Prednisone seems to die off around 7 is PM, thats when I see my blood glucose skydive. (Prednisone screws with insulin resistance, tells the liver, never mind the insulin, keep pumping glucose!!)
I tried Trazodone, no liking the weird thoughts.
Ambient? Won't try that, I get addicted too easily.
I’ve been using Lunesta for years. Very good. Way more subtle than Ambien. I take a quarter of a two milligram pill. And if I wake up I take another quarter if I have as be at least 3 more hours to sleep. Not super groggy and I haven’t had to up the dose after 7 years.
I have the same problem but am just on Lupron. I wake up between 2 & 3 AM, get up to pee and then many nights have trouble falling back to sleep. I know you said THC is out but I found that a THC sleep gummy and melatonin does help. The gummy has 5 mg each of THC, CBD, and CBN along with passionflower extract. It does help and I’ve had no noticeable side effects.
On occasion I’ve used an OTC sleep aid, Doxylamine Succinate. That does help but I’m reluctant to use that long term.
I'm on Lupron, Abiraterone (2:45 AM) and Prednisone (6:30 AM) - and one of my doctors has be taking high doses of melatonin. I found that I had insomnia with the melatonin, and started taking it at 6:30, and i've slept pretty well ever since. I do get up in the middle of the night every night to pee (3 times if I ate dairy in the evening) but this works for my abiraterone schedule.
Somewhere between midnight and 5 am is my time -most often it's at 2:45 for some reason like I'm a creature of habit, and that's when I wake up. The advantage is that I don't have to worry about the 2 hours after and 1 hour before for rule...
I know! And a side benefit: Some of the guys have mentioned an upset stomach with the Abiraterone, but since I'm alseep I never seem to notice any upset.
I have been on sleeping pills for years. When I was first diagnosed, I was getting up 5-6 times a night to urinate. It made it difficult to work a full day and think clearly. You may wish to broach the subject with your PCP.
Your mind................I keep telling those who can't sleep to build a detailed log cabin with their mind/brain. I never get pass the first floor.....
j-o-h-n <===<<< Senior management is about to spike my spikes....
this is a out in left field thought …. But have you had yourself tested for apnea ? Your symptoms seem very familiar, I had apnea and a cpap machine puts me right to sleep at night. I also use melatonin nightly. Just a thought.
I’m only on Lupron, but same. After trying melatonin with no effect I gave in and accept it. I get up to pee and go back to bed and just stay calm. Most of times I fall asleep quickly, rarely I take a book and read 15-20 minutes and sleep then. I normally get up at 6am and go to bed around 10.30pm. So I’m able to catch enough sleep.
I find I need nap during the day -- something like 11.00-12.30. Playing catch-up then works better than struggling to get back to sleep at 4.00 - 5.30 am.
There are, have been several bio-hacks I have employed. Same general sleep issues, same meds. Almost identical night waking time. Om Sleep powered by Reishi works well, Professional Health Products Rest & Reset works well. Optimal Health Calm taking any dose 1-3 can help nicely
I am on same drug regime. I have found that a good amount of exercise daily really helps me sleep through the night. I try to walk at least an hour a day and also lift some light weights several days a week. If I miss either, I will also not sleep nearly as well. Good luck!
My MO suggested cutting the prednisone in half to 1 - 5mg tab per day to see if it helped with my sleep, and it did. That was almost a year ago and still just 5 mg. Obviously not for everyone, and not without consulting your MO
I almost always get up at 3 a.m. and have for as long as I can remember, particularly before cancer. Before drawing any conclusions about THC, consider that your wife is a different individual and also what dosage she was taking. (I doubt THC has any affect on my sleeping so there's that.)
For what it’s worth, my ex got me into transcendental meditation about 30 years ago and I was given a “secret mantra” word that you’re supposed to repeat in your head over and over again for about half an hour. I found that it put me to sleep damn near every time.
I think the way TM works is, you just focus your mind on something to keep it from wandering. I have mild tinnitus (only at night, doesn’t bother me in the day) and I realized that I could just listen to the ringing in my ears and it would do the same thing as the secret mantra.
Years before that, I went to a hypnotherapist to stop smoking and his technique was to play a tape of himself talking, while also talking to me at the same time. His theory was that the mind cannot focus on two things at once and becomes overwhelmed or something and more open to suggestion. I would sometimes fall asleep on his couch (he told me I was in a deep trance. No, I was napping!)
I combined the two and now every night I lay down, tune in to the ringing in my ears while at the same time counting my breath backwards from 10. When I get to zero I start over (counting up to ten sometimes results in getting to 20 or 30 before you realize you’re over-counting!).
I’ve been doing this for years and usually fall asleep within about 10 minutes. When I get up in the middle of the night (several times last night) I lay down and do it again.
It’s a bit of an effort to “force” yourself to sleep, but it beats laying there forever trying to get back to sleep.
Seems like those rock concerts and industrial noise left me with something I can use in my old age. Lemons to lemonaid and all that.
Might be worth a shot, it works for me every time.
I would sleep for about 1 hour (I go to bed at 11pm) and wake up wired, including twitching and mini hot flashes. It lasted 2 to 3 hours before I could get back to sleep. Tried a couple of things, but nothing worked. They put me on Gabapentin, which allows me to sleep all night. I get up to urinate 1 to three times per night but go right back to sleep. My cousin also had insomnia and tried all kinds of drugs until the said try Gabapentin. Worked wonders for him. The only issue is you are a little groggy in the morning. Takes a couple of cups of coffee to get going. I suspect I will be on it for the rest of my life, but that is no problem for me. I get 7 to 8 hours for sleep now, which I never had before in my life.
never tried gabapentin. i used it for neuropathic pain until i cured that with a huge dose of THC. so i know that i do tolerate it which is not the case for many. so maybe i will give it a try. i have tons of it left over from before and from my step mother who died recently and left about 500 pills what dose of and at what time do you take the gabapentin? And regularly or just when you can't sleep. Gabapentin is one of the most widely prescribed drugs for "off label" use. Surprised that no doctor suggested it for me but whenever I mention that I am getting little sleep they suggest the standard stuff. Try Seroquel if you need material for apocalyptical horror films you are writing.
I have found very little to keep me asleep. For a while it was the hot flashes and frequent need to urinate but those have not been so bad lately. Still I have a really hard time getting to and staying asleep. Here are a few suggestions:
Keep it pretty cold so if you do have hot flashes they might not be as frequent or bad.
Do not try to go to sleep unless you are really tired. Reading something really confusing and boring can help. I got some good sleep from reading the bible.
Teach your dog (having moderate success with this) to cuddle close and give plenty of rubs to him/her. A close dog can help moderate hot flashes as well as providing natural sleep / relaxation hormones such as oxytocin.
Do all the things suggested online all over the place such as no blue light for hours before you intend to go to sleep. No food near sleep time. Easy to find a basic list, harder to follow the recommendations. I really want that strawberry pop but now eat it shortly after dinner not later.
If it is pain that is keeping you awake, get that under control. I do not mind pain other than nagging pain that just keeps me awake. A little morphine works wonders. I have tried various sleep remedies both natural and prescribed and nothing works especially if I am in pain. I can get knocked out but do not get good brain rest.
And my favorite suggestion which worked really well for me recently. If you have things to do the next day and are concerned that you might forget, write them down on a list that you keep next to your bed. The same is true of any worries you are having. I could not get to sleep because I was composing an email over and over about something I was bothered by. Committing it to paper can allow you to relax and deal with it in the morning.
8 hours every night, I do get up 2-4 times per night but go right back to sleep.
Old technology but it works great. I listen to a book on CD- always fiction. It keeps the mind focused and I am always asleep in 5-10 minutes. The Generic sleeping pills ( Diphenhydramine HCL) 50mg …do not leave you feeling bad in the morning. I have been using this system successfully for over 20 years.
Content on HealthUnlocked does not replace the relationship between you and doctors or other healthcare professionals nor the advice you receive from them.
Never delay seeking advice or dialling emergency services because of something that you have read on HealthUnlocked.
what dose of and at what time do you take the gabapentin? And regularly or just when you can't sleep. Gabapentin is one of the most widely prescribed drugs for "off label" use. Surprised that no doctor suggested it for me but whenever I mention that I am getting little sleep they suggest the standard stuff. Try Seroquel if you need material for apocalyptical horror films you are writing. 
Sudden Insomnia, no sleep for 72 hours...
Xtandi and insomnia
Chemo failure. What next?
From a Gleason 9 to a clean CT scan in 18 mos.
Weaning off of Xtandi
