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Prednisolone insomnia

So ive been put back on the roids to help beef me up a bit over Xmas before my op(feel like im the xmas turkey)
Been a long time since i was on them but the sleep deprivation is driving me mental....went to bed thursday night at 11 and was still awake at half 4.
Anyone else have this problem and how did you combat it??

Thanks
Craig
 
I hear ya! Nothing like doing your ironing at 4a.m. I don't know if there's an awful lot you can do about it, except take your full dose all at once in the morning in the hope that the buzziness wears off by the evening.
 
There really isn't much that can be done. The morning dosing helped me a little, and over time it got a bit better, but he insomnia never went away. I found the most frustrating thing was being awake and wired but not able to focus enough to be productive.
 
I have heard of some people taking Valerian Root to help with sleep. It is an herbal supplement. It comes in capsules or tea. They sell it at my grocery store in the vitamin isle.

Hope you get some sleep soon.
 

Dukeis

Dynastic Overlord
So ive been put back on the roids to help beef me up a bit over Xmas before my op(feel like im the xmas turkey)
Been a long time since i was on them but the sleep deprivation is driving me mental....went to bed thursday night at 11 and was still awake at half 4.
Anyone else have this problem and how did you combat it??

Thanks
Craig
That is one thing I hate about steroids. I have taking 50mg of Diphenhydramine & 1000 mg of Acetaminophen about an hour before bed and that seemed to help.
 

Astra

Moderator
Hiya Craig

When I was on them I just stopped fighting it! There's nowt you can do except ride the storm, watch the telly and wait til sleep comes.
good luck xx
 
Cheers guys,
yeh i just lie there and put the head fones in and listen to a wee bit of pink floyd....even taken to reading....reading i say.man i must be going roon the twist.
last couple of night have been ok(rum induced sleep)
Be buggered if im getting up and doing the hoose work though,I have to draw the line somewhere LOL
right im away for a wee dram....WHISKY!!!!
 

hawkeye

Moderator
Staff member
Have tried getting up and watching TV, although I haven't had the insomnia every time I've been on pred. If I have an issue next time I may take some Gravol (Dimenhydrinate)before bedtime
 
I seem to get to sleep ok, but since taking prednisone I sleep lightly, wake up often, and wake up super early (like 3 am) and can't get back to sleep.

I tried some over-the-counter meds, but they weren't much use. They say not to take them in the middle of the night, only before you go to bed, otherwise you can end up tired the next day. But since I don't drive or have any other responsibilities at the moment, so it didn't matter if I was drowsy during the day, I tried taking a med when I woke up at 3 am. This actually seemed to help and I went back to sleep until a reasonable getting-up time.

But it's not a long term solution because I get tolerant to meds quick, and I'd really like to go back to getting the proper long sleeps I was used to before. I have a consultation with my GP later today to see if there are prescription-only meds that could help.

I know you're not supposed to tackle insomnia by throwing medication at it. But in my case it clearly is just a medication side-effect. I slept beautifully before I took steroids, so I know it's not a psychological or stress thing. I already do all the "sleep hygiene" stuff like going to bed at regular times, keeping the room cool and all that. I try reading, don't dwell on worries, try getting up and going back to bed later. Nothing helps me except meds, so that's how I'm approaching it for now.

The extra time would be useful except I have too much time on my hands. When I was working and didn't have enough hours in the day, I would have appreciated the lack of hours spent sleeping!
 
Oh, and I take all the prednisone in the morning and that has no effect either. It seems like it's more of a long-term thing for me: it's not as simple as take prednisone one day and get insomnia that night, the insomnia came on gradually over weeks on the medication.

It's also not like normal insomnia - does anyone else find this?! There've been times before where I've just not been able to sleep on a one-off night - regular insomnia. I feel exhausted, can't concentrate on anything, am desperate for sleep, but just can't. With prednisone, I don't feel tired. I don't feel drowsy. I just feel WIDE AWAKE. But then the next day I crash because I've not had enough sleep - and I still don't sleep well the following night, and it becomes this cumulative effect where I am crashing during the day but wide awake at night even though I know my body must be craving sleep. Physically I'm exhausted but mentally I feel like I could happily stay awake for ever. :ybatty:

(Yes, this steroid insomnia a big problem for me! It's been the absoloute worst part of the medications. I would love my medications - they've helped me so much with other things - if it were not for this and the mood swings. The mood swings and insomnia seem to go together, they both get categorised together on the side effects lists. Funny that the infomation leaflets seem to class insomnia either as a "CNS" side effect or as a "psychiatric" side effect.)
 
I would ask your doctor for a script for soemthing to help you sleep. It is not good going without sleep, you immunity will drop even more so. Maybe you can try a couple benadryl or something before bed.. I would ask the doctor and let him/her know you are not able to sleep. He/she should give you something..
 
Location
Ontario
Woke up at 4am with the Muppets, mahna mahna stuck in my head, after only falling asleep at midnight = good example of prednisone insomnia!
 

CrohnsChicago

Super Moderator
So ive been put back on the roids to help beef me up a bit over Xmas before my op(feel like im the xmas turkey)
Been a long time since i was on them but the sleep deprivation is driving me mental....went to bed thursday night at 11 and was still awake at half 4.
Anyone else have this problem and how did you combat it??

Thanks
Craig
Hi there!

The only thing I found that helps me SOMETIMES is to make myself super busy during the day to burn off energy (of course this could also make me extra hungry, but I remove all the junk from my apt and eat clean when on prednisone lol). In addition to getting out and about, I try to work out for 30-60min every day (or every other day). The other bonus to this trick is I avoid the prednisone weight gain by either maintaining or losing weight while on the medication.

However, if I wake up in the middle of the night....getting back to sleep is a real pain.

As you taper down, the sleep will come back to you. I hope it's sooner than later :)
 
Well I ended up being given a prescription for amytriptaline, which wasn't really what I wanted. I was on it briefly before, years ago, for stomach pain, and don't remember it making me drowsy so I'm not sure it's going to work now, but I'll try.

I didn't see my regular GP, and got the feeling the doctor I saw instead was very reluctant to prescribe anything for sleep. He said they "try not to" prescribe sleeping pills because of addicition. I think there's some specific class of anti-anxiety/sleeping meds he's referring to, right? I don't want to be addicted to a med, but I do need to sleep! I have this with pain meds but manage to take codeine without allowing myself to become addicted, I think I'm quite good at keeping my intake of potentially-addictive drugs under control.

Perhaps I'll have more luck with my regular GP, but now it's the holidays I can't get in to see her for ages. Again, doesn't really help me when I'm not sleeping now!
 
I made another appointment to see the GP who's available to try to get something for sleep. They'll probably be mad at me for making so many appointments - I don't think they'll be happy since from their point of view, I didn't get what I wanted from one doctor, I go straight to another. But I tried the amytriptaline and it only made me a little drowsy and didn't stop me waking up early. Maybe I'm supposed to take it longer for it to really work, but I don't want to be stuck over the holidays when there'll be no appointments - I want to get prescriptions now so I've got things to try if one doesn't work.
 
My trick has always been to take the Prednisone first thing in the morning, and then have a glass (just one) of red wine with dinner. I'm sleeping like a baby at bedtime after that.

I can't necessarily recommend this, though. Wine and alcohol in general may cause a problem with your gut. I get away with it but you may not.
 

SarahBear

Moderator
Location
Charleston,
If the insomnia interferes with your daily life, contact your doctor. They may be able to give you something to help you sleep (not ideal, I know, but it can help when nothing else does). They're kind of reluctant to prescribe them at times, like UnXMas has mentioned, but it never hurts to try.

Have you tried melatonin tablets? Melatonin is the compound in turkey that makes everyone tired after eating it. It's natural and safe.
 
I hate to always be a stinker about this, but natural doesn't always mean safe. Poison ivy is natural. ;)

Melatonin is probably one of the better options for insomnia, but as with many other medications and supplements you can still make yourself ill if you use too much or too often. (Although in the case of melatonin, I think this bar is set quite high.)

So.. be as careful with natural stuff as with anything else, is all I mean.
 
Melatonin did nothing for me. Every "natural" treatment I've tried has been completely useless, whether for sleep or anything else. :(

My doctor put me on a very high dose of amitriptyline and it actually seemed to help last night! He said they usually use low doses for insomnia, but since I seemed insensitive to the medication, he would put the dosage right up. He said that there must be a point where it will knock me out, and it did! I was so sure it wouldn't help because it hadn't worked at low doses, so what do I know?!

Now I just hope this wasn't a fluke. And I hope that I don't build up tolerance (does anyone know if that happens with amitriptyline?).

Maybe worth others with insomnia asking your doctors about amytriptaline and if it doesn't work try a higher dose? The high doses are usually only given when it's being used as an anti-depressent, and drowsiness is then considered a side effect.

The doctor I saw was very keen to prescribe this rather than other sleep meds - I got another lecture on the dangers of addiction to benzodiazepines. From what I've seen, they're far more commonly used in the US. Here in the UK no doctor will prescribe them! Or at least not to me. He said I was too young to get a drug addiciton, which I thought was an odd comment. But as long as my sleep continues to be improved, I'm happy with whatever he gives me. :)
 
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