You have obstructive sleep apnea; have you tried a CPAP or BiPAP machine? You have benzodiazepine dependence; have you gotten substance abuse treatment? You have hypotremia, which may be the result of your kidney issues and your diarrhea; are you on a controlled diet to address this issue? You have lower back pain and LFA; have you gone to physical therapy? Talked about RFA, which is a well-known non-surgical treatment for LFA? Bradycardia- you’re surprised that someone who routinely takes CNS depressants has low heart function?
ETA: Are you significantly overweight? Have you tried losing weight through diet and a low-impact exercise program like water aerobics? Reducing the amount of weight on your back and organs goes a long way toward alleviating all kinds of medical issues.
You had a sleep study (or multiples) - were you able to sleep without benzos in the studies? I know in mine, I was not allowed to take anything that might screw up the readings, which would include benzos. A poster earlier in the thread indicated that her insomnia is managed by an anticonvulsant, an adhd pill and an anti-psychotic. Have you tried that? and please don’t say you hate pills - clearly you really, really like pills that work, in your estimation.
Well why didn’t you mention this before! Your last job paid almost as much as hers! You clearly are on equal footing as your PCP and shouldn’t have to grovel for your narcotics.
Yes, I was allowed to bring my own - the test was for apnea specifically.
Other than the apnea, no other abnormalities were found.
Slept like a log until awaken to have the CPAP machine attached.
In an amazing feat, this did NOT make me stay awake the rest of the night.
And: how does one go through 4 sleepers to get one night’s sleep?
Unless you use them frequently, the scenario probably will not spring to mind.
If the pill is weak (say, one half of normal for you), you have X minutes to take another before the first wears off. For me, this is about an hour.
If I take the seconds after 1:10, it is the same dosage as the first, and has the same effect.
That is when you decide to take 2 at once - total 4 pills.
My personal best is 6 in one night (yes, really - high tolerance).
Of course, marking the time and noting how much has elapsed is NOT a good inducement to sleep.
Between pain pills and sleepers, few believe I can possibly exist.
I had one MD (the one who found the kidney problem) bring up a scary chest X-ray of a man.
There was bright white stuff all over his bone. What is? Bone cancer.
Why did the MD show me the image? So he could tell me that the victim used Tylenol for the pain.
I expressed a sincere wish that I could do that.
The drill until about a month ago when the DEA database went live:
Sch II narcotics required a very special script pad - a triplicate form. The original actually required the MD’s thumb print.
The patient then takes it to his usual pharmacy (I used one on the way home once - got shit for it) and waits while they run a stock check, verify your ID (for the 27th time).
Then, after one pill count, there has to be a second count. Not too bad if there are >1 licensed pharmacists behind the counter.
If this sounds like fun, I’ll trade you for the ability to go into any Wal-Mart and buy a bottle of pills for $6 and be pain-free for the month.
Your basic Unisom sleeping pill is diphenhydramine - Benadryl.
I used to be able to down 2 unisom gel caps (the tablets burned off as they were absorbed) with 250-300 ml of 100 proof vodka.
As I said - ugly, but it worked.
After 6 months on the pill, I tried it again.
Unless somebody comes up with something else that works, I am stuck with pills.
Have you tried:
doxepin
amitriptyline
trazodone
Ramelteon
suvorexant
These are nonbenzos I found with a quick search. I have no idea how effective they are or if they are allowed with kidney disease. You may want to research them and any others out there and ask your doctor about non-addictive options to benzos.
As I said, I was strictly prohibited from taking any sedative medications when I was specifically tested for apnea. A friend of mine told me the same thing (he takes xanax). Generally, if you have apnea you have to be careful taking *any *sedatives, so finding ones that are not CNS depressants seems to the preferred course of action. Naturally drinking with sedatives = also a terrible idea.
I personally get wired up when I take benadryl or any otc sleep aids. I am not a doctor, etc.
The op’s doc would be an incompetent negligent idiot to continue to prescribe the same medicines in the same amounts to the op and is correctly refusing to do so. No other doctor will write those scripts in this context either. Threatening the PCP will most certainly not work. Going to a new doc specifically to try to score benzos and opioids will not work.
A lawyer will happily charge him for his or her time but will do nothing.
The op can force the PCP’s hand to dismiss him as a patient or he can prevail upon the PCP to refer him to better help with both his pain management and sleep than he has had to date, management that lowers the risk of his being killed by the medications. That may mean the PCP making calls on his behalf.
I have tried non-benzos. I see no point in stopping something which works - esp. with life/death (yes, really) meds until a replacement is found.
The original benzo was triazalom - which causes brain damage and death.
Still it was the only thing available.
I really do sincerely hope no one else ever has this kind of insomnia and tolerance for CNS depressants.
I have the worst possible body chemistry for someone with both insomnia and bone pain.
It took about 8 different benzos to find one which actually, reliably worked.
PCP’s actions just baffle me.
I asked her point-blank “why are you doing this to me?” Her response was to mention that my name appeared on the UCD reports and she had to “correct” her previous “over prescribing”.
I could almost buy that on the pain meds. I can live with pain until a replacement is found.
But sleep?
She actually left a msg on my machine claiming that the 1/2 dosage was “suggested by the Hospital docs”.
Since the docs had seen me awake for 3-5 days, I can’t imagine their first order of business would be to deprive me of sleep - or even risk it.
I got an email from another MD with PCP’s group telling me that she would arrange for a “staff doctor” to review my hospitalization and meds.
This was Dr. B - a brand-new 20-something MD facing a very pissed off patient (who had damned good reason to be pissed).
I got her to write a dup script so I had 2 bottles of 15mg.
Again: ugly, but it worked.
Those following: pls note my repeated use of “it works”.
In hospital bed, more unconscious than conscious, a doc asked "what do you use for pain?’ My response: “Morphine works”.
I think I have enough sleepers fro this week. I will again raise holy hell as needed to ensure my survival.
Right now, my thoughts are fuzzy, eyes fading, and pain increasing. I should go back to hospital.
But I need sleep.
OK: primary insomnia exists. I had two sleep studies. I startle out of REM sleep for some reason.
I take 25mg Topamax (an anticonvulsant), I used to take 10mg desipramine (a tricyclic antidepressant), and now I take 2mg Abilfy (an antipsychotic) and 3mg dextroamphetamine, as well as 5mg melatonin OTC.
I take the dextro right when I wake up, along with 50mg caffeine (OTC). I take the Topamax and abilify with supper, around 7pm. I go to bed at 10:30pm. I take the melatonin at 10pm.
Usually I fall asleep within 20 minutes. I have pretty vivid dreams, and wake up rested. If I don’t fall asleep in 1/2 and hour (once a month, maybe, or twice a year, I will have a bad week or two) I take a clonazepam. It stops my thoughts from racing. I play music to do this as well. If something happens, like I was traveling, and my sleep got off schedule, I take 10mg Ambien to get back on schedule.
When I have the weird bad weeks, I take 5mg Ambien, and extra 5mg melatonin, and 1mg clonazepam every night until I work through it.
Very rarely, I experience a week of hypersomnia. Then a double up on the dextro, and cut out the melatonin. These hypersomnia episodes are just part of my total package, and happen maybe once every two or three years
