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  • barbe1958
    barbe1958 Member Posts: 19,757
    edited March 2010

    LOVE it Ruth! Trade sleeping pills.....heheheheh wouldn't our docs just flip if they knew we would even think about it?? hehehhee

    Seriously though, one of you HAS to try Imovane!!! You wake up exactly 8 hours later with no grogginess (and can get back to sleep easily if you wake up to pee). I need to know it is helping someone else besides just me!

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  • ruthbru
    ruthbru Member Posts: 57,235
    edited March 2010

    I have it on my list of things to talk to my doctor about when I see him, which (God Willing) will not be for awhile!

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  • pip57
    pip57 Member Posts: 12,401
    edited March 2010

    It's imovane for me.  I was worried about taking it too often at first but my doc and my own investigations say it is okay.  I found that the nights I didn't sleep were the nights I didn't take it.  So it seemed obvious that it was helpful for me. 

    Well, it has been almost 3 years and I still only take 1/2 a pill each  night.  Helps me get to sleep and I can also fall back asleep if I have to get up to pee.  (That is important!)  I never feel groggy in the morning.  

    I feel so badly when I hear women talking about not sleeping well.  I never used to sleep very well so I understand how frustrating it is.

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  • SusieMTN
    SusieMTN Member Posts: 795
    edited March 2010

    To vent a bit!  It is amazing that so much is know about the treatment of cancer but yet the AI's we are given cause so many issues such as sleep.  I hope my Onc will put me back on Aromasin in May as I had far less sleep issues and what I did have were a walk in the park compared to Arimidex not to mention increased joint pain!  BOY!  Good luck to you all and hope you are having a wonderful weekend!

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  • ruthbru
    ruthbru Member Posts: 57,235
    edited March 2010
    I wonder if some of the sleep issues might be more menopause related that Al specific (although I know that Als put us into 'Super Menopause' Frown). My mom had a terrible time sleeping after menopause, and my sister (neither she nor my mom are BC ladies) sleeps even worse than me. Just a thought.
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  • robinri
    robinri Member Posts: 40
    edited April 2010

    WOW...I stumble around dead tired... jacked up on Cafeine...

    DO you think its all the meds or just our minds working on the CANCER thing? I hate that it has power over me.

    Just chiming in to agree......I would be greatful for just one night of good old fashioned sleep.

    Not taking anything..jsut getting lots of quilting done~! LOL

    Robin

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  • ruthbru
    ruthbru Member Posts: 57,235
    edited April 2010

    For me intitally it was 'The Cancer Thing', but now (3 years out), I think it has to be the "Lack of Hormones Thing'. Maybe I should drag out my long ago started, but never finished cross stitch picture......I wonder if I can still see those little bitty squares?!!

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  • SusieMTN
    SusieMTN Member Posts: 795
    edited April 2010

    I was already thru menopause sleeping WONDERFULLY and no more hot flashes before my diagnosis.  I have to agree with you ruthbru it really is SUPER MENOPAUSE!  Hot flashes,and sleep stuff is SO MUCH worse than just menopause!  After diagnosis waking in pain from the cancer, then steroids, then pain from surgery...... all created some sleep issues BUT WHEN AI's came along.......  BLAM sleep problems, and LOL memory problems.  (I could make a funny now but I will withhold myself)  Never during menopause 3 to 4 hours. 

    So I went back on Aromasin and OFF Arimidex as my sleep was SO bad,  lucky I could remember where I live!  I am finally sleeping better.  Usually until about 3:30 then awake for 2 hours then back to sleep, that is similar to menopause, completely doable!  Not great or perfect but doable.  I can not live with 3 -4 hours, COMPLETELY un-doable!  Forgetful took on a new meaning!  Still taking Melatonin and switching back and forth from Tranquil Sleep (Michael Murray recommended) which has more than just Melatonin in it, so far so good!  

    Wishing you all LOTS OF SLEEP!  TRANQUIL SLEEP!

    Susie

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  • ruthbru
    ruthbru Member Posts: 57,235
    edited April 2010
    What is 'Tranquil Sleep' and where do you get it (literally, not metaphorically Wink)? I did try melatonin the other night, but obviously not enough, because I was up all night long. What doses actually work for you all? I may just have to stick with the Ambein and be glad for it. SIGH!!!
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  • SusieMTN
    SusieMTN Member Posts: 795
    edited April 2010

    ruthbru Tranquil Sleep Vitamin Shoppe.com.  They also have stores!  I have found they have pretty good prices.  (I do not work for them just want to pass on any good finds).. Bottle says two tablets.  Just go to their site to and put in Tranquil Sleep.  Natural Factors Tranquil Sleep. 

    It works for me! 

    Susie

     

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  • karen1956
    karen1956 Member Posts: 6,503
    edited April 2010

    I've been off AI's for 3 weeks now (2 month reprieve) and still sleep awful.....sleeping pills aren't working, Ativan is only marginally helpful.....I wake up several times at night...I don't consume any caffeine.....BC is not always first and foremost in my mind....I do try to turn off my mind in bed, but I don't sleep....last night I was exhausted.....got in bed around midnight.....took 1mg Ativan and opened up a book to read....an hour later, I am still awake, so took another 1mg Ativan and turned off the light.....still took forever to fall asleep and woke up several times before it was time to get out of bed at 5:45.....Melatonin makes me too doopey in the morning.....I am hoping that giving my body a rest from so many Rx will help get some sleep routine back....also going to do a 6 week cognitive behavior therapy sleep study to see if that helps.....

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  • ruthbru
    ruthbru Member Posts: 57,235
    edited April 2010

    Thanks Susie, I will look for the Tranquil Sleep! Karen, what do they do in 'cognitve therapy'? Maybe we all need to be hypontized to fall asleep when we look at a clock and it shows 'MIDNIGHT". ????

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  • ruthbru
    ruthbru Member Posts: 57,235
    edited April 2010

    Susie, I couldn't find the website you gave, but googled Tranquil Sleep Natural Factor, and it is sold from a number of different sites; including Amazon.com (where I have a running account!).

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  • karen1956
    karen1956 Member Posts: 6,503
    edited April 2010

    Ruth....I'm often just getting into bed at 12!!!!  I stay up late because I have trouble falling asleep and staying asleep.....cognitive behavior therapy uses thoughts  (so to speak) to help change behavior.....kind of like a more refined behavior modification.....I do my best not to look at the clock, but its inevidable (sp) that I will look at it a few times throughout the night....my goal is a solid 6 hours sleep without waking up!!!  My onc tells me I need 8 hours, but didn't get 8 hours before BC....7 maybe would be good, but dream on for 8!!!!!

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  • ruthbru
    ruthbru Member Posts: 57,235
    edited April 2010
    Eight hours of sleep! HAHAHAHAHAHA!! Your oncologist, obviously, must be a man Wink!
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  • karen1956
    karen1956 Member Posts: 6,503
    edited April 2010

    yup he is a man...but all my docs say 8 hours sleep!!! dream on!!!!

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  • SusieMTN
    SusieMTN Member Posts: 795
    edited April 2010

    ruthbru Great on Amazon.com.  BTW  I posted vitamin shoppe with a break for easy reading there web site is www.vitaminshoppe.com.  Let me know the cost on Amazon, to compare - always looking for the least expensive price. 

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  • ruthbru
    ruthbru Member Posts: 57,235
    edited April 2010
    Susie, it's $19.99 on Amazon. I haven't ordered yet because I wanted to check out a local health food/vitamin store and see if they carry it. On Amazon, if you order more than $25, you get free shipping (somehow that is never a problem for me Wink). How about your place?
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  • Beverly11
    Beverly11 Member Posts: 443
    edited April 2010

    Has anyone tried acupuncture or sleep patches?  Sounded like you may have Suzie.  Ruth you are too funny.  I do crazy things in the middle of the night, trying to quiet while everyone else is sleeping.  One night I was taking IQ tests.  But, thanks for the cross stitch reminder.  Haven't done it in years. 

    Hoping everyone is sleeping well.

    Bev

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  • ruthbru
    ruthbru Member Posts: 57,235
    edited April 2010
    How do IQ tests turn out in the middle of the night? Undecided Sometimes I have gotten up and gone on the computer, but try to not let myself do that 'cause then I'm really up all night!. I did order some of the 'Tranquil Sleep' from Amazon; I think I will take my 'untranquil half an ambien sleep' pill until the bottle shows up, as I seriously need to be unconscious for awhile each night anyway. Geez!!!!
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  • SusieMTN
    SusieMTN Member Posts: 795
    edited May 2010

    ruthbru - i have to seriously start checking back after I post!  LOL  I don't know about Vit.Shoppe shipping, I have one close so go into the store to make my purchases for the most part. 

     Beverly11 -  Have never tried Acupuncture but have recently been considering it. How about you, any luck with it?  BTW taking IQ tests in the middle of the night - too funny!  My DH has moved to the sofa so I can sleep, is that wonderful or what!

    Recent change in sleep situation, now I am sleeping.  Started taking D3 again, and stopped taking Thyroid until the doctors can show me I really need to take it - still.  I am continuing to take Tranquill Sleep and additional Melatonin.  LOL hope I am not overdosing on it, HeHe (should that be so funny??? LOL some how I think it should on some level - Friday influence....)   So glad to be sleeping!  BTW I do still wake up at 4ish but read for an hour and go back to sleep, I have slept for a while and then enjoy reading more! 

    Wishing you all LOTS of SLEEP ladies!

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  • lewisfamily503
    lewisfamily503 Member Posts: 621
    edited May 2010

    I honestly think a BIG problem is the hormones, ladies, especially for those of us going through menopause.  However, I had  what I think was really a breakdown about ten years ago due to a lack of sleep.  I still don't know what caused it.  But I just stopped sleeping. I would go to bed at night and then spend the entire night staring at the ceiling.  After about two weeks, I finally went to my doctor.  By that time I was a total wreck.  They took my blood pressure it was like, 160 over 100.  YIKES!!!  So my doctor gave me some tranquilizers and told me NO ALCOHOL!!! I took the pill and slept like a baby!  However, it took about a month to calm down. I was just a nervous wreck. Sleep makes ALL the difference. I panic still when I don't sleep. I worry that the long stretch of sleepless nights will return once again and I will have another breakdown.  But so far, I only have short streches without sleep.  I think it's okay to take sleep aids for the short term.  I do agree that we should try to exercise and go easy on the alcohol.  I have found that drinking might help me to go to sleep initially but then I wake up in the wee hours and I can't get back to sleep. UGH!!  Good luck ladies.  I hope you find your way to sweet dreams!

    Anne 

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