I take cyclobenzaprene, a low dose muscle relaxer, to help me sleep.  It slows the heart just enough to make you sleep good.  I still get up to go to the bathroom but when I am asleep I'm not tossing or turning.  I take 3 10mg pills 1 hour before bed and it is non narcotic. My rhuemy suggested that I try it and its been great.  I also don't feel hung over in the morning.  Call and ask your rhuemy for something non narcotic I'm sure that he'll hook you up.  Good luck and I hope you get some rest.

Hi - I have problems sleeping too.  I kind of rotate between Benadryl (if allergies are also kicking up - but it's very drying), cyclobenzaprine (muscle relaxer, less hangover, brand name is Flexeril, it's extremely cheap - $5 for 30 tablets), amitriptyline (brand name is Elavil, it's used in higher doses for depression [tricyclic], but was first tested for sleep&pain, some people find they are too fuzzy the next day, I did at first, but then it was great, gave me my brain & life back!), and a few months ago I tried generic ambien.  They all work in slightly different ways... I don't like to use any of them for too long at a time, so I just go by my gut feeling and whatever is bothering me most.  For all of these, don't combine with alcohol!!

cyclobenzaprine comes in 5mg and 10mg doses.  I used to take 10, now sometimes a half-tab is enough.

amitriptyline - same deal, I think, except for depression, people take 50mg and up.  I have used 10 mg, dr. said I could take up to 3, start with 1 and if after a week, it's not working, try 2, etc.  (Long-term larger doses: should have liver checked occasionally.  My liver enzymes went up after taking Celebrex & amitripyline together for several months.  But then again, they came down to normal within 2 weeks of stopping.  I'm actually taking this combination again right now. )

Ambien - take 10 minutes before bedtime.  Caution: you may do things you don't remember - like answer the phone, eat, ...

For all of these, it's a good idea to make sure you've got 8 hours before you need to get up and do anything where you need to pay attention, like drive.... I've pushed that envelope sometimes if I've waited til too late at night, but it's better not to.

tylenol - even lil old tylenol can be helpful at times.  "Tylenol PM" is just Tylenol with Benadryl (diphenhydramine), so you can take an 8-hour "Tylenol Arthritis" and a 25mg Benadryl tablet/capsule. When I've gotten more desperate, I'll do that on top of cyclobenzaprine...

Trazodone - I wasn't having that much difficulty when one of my doctors said I looked tired, should try this.  Well, I had the worst night ever, I literally watched the clock for virtually the entire night and IT CRAWLED.  It totally backfired.  I faxed him the next day, "Trazodone and I don't mix...."  But the internet says, it's less drying than tricyclics, and has an antianxiety ingredient.  (No thanks!)

Hope this is helpful.

Olivia

12/29/10 8:06pm

You are not kidding about doing things you may  not remember while taking Ambien. My daughter was taking it and one morning she found her car keys, a bank receipt from the ATM and a wad of cash on her dresser. She had driven to the bank and made the transaction with no memory whatsoever of the trip. I don't know if she was asleep and acting on automatic pilot or awake with no memory of the event. At any rate, she never took the things again.

I have been doing the same thing. Not sleeping for 2 nights, and then sleep 1 night. I have been out of my sleep meds,but they work really good. The name is trazadone and it use to be used as a antidepresant a long time ago. I have never slept well, but when I take the trazadone I will fall a sleep in 10 minutes, and I stay a sleep. But lately I have had more energy than normal and my pyschiatrist after several evaluations told me that i'm Bi Polar, and I have a mild degree of it.I  was very disturbed, I have everything. But anyway ask your doctor, they are very safe, I have to take a lot of meds. I hope you sleep soon.

Ellen Galo

12/29/10 10:17pm

I tried trazadone once - I literally counted the half hours all through the nite except 3:30 - 6 am.  Never again.  BUt I often overreact to drugs, my liver doesn't work well (nothing my doc can figure out, but a couple of my sisters are the same way).  So I often 'microdose' - take a quarter to a half dose of the 'normal.'  Remember also that a lot of drug testing was done on men who have different rates of metabolizing many drugs than women.  Buyer beware!

Valerian root! All natural and not habit forming. Also take a B100 complex at night before bed. The melatonin is also good. It helps to re-educate your body to sleep and restores your natural sleep pattern. Take it daily. One bottle is probably all you will need.