I say yes, you say no, OR People are Strange

Enjoyful~If the dressed up cheese doesn't work, have you tried Unisom? I use the generic one and have for years, also 10 mg of melatonin without fail. The Unisom is different from the other OTCs. It's not Benadryl like most of the others.



Paula

Kam, have you checked the price at Costco?  I take letrozole (generic form of Femara) and my last refill was less than $20 for a three month supply.  The ones before were $36 for three months worth.  Those prices are without using insurance - as with insurance I can get only one month and the minimum OOP is $10, so it's often less expensive for me to not use my insurance, and it's always more convenient, as I hate having to get a refill each month.

GG, I always lie there, because my mom used to say it was better to just lie there and "rest" than to get up and do something. If I wake all the way up and my brain wakes up, it takes me 2 hours to go back to sleep. I used to take Valerian (foul-smelling stuff!) and it worked nicely, but one day I mailed off a bill with no check and another one with the wrong check and forgot to seal the envelope of the check I was sending my mother, so I stopped taking it. Not sure if that was the cause of my spate of serious absentmindedness, but was too shocked to continue.



Sometimes I can fall asleep if I give my brain something else to do. For a long time, I mentally counted all my white blouses (at the time I had 25) and that worked for months. I don't have anything like that now. I do know that I can't watch anything too exciting or too interesting or read anything too exciting or interesting before I go to bed, because it gets my brain all excited and it wants to play. Really, it is like having a separate two-year-old in my head!



L

Wow...maybe now I know why I can have a really bad day when the weather changes but after four yrs. don't feel enough se's to feel any concern of needing to do something.  Down side....I'll be two months shy of 68 when I reach yr. # 5 on the Arimidex.  Don't know what if anything will come next.  Also, don't know how brave I will feel if the Doc says to go without then.  Certainly is a welcome thought to give it up on the one hand.  I'm not much of a pill taker and the longer I can go with the least amt. of little round goodies to keep me going , the better.  But, for now, I notice very little and I am grateful for that.

Enjoyed hearing our President speak today.  He made such wonderful sense.  It is too bad that extremists still are looking at this like the biggest threat that ever happened to them.  Civil war again, REALLY!!!!  Ok, I may as well admit it, my mental faculties these last few years leave a lot to be desired, but there are a whole lot of people who still can't tell that the Second Amendment is still the second amendment and no one is taking anything away from them.  They should be far more worried that the criminals will break into their house and get their guns.

Seems to me that any excuse to cast Presidential authority in the worst light possible is still uppermost.  At the same time, it is my feeling when people behave ( sadly even some in local and state & federal government  ) as they are doing, it is just my opinion, it allows them to disperse some anger and upset with many other areas of life.  So sometimes I fear it is about several things and the new gun issues are the catalyst for just letting go.  The rhyme and reason just isn't there.  These measures will all take time....so worth it in the end.

Jackie

Ooooh, Alexandria, you just may have something there! I used to listen to music to fall asleep (my mother always had a radio playing classical music in my room from the time I was born to make me fall asleep). DH can't go to sleep to music, but we now have separate bedrooms, too, because of megasnoring (his) and "active dreaming" (mine). Music is still out because the doors are open, but mp3 player might indeed work. I just need to give the 2-year-old something to do while the rest of me falls asleep. Once the rest of me is asleep, the brain (sort of) follows -- I dream extremely vivid dreams all night because the brain is bored all alone and tells itself stories, but as long as the rest of me can get good sleep, everyone is happy. I would be a neurologist's pet project!



L

((((E)))) Been there, felt that, as you know. Arrrrghhhhh! Ask you doctors whether you are a good candidate for any of the following (which don't have a contraindication for cancer that I know of:

--Neurontin (Gabapentin)

--Risperdal (risperidone)

--Seroquel (quetiapine)

--Sonata

--Lunesta

Only the last two are "on-label" for sleep, but the first three are often used off label for that purpose and may be very effective, although risperidone can accumulate in your system, like so many of the meds.

Your insomnia may possibly be related to the rads marathon you went threough. I know most people feel fatigued after rads but your ability to regulate sleep may also be compromised.

((((GG)))) Perhaps it is a combination of things? The climate bringing out more stiffness. I'm sorry it is so bad.

Off to read the last page of our fast-moving thread....

Couldn't agree more, kayfh.

As for sleep:  We keep hearing (and reading) that we "should" be getting 8 hours of sleep each night.  But sleep needs are individual, and age-related.  When I was going to school, I was in bed no later than 9 p.m. and up at between 7 and 7:30 a.m.  In college, I was usually in bed by 11 and up by 7:30 (unless I had an 8 a.m. class).  When I was working, I was in bed by 11 and up by 6:30.  Even on the weekends (darn it!).

Now that I'm retired, I'm a night hawk, and find that I do quite okay with between 6 and 7 hours nightly.  Can't nap during the day.  Dh on the other hand can fall asleep at the drop of the hat.  not fair!! The only thing that bothers me is if I just "cannot" get to sleep, no matter what time I go to bed.   Usually the problem is RLS, hence the ativan.

GG -- I also suggest that the weather has much to do with your aches and pains, considering that you continued to take letrozole while in Hawaii -- besides which, it apparently takes several months for the AI to be totally out of your system.  Methinks you really should retire to the Pacific!  What do you think planes were invented for?!!!!

I was going to add Trazadone to your list Athena. My son found that effective for a time.

Linda - retirement in the Pacific is looking quite good right now!

I understand Blue. All one can do is remember they are not the majority and hang onto that hope.

I can say, Blue, that luckily the extremists do NOT represent the US - they'd like to, but they are a losing political force. There are many, many places where reasonable people live.

Remember the shock value - the media always publicizes the most scandalous views because that is what gets viewership and readership. Some people, having a tin ear, publicly go out and repeat those crazy ideas. They may scream louder, but that doesn't mean their views hold more sway. I don't know any extremists myself.

The wonderful thing about the US is that there really is room for everything - for right wing extremists but also for the people who can't stand hem.

Come on over, Blue. We on this thread are American too. It's still a great country. So great that it can accommodate all views and still stand tall. That says a a lot about a republic.

I am not always proud of my fellow Americans, but this country does give me enough to be proud of. (ETA this sentence.)

Blue - I think you'll find those politics in certain geographical areas.  After our last election, I think we are slowly "growing up" as a nation. Not sure why we are so recalcitrant, but we are a very diverse nation...hmmm, thinking....not that diversity is the actual problem, just those who don't like diversity.