Insomnia?

[aihflvt]

Brand new to this forum - I hope it is more welcoming than another website I had read regularly in the past.

Has anyone else seen the Christian Bale movie "The Machinist," in which his character hasn't slept in over a year and is beginning to doubt his own sanity? I'm not quite up to a year, but it's now Saturday morning on the east coast of the United States, and the last time I woke up from any meaningful sleep was on Wednesday morning. I experienced a pretty rough detox this week. I have a prescription for 100 mg of trazodone for sleep, which usually results in 9-10 hours of sleep, but they had >no< effect this time. Zero, zip, nada, and anyone who has taken trazodone will tell you it knocks you out and keeps you out.

I just drove 24 hours straight - no naps - between my homes in Florida and Vermont. You'd think I'd be a zombie after that, but I feel perfectly awake and am performing my usual morning routines. Has anyone else out there experienced such profound insomnia, and if so, what were your experiences with it? I'm going on 72 largely sleepless hours now and while I'm not doubting my sanity, it is profoundly screwed-up!

[FlyAway]

Insomnia?

Hello and welcome to MWO.

I had trouble sleeping for the first week or two after I quit drinking. Things seemed to improve after that. I've never taken prescription sleep meds so I can't comment on that. I do take melatonin before I go to bed and I sleep with earplugs to drown out my husband's snoring. The melatonin took a few days before it really seemed to work and you have to find the right dose for you. Too much can make you stay awake too.

Do you feel tired but can't fall asleep? Or is it that you never feel tired?

My advice would be to give it a couple weeks if you've just detoxed. You also might get more answers if you post this in the "General" section. Best of luck to you.

[mama bear]

Insomnia?

gosh.... I complain of it takes me longer than 15 minutes to fall asleep, so I will be of no use to you
But I am glad to meet you and want to welcome you to MWO!

[aihflvt]

Insomnia?

Thank you everyone for your warm welcome.

I recently finished several months AF (definitely the longest AF period in my life since I've been 21, and I'm now 39). I "celebrated" by going on the mother of all benders, 7-8 days, with 1-2 days for tapering tacked on at the end. Kindling really exists, because I just experienced it. This is the first time I'd say I've had genuine withdrawal symptoms beyond a really intense hangover: body odor that could kill livestock, the heavy sweating that immediately becomes teeth-chattering chills, and this insomnia. It's definitely motivated me to go permanently AF because the next time might be hospitalization and full-on DTs. I just can't resist the lovely warm glow our friend provides, so I can't trust myself to drink reasonably.

[crazyforwine]

Insomnia?

Hi A,

I have also had a fair amount of insomnia-not to that extent, but not fun. My doc prescribed Ambien to take along with Trazodone. They are safe to take together, according to him. It was pretty effective-don't know if you can get Ambien, but it seems to be safe and non addictive! It might at least break the cycle you are in.

But yes, it's never easy right after quitting AL. Your body has so much readjusting to do and the sleep is often really difficult! You are doing great.

Welcome and hope you get some snoozing in!

CW

[Yogamom]

Insomnia?

Welcome. 24 hours driving?? I can't imagine. I am on day 8 and have insomnia too. Alot on my mind and maybe need to cut out caffiene. But, yours seems really excessive. If trazadone isnt working...wow. Can u see a doctor?

[LibraryGirl]

Insomnia?

I ordered a book called, "The Boy Who Couldn't Sleep and Never Had To" recently, and that's what immediately came to my mind. I haven't read it yet, but in the synopsis, once his secret gets out the government is chasing him trying to test him, etc, and he's on the run. Turns out, he's a bit of a super hero.

I can't imagine insomnia to the extent you describe. The only time I've stayed awake for days was when I was on coke. It must be difficult, to say the least. I hope you can find some help. Oh and a great big WELCOME.

LG

[aihflvt]

Insomnia?

Thank you, Yogamom - not to get off topic, but I can't believe that ungodly deluge (which NEVER let up) lasted all the way from Virginia to Vermont. My wife told me to stop and get a room, but I knew I'd just be staring up at the ceiling in frustration all night so I pressed on.

The first night, I did manage about 4 hours of sleep, a two hour catnap followed by two separate one hour catnaps. The second night was truly bizarre. Three very strange and unsettling things would happen:
1. I would drift into that light dream state where I dreamed I was talking to someone, and I would actually respond by talking in my sleep, waking myself up
2. I'd be uttering meaningless nonsense syllables out loud, again waking myself up
3. I'd be woken by an involuntary muscle jerk

Crazyforwine - my Dr offered a prescription for both Ambien and Ambien CR. He discouraged Ambien, because my problem was staying asleep, and Ambien is most effective at getting people to sleep, plus Ambien has cross-tolerance with some drugs that are cross-tolerant with alcohol, which trazodone does not. He said Ambien CR would be a better alternative, but it is $$$$$, even with my prescription coverage. I can get a 90 day supply of generic trazodone for twenty bucks by comparison. Do you take the two together?

[aihflvt]

Insomnia?

Thanks, LG!

[LibraryGirl]

Insomnia?

The bizarre things you describe, aif, do sound like common reactions to extreme tiredness. I know when I was drinking nightly, I never got a proper night's sleep and I would literally be asleep/awake at the same time sometimes at work...would start dreaming and maybe say something out loud, or jerk awake as you describe. It's not really so bizarre, it's just the body's/mind's way of telling you it needs deep restful sleep, I think.

[crazyforwine]

Insomnia?

Hi again Aihflvt,

Yes, I did take trazodone and Ambien together-this doctor, a psychiatrist, said they were fine to take together. My SIL, who is in another state, was also prescribed this combination and does it every night! She does not have AL problems, but has other conditions that make it difficult to sleep.

My prescription plan is good with Ambien; I've never taken the CR version. I do know some docs are reluctant to prescribe it, I"m not sure why. My gyno actually said something like "better to try therapy than to start using sleeping aids." Swell. That is often the consensus. I personally think a little Ambien is healthier than not sleeping.

Anyway, this will pass. Your body is probably just adjusting and going through withdrawal. I know how frustrating and upsetting it is to not be able to sleep, though! It's my personal bugaboo. Right now I can fall asleep, thanks to some Melatonin and a tiny bit of Ambien, but I wake up in the wee hours feeling anxious, just like I used to when I drank. I am almost a month AF and still this waking thing persists. Grrr!

cw

[Greg]

Insomnia?

I've had this sort of issue when detoxing from alcohol. It seems to be a type of insomnia that doesn't respond very well to non-GABAergic sleep aids, e.g. trazodone, doxylamine. It does seem to respond to GABA agonist drugs such as Ambien, Xanax, and zopiclone. I wouldn't recommend these for long term use but they could help you settle back into a sleep pattern in the short term, then perhaps the trazodone could work again.

[Nelz]

Insomnia?

I had more luck with ambien than Traz.............the Traz seemed to give me a hangover feeling in the am......Insomnia SUCKS Welcome to the site, and GL with your search.

If you find any good alternatives.......please....post it up!

[COSGringo]

Insomnia?

Traz did not work for me-
Here you go
Ambien- dont bother with CR, it works sometimes, others not
Seroquel, works at 25 mg but some people hate the way it feels and are scared of it
Klonopin- works for some, kind of short term not good for med-long insomnia
Diazepam- same deal
Nitrazepam- no luck but i already take benzos for other issues
Doxy- sometimes
Diphen- sometimes
melatonin- don't bother if it's bad
valerian- same deal
Temazepam- have not tried as it's also a benzo
Traz- again no luck for me, zombie next day

Seroquel seems to work best for me. maybe a xanax to get to sleep
The OTC stuff can work at times

Let me know your questions, I've had serious issues thanks to the high dose baclofen i am on

[Greg]

Insomnia?

My only sustained success against insomnia while alcohol-free has been by rotating drugs that have different mechanisms of action. For example, doxylamine (H1 antagonist), trazodone (5-HT-2A and alpha-1 antagonist), sustained release melatonin with 1.5-2.5 grams L-tryptophan, gabapentin (not very good as a sleep aid), and alprazolam (Xanax).

This will not work however if someone is already taking an antidepressant or antipsychotic that also shares these mechanisms of action, which many do. Taking any drug that is a strong antihistamine (H1 antagonist) will render you almost totally tolerant to a second antihistamine (like doxylamine or diphenhydramine/Benadryl), and many antidepressants and antipsychotics are strong 5-HT-2A antagonists, which would largely render trazodone ineffective.

This is just my experience and opinion of course, and others may not agree. By the way, I was using cannabis as an alcohol substitute during most of my time AF, so obviously this may have played a role in my sleep problems (I have found cannabis to be a substance that keeps me awake as often as it has helped me with sleep).

Good luck and best wishes.