Consistently for the past two weeks I've been having insomnia almost every other day.
I'm going to attribute it to technology addiction.
The good news is, the gabapentin is helping me get rested by helping me fall into a deeper sleep than what the benzodiazepines (librium, ativan etc) can provide.
It's even better than Ambien, Sonata, Lunesta -- since none of these prescription sleep aid give you more than light sleep. Hence the morning after hang over. Most of the Z-drug will cause one to have hallucinations and amnesia.
In one case, a user of Ambien woke up to discover that her gardening in the backyard had morphed into digging a deep hole, all done whilst sleepwalking after taking the drug.
20121209: Since this post was written over a year and a half ago, the technology addiction has lessened somewhat. I tend to go to bed regularly rather than staying up all the time, though last week I did get insomnia twice, due to the same addiction.
However, I feel that my life's improved since May 25, 2011.
Though my supply of gabapentin needs refilling, as does my flexeril.
Hopefully, Monday will see me get up and out of bed and straight to the doctor's office.
5 comments:
300 mg in a 24 period is not in my best interests.
I took 200 mg between 9.45 PM and 11:45 PM Wednesday night but my biggest mistake was taking 100 mg during the day.
Combined with waiting 45 minutes for my appointment with the psychotherapist and the stress of waiting with other people, I felt tired.
However, the nap between 6 PM and 7 PM is going to result in some insomnia tonight.
I certainly am not going to take another gabapentin until Friday night.
Yesterday is another day when I realize the error of taking medication during the day...
Yet I didn't want to admit to it when the psychotherapist prompted me, because the resulting anxiety (guilt reaction) causes me to misunderstand what he's trying to tell me.
But his reaction to my sleepiness - to offer me coffee - is not in my best interest because I am sensitive to caffeine.
Later, as he sat there comparing my current behavior with other times when I have been in a brighter mood, I asked him to stop comparing what I am like when I am not up to par to what he expects me to be - though I didn't state that.
I did make it clear to him that I don't say much of anything for fear of being misunderstood.
Tonight will be the second night without using gabapentin.
Had a great sleep last night.
Based on a recent conversation I had with my therapist, I'm certain he knows about benzodiazepines i.e. Ativan, etc.
I stated to him that my online research of gabapentin led to discovering that it is one of the few drugs which allows a person who takes them to get to stage 3 sleep (deep sleep).
Sleeping pills only get you to stage 1 sleep, and rarely stage 2 (REM).
Further research also led to the discovery that even Ambien and other prescription sleep-aid called Z-drugs only get you to stage 1 sleep. These drugs are only for short-term treatment of insomnia.
For the record, I believe in informed consent.
Almost all the medications I've been prescribed, I voluntarily requested them.
And the only one I didn't request was a 10-day supply of a muscle relaxant (flexeril) - a medication without proven benefit after two weeks of use.
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