I started taking Sotalol in April. Recently I have had trouble getting back to sleep after waking up at about 2 or 3 in the morning before that I have been sleeping well and have no trouble getting to sleep. I have read that beta blockers reduce your natural Melatonin and this can cause sleep troubles. I spoke to my doctor who says she can't prescribe Melatonin for my problem not for any medical reason just money. She said that I can buy it myself but how do you know that you are getting the real thing unless you pay through the roof. It is only legally available on prescription. So I work for forty years paying National Insurance every month and when I get an illness that causes me to loose sleep and which will/may affect my health, the NHS refuses to pay. Anyone else have sleep problems?
Insomnia, Sotalol and Melatonin - Atrial Fibrillati...
Insomnia, Sotalol and Melatonin
I've read that the natural thing for humans at night, is to have two sessions of sleep. So perhaps accept that waking at 2-3am is normal. Get yourself wide awake then perhaps read for an hour or so, until you're tired again. I've had problems with sleeping for years and I know how ill it can make you feel not to have enough. My GP now prescribes a low dose sleeping pill for me now, but I have been where you are and once retired from work I just accepted that I would be awake in the night. I'm in the process of stopping the pills as I think they may be making me forgetful. Once I'm weaned off them I will be doing what I've suggested to you.
Jean
Interesting Jean, I quite often wake around 2-3am and found best to sit up and listen to the radio for half an hour before switching off and going back to sleep; better than just turning over and trying to get back to sleep straightaway.
I have just collected a prescription of Melatonin but given published info of interactions with Flecainide I think I will postpone taking it for the minute.
See my post below with the link. It may help. So many people wake at the time you state, it has to be natural.
😁👍
mayoclinic.org/drugs-supple...
Unfortunately, insomnia is listed as a side effect of Sotalol.
The above summmary of Melatonin may be helpful. Note the proper dosage and possibility of affecting bleeding if taken with anticoagulants.
May want to discuss with your doctor about a low dose sleeping pill like jean mentions above.
Thanks for posting good to know, as I take Flecainide and have just been prescribed Melatonin by my GP it prompted me to find this link ehealthme.com/drug-interact...
Hi, Have you looked into magnesium? I started taking it for awful night cramps in the front of my shins and the top of my feet.
I also had very bad anxiety, a few things happened in the space of a couple of months and really got on top of me. I also used to wake in the night like you or even just stay awake until 4 ish ( luckily retired )
Taking magnesium, all of these things improved a huge amount, the cramp virtually straight away and the other problems gradually eased. Not completely but much better. Taurate is the one I use. I also take Vitamin D daily but only started this after the magnesium had already improved things.
I still get the odd bad night but few and far between.
If it’s of interest check with your GP if it might be suitable for you.
Hope you can get your sleep sorted, it’s such a draining thing to experience.
As a long term insomniac I agree with the above comments on accepting and working with your sleep problem. I get up and take two Co Codamol for my sciatica and a low dose anti anxiety (Amitryptaline). Then I read for a while before going back to bed. Look into sleep hygiene where you do not use screens and keep the bedroom dark and noise free etc. Since taking a multi vitamin, containing magnesium, I have managed quite a few nights with six or seven hours.
Melatonin lessens the effects of sotalol don't take any. Monitor your magnesium and potassium balance through foods. Try an Epsom salt bath foot bath or in the sink before bed for your hands. It may help xo
I found many side effects to Sotalol. One of them dreaming intensly which would wake me then I found getting back to sleep troublesome. Because my RF PVI was successful I was able to stop Sotalol the intense dreams lasted about another six months. Also when relaxed I could feel the burn points in my heart, particularly when sleeping on my tummy. I started tummy sleeping following a TKR as it helps get extension back in your leg. All very good now both procedures a complete success.
I get awful dreams on Sotalol which awaken me periodically with a racing heart but not on afib most of the time thank goodness
I’ve heard that if you can’t go back to sleep, get up, move to a different room, read or in some other way relax until you start nodding off and then go back to bed. If you stay in bed tossing and turning, then your body can associate the bed with not sleeping. If you only get into bed when tired and falling asleep, your body associates bed with going to sleep. It’s a conditioning response - aka Pavlov’s Dog.
I have taken melatonin and it did absolutely nothing. I bought it online. These are sold as supplements and regulated as foods, not as pharmaceuticals, so there’s no way of knowing how much of the active ingredient is in them. If you get them on prescription from your GP in the UK then they will be regulated as pharmaceuticals and the dosage will be consistent with what it’s supposed to be.
Melatonin can increase blood glucose levels so if you have any concerns about your glycemic control, please bear this in mind
I’m more in favour of the suggestions already been given by some of the people who have already responded — avoid screens late in the evening, don’t eat or drink anything other than plain water for a minimum of three hours before bedtime, no caffeine before midday, get to bed at a consistent time, Don’t be too concerned if you have a gap in your sleep, try the suggestions that the others have already made, just avoid bright lights if you do get up. Perhaps invest in a dim nightlight if you need to get up in the night. You could trial some magnesium tablets for a month or so to see if they help. It will probably several consistent strategies over a period of time to get the benefits. Please don’t expect miracles. Think in terms of progress, not perfection.
Is melatonin only available by prescription in the UK? Over here in the states it's OTC, and I buy all mine online from Puritan's Pride, a reputable outfit. Cheap as dirt also.
Yes, I am on sotalol and always slept well, now I wake many times in the night. Used to have trouble getting back to sleep but think I have got used to Sotalol (been on it 3 years) I am ok, still wake up all through the night though
I too am on Sotolol. Two years now. I use a sound machine at night. To go to sleep & again if I wake up. I set it for 90 minutes. Works like a charm.I also take magnesium.
Rather a lot of comments to reply to but thank you for them. I have a few comments. Yes, you need a prescription to buy Melatonin in the UK and the EU. You seem to be able to buy health products with Melatonin but I expect that the amounts are very small. Someone mentioned that Melatonin reduces the effect of Sotalol but according to the RXList, it is only a minor interaction which it describes as "unlikely, minor or non significant". The latter word must be American, I thought that we used "insigificant" in the UK. As for waking up in the early hours being normal, well it may be for some people but in over 70 years, I have only ever woken up in the ealy hours when sick or have drunk too much alcohol! If the drugs I am prescribed make me wake up because they deprive me of Melatonin that I need for a good nights sleep then it is natural to want to counter that effect. I have no wish to spend the next 5000 or so nights ( I counting on living until I am at least 90!) without sleeping properly unless it can be helped. Yes, you can get up, walk around, read a book but I would rather sleep when I need to. I am interested in the "no caffeine before midday", was this meant to be "after midday". I have two cups of caffinated coffee a day, one at breakfast and the other at 1 pm and one cup of decaffinated coffee thereafter. I will trial Melatonin for 10 day (Yes, you can buy proper Melatonin in the UK but expensive at £1.50 ($2 )a day and maybe try magnesium if that doesn't work. I see my Cardiologist for the first time in October so can then discuss with him and get a prescription if I think it will help.
Melatonin with AF medication 
Insomnia
Insomnia and beta blockers
