our son is a chronic pain patient and takes opioid medication. Is this the cause of his insomnia?
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?
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
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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
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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.
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