Re: A recent accomplishment...

[Guest guest]

Matt wrote:

>Finally after all these years, I have somehow managed to fix it. I'm

>able to sleep at a set time without difficulty. I sleep extremely

>well and wake up in the morning feeling rested and having more energy

>for the day. I'm not sure how I pulled this off, but I've been

>sleeping normal hours for the past month. I think it may be a

>combination of quiting my pop addiction, improving my diet and

>exercising more.

That all sounds great, congratulations! (I was addicted to a cola

soft drink for several years, back in my youth, and quitting it was a

real accomplishment for me, too.)

It always takes me a while to fall asleep. Occasionally, I have

insomnia, either all-night or till the " wee hours. " I always get up

at the same time (well, between 6:00 and 6:40 a.m., anyway) and go to

bed at the same time (between 10:30 and 11:00 p.m.) because that's

part of my migraine-avoidance program. In the last couple of months,

I've had a resurgence of " restless let syndrome " to a very

dispiriting degree. I switched my vitamin-taking regime around a bit

(so I take some E in the evening, along with calcium and magnesium)

and added potassium. Then my doctor told me that the RLS might be a

symptom of whatever it is that has caused my blood to be low in

whatever it's low in. The possibilities include reaction to long-term

NSAI usage, colon polyps, and colon cancer. They've scheduled me for

a colonoscopy (the prep for which is likely to give me a horrible

migraine, as I know from experience) on Jan. 20.

Jane

[Guest guest]

> That all sounds great, congratulations! (I was addicted to a cola

> soft drink for several years, back in my youth, and quitting it was

a

> real accomplishment for me, too.)

Thanks for replying Jane, it's nice to get a response from you, being

a group " veteran "

>

> It always takes me a while to fall asleep. Occasionally, I have

> insomnia, either all-night or till the " wee hours. " I always get up

> at the same time (well, between 6:00 and 6:40 a.m., anyway) and go

to

> bed at the same time (between 10:30 and 11:00 p.m.)

I go to sleep anywhere between 10 and 3, and wake up between 9-10 in

the morning. I go to sleep when I feel tired, and that can vary. The

main thing is that I go to sleep quickly, sleep well, and get up at a

set time.

Another accomplishment of mine is my med intake. I take Zyprexa

(anyone else take that?) when I sleep. Many years ago, I started out

taking 10 mg, and later reduced it to 5, and I only take 2.5 now. I

used to take Tegratol 3 times a day (200mg each), and I have dropped

that completely. It's amazing that I'm doing really well, while

taking amost nothing. The dosage I do take, works as a sleeping pill

that makes it easier to fall asleep, with most of the effect worn off

by morning. I have always had a disdain for meds because I felt they

tended to sedate me (and therefore cover up the smptoms with

something else), rather than actually correct the symptoms. That is

why I took the approach of drastically reducing what I take and using

other means to manage myself. I tell ya though... fixing my sleep is

like 100x more effective for me than any med ever was.

> In the last couple of months,

> I've had a resurgence of " restless let syndrome " to a very

> dispiriting degree.

Do you mean Restless Legs Syndrome? I did a search on Google and

didn't find any " restless let syndrome " .

Later,

-Matt

[Guest guest]

Matt wrote:

>...I have always had a disdain for meds because I felt they

>tended to sedate me (and therefore cover up the smptoms with

>something else), rather than actually correct the symptoms.

Until recently, I've avoided taking any meds for sleeping (though I

used to take almost anything to try to knock myself out when I had a

migraine). My doctor prescribed Ambien for me last year when I was

having too much insomnia to tolerate, and I've taken it 6-8 times,

half a pill each time except once when I took a whole pill. It seems

to work well and not make me feel drugged in the morning. The main

drawback is that it is VERY expensive.

Your overall med reduction is very impressive.

>Do you mean Restless Legs Syndrome? I did a search on Google and

>didn't find any " restless let syndrome " .

:-0 Yes, " restless leg, " not " let. " Another case where

spell-checking doesn't help a bit.

Jane