Does anyone else have trouble sleeping? I don't know if it is because of the RA or maybe because of the cocktail of medications that I am on, but for the past few months I have been waking up between 3-5 times a night. My doctor gave me Elavil to help me sleep and it definitely worked, but I stopped taking it because I am also on Prozac and didn't want to take both. Do you all have trouble staying asleep? I have no trouble falling asleep but I wake up every two hours. Anyone have the same problem and if so what do you do about it?It is rare I sleep well Britenny. This is since the ra. I think your sleep patterns get screwed up. Even when I take "sleep aids" I wake several times. Due to flares, I have had many nights with no sleep so I think my body clock is messed up. Who knows, I am also on a lot of meds. Wishing you Sweet dreams tonight.
*atleast got my internet connection back for the moment*
hey hulagirl everyone is looking for you on the other board not sure if youve "checked in" over there yetthanks for message. trying to make it over there if i can keep my wireless connection long enuf to do so. I should go there first next time i get a connection :-)
I'm presently blaming my inability to get a night's rest on my medications. If I could write down all the weird dreams that I have during the nights I could be another Steven King. I average at the most four hours of sleep and then another three to four hours of 'wild and crazy' dreams (mostly all of them sick or disgusting!) and waking periods. Interestingly enough most of this has occurred in the past year and I blamed it on MTX or Remicade. Now that I have been off those two for a couple months, I am now thinking that it must be Estradiol, which is the substitute now used for Premarin. Going to ask the doc next time. Hmmm maybe I will just quit the estrogen and see what happens.
mary
My sleep is messed up too. I wake maybe 3 or 4 times a night, between hot flashes and needing to go to the bathroom, and pain. I have absolutely wild dreams, very vivid and unpleasant mostly.
I've had insomnia most of my life, used to have a lot of trouble falling asleep. Now I can fall asleep ok, but its STAYING asleep that's the problem.
This is my first visit to this site. Sorry but I was sure glad to see others don't sleep and have wild and vivid dreams. I have always thought the dreams resulted from the pain. Strange to feel good about others suffering the way I do. I have always wanted to talk with someone else who has RA...it is a loney road. I was diagnosed four years ago and have also "tried everything". The Enbrel has helped the most. I was telling the dr on a scale of 1-10 (ten being normal) I was functioning about a 2; the Enbrel brought me to a 4. He was thrilled, said that was about the best I could expect. Ugh! I can't work, can barely get out of the house most days. Anyone else in my boat? SandiHi Sandi. Nice to meet you. Yup, there's plenty of us around here in your boat. And it is lonely, isn't it. Thank God for the people at this board and the new one we are posting on: www.rafriends.com
(this site was down so often, a new board was created). You should join over there, too.
RA got my hands, knees so am in a foster care home. Lovely people, but, nobody but those who have RA can understand. So I come to the boards to feel better. Hope you will continue to also. I swear, the people are the best, ever. You can vent and ask questions all you want.
Hey, I think the question should have been "does anyone with RA sleep normally?". Bet there would have been no replies. :-)
I don't sleep too well either, hence my postings at all hours of the day/night. My GP says that with all the drugs I'm taking that it's not unusual to not sleep well. What currently works best for me is Ambien. I probably could not sleep without it. Yeah, not a very good scenario. I've tried Xanax XR, trazadol, Sinequan and some others I'm forgetting about. The Ambien is the only thing that works. I usually divide a 10mg dose in half. 5mg at bedtime and 5mg when I wake at 1 or 2 am.
Mike
Thanks for replying. I tried to use a message board once before and all I got were smart aleck remarks and I felt like an outsider because I wasn't a part of the already formed group. So it has taken me more than two years to try again. Thanks for making my experience a good one this time. It is not very comfortable to sit at the computer (but I don't need to tell anyone here that
Insomniac here too. When I was younger I couldn't fall asleep and now I can't stay asleep. It's definitely the RA. I think our bodies get stiff when in one position for too long and then we shift positions. Then the shift causes some pain which wakes us up. I'm much better on the enbrel but there are some days I wake up and feel like I didn't sleep at all. I work full time so every once in a while I'll have a 'sleep' weekend and catch up on some rest. I just sleep, sleep, sleep and lay on the couch and do nothing.
I've been waking up alot during the night. Usually after about 1 1/2 - 2 hours then again about 2 hours later and after that I sleep all the way through until morning. When I wake up in te middle of the night my pillow is soaked. Must be sweating alot.
Mike
Sleep is a problem for most of us. Elavil (10mg) works 6 hours for me. I find that 20mg makes me too fog brain in the morning.
Kieye
re: Must be sweating alot.
yeah. noticed a lot of us RA'ers say the same. I do too. Even when I lived with central A/C. I sleep with a towel now.
Well I guess it is unanimous. Some of us can't fall asleep and none of can stay asleep.And then there is me. Who can't do either.
Well I guess it IS unanamus... all of us RAers have some type of sleep problems...
Hang in there sleep when you can. I tend to take naps through out the day when I can. Also you mentioned the Elavil... I take 60 mg of cymbalta in am and 40 mg of Elavil for pain and sleep at night. Some Doc's are afraid to mix antidepressants but most shrinks have people on several different kinds because they all target different neurotransmitters in the brain, *sorry to get to technicnal) I am an Nurse.
Beleive me if you are an RA victim you are already on a lot of meds and I know how discouraging adding just one more pill can be
but if it helps you get alittle sleep then so be it.
Big hugs girlfriend...
come back often. I don't always post but read every day.
HUGS
cher
I used to have trouble sleeping at night. I've always had no trouble taking a nap during the day though.
Barb
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