Natural Sleeping Pills

[petrie86]

I had a dr appt with my uro... I've been having trouble sleeping at night. I tried to talk to him about maybe ambien or lunestra. He said he didn't want to pescribe me any sleeping meds. He wants me to try a natural route and see if that works. Or he said to up my elavil and I didn't think that was necessary. I dont have the name of what he wants me to try... When i get home from work I will post the name. Has anyone tried natural sleeping pills?? I have a bad feeling they wont work. Any advice?

[Bessie]

You should check with your doctor to see if you could take a Benadryl or maybe Tylenol PM at night. I have also heard of people taking Melatonin to help them sleep. If you doctor does not want to prescibe Ambien or Lunesta you could also ask him about Rozerem. It is a sleep medication that is not in the same class as the first two. Good Luck!!

[topcop229]

When I used to work night shift, I would take a benadryl when I got home so that I could go to sleep. I've heard of people taking melatonin, too, but I've never done it personally. I take temazepam (restoril is the brand name) now, and it works fairly well. When I was taking Ambien, there would be times that I wouldn't remember, sometimes even a couple hours! I would wake up the next day and hubby would say, "Oh, we had a good time watching this or doing that, huh?" and I would literally have NO idea what he was talking about. But I never wanted to worry him, so I would just play it off.

So, while this new med doesn't get me to sleep as quick, at least I remember everything from the night before!

[Claredale]

I had bad experiences with Ambien as well. There were plenty of memory lapses for me. Especially when my husband and I would watch movies at night. Everytime we would go to get a new DVD, my husband would insist that I had already seen it, but he finally realized that my ambien effected my memory, so he left me alone. I had almost an entire season of ER that I had to watch all over again as well.

I have posted before about my Ambien Christmas where I decided to wrap Christmas presents after I took my Ambien. I couldn't sleep, so I got alot done! When everyone started opening that presents it was so funny since most of them were tagged incorrectly. It was especially funny for my son's new girlfriend (now fiance') to open my son's box of underwear. I still remember her sweet voice saying that she thought that she got the wrong present! LOL.

My aunt was also on Ambien for awhile until she realized that she was ordering things online at night and she started getting the packages through the mail. Including a $500.00 purse! She also wallpapered her laundry room and didn't remember doing it!

I started out with Benadryl and my body kept getting used to it. I could literally take 6 pills and never miss a beat. Benadryl is also not good for your memory taken on a long term basis. I also have used Melatonin and it only works for a few nights, they I have to stop for a while. Right now I am on Restoril and it seems to work most of the time. I still wake up in pain in the middle of the night, but after my pain meds and b&O supp, it fall asleep after about 30 minutes.

[Berkshire Road]

Melatonin is the only "natural" sleep aid I can think of; it's the body's own sleep hormone, in pill form. I used that a few years ago and it worked very well.

I also had a bad time with Ambien. Taking benadryl is pretty much the same as taking atarax or vistaril; they are all anithistamines in the same class. And tylenol PM is just tylenol with benadryl.

[topcop229]

I'm so glad I am not the only one that had Ambien issues. And I've been off of it for about a month, and I haven't received any strange purchases in the mail, so I think I'm safe!!

Another benefit of Restoril is that they make it in a generic. My insurance would not cover Ambien more than 15 pills a month because "they are trying to take an aggressive stance on sleeping pills because they are addictive and they do not want to pay for meds that can be addictive." Funny, though, when I presented them with a sleeping pill that had a generic, magically they aren't worried about addiction anymore!! Nor are they worried about addiction to methadone, morphine, oxycontine, etc. Insurance companies are worse than the government sometimes!!!

[petrie86]

"Melatonin is the only "natural" sleep aid I can think of; it's the body's own sleep hormone, in pill form"

Does this mean that your by using this pill you body will get used to relying n the melatonin instead of your body producing the natural amount of melatonin? I'm confused lol I used tylenol pm and when I first started it (i used to live at home, that was 2 years ago) my bf used to call me late at ngiht like 1:30am and I talked to him for like an hour. Then next day he would continue his convo from the night before but I didnt even remember talking to him! I had to look at my phone for proof! I thought he was crazy. But I know I'm not supposed to take tylenol pm for long periods of time due to a risk of dependency. I think it messes up your liver, I read it somewhere. So maybe I will try this melatonin.

I would be so happy if I had gotten a $500 bag! haha Even if I didnt know I bought it. Oh the silly things that happen when were on meds.

[izazen]

My brother takes 3 lemon balm capsules (get in health food store) every night and says he sleeps like a baby. I have had good luck with them, too, but in my pre-bladder problem days.

My sleeping patterns are constantly changing - I either sleep like a baby or I'm awake on and off all night.

I think I will go back to the lemon balm tonight and just start with 1 and see how it goes. I read somewhere that is actually supposed to be GOOD for the bladder as it really has nothing to do with lemons (!!). I will let you know how it works out.

[armslee]

Iza-
Please post to us your results with the Lemon Balm Pills.
I have had severe insomnia since my sugical menopause began. I started taking melatonin 4 nights ago and have had to increase my dosage a couple of times although the pills are in 1mg form. I had hoped that returning to work this week would help me get back on some sort of schedule but so far, no such luck.

I have even found that I don't even feel very much like myself until mid-afternoon each day, isn't that strange? Mornings are always very groggy and I feel like I am just floating through my life. But after about 2:30 each day it is like a light switch has been flipped and again I am ME!

Guess I will bring that up at the doctors in a couple weeks. Don't know if it is related to the HRT or not. I don't want to go on prescription sleep aids but whatever will make me sleep, I am willing!!!

[Claredale]

I know the deal about whatever makes you sleep! I usually use the 3mg melatonin and take at least 3 of those! I have read that some people say that it irritates their bladder, but I haven't noticed anything different. I can do great on my IC diet for days and still wake up in severe pain each and every night. I can really determine a trigger at all. The times when I get my best sleep is around 9:00 am to about 12:00 to 1:00 in the afternoon on Saturdays. Friday nights are usually my worst night for sleep. I don't know if it's just from the stress of the week or what, but I very seldom am able to fall asleep no matter what I try until way after midnight. I even watch boring documentaries (which normally do the trick) until I actually get up to go to bed!

I still tease my aunt about the purse! My grandmother, whom she lives with, has actually taken away her keyboard at night just so she does't make anymore grand purchases. LOL

[kuntrygurl78]

My doc put me on melatonin and benadryl. Ive had good luck with it. I work nights so I need all the help I can get. I was supposed to go for a sleep study at a sleep clinic tonight, but I have a cold and will have to reschedule.