Last week my doctor prescribed some sleep medication. I have no problems falling asleep at night, considering how exhausted I am, my problem is staying asleep once I get woken up. I wake up a lot at night between my restless leg syndrome and Lucy. By morning I get to start my day with little sleep. Some days I function fairly well but most days I am moody and wanting nothing more than a nap.
So I started to take the medication. The first night I slept straight through to 5am before I woke to the bedroom light being on. I asked Eduardo if he turned it on, which he didn't, and went back to sleep. Thinking it was kind of odd I checked the information sheet that came with the medication. One side effect is, "getting out of while bed not fully awake and do an activity that you do not know you are doing." Great! Was my thought, this could be rather interesting. The next day I felt well rested but drowsy, another side effect.
The second and third nights were uneventful although I still woke up multiple times. The following days were a nightmare for me. Horrible mood swings and being irritated the whole day; another side effect of the medication. I am giving it up and will move onto the next phase of my sleep therapy. I simply can't handle being angry all day for no reason.
Lucy went through another lovely period of sleeping through the night and now when I really need it she is back to getting up multiple times each night. I am at a breaking point with this. I've tried to let her cry it out but she gets herself into hysterics and will not sleep until I comfort her. I've thought about going cold-turkey with nursing but I'm afraid of the side effects on my part.
All I want is for myself and everyone in this house to sleep through the night. I want it to be a blue moon to get up in the night. I want to fully function every day and feel good. I want to be productive again!
I've had to go in for a sleep study because I would "wake up" in the morning exhausted! The sleep study only showed that I have "an unusual sleep pattern" (whatever that means!) Most nights I take 12-15 mg of melatonin (which is suppose to "promote sleep") but it's not strong like a sleeping pill. I've also learned that I need an afternoon "rest time"--20 minutes to an hour and then I can function the rest of the day. Hope you can find a routine that will help you!
ReplyDeletePoor you! Usually I have no problems with sleeping. But I know this restless legs syndrome. Very rarely I have this, too. Then it's for several days in a row and I have trouble falling asleep. But once I'm sleeping it doesn't bother me anymore. At the moment I don't have it. So far I haven't figured out what starts it...
ReplyDeleteI really hope for you that you (all!) will have a good night's sleep again soon!