My doc is demanding I jump through the “Sleep Center”'s hoops to get sleeping pills.
If I don’t take a pill, I don’t, as nearly as I can tell, never lose consciousness.
As in twiddle thumbs all night.
“Sleep Center” demands an apnea test before they will even think of diagnosing the insomnia.
What are the odds that this has anything whatsoever to do with apnea?
Apparently, this scam is profitable enough that the operation has been spun off as a separate corporation with offices in the original hospital complex.
I have never had any trouble getting prescriptions for 60 Zolpidem (ambien) per year, and the stuff works without addicting me (never taken over 49 in one year since I started counting in 2012).
Clinic where I go is also good for 30 and sometimes 60 hydrocodone per year for gout. No, I am not addicted to them either- only 45 in one year max since 2012.
Absolutely. His current Doctor is being unreasonable. Doctors are not God, you know.
Horsefeathers.
BTW if it’s apnea, a sleep diagnosis center discovered my brother had it, but the contraptions they prescribed to help him were too uncomfortable to use, so he is just living with it again like he always has.
Been using indo for 20 years. Over 100 pills a year now. All too often I put taking them off too long or the attack sets in while I am asleep.
Luckily I don’t have to go that far.
Oh, I’ve used alcohol many a time! I would rather just use it for fun, though.
You’ll be OK.
Last June was my first medicare Dr visit and it was no different. But then they have never found anything really expensively wrong with me (am literally knocking on wood as I type).
I thought people with apnea had no trouble falling asleep, it was just that the sleep wasn’t restorative.
You should probably see a sleep specialist though. You may have something wrong that isn’t apnea after all. Maybe they can find out.
FWIW, I thought the OTC drug doxylamine was as powerful as ambien or lunesta. I know I can’t take it because it makes me groggy the next day. Luckily, so far, benadryl and melatonin have been enough for me to sleep.
Could you be having a medication side effect? I had really bad insomnia from a hypertension med once. Once I quit the drug the problem went away.
Heath Ledger had oxycodone, hydrocodone, diazepam, temazepam, alprazolam and doxylamine in his system when he died. Poor SOB. He was on 4 depressants and 2 painkillers. You never realize how hellish insomnia can be until you get it. I guess you can say that about any illness though.
I am really truly sorry about what you must be going through. Also, I feel bad about dissing the sleep clinic- even though one such did not help my brother, that doesn’t mean they never help anybody, and you might as well see if they can help you.
Have their questionnaire - they do have questions which would differentiate “falling asleep” and “staying asleep” and “sleep without rest”.
Now, if they would simply read the questionnaire before deciding on tests…
They even have a Q on sleep paralysis.
Of course the questions are “have you ever?”. I submit there is a difference between once in a lifetime and 3x/week. This questionnaire makes no such distinction.
But even a positive “once in a lifetime” question gives the sleep docs a clue as to what questions they should then ask you in more detail, so it’s probably not a total sham.
From my experience, it does seem that sleep diagnostic centers are primarily in the business of diagnosing sleep apnea. Apparently it’s very common, so perhaps it makes sense to look for that first. There’s a good chance that whatever else your sleep problem may be, you may have apnea also.
You certainly must be getting at least some sleep on most nights, or you’d be dead long before now. I had some serious bad-shit insomnia for about a year-and-a-half after I got addicted to klonopin and quit and had a nasty prolonged withdrawal experience. It didn’t seem like I was getting any sleep, but I managed to guess that I was getting maybe 2 hours of sleep most nights.
The docs tried several kinds of pills to help. Several of them (trazadone and hydroxazine) worked very well – for one or two nights, then no more after that. The third try was mirtazapine (a.k.a. Remeron) and that worked very well for me for a few weeks – but then I started getting bizarre side effects. Another doctor later told me that this med is a strong anti-psychotic that is more commonly given to schizophrenics.
You need to be really careful with nearly ALL sleep drugs, even diphenhydramine (a.k.a. Benedryl). Aside from the problem that some (especially all the benzos) can be quite addictive, the more mundane problem is that your body adjusts to them after a while and then they simply don’t put you to sleep any more. (ETA: In other words, they only work well if you only use them occasionally.) From what you wrote about all the meds you take, and how often, it sounds to me like you’re deeply into this territory already.
I use 2 tabs colchicine and a third an hour later. That’s it!. Supplement with 15mg of Prednisoline. Supposedly Predisolone for 3 days but usually only once works.
It works pretty good!
I’ve been hospitalised for gout before but since taking up the new regime I’ve maintained full mobility and no chance of needing a hospital.
Previously I used 1 tab Colchicine every 3 hours and Celebrex (Like Indometacin) but the results were not good.
I now prefer to not use any NSAID like Celebrex or Indometacin as their side-effects are quite serious including sudden death.
