Sleep Dr now I have to get up everyday at 8:00 am by alarm and go to sleep every day by doing a "boring activity" and only going in my bed to SLEEP! This may sound silly to many but this is really tough to get my head around. I have had to change my work hours to accomadate this. I find this stressful and difficult to do.

I thought I would put this out there incase anyone else has gone through this "cognitive" approach to curing insomnia. Any feedback would be awesome.

Take Care,

Chalex: Diagnosis, Aug, 2009, IDC, 7-8cm, 0/15 nodes, Grade 3, ER+/PR+ HER+

jancie

I was an insomniac for 22 years prior to BC.  I was so greatful that FINALLY a doctor would give me something to sleep.  It took me getting BC for the doctors to look at my QOL and my inability to fall asleep, keep sleeping, etc.

I started out with Ambien.  That worked great until I had to take steroids for chemo.  At that time Ambien, Valium - nothing worked.  So they tried me on Mirtazapene which is an anti-depressant (that is what they told me) and if you take 1/2 of the regular dosage it works as a sleep aid.

Well it worked - 12 hours worth.  It worked so well I could hardly get up in the mornings BUT I was sleeping!

I am back on the Ambien.  Not everyone can take Ambien but I have been for 2 years now without any problems.

xtine

I've also suffered from insomnia.. for almost 2 years. For me it started when I weaned my twins, and I am completely convinced it was hormonal. I feel like I'm gradually getting a handle on it now.

I do think the advice you're getting is worthwhile. I don't know if it will fix things, but I think it's a good first step. Your body needs consistent rhythms and cues... I try to go to bed at the same time each night, keep it dark & quiet before bed, and wake up at the same time each morning, don't eat or drink close to bedtime, etc. I also try to avoid napping unless I'm really really exhausted (I did nap when recovering from surgery though - I needed it!).

On the other hand, when I visited a sleep specialist she assumed it was all about my sleep hygiene, and I was rather offended by that. For me my insomnia came on suddenly, when I went from sleeping easily whenever I wanted to not being able to sleep at all... I did have great sleep hygiene (they couldn't find a thing I did wrong), and my babies were sleeping through the night so they weren't waking me. So while I think hygiene is important, it might not help every situation.

I have also used some drugs to help. A bunch of things didn't help and maybe made it worse... Ambien was a nightmare - it didn't help me sleep much better, and made my sleep quality much worse and I did not feel rested. Ativan helped me relax short-term but was addictive and didn't help long-term. Unisom helped a little. Progesterone (prometrium) actually helped quite a bit, but I had to stop with the BC diagnosis...

Right now I am using Rozarem. It mimics the hormones that help you to sleep, so your sleep is more "natural" than a sedative. They claim it's safe to use long-term. It's mostly focused on getting you to sleep, so may not help for waking up frequently. I take one at bedtime and I am currently sleeping 7-8 hours and feeling rested and alert during the day. One night recently I didn't take it, but I thought I had, and I was up until 2 am - the first time this happened in months. I found the pill the next morning out of my pill box - until then I was completely puzzled about my sudden sleep issue.

A lot of people take Melatonin, which is a similar "natural" solution. I tried this but it didn't help me and gave me weird dreams. But it's worth trying.

One other thing you might consider is whether you have apnea. It might be worth doing a sleep study. I think this is a pretty common cause of night wakings.

Good luck to you. Sleep is probably our biggest weapon for staying healthy & happy, so I hope you find it!

LuvRVing

I hadn't slept well since menopause (16 years ago).  When I was diagnosed with BC, it got worse.  I fall asleep but don't stay asleep.  My doctor gave me temazepam.  It works.  Benadryl, melatonin, none of that other stuff did a thing.  I needed something that turned my brain "off."   I may stay on temazepam forever...I don't care.  Nothing helps like a good night's sleep.

Michelle

nora_az

I suffered from insomnia about 2 years prior to my BC diagnosis, BC just made it worse. I usually have little problems getting to sleep but I wake up 3 hours later. Sometimes I'm up for good. Other times I will go back out but continue to wake up every hour until morning.

I have Ambien, Ambien CR, Lunesta, Ativan and Xanax. None of these works alone long term, I need to switch them up every few days.

It's very frustrating

karen1956

Chalex...My insomnia started with my Dx.....and it got exascerbated with Tx including AI's.....I've taken Ativan and Ambien for 5 years....I try not to take it every night, but when I don't my sleep is horrible...when I take it, my sleep has gotten to the point of being decent.....I have practiced "sleep hygiene" for years and during the worst of my insomnia it didn't make a difference......I trade off between Ambien CR and regular ambien, and ativan and sometimes I take the ambien with the ativan...that actually works the best....I don't worry about addiction as lack of sleep is worse for me....