I need sleep

[Tilly56]

Hi I suffer from insomnia, can go days without sleep, what could I take to get me to sleep,I live in the uk

[pvw2]

First try Melatonin. 10mg helps to sleep, but probably too strong to take continually. If it's too strong, you will want to sleep during the day.

[pdpatient]

Tilly, I don't mean to be flippant, but I prize my insomnia when it happens in spurts. I get a lot done in that time! Curiously enough, I have no tremors at that time. I feel absolutely normal.

I have found Trazodone to be most effective and gentle. Recent studies are indicating that it's probably neuroprotective. God bless you and your family.

[park_bear in reply to pdpatient]

I find that being up before dawn is a great time to do my yoga routine, meditation and spiritual practice.

[Mjm012 in reply to pdpatient]

What dose of Trazodone do you take?

[pdpatient in reply to Mjm012]

25 mg. You need to split a pill in the USA I believe. I take it very sparingly. Generally, it's well tolerated but for some men it's problematic. But the smallest doses sre quite effective. Talk to me your doctor first.

[rebtar in reply to pdpatient]

Could you point me to those studies?

[pdpatient in reply to rebtar]

Sure, here they are:

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/227...

jneuroinflammation.biomedce...

cureparkinsons.org.uk/news/...

scienceofparkinsons.com/201...

nature.com/articles/s41598-...

[Kevin51]

I take the view that whatever I do I have to be able to keep it up for the rest of my life. So I avoid sedatives and have a list of things which all make it a little easier to not stay awake! No caffeine after 1pm, no food after 7.30 pm, relax in the evening, hot bath followed by cool bedroom, get outside for light exposure and exercise any way you can. If you can't get outside get yourself a bright light to use during daylight hours to reinforce your sleep rhythm. I also take a nightly magnesium tablet to avoid night cramps. I monitor my sleep with a fitbit so I know I wakeup around 6 times a night but I still sleep roughly 8hrs in total so far (8 yrs since diagnosis).

[Trixiedee]

What meds do you take already? My GP prescribes me mirtazipine for sleep. I take a quarter of a 15mg pill. It’s an anti depressant but at a much higher dose. A whole pill makes me feel really knocked out the next day.

[Tilly56 in reply to Trixiedee]

I was on them for a while I was on 45 mg per day but body got used to them, going to back to them soon

[Trixiedee in reply to Tilly56]

I’m really lucky. My tolerance to most meds doesn’t go up except Sinemet.

[MarionP in reply to Tilly56]

You said you were on "them." But what was "them" and what dose and what schedule? They are very much different so it matters greatly, very greatly, what the medication actually is.

Also, the person above who said to use Trazodone is definitely not a professional and can well give you advice that may create worse side effects in your case, because of problems known about trazodone among professionals...it has to match your condition or you could end up losing non-REM sleep, which would be destructive for you. Traz has a unique molecular construction that makes it rather difficult to play simple "it's a good sleep aid" game by novices, it is not benign to all users and the "neuroprotective" reputation is really not very well deserved.

[Hidden]

I recommend Insomnia Coach on YouTube. He uses Cognitive Behavioral Therapy techniques for insomnia. It has greatly helped me. The more I tried to sleep, the less I slept. Now my aim is deep relaxation and I think of sleep as a gift that comes to me but is not in my control. Qigong before bed has helped me too. Lee Holden has some good videos. Magnesium, L-theanine, melatonin all helpful. Blue blocker night glasses 3 hours before bedtime have really helped me. I thought I would have life long insomnia since I experienced it for 30 years (since my teens) but I don’t think that now. There is hope.

[Kwinholt]

Have you tried a weighted blanket? Karen

[Autumn56]

Nothing works for me like Medical Marijuana. If you are able to get it it works like magic.

[Hidden]

iheartjane.com/products/380...

[Lizzy9]

My husband is the one who has Parkinson’s. We both do a breathing technique that both Dr. Weil & Dr. Mercola (both have websites) recommend. My husband uses this technique when he gets anxious & I use it during the night when I wake up & after almost 2 weeks of implementing this technique I’ve only had one night of it not working for me. I guess there is some real science to this breathing thing & you shouldn’t be breathing out of your mouth, only nose.

I hope this helps if you’re still searching!!!