For over 10 years, our 31 yo son has had chronic pain (continuous headaches from trauma/failed back operations and now CDIP from the knees down). He is a heavy user of methadone with some oxycodone for breakthrough pain episodes. He cannot sleep. He goes 2-3 weeks between sleep meds due to Dr. reluctance to prescribe more. What can he do...he's living in a nightmare?
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Q: our son is a chronic pain patient and takes opioid medication. Is this the cause of his insomnia?
Answers (4)
7/ 7/08 9:28pm
Thanks for your question. I know you are dealing with some serious health issues. So maybe this information is a bit basic and not applicable to your son. But I thought it might be helpful to review our material on treating insomnia. Not only does it contain information on medications, but more importantly in your son's case behavioral methods like stimulus control and biofeedback could prove helpful. You might also want to review natural remedies as well as our good sleep hygiene tips. These at first glance might seem simple. But sometimes its the simple that does the trick.
Hope this helps. Please update us by creating a sharepost - I know your son's situation could help others.
All the best, sue
7/ 8/08 2:18am
Hi Jim,
Sue's advice is great, and I want to add to it by pointing you to a specific SharePost about Neurofeedback by one of HealthCentral's Experts, Dr. Diana Walcutt.
Neurofeedback is a specific type of biofeedback. Although Dr. Walcutt's SharePost is mainly about using Neurofeedback for ADHD, it is also highly effective for managing chronic pain. And, one of the "side effects" of Neurofeedback tends to be better sleep!
Regards,
Dr. Jennifer Fee
12/10/08 10:38am
your son and my story are almost just the same, same meds,simaliar trauma,I do not have a answer ,only that my sleep is so screwed up.I was using my Klonopine to try to sleep, but again only got a couple hours. Last night i finally ask a friend for a 5 mg. Ambien. slept like a baby. For the first time in months. You can only try it. It cant hurt. There is nothing like hurting and wanting to sleep and cant.
10/11/10 3:06pm
Your son's trouble sleeping could very well be caused by the narcotic medications that he's taking. The fact that he has to go weeks without his medications because his doctor won't prescribe more leads me to two questions:
1. Does the doctor prescribe him enough medication to last him until the next visit? I mean, is what he's given a reasonable amount of medication?
Keep in mind that doctors are only allowed to prescribe a certain amount. I know that my doctor cannot prescribe any more than 60 pills per medication per period of coverage. (Ex. He prescribes me 60 MS Contin. 60 pills/ 2 per day= 30 days. I go back the second to last day of each cycle and get refilled.)
2. Is the doctor concerned with your son abusing medication?
He may be prescribing enough of the medication and refuses to refill it between visits because your son is taking the medication too quickly. If he gives your son a one month supply and your son calls him a week or 2 weeks later asking for another refill, your doctor has more than enough reason to refuse.
If you wish to send me a message, I'm very willing to talk about this more in depth with you.
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By Jim— Last Modified: 12/27/10, First Published: 07/04/08
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First, I just want to say that Klonopin isn't a sleep aid, so it's not going to help you sleep very long. I've used it before and it didn't help me, either. Temazepam (Restoril) is a benzodiazpine that's specifically designed to help you sleep. I highly recommend it.
As far as getting an Ambien from your friend, that's not the best idea. Not only is it illegal (Ambien is a controlled substance) but you can cause yourself serious damage by taking someone else's medications.
A friend of mine was having trouble sleeping and stole an Ambien from his mom. He took it, went to sleep, and ended up having a very bad reaction. Turns out, he was allergic to something in the pill. He went into shock, his throat swelled up, and he started hallucinating. He ran outside, collapsed in the snow, and went hypothermic. His neighor had just gotten back from a business trip and was coming home very early in the morning when he saw my friend collapsed in the yard. He called 911. My friend ended up pulling through after a week in the ICU, but he was lucky.
It's always best to have your doctor prescribe your medications because your doctors know your allergies, what medications are safe to combine with your other prescriptions, what classes of sleep aids to avoid for you, etc.
In all, just be careful. Talk to your doctor before popping someone else's pills.